4" soil blocker

OK so I finally got to put the 4" soil blocker that Tommy made me to the test. Best illustrated with pictures, of course.

Here's the blocker. It's an 8 inch length of 4" PVC pipe with some sort of end cap that happens to fit perfectly right inside it. There's a u-shaped bolt that forms a handle and then the nuts that it attaches to on the bottom form sort of "dibbles" for the seeds, 2 per block.















So basically I hold the cap in place, flip the blocker upside down and fill it loosely with my blocking mix.









I carefully set it onto a plastic lid that I'm using as a cover just for me to press onto. You could press onto the table directly if you wanted to.











A closer look at the bottom of the lid, you can see the two bolts that are good sized and form a good size dibble on both sides.









So here is the lid once I have flipped the blocker back on to sit on the plastic lid, I'm getting ready to press.

















Time to press! The handle works great although I will say next one I make will only be 6 inches long (the tube) and I'll just fill it in place... to get a decently compacted block I had to press further than my hand could comfortably reach and so I had to use a towel and a stick to push it in all the way. I think if I made the tube shorter and just filled the whole length with mix I'd end up with the same amount of mix but not so far to press.












And here it is all compacted!


















I carefully slide the tube upwards, leaving the "plunger" top in place sitting right on top of my compressed soil block.

















Using a spatula, I move the block from the plastic lid to it's permanent home in my seed tray.











And then once it is in it's home I lift the top off very carefully and voila!


















And here's a tray almost filled with the blocks. You can sort of see the two indentations on each side that the bolts made, they are a great size for the bigger seeds you will plant in these like melons, pumpkins, etc.

I got cucumbers and melons planted in these, and I also started some marigolds and basil in some of the 2 inch blocks.



Speaking of the 2 inch blocks, one thing I wanted to do was to make the bigger block so I could easily pot up a 2inch block into it. But I found that this design didn't work well for that. I had a 2 inch block but I couldn't seem to get the soil mix compacted enough on the sides of the block. I tried doing it in layers which worked a little bit but then it occurred to me - I'm trying to make this simple, right? It was really just too complicated to make it work so I just took the blocker for what it was, ran to the store down the street for some 18oz keg cups, and potted my tomatoes & peppers up into those. They worked perfectly and were way quicker to fill than making 4 inch soil blocks with 2inch square holes in them :)

Oh I almost forgot - Potato SEEDS.

I forgot to add on that last post that I'm doing an experiment :)

Last year I had gotten some heirloom seed potatoes from Ronniger. They were fingerling types, and 2 different varieties.

To my surprise, they set seed! Ever the curious one, I saved those seeds the same way I would save tomato seed and I am going to grow them this year to see what I get! Depending on who pollinated them they might just be duds but who knows, right? The potato seeds have also sprouted and so I think that will be a fun experiment for me to do this year, we'll see! I never had seen them before but according to my google searches this is a rare thing but it does happen occasionally.

Garden Update - seedlings!

Oh I almost forgot! I need to do an update.

This year I had promised myself I would get a soil blocker, and so I did. I got two actually, one 2" and one .75". I also have put my wonderful designer husband to the task of making me a 4" size, which he is mostly finished crafting out of PVC pipe. The 4" size was just too expensive to buy.

Anyway, the soil blocks are great! They were really easy to make, and I am looking forward to not having containers to deal with. it sure was a lot faster this way! I filled up two trays of blocks and started them a few weeks ago. Within 12 days I had tomato and even pepper sprouts.

Last year I had started my onions indoors but they did not do well at all so I figured maybe this year I should just start them directly outside. if the seeds don't germinate then I can always buy sets... but I'm just trying to figure out the best way. So I planted them outside a few weeks ago, we'll see what happens.

I have a few volunteer garlic plants coming up in last year's patch, I think some of them just didn't quite make it up through the thick mulch and so must have hibernated. I also have a new patch of garlic I planted this spring which is coming up quite nicely. And then I also have a few scallions that overwintered just fine.

As far as seedlings, here's what I have planted:

Tomatoes:
- Great White
- Principe Borghese
- Dad's Sunset
- Tess's Land Race Currant
- Litchi

Peppers:
- Craig's grande Jalapeno
- Purple Jalapeno
- Orange Habanero
- King of the North Sweet Pepper
- Orange Bell
- Sweet red mini stuffer
- Quadrati D'Asti Giallo Sweet

I also planted Thai Yellow Egg eggplant again.

