Well, my tomato's and pepper plants are off to a good start, well, at least they were Last weekend we had temps in the 60's so I put the seedlings outside to enjoy the sun. Got busy and totally forgot them outside over night. Temps hovered right at freezing. Lost about 1/2 of the tomatoes. Oh well, life goes on, started new seeds to replace the ones that died. With my wife's help I added another 4x8 and a 2x8 raised bed. The 2x8 is next to the fence and I intend to add a trellis or other lattice type system to it for some climbing veggies. I'll be adding one more 4x8 bed this weekend. The 4x8 last weekend was filled with compost that I made. Twice a week my employer has a "healthy lunch" which usually consists of a salad and other veggies. Last year I noticed the spoiled and bad scraps were just tossed in the trash. I asked the ladies to start saving them for me. Really helps keep the compost bins full and humming along. This weekend I'll be finishing the last 4x8 and topping all beds with a layer of wood chips.
Our ground is so saturated with moisture and the temps are still dipping into the mid 30's that not much is being done right now with my garden. Looking to expand it and may start that this weekend if the weather holds..... might have a dusting of snow in the forecast.
Yeah, we are 20-30* below normal right now. Had 22* this morning, so much for "global warming". Supposed to be near normal temps this weekend, but with cloud cover. Perfect for some yard work!
That spate of warm temperatures also had me pulling out the seeds. Luckily, I put everything in containers, so for the time being, I'm dragging the containers in and out of the house, onto the back deck, as the temperatures rise and fall. I hope to get everything transplanted into beds by next month. So far, I've got some onions, carrots, potatoes, and one lonely tomato plant, coming up; as well as a bunch of greens - lettuce, kale, cress, etc. I'm keeping the greens in the containers this year, in an effort to save more of them. Bugs about wiped me out last year. I'd get busy and two or three days would pass before I got back to my beds, and an entire small crop of greens would be gone. I'm hoping that if I keep them in containers this year, I might actually be able to eat as well as the bugs have been eating.
@tulianr pretty much everything is still inside at this point. Funny, my last frost date used to be mid-March every year. I just looked and now the farmers almanac is saying first week of april. So if we were in global warming, would my last frost come earlier, not later? If we hit 60* this weekend the plants will be outside, but will still come in for the night.
Odd temperature fluctuations are making gardening a little more interesting these days; and coping with more uncertainty in that regard has been greatly on my mind. I can believe that parts of the world are getting warmer, due to the ice breaking up in the Arctic, and the unusually warm temperatures that we've been seeing around here over the past couple of winters. The people who claim to know something about climate change say that the warming won't result in a consistent increase in temperatures world wide; but rather in radical shifts in temperatures and climate patterns. That would describe what we're seeing where I'm at - one week, temperatures at night in the fifties, and the next week in the twenties. Even though I got an early start this year, by any normal standard, it is still causing a lot of dragging in and out of containers. So far, the wife has been understanding about my traveling garden; but spring is on the way, and I know she'll have chicks of some variety in my basement before long, and I'll be understanding about that. Last year, it was Guinea keets, and they got loose. Catching them, in amongst the boxes and and other basement flotsam was all kinds of fun.
Just returned from Tractor Supply. I have my answer as to what will be temporarily inhabiting my basement this year - Ducks; eight little fuzzy cheeping ducks.
Now if I could get my wife to let me keep chickens... We have an unused swing set from the kids, I envision something like this: The girls have new home… | Jojochooks's Blog but on wheels so I could move it around the yard.
That is an excellent idea. I would have never thought of that. I just donated an old swing set to the local thrift store. I wish I was better at out-of-the-box thinking.
@tulianr , not my original idea. I saw a posting on FB (yes, there are some good things about that place). Got my TowerGarden yesterday. Set it up last night and started the seeds. I'll wait to add the water until the first plants are ready to go in the tower. Since the weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow, I'll be picking up 3 cubic yards of mulch for around the house and in the garden.
You could hang a sheet of viswuene plastic over that fence, and give that bed a quick greenhouse effect. Might give those seedling an edge.
@kellory , yes, i have used plastic sheeting in the past. Right now I'm still moving them out on nice days. Since we are under another "winter storm warning", I'm glad I have nothing planted yet. Calling for 1/2" - 1" of sleet/ice tonight. wonderful! Yesterday I finished the 4th 4x8 bed and got wood chips/mulch on all beds. Got a total of 2 cubic yards of much/wood chips and 1 cubic yard of soil. Made for a long day of hauling the wheelbarrow around, but well worth it.
Plants are doing well, transferred the first bunch to the tower garden yesterday. I will start hardening off the tomatoes this weekend. Got some cold hardy veggies to get planted this weekend as well.
