Countdown to Greenhouse Time

Tomorrow I'm going into the greenhouse for the first time since fall.   I've spent the evening revising my planting sheets, each of which consists of one week's projected seeding plans.  I have my seeds sorted in Zip-Loc bags according to the planting dates.  By the end of the week the greenhouse will look something like this.  We raise the flats buy putting them on upside-down webbed flats, so air can circulate, so there is less likelihood of fungi and algae.

The flats of filled pots are ready and waiting on the far bench. The seed flats go into a heated chamber (except for those seeds that need cooler conditions.)

This is the middle-sized one of our 3 greenhouses.  We start in this one. Then, as we need more space, we heat the next larger one, then finally the third one.  DH turned on the heat on Saturday. Now watch the gas bills soar.

My other blog will update you on what other activities I have to try to complete before the greenhouse work starts in earnest.                                                                                                                                           

So Long for Now

Here is a last glimpse of summer 2009.











I was never very good at keeping up the garden blog. Maybe it's because I wasn't good at keeping up the garden--so many other things came up this year. And everyone else's gardens were so beautiful, I was feeling sort of like the ugly duckling. And I never did get in the habit of carrying my camera with me to capture bits of beauty even amid the thorns.
So, since I don't do much with houseplants, I will take a hiatus from this blog until late winter, when we start making plans and working in the greenhouse.

My youngest daughter just became engaged, and is contemplating having her wedding here at the farm (she also has the gift of seeing the potential in my gardens). So, with family help, the huge satellite dish will disappear, and my ugly beds will likely be cleaned up, and I will have to make a lot of pots for the wedding (probably Labor Day Weekend). Then I will likely resume this site. I will still be following the garden blogs, and surfing for new ones over the winter.

In the meantime, you can follow my other blog if you like. And do pop in here once in a while in case I do have an idea or two.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Daylilies--Better Late than Never

I think daylilies are among my favorite flowers. They usually start in July and bloom for the rest of the summer. The varieties of colors and markings is endless. Since many of my picture labels lost resolution, I will label those that I remember. Actually, it's not letting me insert text by the pictures. Everything gets all mixed up. And I can't make the big gaps disappear. The preview showed everything OK. Maybe next time.

Check out my other blog for garden bounty.




























































































































































It seems I'm not as committed to the garden blog as I am to the other blog. right now it seems as all there are is weeds, and I don't want to share these anymore. I'm glad I found the daylilies. I'll have to practice Linda's philosophy and carry the camera with me, and learn to really see the beautiful things out there.

Pretty Glad

I'm working hard on all the ugly parts of the garden. The hardest thing is choosing the priority. Just for a break, I'll show you my pretty glads.



And the stunning magenta Lychnis Coronaria framed by my Albomarginata hosta.

the Good, the Bad and the Ugly (and the Very Beautiful)

The Good
The three garden tools that I couldn't do without (besides the common rake, my clippers, and potato-hilling hoe). With the long-handled stirrup hoe I can do the entire garden in about 1 hour, once the garden has been cleaned for the first time.
The little stirrup hoe is for between the plants and the rows. My rows are very close together.
The littlest yellow"Garden Bandit" is for flower beds and flower pots and anywhere I need to precisely get close to plants.
Some More Good

Can't wait to get some of the kale. I have the best Kale soup recipe with Sweet potatoes. Will share later, when I make it.

Remember a previous post with lettuce between the tomato plants? The picture above is the same lettuce, and the same tomato plants.
Great tomatoes (we've eaten lots already) above and below.
The Bad and the Ugly
Notice the quackgrass and clover and lawn grass grown in. This bed can't be round-upped because there are special plants there that deserve to live. They come from special people and have such a survival instinct, I WILL tend to them (after the garden and the sewing and the greenhouse/nursery work).

I can't identify this spot, but it is UGLY. I think it's the raspberries. They're ready. Get the gauntlets out!
Nasty strawberry bed. It was totally clean 3 weeks ago. No word of a lie!
Actually, this is an older -before flowers were planted-picture of the flower patch. Since this picture, it has been dug over, filled with blue petunias and white alyssums, and the weeds look exactly the same.

Another I-don't-know--either a flower bed or the raspberry patch. :0(


Ta-daaaa. And now some Beautiful!!
I think this one is "Gran Cru"
Lollypop

Iceberg

Can't remember.
Samir

Hellooo! I'm still Alive

If you follow both blogs, you'll know I'm alive and well (define well!!). On my next post I plan to show you my favorite garden tools, and my ugly flower beds and garden. I will do this for 2 reasons:
1. To show you how ugly my garden and flower beds really are.
2. To make all your really, truly beautiful gardens look even more ravishing.
3. To make you all proud of me when I finally get everything looking spiffy and tidy.
4. To give me even more incentive to get it done, since I have set up an expectation.

Happy August long weekend.

Finally, some Rain: Some long-awaited updates

The weather has finally turned for us. We've had a lot of rain--too late for the crops. Maybe soon enough for one cut of hay. Definitely on time for the gardens and flowers, and for the trees and shrubs.
I didn't finish showing my garden all planted (almost a month ago). This picture shows the lettuce plants neatly tucked in between the tomatoes. The tomatoes will shade the lettuce, so it holds longer before bolting.
This is the first lovely iris to bloom. Everything is very late this year. I think this iris is called "Rock Star".
The deck about 3 weeks ago. Decorating the deck is always second to the garden being finished. View 1: Before
View 2: After
In my 20+ years of gardening in this spot, I have never watered the garden after the initial planting. This year I tried to put it off, and put it off, but then I saw how the plants had stalled, and were struggling. I couldn't see myself hauling hose to my huge garden and standing there watering forever. DH (aka Kubota Man or KM) suggested using the oscillating sprinkler. That's against my principles, too as I think so much water is lost to evaporation. But I followed his advice, put the sprinkler out in the evening (also technically wrong), 1 1/2 hours on each of 2 areas. The next day it started raining, and has rained on and off, then steadily since. So much for principle. And I should have thought of Murphy's Law earlier and both washed the truck and put the sprinkler out--maybe we wouldn't have had the drought.

I'm a firm believer in using bone meal for transplanting. I've never done a blind study to prove if it makes a difference, and this year I found it does. ( With tongue in cheek) It doesn't work on cucumbers. As a matter of fact, it kills cucumbers. I always plant cucumbers from plants: Orient Express, Sweet Slice and Slicemaster--16-18 plants. We eat our fill and give tons away. This year I had some bonemeal left after planting the tomatoes, and decided to put some in with the cucumbers. With the tomatoes, the bonemeal goes into the deep hole. The cucumbers get a shallower hole, so when I covered the root balls, I left some bonemeal exposed. Dogs and Cats love bonemeal. Half of the cucumbers were dug up by dogs and/or cats ( I saw a cat in the act). That'll teach me. :0)