Most of the seedlings are up except the Litchi Tomato, Great White and the King of North pepper (oh, and the eggplant but I remember it taking a long time last year too). Even the habaneros sprouted in about 12 days, it was crazy. All I did was prop up the seed trays with the humidity domes so that the bulbs are almost touching the plastic dome. The tomato seedlings that came up first already have their tiny set of first leaves but they are not leggy this way. They already need to be taken out of the tray to a new one, but the others are so small that I'll need to figure out something because I can't take them all out yet.

The one thing I am very happy about is that the Dad's Sunset was our favorite tomato from last year. It was so tasty and delicious but I never got any seed saved. I thought I had ONE seed left in the packet but then it turned out I had three. And all three germinated, and they were the quickest seeds to germinate! So lucky me, I will have more of them. And you know I will be saving seed from them!

A nice sunny weekend part 2

So as far as the rest of the weekend, this is mainly the part that I wish I had pics for. Both Saturday and Sunday were absolutely beautiful, no jacket needed sunny days. You know, it's funny, I think Eleora remembers gardening with me last year because she just jumped right in helping me.

The garden beds had shrunk quite a bit (of course) and I had put a bunch of leaves on them but needed to top them with compost in the spots I was going to plant garlic and onions. Planting garlic in the spring? Yes, I know, you are supposed to plant it in the fall, but I never got around to it and I have been SO burned out from work in the last 9 months or so that I had had zero energy after I get home or on the weekends to do ANYTHING besides try and stay caught up on dishes and laundry (and even that didn't get done).

So anyway, I was shoveling compost from the pile onto the garden spot where I was going to plant my garlic and of course Eleora immediately came over and got her little mint green trowel and started helping me... it was so cute! She loved watching the "warms" wiggle around in the compost and did a great job helping me plant the garlic cloves. I'd saved a couple of the biggest and fattest bulbs from last year so hopefully we'll do OK. Some of them were already starting to sprout in the bag. I do have a few volunteers from last year, must have been some that didn't quite make it up past the compacted leaf mulch. We'll see how those go!

The compost pile itself was pretty meager... I had stopped composting last year (sniff) because the neighbor's dog just loved to dig around in it (jumping the fence, same dog that left a dead SOMETHING - I think it was a mole - in my garden bed). Said neighbor has now moved out and so I am now free to compost again!

Sunday morning I dug out my box of seeds and the girls immediately zoned in on me. Sophia just had fun shaking the packets of peas to hear them rattle, but Eleora was a pretty intent student. Then we went out afterwards and I spread some potting soil for the onion bed (had run out of compost) and she helped me by carefully placing a seed into each hole. She is a very careful gardener... it's funny because last year she wasn't too much older than Sophia but Fia is just too busy running around and climbing on stuff outside to pay attention to what I am doing :) And that is OK, it's nice for them to be independent so that Tommy and I can do our work outside in the yard.

Last year I followed the instructions for onions which say to start them 6 weeks early indoors. Unfortunately, somehow I went wrong and those starts ended up so spindly. I did NOT do well with onions last year so this year I figured, we've been having amazing weather and a very mild winter overall (only an inch or two of snow!) and so I'll plant some seeds to see what happens. If all else fails, I can just get some sets to plant out in early May.

Then of course I completed my garden plan. This year's garden is more of an experiment than anything. I have a couple different kinds of pumpkin that I want to try out, some Litchi tomatoes, and lots of other fun things. I actually did not technically complete it because I don't know which varieties I'll be planting in all but I have it mostly done. I do have a schedule I made out (I even got a planner specifically for my garden this year) and so I can already tell you that next weekend is when I get to start my tomatoes & peppers! I got a soil blocker set this year so hopefully it won't be too hard for me to master it. I hated using the cups I did last year.

I already made my seed order a few months ago but some of those seeds were for "seed bank storage" and I lost the master inventory list that I made so now I get to go through them AGAIN and then I'll know which varieties I can grow. I think we'll have fun this year though! Probably in September I'll be done working so that will give us harvest time.

