The last few weeks of April have been nothing but rain. Overnight our yard has turned into a jungle of sorts, but the sun hasn't came out long enough to dry things up. Good thing I need those grass clippings to use as mulch in my garden!
I've busily been trying to get the garden all in shape. Our last average frost date was April 18th--so I've been trying to get things all planted outside now. I think I only had a handful of days in there, though that I could plant. Last week I originally planned to be my planting week (where I emptied my greenhouse and got most seeds into the ground), but I had company 3 out of the 5 days, and was baking a replica wedding cake for a surprise anniversary party the rest of those days. I managed to plant some on Wednesday night with my Mother-In-Law...but really that was it.
Here is what I've got in the ground:
- Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
- Cimmaron Lettuce
- Arugula
- Spinach (not an heirloom)
- Dwarf Pak Choy (seeds--but haven't sprouted, yet. Hope this rain isn't their death)
- Chinese Kale (seeds. Crossing my fingers for these, too)
- St. Vallery Carrots (Ditto.)
- 5 lbs of Potaotes. We've covered them 5 times now!
- 4 Waltham Broccoli
- 1 measly Cauliflower (out of TONS. I have no idea what happened to the rest of the seeds. This is also not an heirloom)
- Reverend Morrow Longkeeper Tomato (Not sure exactly how many we planted and how many are still living. For one reason or another I know at least 2 have perished since planting outside.)
- Amish Paste Tomato.
- Roma Tomato
- Black Krim Tomato.
- 8 Golden Cal Wonder Peppers
- 40 Strawberry (Neither of the 2 varieties are heirloom)
- Oh yeah--and roughly 150-200 onions (white, yellow, and red)
I have many, many more plants that are dying to be planted, but I don't foresee this happening until mid to late next week because of all of this rain.
I have a few of our permanent gardening beds that still need to be laid out. Unfortunately we wated so long since working up the soil that we have weeds galore. I've weeded alot in between rain showers and let me tell you--that is hard work! I'm really trying to do an organic garden this year, but I admit that Roundup is calling my name right now! Anyone have any organic herbicide and pesticide recipes for me? Alyssa from Keeping The Kingdom First recommended spraying straight vinegar. Anyone have any other suggestions for me?
Quick Gardening Tip: Weed after you've watered your garden or after some rain. The moist soil makes the weeds (root and all) come out so much easier.
How is your garden and seedlings coming?
This post is linked to Garden Club Friday.
10 comments:
wow! that's a lot. You must have a huge yard. Im still working on digging out the patches on mine. It's been so cold and rainy this year. Not to mention the fact we have so much shade there is only 4 to 6 hours of sun in any one spot during the day. So I found 2 where I think they'll get at least 6 hours and then I'm going to plant some in containers.
I found a children's garden plan at bhg .. pumpkins, radishes, strawberries, tomato, marigolds, sunflowers, and morning glories... basically half veggie half flower. It will be pretty The other one will be a pizza garden. I still need to plant seeds but my seedlings that I bought are doing well. I just need to spray something on them because of the bugs. I think a chili pepper recipe of some sort.
I love these gardening posts
we didn't get our yard prepared like we wanted to(husband was in florida from december until last week) so we got some things going in containers. We have tomatoes, bell peppers,carrots, cucumbers, zuchinni, basil, lavender, and pumpkins. We also have a peach tree we purchased last year that looks like it's getting some fruit.
I've never done potatoes, but am so interested to try.
Gardening organically is a bit more work, and I have learned to tolerate a certain level of weeds for the first half of the summer until we finally seem to get ahead of them. I have learned that raking or hoeing once or twice a week (careful not to disrupt the plants you do want to grow) helps cut down on the amount of time spent weeding on my hands and knees.
Also, for bugs and other pests we plant marigold plants that help keep rabbits away (not as good as a fence) and we used Neem Oil (look at a garden/home improvement store). It is an organic-approved oil that you spare on plants to keep harmful bugs away. We had a fair amount of success with it last year.
One more rabbit recipe, we used a mixture of vinegar, hot sauce, and raw egg and sprayed it around plants (like corn and broccoli) that I could not keep the rabbits away from. A lot of it is trial and error because what works in one yard doesn't always work in another.
Good luck with your garden, and staking your claim to the harvest despite the other creatures trying to "help."
~Erin
Wow you certainly do have a huge garden coming along. How fun. Hopefully the weather permits for you to plant and have an amazing garden. Would love to see pics.
I use something organic but can't remember the name of it. I'll go out and look for it later. Even the people that worked at Lowe's hadn't heard of it but they sell it (or they did anyway).
But it won't kill the weeds like Roundup does, it just prevents them from coming back, so do you still want to know?
BTW, I apologize for the weather. Apparently we got your sun and you got our rain. So sorry, my bad!
i prefer the rain to the pollen. rain keeps the pollen from floating around. :D then i dont die of sneezes.
Wow you rock! Maybe someday when I own my own home I'll have a garden too. I'm sure I'll be checking your blog often then! LOL!
Wow, it sounds like you have a huge garden! You're growing a lot of things I've never tried. Of course, this year is only our 2nd garden. Last my lettuce was eaten up by earwigs. It was head lettuce. I'm thinking of trying leaf lettuce this year. You may want to go online to Jerry Baker's website or go check out some of his gardening books from the library. He is a master gardener with a WEALTH of knowledge about natural (and cheap) bug and weed remedies.
I have a couple of questions for you regarding the homemade bread and pizza recipes you listed. 1) What is vital wheat gluten? I looked for it at the supermarket and didn't see it. I was looking around the flour and baking soda area. Is is a powder like flour, cornstarch...? I may have to go to a big chain, but I'd like to know what I'm actually looking for.
2) Do you use regular or rapid rise yeast in your recipes?
Thanks for the help.
Pam
Marigolds will also keep away some bugs. I border my entire garden with Marigolds and green onions (bugs don't like the onions either). Just buy them at the grocery store. Use the tops in the kitchen and plant the bottoms. You will be surprised how much they grow in a week. Clip them back weekly and just freeze until you need it.
Vinegar does work to kill some weeds. I also use an organic bug killer made from orange oil (can't remember the name but I get it at Home Depot).
Try growing the tomatoes in upside down pots.They grow twice as fast! Make your own out of five gallon buckets. Just google the instructions. I planted five in the ground and five in pots. All five in the upside pots are MORE than twice as big already!
Good luck!
oooh I wish we had rain, its already 100+ here and I hope my veggies survize, my watermelon that I planted last week is already dead! I need to find my receipts and for once actually take a dead plant back to home depot!
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