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Garden Gate:  Garden Time!  |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
 Posted - Apr 06 2010 : 04:14:29 AM
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My garden plot is dug over, though I think I will do a second dig to incorporate some more organic matter. When I dug I did not see nearly enough worms!
I raked the dirt with both a garden rake and a leaf rake which got out a lot of the weed roots and I hand picked the weeds that were growing.
Inside: My tomato seedlings are thriving. Some are already 4 inches high just out of their peat pellets with their real leaves about 2 inches long already. This morning I got them all transferred from their little pellets to 5 ounce dixie cups with potting mix.
I am going to ground sow my carrot, lettuce, radish, and I think I have some cabbage seeds. I think my husband wants some hot peppers as well.
Outside: I have started sawing off the sucker branches off the various trees in the yard. PHEW! That is hard work with green wood! I am thinking I might go buy a hatchet and see if chopping them off might be easier. I have also be raking up leaves like crazy. I thought we did pretty good last fall but I am learning differently this year! LOL
We have lots of work to do. This rental property was severly neglected before we came. I am built the main garden plot last year but this year I am going to be trying to extend it and build a smaller second one for my cool crops. The grass is a wreck and they filled in all the flower beds with gravel! So my goal this year is to shovel out all that gravel or at least to a depth that I can back fill with soil and plant some flowers to soften the outline of the house. I have plans to plant sunflowers along the neighbors fence line to soften that as well and increase privacy. Plus I think they will be pretty and in the fall we will have all kinds of sunflower seeds!
How is your garden/yard going? Any great seedlings started that you can't wait for them to grow up and get planted in the garden? I bet some of you ladies in warmer climates already have a great start going on your gardens!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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clothedinscarlet
True Blue Farmgirl
1333 Posts
Siobhan
Battle Creek
MI
USA
1333 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2010 : 06:25:27 AM
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Wow Alee! You are WAY ahead of me! When is your last frost date? I JUST planted my tomatoes a week ago and they are just sprouting now. I have some nice looking onion and kale seedlings though. I have planted a lot, but everything is still in it's baby stages, but growing well. I need to get started building my square foot boxes this weekend with hubby, so they will be all ready to go when transplant time comes. It will be here before I know it! I'm excited about my garden this year, but terrified at the same time that all my hard work will be for nothing if the animals get to it :( I'm especially worried about the rather "domesticated" deer. I think I will have to build some sort of cages, which is just more work for me and hubby.
Good luck with your garden, Alee. Keep us updated! Maybe some pictures when you get things planted outside?
Farmgirl Sister #1110
Siobhan - AKA Liza-Jane (my farmgirl name), wife to my best friend, Trent, and mommy to Camden (11/28/05) and Bennett (7/11/07). and Truman (7/28/09) |
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Candy C.
True Blue Farmgirl
823 Posts
Candy
Mescal
AZ
USA
823 Posts |
Posted - Apr 06 2010 : 06:30:30 AM
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I have already harvested some radishes!! :) I need to replant so that I will have some available for the Farmers Market in May. My lettuce, spinach, peas and turnips are all doing well! My tomato and pepper seedlings seem to be doing pretty good too! :) I dug up some volunteer parsley and put them in pots to sell at the Farmers Market. I also sowed some dill and cilantro seeds in pots to sell as plants at the Farmers Market. Don't ya' just love this time of year!?!
Candy C.
Farmgirl Sister #977
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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theoanne
True Blue Farmgirl
282 Posts
teddie
CARROLLTON
GA
282 Posts |
Posted - Apr 08 2010 : 08:10:42 AM
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Have been working ,playing in the dirt for the last 2 days.I turned over the garden and moved several loads of dirt around to flower beds.Also have been weeding and raking. I was gonna do some planting today,but it's raining. We definitely need this as the pollen has gone crazy. In the south it literally"snows" pollen. My bright blue Subaru can turn green from the pollen in a day! Atleast the rain dampens it down. A welcomed break for sore muscles.
Think I'll go sew :-)
TEDDIE
Sewing Forever, Housework Whenever
I have SABLE ( Stash Accumulating Beyond Life Expectancy) |
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natesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1735 Posts
angela
martinsville
indiana
USA
1735 Posts |
Posted - Apr 09 2010 : 12:21:39 AM
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I have blueberries, strawberries, peas, and limas planted. I also planted my squash row. I have seedlings of tomato, cabbage, peppers, melons, pumpkins, and gourds goin too. I am building bins for compost, manure, and sawdust to be kept by the garden, then starting on a new chicken coop.
Siobhan, get yourself some bars of original scent dial soap and hang every 10-15 feet around your garden about 3 feet off the ground in a mesh bag. The deer hate the smell and won't come around. Plant onions around your garden where rabbits are a problem and they won't come around. Also go to your local barber shop or salon and bring a trash can. Talk the manager into making it a hair only can for you and sprinkle it around to drive off the coons. Thats what I do and it's amazing how well it works! As for the oppossums, we haven't found anything but a .22 that works unfortunately.
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
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pamcook
True Blue Farmgirl
228 Posts
Pam
Chapel Hill
NC
USA
228 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2010 : 12:25:47 PM
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My green beans are starting to poke through the ground so I'll go cover it with a deer net. Last year it worked to keep it covered until the plants grew too tall. Then I used a motion sensor sprinkler to keep the critters away. Guess how many times I forgot about it and ended up with an unexpected outdoor shower? The deer around here aren't deterred by soap or hair, sadly enough. They don't like the sprinkler though.
www.ikat.org
www.longaberger.com/pamcook |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2010 : 6:13:40 PM
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You ladies with early planting periods are so lucky! We are still getting some pretty cold night temperatures. I went out to put our leaky hose (long story) in the dog's dish so at least she would have water all the time with out having to check and sure enough- there was ice in the hose! So I can't put my seedings out, but I am thinking I might go ahead and get some carrot, lettuce, and cabbage seeds sown since they will sprout if the conditions are right.
Has anyone ever made a corn starch gel and stirred seeds into the gel and used a pastry bag and tip to squirt seeds into the soil? I read that tip for carrots if you pre sprouted the carrots, but I wonder if it would work if you didn't pre sprout them. It seems an easier way to keep track of all those little seeds!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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Room To Grow
True Blue Farmgirl
974 Posts
Deborah
Kingston
Georgia
USA
974 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2010 : 6:46:37 PM
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Well I transplanted my seedlings into larger pots. And i cleaned out my front 2 beds in front of the house and scattered wildflower seeds all in them. We had a big rain just Thursday so the ground is still to wet to plow. So I hope that by next weekend we can plow. Still waiting for the seedlings to get large enough to put into the ground. I want to plant my bean seeds soon..I was wanting to plant potatoes this yr but not sure how to go about it. Not sure if it will get to hot here in North West Ga.
deborah
we have moved to our farm...and love it |
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natesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1735 Posts
angela
martinsville
indiana
USA
1735 Posts |
Posted - Apr 10 2010 : 8:14:58 PM
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You can use lemon jello and mix an extra 1/4 cup water in it to make a sticky paste. Then you paint it on one side of two ply toilet paper that is seperated. Space out the seeds as they should be on there and cover with the other side. In one hour it can be put out as 'seed tape' or it can set for two weeks till your ready to set out. Longer than that and you risk molding. By the way you can do two rows of carrot seed on one strip and wide row your carrots. Works for any small vegetable seed. The jello must be lemon though. The artificial flavoring of any other flavor is a growth inhibiter for seeds. Makes ya think twice about eatin jello.
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
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Garden Gate: Garden Time! |
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Garden Time!