I'm also currently rooting some grape starts, Concord and Thompson Seedless. Those will be planted up on our family farm up north in a few months, along with a full complement of fruit trees this fall. I've also got some hardy kiwi seeds that I'll be starting so we'll see what will come of that! OH, and I'm also trying my hand at growing pineapples. One thing I would just LOVE is to have a big greenhouse full of tropicals.

When Tommy and I finalize the design for our home up at the property one of the "musts" is an attached greenhouse/sun room where I can grow small tropicals in pots. Did you know you can grow dwarf mango and avocado trees? I must admit working in the finance industry there are certain things that make me feel we have a not-so-firm footing. Specifically, the financial state of this country makes me concerned about the potential of bringing in food from other places. Sometimes that's good (eat local!) but sometimes that might not be fun, since I absolutely love bananas, mangos, avocados, and lots of other tropicals.

So my answer to that is to grow my own! We'll see :) Really, if I had a small greenhouse I could probably do it... we just need to find a good house plan to modify. And of course to pray that Tommy gets a job up north pretty quick when he's done with school.

And so I guess that's it for this post! Haha... Just wait. I sure can't!

Mother's Day weekend

And what a weekend it was!

I did have to work a half day on Saturday so after I got off work we packed up the kids (OK after they woke up from naps) and went to the 2009 Garden Expo. I wanted to see if I could get my Mother's Day gift there and then maybe pick up a couple blueberry bushes.

They had TONS of cool stuff there. Totally not what I was looking for, though. I think next year I'll have to force my mom to come with me. There were lots of great booths with all kinds of outdoor decor, furniture made from thin saplings, antiques refinished (a FABULOUS potting shelf or two or hundred), tons of plants and veggie starts, etc. It was really fun! Except there was only one place to buy rose bushes and they were like $17 for one small stem (unique ones, though).

So afterwards we went to Big R and I picked out my rosebush :) And for those of you who think it's weird for me to get my own gift... well yeah. This is the first year we've implemented what will become our Dasko family tradition. Every year for mother's day, my dad used to get my mom a fuchsia hanging basket. I like that tradition, but wanted roses instead. T didn't have a chance to get one earlier this week and then when we decided to go to the Expo we just assumed they would be there. Apparently not. So I got a beautiful cream-colored rose with red edges. Similar to my old favorite Double Delight but a different type. I'll put it into a large container and then in a few years when we move to the property I'll plant my roses (at that point there will probably be several) in a permanent spot.

In the garden news, I planted more radishes yesterday with Eleora. She was a great help. I poked holes in the dirt, and gave her one seed at a time to drop in. We did 12 in a square around the outsides of a couple holes where I'll be putting in a tomato plant. I think we planted a total of 36. We'll be rolling in radishes soon! The 2 squares I planted a few weeks ago are coming up strong. Right next to them I have my first batch of spinach coming up. The lettuce is also coming up and the onions are really gaining strength. I do think, however, that I will be getting some starts from the nursery still. The strawberries have put on a ton of new growth.

On Friday, the girls brought home some marigolds potted in cups for Mother's Day. They went into the garden on Sunday. Eleora always talks about "Mama's special flowers" and finally she has some she can call her own! Still haven't seen any sprouts from the other herbs I've planted or my carrots.

The plant starts are still doing well. The Tomatillos are growing so fast, though, I think they are outgrowing their container. Next year I'll plant those a little later. One of them even has a bloom! I have all my starts potted in little 9 or 12oz cups (I can't remember which size). Next year I'll be doing soil blocks so I think it will be easier to keep them in the correct size.

I didn't turn my compost pile... I realized i'm gonna need another container to turn it INTO since I put the bolts on backwards (and therefore can't take the "bin" off the pile while it's standing like I should be able to). So I'm gonna see if I can get another one. It's still nice and warm and I've got lots of coffee grounds waiting to be mixed in.

Watching grass grow...

This morning Tommy came in all excited and said "Hey come look! Come look! My grass is growing!"

A couple weeks ago he spent a lot of time under the spruce tree in our backyard raking up years worth of accumulated pine needles that were choking the soil. It is a pretty much bare spot that would only grow the occasional weed and we wanted it to be grass. So he raked up the needles, replanted some grass seed and raked it in with compost, manure and peat moss. He's been faithfully watering it for a week or 2 and this morning he was so excited to finally see little blades of grass. It seemed like they came out of nowhere although they were in some places an inch long, so I know they have been there for a little bit but we just didn't notice them.

