The photo below shows how I solved three different problems. The first problem was: how to keep my trellis’ from blowing over to Nebraska. Last year I played around a bit with tent stakes and cinder blocks. This year, using the same materials I may have perfected a way to keep a trellis in place…
Memorial Day weekend usually is a time of frenzied garden activity. After all, the frost season is officially over and it is time to get in all the main season stuff. However, it is so chilly and so very windy, there is no joy in being out there or any reason to plant A THING.…
Today is warm but overcast. In town the wind WAS light. Rain is in the forecast for the next few days. This is our average last frost date too! That made early today a great day to plant seed and transplants in our town. Early this morning before work I set out all my peppers…
Everything has changed since I started this blog. Our lovely mild winter has turned into severe drought conditions. Many ranchers are selling off cattle because there is no summer pasture. Our town is officially on water restriction (for lawns). Today was nearly 90 degrees and bone dry. This is August weather, not May. I am…
I decided to set out some tomato transplants a few days ago. I was in a hurry to get the tomatoes out of the AeroGrow because they were shading the eggplant and pepper seedlings. What a disaster. I took the seedlings from the AeroGrow and placed them directly in the soil. I did not harden…
Before I left for a two week road trip I planted potatoes outside, planted flowers, tomatoes and eggplant seed in the AeroGro (hydroponic system) and put my first batch of indoor starts into the hay bale greenhouse. I set two watering systems with timers. I fed the red wigglers and left them in their cozy…
Recently I was asked if Red Wigglers (Eisenia fetida) are invasive and therefore unsafe to place in the compost pile. I did some initial research and learned that wigglers are not invasive or dangerous if released outside. For one thing, they have a very limited temperature range. Red wigglers cannot survive below 40 degrees and above…
Today I harvested parsnips, second-year onions, kale, spinach and cilantro. I cooked them up with store-bought potatoes and a frozen herb cube. Before devouring, I drizzled with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with parmeasan. Today’s harvest: onion, spinach, kale, cilantro and parsnips shown on far right, one of them looks more like a white beet! Everything…
Yesterday I mentioned that parsnips left in the ground over the winter are now getting leaves and greening up. As I drifted off to sleep last night I remembered an important fact about parsnips. Parsnips have a two-year life cycle. During the first year they grow leaves and form a long root, which we normally…
I took a little stroll around the main garden and found some pleasant surprises (April 2, 2012). Last fall I planted a carrot variety that Territorial Seed says will overwinter and then germinate in the very early spring, providing an early harvest. I am happy to say that some of those gems are up! Carrot…