I find it rather boring to blog if I don't have a colorful picture to talk about. So, here is a photo of my lovely vintage general store seed box and some of my favorite garden themed collectibles. The seed box sits on top of my pie safe and that's where I keep all my seed packets from year to year, so I've been in and out of it daily this week.
I had in my mind that April 1st was plenty of time to start Peppers and Eggplants, with Tomatoes Mid-April, and then I read my blog from last year to find I am now two weeks behind. I guess this means hibernation is over. March was rather dismal this year. No warm temperatures or Spring rains. Just cold and snow, but finally the sun has come out. The daytime temps are still hovering around 40, but the ground is firm enough to walk on.
We spent last Sunday raking and tidying up the yard. There are still a few oak leaves lurking about, but the sticks are rounded up, the beds are tidy and the driveway has been raked and gravel added where needed. We had A LOT of mole damage in the lawn, so I will be setting a lot of mole traps.
This past weekend I planted some lettuce and chard directly in the garden. I used my home made version of this gardening grid that I had neighbor Mike fabricate for me out of shop scrap.
The rhubarb is up.
Mike and Shelly's Parsnips left in last fall are being dug, along with a few carrots. My seed orders are beginning to arrive. Time to get a flat of peppers and eggplants started. This year I decided to try something a bit different. Usually I plant directly into individual pots, but that means I am skipping one transplanting step and I could be getting my tomatoes planted a bit deeper and giving them a chance to develop a better root system. So this time I started with a flat of seed starting mix and no pots.
It can be hard to get the mix to absorb water. I solved this by slitting open the bag, adding hot water, and letting it sit over night. Then I glopped the damp mix into the flat and squished it around. There is a lot of extra room in this flat! When the seedlings are large enough to be transplanted into individual pots, I'll reuse the mix for some other potting project.
So right now I only have one flat of gardening going. By next week there will be two flats, lights, timers, the works.
1. Your rhubarb made my mouth water *instantly* for rhubarb pie for which I have had a lifelong deep infatuation !
ReplyDelete2. Just think of the extra two weeks as insurance against a very late frost ! If I lived slightly closer, you could think those thoughts...even out loud if you wish... while the rhubarb pie was cooling ! :)