When we came back inside, he remarked that now he knew what it felt like for me showing him all the new sprouts in my garden :)

And in terms of the garden, here's the latest. My radishes (2 squares) are up. I'm going to plant another 2 squares this weekend. One of my potato bins has 2 potatoes showing. Some of my onions are going strong but since I never hardened them off a lot of them have died. I think I'm going to stop by the local nursery tomorrow or whenever I have a chance and get some onion starts. I could go by seed also, since I have plenty left, but I want to get the head start that I would from starts.

My compost bin is heating up! Although I don't think the entire bin is heating up... more like just in the spots where I've been adding my kitchen scraps. I make myself a lot of crudites to take to work for snacks and so I generate quite a bit of fruit and veggie waste. Today it was the peelings and trimmings from 4 large carrots, 4 large stalks of celery, one kiwi, a half a cucumber and the tops from about 6 or 7 large strawberries and 5 radishes. Add to that a banana peel from breakfast, Eleora's leftover toast you've got a good plateful of scraps already, and that's just the morning. We do this every day.

So the other day I went to take out the day's scraps and when I was burying them I noticed HEAT! My first time ever. Of course I was excited and made Tommy come out and see. I even dug a bit around so he could feel the heat and see the steam. The whole pile is definitely not heating up, though. I did see a couple sunken spots where I'd put scraps so I think it's just those localized areas. We'll see.

I've started picking up coffee grounds from the local Starbucks. I don't particularly like their coffee or support the big business enterprise... but as lame as it is, I haven't found one locally owned coffeehouse that is willing to save grounds for their customers. On the other hand, Starbucks even has a bin inside the store where they put them, they have a system set up that makes it easy for us. I've got quite a bit on hand already and will be checking for grounds in the mornings before work, since they are on my way. This weekend I'll turn the compost pile and add all the grounds that I'm able to collect. I know my pile isn't heating up enough just because I don't quite have enough greens... so that's the easiest source for me of a large amount of greens. This morning I got at least a kitchen trash bag size full of grounds, and yesterday I got 2 5-pound coffee bags full of grounds. I'll just keep collecting through the week and by Sunday when I actually do the turning I'm sure I'll have tons. That oughta heat up the pile pretty good and give me some finished compost pretty soon. I've been cold composting since all last year but I am ready to start working on heating it up and getting the right balances. I have a garage full of bagged leaves that I got in the fall (seriously, I have about 25 bags) and so that and the coffeegrounds, veggie scraps, garden waste, etc. will probably allow me to make enough compost this summer to top off the beds this fall.

And as far as my started seeds, my cucumbers. basil and marigolds are up so far. I admit I haven't checked in about 2 days so the other plants might be up also. I've been hardening off my other plants (the wrong way, I might add... I didn't start them as slow as I could have). I plan on planting them outside in the 17th, so they have a good 2 weeks to get used to being outside before being set out. Once all the rest of the plants downstairs germinate I might just let them go outside too. The seeds I have downstairs are 3 types of cukes, marigolds, basil, million dollar melon (I thought I got Charentais but couldn't find them) and also my Jarrahdale pumpkins.

My garlic yesterday was looking a bit yellowed, kinda like Granny's, and so I was thinking I should make some cornmeal tea (that's what you used, right?) but then this morning they looked green and strong. It did rain pretty hard last night so maybe they just needed a drink. I've got most of the hoses cut for my irrigation system, I mostly just now need to put them all together and install it in the garden. That will make it a lot easier to water it. I was going to get it done this weekend but didn't have the time... and really, I figure as long as I can get it in by the time most of my plants will go in (2 weeks) I should be fine. I still have few enough plants that I can water using a watering can at this point.

Potted up today, planted strawberries

Today I had a half day at work with the morning off. Although, to my unfortunate luck, I also had to have a root canal today.

So I dropped the girls off at daycare, then went to a local nursery. I got a couple small houseplant starts that I'd been looking for an 5 strawberry plants. Then I went and spent about 45 minutes at the dentist. I have a very nice dentist and it went pretty well, all things considered.

