Planting started out in the garden

Yesterday and today I planted peas, some spinach, arugula, carrots, garlic, Walla Walla onions, red onions, white bunching onions, and romaine lettuce. I'm glad I waited to buy the red onion sets because I got them on sale today. Kaitlyn was a big help getting the raised beds ready for planting. She used the hoe to mix the compost into the soil while I finished mixing and smoothed the soil.

Hopefully what I planted will grow ok and not drown because shortly after finishing this afternoon it started raining really hard and it's supposed to keep raining for several days.

Peppers Planted

The sun is finally out today! I planted 23 bell peppers, more marigolds, green beans, wax beans, and lima beans. I also put landscaping fabric where the watermelons and jalapenos will be planted.

One of the buttercup squash I started for Cathy sprouted Friday. We brought several plants up to Crooked Lake this weekend. I helped Cathy transplant several plants while Al, Dad, Terry, and Larry built a greenhouse instead of fishing Saturday. Temperatures there were in the high 20s/low 30s with snow and lots of wind.

Next year I'll start marigolds as Cathy did. She started almost a whole package of seeds in one small tray and then we transplanted them. It's a huge savings on seed starting mix and space under the grow lights.

We brought back a whole black tray of plants back home. A few of the tomatoes will be experiments in indoor gardening because they're too small to put in the garden and actually have them produce anything before frost. There's also a rosemary that's almost dead that I'll try to nurse back to health.

One of the sugar baby watermelons sprouted over the weekend. I went out to check the garden and found that several of the peas, black seeded simpson, and arugula are coming up. Some of the onion sets are sprouting. 3 of the CDs came off of the posts so I retied them. The rhubarb is really taking off and some of the asparagus is growing well. Some animal, probably a squirrel, dug up a bunch of the new strawberry plants so I replanted them. Several others look like they're thriving and have leaves now.

Cathy gave us lots of landscaping fabric, so I'll use that in the walkways with wood chips instead of newspapers.

It's supposed to be about 70 today, 93 tomorrow, and in the 70s the rest of the week, so the soil should warm up enough to plant peppers and tomatoes soon.

Strawberry Planter, Planting Templates, Garden Repair

Yesterday Al built a pyramid planter for strawberry plants that we'll put by the sinkhole and he cut boards for my hole planting templates. I bought some 1/4" dowels at Michael's and Al cut them to 1" lengths for the pegs that will make the planting holes. I measured and marked the placement of the dowels and Al glued them in place. Today the glue was dry so he attached the handles that I got at Home Depot. I also picked up some 6' bamboo poles for the pole beans.

Al with the 2nd layer of the pyramid

Al with the finished pyramid

Top side of finished planting templates

Bottom side of planting templates

Al and I teamed up to repair some of the garden beds today. On some of the black plastic edging he drilled holes and we attached the corner pieces with cable ties. We put stakes in to support a few other beds as well. The one that had bricks and plastic edging that the deer knocked over last fall we took apart and made a wood box support instead.

The new wood box support

I had to move the light above the cauliflower up since it's gotten so big. I'll probably have to move the lights up above the tomatoes soon too.

Buttercrunch Lettuce

Cauliflower, Broccoli, Basil

Cooler today, digging soil

Luckily it cooled off quite a bit after the storms.  It’s about 60 degrees today so it’s perfect weather for digging, although it’s a bit windy.  The buttercup squash I direct seeded is sprouting.  I finished filling in the bed on the side of the garden by the compost, the first tomato bed, and most of the second tomato bed.  I was going to do more digging after supper but it’s so windy now I’m afraid something will drop on me.  The plan for tomorrow is to finish filling in the second tomato bed and try to get the other pepper bed & the cucumber bed filled in so we can plant the rest of the stuff that will go in those beds.

The frames are done!

I finished putting together the last of the frames for the raised beds.  Although the stupid wind blew my hair in my face as I was hammering in the last nail and I ended up hammering my finger.  Ouch!

The squash is planted and most of the seedlings are coming up nicely.

Pumpkins

Oregano & Dill

Oregano

Squash & Radishes

Pumpkins & planting boxes

We brought back a bunch of boards from Grand Rapids this weekend and Al helped me cut the rest of them to size.  George had a great idea to use stakes to support the places where the boards need to be joined so they stay in place.  It worked well.

The pumpkins are coming up!

Pumpkins

The last planting box frames

More garden prep & plants sprouting

It finally stopped raining so I was able to finish digging the bed for the broccoli & cauliflower.  I got all of the cauliflower & broccoli planted as well as a couple sage plants and some dill seeds.

The garlic is sprouting now so they must have survived replanting.  The peas seem to be doing well also.  Four of the pumpkin seeds are sprouting!

Back outside after picking up Kaitlyn from school…. Got most of the squash bed filled in.  There are a lot of tree roots near the surface so I’m not digging the pathway down very far.

Onions

 Red onions & white onions are coming up nicely.  It would be nice if the trees would stop dropping so many of these darned helicopter seed things.  It seems like they’re everywhere!

