Seed Starting & New Plant Labels

I started parsley, romaine, impatiens, sage, marjoram, and basil. I laminated the rest of the new plant labels.

I talked to Melinda.  I'll start some tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and 1 habanero pepper for them. She had some mixed bell pepper seeds that Roxie gave her so she gave them to me to start.

I went to Menards and picked up two black trays to replace some that were cracked. I also got a package of seed starting containers (72-pack to fill a black tray). They had some seed packets on sale for $.19 so I picked up a packet of buttercrunch lettuce. They didn't have any poblano peppers  Early Girl tomatoes so I'll have to order them from Park Seed if Walmart or Home Depot don't have them.

Parsley

I put parsley seeds in warm water to soak overnight before I plant them.

I talked to Cathy. She doesn't think she'll have time to start many plants so I told her I'd start some for her, especially tomatoes and peppers.

Garden Tip

I found a great tip on the "Gardening Tips and Tricks" Facebook page today. Coffee grounds keep cutworms away. Place them around your corn stalks or vegetable garden. Coffee grounds act as a great fertilizer too. They're acidic though, so be careful not to change your soil ph too much.

Figured it out

I figured out the timer that's built into the new power strip that I bought for the shop lights & plugged the lights in. That way I don't have to remember to turn them on & off every day.

More Seed Starting

Today I started rosemary, red onions, and yellow onions. I put them under the shop lights downstairs. Most experts say to just buy a rosemary plant instead of starting them from seed since they grow so slowly, but I thought I'd give it a try.

2013 Seed Starting

I started celery seeds & put them on top of the fridge to germinate.

Celery started in trays

My new shelves with shop lights

More fall cleanup

I pulled all of the tomato and pepper plants, pulled the plant labels, and stacked the tomato cages and other plant stakes.  I got some of the pumpkin vines cleaned up as well as a whole bunch of weeds.  After the Vikings game is done I plan to go back out and do more cleanup.  It's supposed to be windy but warm tomorrow so whatever cleanup I don't finish today I'll do while Kaitlyn is at school tomorrow.

Strawberry cleanup and raking leaves

Grandma and I pulled the weeds in the strawberry bed while Kaitlyn raked leaves and jumped in them.  When Al finishes his project with the dirt bike he'll grind up some leaves with the leaf blower so I can put them on the strawberries for mulch.

Kaitlyn having fun jumping in the leaves

Harvesting and fall cleanup

Grandma Olive was a big help today in the garden.  After we got home from having lunch at school with Kaitlyn we went out and harvested most of the herbs, the broccoli, celery, beans, and a bunch of arugula.  I didn't think the big pumpkin was ready because it doesn't look completely orange, but when we knocked on it the pumpkin definitely sounds ripe so we cut that off of the vine.  I'll have Al bring the pumpkins into the garage tonight so they don't freeze.  While harvesting the herbs I potted up 3 rosemary plants and a sage plant to keep growing inside over the winter.  We also pulled a whole bunch of weeds to clean up the planting boxes before I turn the soil over before it snows.

Tomato Harvest and fall cleanup

The weather has been so warm I hate to think about the garden season ending.  I thought I better get out and harvest what I can before the weather gets too cold.  I harvested the rest of the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers that were out there.  I'll just ripen the tomatoes downstairs on the bar and can them when they're ready.  The celery and broccoli will be ready to harvest in the next couple days but I'll leave them out for now.  

As I was clearing out all of the squash vines I discovered a radish that I missed when I harvested them.  It seems too woody to eat so I'll throw that in the compost pile.

I had to throw in a couple marigold and petunia pictures.  It's so nice to see these bright colors remain even though there's a lot of brown around the neighborhood.  I've been watering the lawn just so it stays healthy going into the winter.

Celery

Broccoli with side shoots

Radish I missed earlier this season

Marigolds and petunias

Petunia and marigolds

Petunias

Tomatoes harvested to ripen inside

Tomatoes, Peppers & Cucumbers