Then I came home and finished installing my new shop lights, and got everything potted up except the 2 remaining flats of peppers and broccoli. Which, by the way, are so overgrown that they are pushing the humidity domes up. There were some tomatoes that were in toilet paper rolls and also egg cartons. NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT USE EGG CARTONS. They dried out way too fast, didn't have much space for roots, and pretty much all those tomatoes are gone. I transplanted a couple that I'm hoping might make it, but I have mostly doubts. The hard part is that was all the cherry (actually currant) tomatoes. I don't think I have any that survived... we'll see. But I have a TON of paste tomatoes. The tomatillos are actually growing extremely well.

The funny part was this - the tomatoes I'd potted into TP rolls had mushrooms! Yes, real ones. I inoculated the soil mix with a bacteria/fungus mix and obviously those containers provided the right conditions for fruiting because each one had mushrooms in it. They were very cute. Until I buried them when I potted up the 'maters :)

Tomorrow I managed to be able to take half the day off as well and so I'm off at 2 tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get some more done - I really need to get going on those 2 remaining flats and also plant stuff outside! I've been delaying planting outside because I don't have irrigation in place yet. I did find a place online where I could order everything I needed shipped for about $82. This includes the kind of soaker hose with the internal emitters and pretty much everything I need. Still... $82!

The weekend's work

So we went up to the property for the day on Saturday. Actually, a partial day. Eleora threw up a couple times on the way there and I think it wasn't just carsickness, but I think she had what Sophia had earlier this week. She seemed a bit better but lethargic, practically begged to take a nap later on. We ended up just going home around 3 after she woke up. But in the meantime it was great to tromp around on the property! We went around with my dad and brothers looking at the property lines and discussing home sites. Someday soon we'll need to start actually planning instead of discussing!

My garlic is looking fabulous up there! If you remember, last fall I planted a couple cloves of garlic and mulched them with old leaves. They survived and came up quite nicely. A little shorter than my garlic here, but the winter lasts a bit longer up there than it does down here. I'd say the garlic was at least 6-8 inches tall already. You can see in the pictures that it's definitely doing well. I'm just glad deer don't eat garlic! I did plant 5 cloves and only 4 seem to have come up but that's not bad.
I also had a couple bags of really badly sprouted potatoes. Not really good for anything but planting or composting, so I took them up there and Mom will find a place and plant them. Who knows what will come from that!

So then we came home and had a nice quiet evening. Eleora was feeling better on the way home, as indicated by the near-constant "Old Petonald hadda farm, EIEIO" we heard ;) Fia slept the whole way home. Eleora was still not 100% but at least she was feeling better... though it was an early bedtime for both girls. Eleora didn't even want to read books - she asked to go to bed right away. Weird!

Sunday was a really nice day. I took Eleora to Lowe's in the morning and we got some more annuals for my brick planter, some more shop lights with bulbs, a small charcoal BBQ, a timer for the faucet outside, some grass seed to patch the spot under the spruce tree, etc. It was a nice trip for us and we had fun :) I don't usually go to the chain stores, I prefer going to the locally owned Ace or Big R but Lowe's had these bulbs for the shop lights that supposedly have the same spectrum as sunlight. Same price as regular bulbs, I think around $6.75 for 2 of them. So, we'll try those out and see how we do. I have TONS of potting up to do and STILL didn't get my seeding done.

HOWEVER, in spite of the fact I didn't get my direct seeding done, I did get something major done. I wish I could take pictures but the stupid camera... nuff said. Anyway, my biggest issue was that I didn't have dividers for the square feet on my beds. The thing is, my beds are not perfectly square footed, if that's even a term. They are 3.75'x7.5' and so a couple sections are not quite a foot wide. Because of that, I don't want to "eyeball" each section because I KNOW I'd be off. I was trying to think of the best way to get some dividers, and CHEAP.

What I decided to do was this: I measured out my increments on the beds themselves and marked them. I took my biggest drill bit (about 1/3 inch or so) and drilled holes into the beds about a half inch below the top. I then just threaded and wove my string (got a roll of polyester mason's twine at Lowe's for $1.65) through the holes. It looks neat and tidy, and the best thing - it makes it VERY inconvenient for the cat to use the beds as his LITTER BOX. I'll take a photo as soon as I can because it's VERY cool. Now I have all the beds sectioned off, and my half sections are nicely marked as well. My neighbor commented on how organized I am about this. Well... if anything in my life can be organized I guess it could be this!