Garlic

The bed where the squash will go

Raised beds & Asparagus

Yesterday I sank wide boards all along the back line of the garden and along the side by the compost bin.  Hopefully that will keep some of the animals from digging their way into the garden.  Of course I twisted my ankle getting out of the garden last night.  Ouch!

Today I finished digging dirt into the planting bed for the asparagus and got the asparagus planted.  I also finished putting the boards along the side of the garden by the compost.

I got most of the bed for the cauliflower & broccoli dug but my ankle & hand are hurting too much to dig any more today.  

More Garden Work

I pulled some more weeds and dug enough to fill the planting boxes for the peppers, pumpkins, the small box next to the pumpkins, and about half of the box where the cauliflower, broccoli & celery will go.  I should be able to plant the broccoli and cauliflower in that box in the next few days.  It’s supposed to rain with possibly severe storms tomorrow and Wednesday, so those probably won’t be planted until Thursday or Friday (whenever the weather allows).

Kaitlyn helped me plant pumpkin seeds in the garden box.  We planted two hills with 4 seeds each.  Once they sprout I’ll thin them to the strongest two per hill.

Progress & Volunteer Plants

Spent most of the day pulling LOTS of weeds, including a whole bunch of dandelions.  Hopefully I got most of the dandelion roots since they had pretty much taken over the area where the onions were last year and the tomato beds are this year.  I thought we had harvested all of the onions last fall, but I discovered 3 onions so I pulled them & we’ll eat them as green onions in the next few days.   I finished putting the box supports in place for the asparagus so I can get that planted in the next few days.

Many of the peas are starting to come up.  As I was pulling weeds in the bed with the oregano I noticed several dill plants coming up that didn’t grow last year.  Since that bed is mostly herbs I’m just leaving them and weeding around them in case my dill that I intentionally plant this year don’t do well.  If they do, then I’ll just have extra dill. J

There are a couple Black Seeded Simpson growing out of the side of one of the planting boxes, but I left them for now.  I’ll harvest them when I put the newspaper and wood chip mulch down.  There were a couple romaine plants growing in the box where I’m putting the pumpkins, but I just pulled those with the weeds.

Peas

Peas

Arugula

Black Seeded Simpson

Oregano

Green onions

Progress

I made lots of progress so far.  The onion plants are planted, seeds for the carrots, peas, beets & various greens are planted.  More progress has been made on filling the frames with soil.

Lots of garden work

We made lots of progress on the garden today.  Al borrowed the wood chipper from Deb & Jim so he's chipping up a bunch of brush.  I'll used the chipped wood as mulch in the garden.

Oregano

Al chipping brush in the wood chipper

Kaitlyn is helping dig soil into the raised beds

Moving the chive plants

Kaitlyn with the chive plants

The first plants in the new raised beds

Kaitlyn helped me move some of the chive plants to the first raised bed so we can finish digging where the chive plants were.

Filling raised beds & seed report

Buttercup Squash

I dug more soil into the planting beds and cleaned up some more.  Kaitlyn is having fun collecting the rocks that I dig up. J  I finished the second bed and started on the third before I was too tired and we had to come in to eat & get ready for Girl Scouts. 

I planted cauliflower, and more habanero & jalapeno peppers, rosemary, sage and marigolds in seed trays.  I moved the seed trays with mostly herbs to the corner by the red onions to make room for the new seed tray.

Several peppers are starting to come up!

The buttercup squash and broccoli are really doing well!

Most of the tomato plants are up now & doing well!

Broccoli & Sage

Tomatoes

Tomatoes

Digging soil into raised beds

I started digging the topsoil from the walkways into the planting beds.  I’m glad it’s so warm so I have plenty of time to work on this because it’s A LOT of work!  I finished the bed closest to Jayne’s yard and got part of the next one done.

Garden plan work

Measured Sean & Melinda’s garden & started on their garden plan.

The buttercup squash is starting to come up!

More seeds are sprouting

Broccoli seedlings

Most of the tomatoes are sprouting now above the fridge.  The broccoli is growing fast and most of the broccoli seeds that hadn’t sprouted a couple days ago are now up.  Most of the basil has sprouted. 

The Gurney’s order came today, well the seed part.  The onions, garlic, rhubarb & asparagus will be shipped when they’re ok to plant.  I won’t have time to plant the cauliflower today, so I’ll do that tomorrow morning.  I’ll bring Sean & Melinda’s part of the order out to them tomorrow and help Sean measure the garden so we can figure out a garden plan for them.

I worked on the frames for more of the planting beds.  Most of them are done now – just 4 left to go and then I can start filling them in when the ground completely thaws.  With the record temperatures we’re having it shouldn’t take too long.  It was in the 70s today!

Since it’s been so warm I thought I should check on the strawberries and sure enough, there are several plants up already.

Just before turning the grow lights off tonight I noticed most of the sage plants are starting to poke through the soil!

More progress on the raised beds

I built more planting bed frames just in time before it started snowing.  We only got a dusting, but it’s much easier doing the garden work without snow. J

Loving this warm weather!

I decided to take advantage of some of the warmer weather and start building the frames for the planting beds.  I’m glad I started early because these are harder work than they look.