Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Catch Up Post

The end of last week was kind of crazy so I have lots to catch up on today. On Thursday my mom crushed the end of her thumb at work. The bone is fractured and the nail came off. They had to stitch under the nail and then stitch the nail back on, time will tell if the nail ever grows back. So the end of last week I was playing care taker and last weekend I was catching up on projects I had on the go. Needless to say the garden and blog has been neglected.

Today I am going to update on things that have happened lately in the patch. The last few weeks I have got a few things done but have yet to post about them so I will group them all together today.

First off Judy gave me this award above a little over a week ago, thanks Judy! She is the author of Judy's Square Foot Garden which is based on her families garden as well as chickens and cows. Lots going on over there so check it out.

The urns were planted up with Pansies and Tulips a couple weeks ago. I attempted to grow my own this year but I started way to late, my plants are smaller then these flowers at the moment.

The dandelions are in full bloom which is a sure sign of spring. This particular one is huge and growing amongst the leeks. I will root it out before it sets seed, right now I think is looks just fine.

Last week I potted up all the peppers. They were growing two to a cell and now are one per cell. They a progressing nicely and I am sure will soon out grow their space again. If the weather holds out I am hoping to just transplant them out into the soil early May, if that doesn't happen I will have to put them in 4" pots.

Here is the early tomato take two after the first one abruptly died a little over a month ago. I was thinking the second was going to fallow them same path but it is looking good now. So I guess I will have a kind of early tomato. Given some nice spring weather it may produce at the same time as the earlier one anyway.

Shortly after posting about my news beds I put the potato bed in. So far I have just turned the soil and edged it with 2x3. The potatoes will just be grown in our yards soil with some compost added, this particular area is rather sandy which the spuds should like. The other bed I mention is looking really shady so it is currently on hold. The sun still has a ways to rise so if it gets at least 6hrs of sun by May I will put it in.

The cedar polytunnel has been taken out of the garden and put on the patio. It was moved to make room for the soon to be planted peas. Won't be long and the tunnel will be full of peppers, tomatoes, herbs and flowering plants. The nice thing about the woven poly used here is hardening off is a cinch because it diffused the sun and will not burn plants.

Radishes are up. These are easter egg which is the best radish variety I have ever grown. They bulb up well, taste mild and the colour mix is nice.

I put in a new earth machine composter which my sister picked up for me. I'm still not the biggest fan of these but the cities sell them cheap ($20) and they work well enough. I have found since I got a fork that they are much easier to turn with the fork as appose to a shovel. That was the main draw back, the turning restraints. And you may notice to the right.......

a partly installed garden. It is looking a little filthy at the moment but soon will be clean, green and looking mean. The bricks will have crushed brick swept into the cracks and will then provide more space to exit vehicles. The stone edged area will be filled with shade plant division from other areas of the yard. At the other end you can just see the potato bin turned composter. That area will have a few stepping stones that lead behind the shed and will be planted out with ground cover.

19 comments:

  1. Gosh you've been busy! I hope your Mum isn't in too much pain and can use her hand again soon.

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  2. Dan, your plants look fabulous and I love the cedar polytunnel...are those pricey? I would love to have one.

    I'm sorry about your mom and hope she feels well soon...I enjoy reading her cooking blog.

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  3. Veg Heaven - It seems every spring there is a mountain of things to do! The doc says she can't use her hand for 3 weeks, at least it is her left.

    Sunny - I built the tunnel for about $50 out of cedar 2x4 & balusters. I have a post about it here if you would like to build one: http://veggiegardenblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-i-built-my-poly-tunnel-finally.html

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  4. Very pretty urn. I planted some pansies this week too, but just by themselves. I like the tulip pansy pair.

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  5. Looking good Dan. I need to find that Easter egg variety of radish. I never have luck with radishes:(

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  6. Ouch.....I had a fingernail sewn back on several years ago, and certainly know how it feels! Ya just had to show it, didn't you? (the poly tunnel)hehe

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  7. gosh! your seedlings are way ahead of mine, especially the peppers.

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  8. Sorry to hear about your mom and I am hoping for a speedy recovery! I love your poly tunnel as it looks so professional and a neat way to get the plants started. I had radish coming up but with the hot temps we had a while back, I fear they will be hot but hubby likes hot so he can have at them when the time is right. Those forks are great for compost turning amongst other things…

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  9. How scary for Momma, Dan! I hope the recovery isn't so terrible and the nail does in some way grow back. I hurt just thinking about it.

    Everything gardenwise is looking great. Isn't it exciting to add more beds....how come it is that even then, we still don't have room?

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  10. Ouch! First of all, give your Mom a big cyber-hug from me, and tell her I hope she heals quickly. It's too bad your chicken soup doesn't work on thumbnails.

    Those pansies and tulips are gorgeous together! Absolutely stunning. Your plants aren't looking exactly shabby, either ;-)

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  11. Wow! Your peppers look fabulous! Way ahead of mine! When did you plant them?

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  12. Daphne - The tulips are cool, they have red variegation on the leaves. I will have to plant them out in the garden when they are finished.

    Tina - The easter egg are very nice, you won't be disappointed.

    EG - I have hammered my thumb instead of the nail a few times but have yet to lose a nail. I can imagine how much it hurts!

    Matron - I started the peppers Feb 25th, they are just starting to grow in high gear now. They can take so long to grow I try to start them extra early.

    Skeeter - She went to the doc today and he said it is actually looking good. Even though it is black and all cut up...

    Ribbit - I don't think I will have enough room until I have 100 acre's :-)

    Granny - Will do! The only thing shabby are those leggy brassica's, I guess you can't have it all....

    Megan - The peppers I started on Feb 25th. I always start them early because they seem to take forever to get growing. I think next year I will start them a week or two later as they are getting pretty big already.

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  13. The leggy brassicas don't mind being repotted deeper, right up to their bottom leaves. Mine were like that, (grown in soil blocks) so I potted them into some 16 ounce plastic cups, and they're just growing beautiful and stocky now.

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  14. My eyes started watering as I read about your mom's thumb. Holy cow that must have hurt! I hope she is on the mend and the worst is behind her.

    The garden additions look spectacular. You definitely have been busy lately. So what is your secret with the peppers? Mine eventually get going but are incredibly (painfully) slow starters every year.

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  15. The radishes are so CUTE! Spring is amazing, isn't it? Summer is quickly approaching down in Atlanta. My lettuces hardly had a chance to get past their teenage days lol.

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  16. OUCH ! That's a nasty injury. Hope it heals well. (Good luck, Mom !)

    Looking excellent, Dan ! You're definitely ahead of me, with dandelions too ! Don't come up til mid-May around here.

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  17. Everything looks great Dan, especially your peppers. All of my peppere/chilies seemed to have stop growing.. I don't get it!

    I hope your mom's figure heals up!

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  18. Wow, I am drooling over your movable poly house Dan, did you build that yourself?

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