Other than that, I still have tons of potting up to do but I'm really trying to be relaxed about it. The truth is we do have a pretty long season here so it isn't like NOW OR DIE. It's ok if it takes me longer. It's OK if I have to wait another week or so to plant carrots. My garden will be fine. This is my first one ever, for crying out loud! The point is to have fun with my girls and to grow good food.

I think all this beautiful weather is mellowing me out :) We also did get some more annuals - I got some white impatiens and some purple alyssum to plant in the brick planter, and then we also got some magenta and purple primroses for the side flowerbed. I think the brick planter is pretty full... it's going to be so gorgeous this summer when everything is grown up. Eleora had fun helping me water in the plants. Then we grilled brats for dinner. All in all, it was a really nice day.

The weekend

Well, I didn't get everything done on my list. The kids decided to conspire against us and make it a practically nap-less weekend. Even Sophia fought it. It was really weird.

So... what I did. I made some baby food, although didn't have enough for all week. I did some laundry, I got the flowerbed cleaned up (T and I decimated the blackberry bramble that was trying to take it over) and so hopefully the mums won't have disease this year since all the old growth is cut out. I tried to pull up some of the grass that has a hold of part of it but I think that's a lost cause. It's a shame the bed wasn't maintained, there's a lot of really pretty flowers in there. When we pulled out the bramble we discovered a rosebush that had died. :(

I did get all the purple broccoli potted up and a lot of the cabbage. I got a yard of compost and was able to spread it all. I got my bulb onions transplanted outside and the scallions will be OK to wait another week. Potatoes are planted. I didn't get any of my direct seeding done, though. Still have the regular Waltham broccoli and a little of the green sprouting broccoli that's trying to grow out of the flat and take over the grow rack. It's hard when they are so big because then you break half the seedlings trying to untangle them!

The worst part about it? I can't find my garden plan! I spent all this time making one that took into account shady spots, crop rotation for next year, companion planting, etc. So, I just planted some of my onions in each bed except the one I remember I wanted to put my tomatoes in. We'll see. This morning I laid out a new one and it's waiting for me to redesign it.

Anyway, this weekend was frustrating because I just couldn't seem to get stuff done. And I was going to start running again now that it's light out early enough but I slept through my alarm. I'm just so dog-tired these days. I don't know how moms with young babies are supposed to get back in shape if we're so tired from being UP ALL NIGHT with a teething baby that we can't even wake up on time. Can you tell I'm annoyed? Still need to do a lot of direct seeding and a lot of potting UP. And I realized that I really should have 2 shop lights on each rack instead of 1, especially when I have the bigger cups. So I'll probably be spending more of my allowance this weekend. There's worse things to spend it on, that's for sure :)

One thing I keep telling myself is that I don't have ROOM for all these plants so it's OK if some of the seedlings die. I have 100+ potted up plants. I do plan on selling the extras on craigslist but the thing is, people are going to want herbs and tomato plants... they aren't going to be as excited as I am about french cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli, etc. So it's ok if I let some of those guys go. I still have a flat of peppers that will need transplanting in a week or 2, and a half flat of broccoli & cabbage & eggplant.

Any of you gardeners out there know exactly what I'm deeling...

Busy busy April

Well it's been a doozy last couple weeks, I must say. First off, the weather is FABULOUS. Days like today make me want to take a snooze in a hammock. It's supposed to be 67 tomorrow!

But who can snooze when there's so much work to be done! I spent a lot of time in the yard today, inspecting. Wola and I had a great time yesterday exploring the yard. We discovered violets growing in the lawn, one lone dandelion (which I promptly picked and threw into the street to prevent it from seeding), lots of buds on the trees, and the garlic is coming up VERY well. Lots of maple seedlings, also... but those will be smothered when I get my wood chip mulch down (when I finally get it!). We also dug all the weeds out of the brick planter at the end of the patio, in preparation for either my strawberries or herbs. I still haven't decided what I'm going to put in there.

I potted up all the tomato seedlings and ended up with 73 total! Wow... lol. 4 different varieties and also a couple tomatillos, although I still have to finish potting the rest of those up. I will also NEED to pot up all the broccoli, onions, and cabbage next weekend. I might even try and get it done during the week at some point... some of the cabbage seedlings were falling over even before they have their first true leaves. I think because it's pretty warm there inside the grow rack, especially under a humidity dome.

