Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Everything is sprouting!

I'm so excited! All of the peas that I planted in the first round of planting are coming up, and even some from the second time. It took longer than it did in the fall, but I'm really excited about getting some fresh peas. My greens have all sprouted except for one, which I neglected to add to the list in the previous post. I'm not sure that I actually put seeds in them, so if they don't come up in the next week I'll plant something else in those two pots. See why I need to write everything down? I'll get some more pictures up soon.

Happy Spring!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Flowers Coming Up and Greens Sprouting

Irises Coming Up Under the White Butterfly Bush

Daffodils Beside the Driveway

Daffodil Circle

Daffodils in the Woods

Johnny Jump Ups (?)

Mystery Purple Flower

Ben's Bulb Coming Up (although I'm not sure what kind of flower it is)

Hyacinths

Hyacinths

On Monday, March 16th, I took some pictures of the flowers that were coming up around the farm. The batteries in the phone were dead so I borrowed my son's cellphone. It was overcast so the lighting isn't perfect, but I thought I'd share anyway.

I've been watching my greens hopefully, but I'd about given up hope. Today, however, I looked down as I walked into the house and lo and behold, tiny little sprouts! They're pretty hard to see, but I couldn't resist taking some pictures and posting them.


Southern Giant Mustard


Premier Kale


Tendergreen Spinach Mustard


Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard

I hope everyone is having a wonderful spring!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Planting Peas in the Drizzling Rain

I was going to plant peas yesterday but it was cold and rainy, so I waited hoping for better weather. Today is a little better, but it's still about 45 degrees and drizzling. Oh well, I didn't figure I'd melt so out I went, with my faithful garden helper (my 8 year old son) and his umbrella to keep my seeds nice and dry. I wasn't terribly excited about going out there, to be honest, but that all changed when I stooped down to dig the little trench to bury seeds in and there, on the other side of the fencing panel, were peas peeking out! At first I was worried that the snow and cold had pushed them up, but upon closer examination it wasn't the cold... they're sprouting! I got such a rush of joy. *happy sigh* Needless to say planting the rest of the row no longer seemed like such a chore.

I used up the last of my Oregon Sugar Peas, which I knew was going to happen, so when I was at the feed store buying a dozen kinds of greens seeds Monday (see my previous post about planting some of them) I found some edible pod seeds called Sugar Ann Garden Peas. Actually, looking for edible pod pea seeds to replace the Oregons was what led me to look at their seed selection in the first place, so I have them to thank when I sit down to eat a delicious meal of those greens! Anyway, the lady at the feed store said she liked Sugar Ann so I bought a big bag to give them a try. There's no question their seeds are cheaper, but I cringe at not buying all organic seeds. The high price tag made the decision for me, so we'll see how they turn out.

Also, I don't think I mentioned before that the fence panel that goes down the center of the pea patch has 24 squares, so I divided it up into 5, 5, 4, 5, and 5 squares when I did my planting. I'm trying to be meticulous in keeping track of what we really like and what grows well so that I don't waste time and energy. It also satisfies my slightly OCD personality, if I'm honest. Here's the updated pea garden diagram:

No signs of sprouting from the greens yet, but it hasn't even been a week so I'm still hopeful. I hope you're getting ready for spring. I know that I'm starting to twitch every time I pass the nurseries, Lowe's, the feed store, and just about anywhere else that sells green things! I'm lucky to have a great resource right in the little town where I live, a local hardware store that hasn't sold out.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Greens Fever

I thought all I was going to plant at this point was my peas, but looking through the Square Foot Gardening book got me thinking about greens, so after dropping my son off at school with his batch of birthday cupcakes (he turns 8 today!), I stopped by the feed store. Silly me, I thought I would buy some snow pea seeds to replace the Oregon Sugar Peas that I planted all but a few of, but when I saw the wide variety of bulk greens seeds I couldn't help myself. I'm going to catalog what I planted where below, please forgive me if it's boring. I want to keep track of what does well and what we like. I'm also going to photograph the planters every week or so.

First, a couple of pictures:




As you can see I haven't cleaned out planters I didn't need for the greens as of yet. I'll do that once I'm ready to put flowers in them and the deck will look much prettier!

#Planter ColorPlanter ShapeType of Seed
2light greensquareTendergreen (Spinach) Mustard
3blueroundSouthern Giant Mustard
3brownsquareLong Standing Bloomsdale Spinach
1brown (plastic)ovalUpland Cress
1 greenrectangleFlorida Broadleaf Mustard
3brownroundButtercrunch Lettuce
7greenroundBlack Seeded Simpson Lettuce
4/4brown/whiteround (small)Siberian Kale
10whitesquarePremier Kale
7blacksquareGeorgia Southern Collards
2greenround (large)Blue Scotch Curled Kale
2blackround (heather)Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Pea Garden Diagram


I only planted the side nearest to the house yesterday. I'll plant the other side next weekend, and then in the following weeks I'll add a row further from the fence panel on each side. I uploaded some picture to Flickr of my tire gardens and the pea planting area.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

It's time for peas!

Today I put in the first seeds of the year ... peas! I planted some last fall and they were so incredibly delicious that I've been champing at the bit to get them started this spring. I'll plant again on the weekends for the next few weeks in the hopes of getting a long harvest. I took some pictures but I've managed to lose the download cable for the camera, so they're trapped on the camera until my dear husband buys a card reader. Once he does I'll post pictures of before and after, as well as pictures of my little tire garden before and after. I gave it a spring cleaning and turned the soil so it's all ready for seeds or seedlings, in a month or so.

Also, we're going to try Square Foot Gardening this year, so I'll be posting about how that goes as well. I'm excited about my butterfly garden as well, since I should have three different colors of monarda this year as well as the new pink variegated butterfly bush that I put in at the end of the season last year.

Happy spring, everyone!