I might also instead of potting up, just stick the onions right into the ground. Next weekend will be busy. I'll need to get a bunch more compost so I can plant into it especially if I want to get my onions right in, and also I'll be planting my potatoes that I just got this weekend. They are in a flat in my dining room, greening up a bit in preparation for planting. I'm also going to sow carrots, radishes, dill, chives, cilantro and parsley (both the rooted and the regular type).

Then I also have to put together my box for salad mix (it'll be real quick, just 4 - 1x6 boards screwed together in a box shape), fill it with compost and plant! That's a lot of compost. Now that I'm thinking about it, I should just go get a truckload instead of buying bags. I think I'll make some phone calls today and see - I bet it would be cheaper and I could just top off all my beds with any remainder.

And the other thing I'll need to do soon is to arrange for a day off from work so I can work in the garden, like spreading mulch and whatnot. Of course, that assumes I'm able to GET SOME MULCH.

Note to self for next year - only plant similar items in each flat! It's a pain to have a partial flat of mostly tomatoes (which are all going nuts) and eggplant (which have only germinated one so far). Also, I am DEFINITELY doing soil blocks. Transplanting from a solid flat into smaller pots, egg crates, TP tubes, etc. is a pain. Soil blocks will be a lot easier, I'm thinking. I'm going to get one of the teeny size for the initial germination and then probably a 2".

Seeds are up! Woohoo!

I checked this morning and WOOWZA! The tomatoes are reaching for the sky! I see little rootlets on the peppers and onions. Everything else is officially up except I didn't see anything from the eggplant. I can't wait to get pictures!

I think, though, that the dome covers need to be changed somehow. They do a great job of keeping the moisture in, but they make it so I can't put the lights low enough. The tomatoes are a bit leggy (though they don't even have real leaves yet) and while I'm sure they will be fine, it makes me think about next time.

If I can get some sort of clear cover that's flat instead of domed, especially just for starters, then I could put the lights a lot lower. I'd just have to watch them a lot more carefully and make sure that once the sprouts get close to the top of the plastic cover that I change it, either removing it completely or replacing with a dome cover.

And I just got a ship notification that my potatoes have been shipped :) So this should be a busy next couple weeks.

Finished super early seeds yesterday!

So yesterday I had some time off from work which I spent getting all the remaining hardware to suspend my light fixtures (I only have 2 of the 4 up right now). I also went and got some humidity domes and then spent a nice chunk of time planting the rest of my early seeds.

So far I have a whole bunch of tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, eggplant, cabbage and onions planted. Nothing's coming up yet, though. The humidity domes will really help though because the lights sit (literally) right on top of them. They aren't nearly warm enough to melt the plastic, but they warm up the air trapped inside the dome and keep it moist & warm. I can't wait to see what my plants will look like next week! So far no germination from what I did before, although it was all long-germinating stuff like tomatoes & peppers.

I also soaked my sweet pea seeds and I'll be planting them outside today after work. Maybe I'll find some working batteries so I can take a picture! I also will need to find some shade loving annuals like pansies, etc. We'll see how the day goes by. I think I want to add a bunch of vermiculite before I plant because I know myself well enough to know I won't be faithful with watering the flower areas every day. They aren't even in a real pot or container... they are just in a slim ledge thing that was made when the low brick wall was put in around the patio. So it's not very big and will probably dry out pretty quickly. So... I guess I'm on the search for annuals that are drought-resistant and do OK in the shade, since the area is shaded most of the day.

Started seeds!

One of these days I'll get new batteries that WORK for the camera and then we can start posting pics again!

On Sunday Wola and I had fun planting seeds. I planted 2 flats of peppers, some tomatoes, tomatillo, and some eggplant. Wola got a bag of pumpkin seeds and she had a great time planting them and mixing them in with the dirt. We put them under our lights, covered with saran wrap to trap in the moisture and here we go :) Nothing's happened yet, of course. Hopefully this weekend I'll get the rest of my early planting done - broccoli, cabbage, cukes, etc. I might wait a bit for the cukes though since I won't be setting anything out until the end of May. I'll also be doing some herbs, melons and squash soon.

I kinda wanted to do lunar planting but the way things are working out is that I am able to plant when I am able to plant. Maybe next year I can coordinate with the phases and whatnot. Apparently the gravitational pull of the moon makes a difference when you are planting. Next year I am buying a farmer's almanac. In fact, Mom if you are reading this, a farmer's almanac would be a GREAT Christmas present, this way I can plan it all out before I start anything. Next year I'm hoping to start my peppers quite a bit earlier.

I need to get pictures of my grow setup posted - it's so sweet! It's huge powder-coated steel shelf unit, 4 feet wide. So far I have 2 shop lights hung, I still need to get chains and bulbs for the other 2. I've curtained the whole thing with mylar space blankets to reflect the light from the shop lights and to keep in the heat. Peppers especially like it warm for germination and since it's not particularly warm in the basement it's been working pretty well, especially with the saran wrap on top of the soil to trap in the heat and moisture. I think I'll get some humidity domes to help them along but the plastic wrap will do in a pinch until I can get some of those.

I have a garlic sprout! I'm so proud of it. It's the only one up so far, but I did dig a little under the mulch and the others are coming up slowly. The neighbor's dog apparently did a little digging in my garden beds this winter looking for mice that I think nested in the mulch but I don't think he disturbed any of the garlic. I'm not going to be a happy camper if he digs up my plants after I plant them... my neighbor is a very nice guy though and so I'm sure he would be nice about it if I had to ask him to keep his dog in the yard.

That's all for today!

More work on the seed starting...

I've REALLY got to get this going! Big R hasn't gotten the fluroescent tubes back into stock yet so next weekend I'll have to go get some at Ace Hardware.

Yesterday Wola and I went downstairs into the basement to mix up our seed starting medium. Tommy lugged the (soaked) bale of peat, the 2 bags of compost and my vermiculite downstairs so we could work on it right away. I had a rubbermaid bin that I was going to use for the mix... so I cut open the bale of peat and we started scooping!


Saturday we'd made a trip to Target and I found some cool kids gardening stuff! I ended up getting Wola the cutest little cow print mud boots. The boots have eyes and they even have little tails in the back. I also got her a kid-size little red trowel.

So anyway, we scooped peat moss from the bale into the bin using our trowels. We filled the bin about a quarter full of the peat moss, making a "mig meth (big mess)" in the process. Then I dumped half a bag of compost and the little bag of vermiculite in. Then I added in the mycelium inoculant and also the bacterial inoculant I'd gotten from Gardens Alive. Mixed it all together with our trowels (Eleora had fun trying to put the mix back into the peat bale, but I tried to make sure most of the mix stayed in the bin), added a little water to moisten it a bit more.

Then we decided that we were "all deerty" enough so we went upstairs and cleaned up a bit. Now we have our mix prepped and moistened, I'm sure the bacteria and whatnot are growing away. I'll start planting next weekend, hopefully, provided I can get my light bulbs on time.

My grow rack

Well we've got things going underway now. I bought a nice sturdy rack at Costco for under $70. It's got 5 shelves and is super heavy, made from powder-coated steel. THe assembly was actually pretty simple. I realized that I could theoretically fit 2 shop lights on each rack if I wanted to. I have 4 right now, I might double them up and see how it does.

Tommy picked me up 8 plastic flats and 5 space blankets. I'm going to wrap the space blankets around the rack, leaving a "curtain" at the front that I can open and close at will. This will reflect the light and also trap in the heat. We've situated it pretty close to the furnace and so I'm hoping that the trapped warmth will eliminate the need for any warming mats in order to germinate my tomatoes and especially peppers.

Other than that, I've got my seed order and my seed starting ingredients. And I got a nice pretty green wheelbarrow to mix it all in, though I might just end up using plastic bins in the basement since I think that would be easier. I bought a bunch of peat moss, some vermiculite, and a couple bags of organic compost. I also have my mycogrow mycelium inoculant, and some different inoculant from Gardens Alive. I'm also planning on separating out my earthworm castings from my worm bins and using all of that. I've got some bags of dry, shredded leaves in the garage that I'll mix in as well. I'm trying to find a source of a larger amount of vermiculite but I'll have to settle for the small bag I got at Lowe's. I'm hoping that when the nurseries open up in a few weeks that I'll be able to buy larger quantities of vermiculite. Or maybe when Big R opens their lawn & garden shop for the season... I'll have to call them and see when that will be.

Other than that, I need to keep folding my newspaper pots!