garden journal 2014 - seeds and seedlings in the greenhouse

[buckabucka]

Heather, your greenhouse is a lot like my hoop house. I will soon be determining what can be reused and what will need replaced. A "temporary" shelter that has been springing up like a mushroom in the same place during the same months for the last 15 years!

What can you say about your plastic film? Clarity and do you think that makes much difference? Where did you buy it?

You may have more snow after tomorrow night!

Steve

We buy our plastic film online (I'd have to check where DH bought it). 6 ml, some kind of UV protection, anti-drip, lasts 4 years. It was not cheap, but it is definitely lasting. He bought enough to cover the hoop houses twice, to so we won't have to purchase again for 8 years.

 

[journey11]

Wow, I bet those make a breathtaking display when they all bloom! Are they each different colors or the classic purple?

My clump of lilac I inherited when I moved here is over 4 feet wide. I usually forget to prune it, but when I do remember, I like to prune off the spikes just after flowering so that the plant won't waste energy on making seed. (I don't know why it bothers...the seeds don't sprout anyway. ) Red is right though, you want to remove a few of the oldest canes each year to keep the bush vigorous and in fullest bloom. Opening up the center some is good too for airflow. Those young shoots should grow up be your best bloomers a few years from now. But I agree, the older canes have beautiful form when pruned like you've done yours.

My dad has two huge lilac clumps out on the farm that may have been there 50 years (planted by my great-great-grandma). If you just let them go, apparently they are fine with that too. These are way bigger than mine and loaded each year. I usually go cut big bouquets from Dad's and leave mine on display out front. He's not too concerned with them either way.

 

[lesa]

What a lot of progress you have made! I'm sure your pup will be sad he can't have anymore "compost treats"! Maybe he will be calmer, without the caffeine! 90 degrees in the greenhouse...heavenly! Lilacs are one of my all time favs- please post some pics for us when those beauties are in bloom.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Warm sunny day, so i couldnt resist getting out in the greenhouse and plopping some seeds in the soil. My seedlings have been out there on warm days, but we havent had it be warm enough overnight yet, so i bring them back to the house in the evening. They are finally showing some signs of growth!

Seeded some spinach in a bed outside the greenhouse. Inside i planted cabbage (red acre), bok choy, cocozelle zucchini, and delicata squash. I really dont know how the zucchini and squash will do, it seems too early, but what the heck its an experiment. AND more importantly i labeled where i planted everything - trying out a new technique - used container lids as plant markers. Like peanut butter jar lids, etc. if it is just readable for a couple months that's great! Oh, and i planted my snap peas about a week ago, and some are poking through the soil, yay!

 

[NwMtGardener]

Well things are really coming along in the greenhouse! My peas are about 3" tall now, the brussel sprouts are in the ground and doing great.

Surprise! I think the quinoa seeds I put in the ground last fall are sprouting! There are these TINY tiny little seedlings in that bed...it was a brand new bed last year, and was very weed-free, so I don't think its weeds. The other thing that makes me think it's the quinoa is that they're sort of uniformly spaced throughout the bed, not all grouped together as they would be if seeds had fallen off a plant last year. WOOHOO! But...now what to do with those quinoa sprouts I started inside because I didn't think the seed was going to come up outside...hmm!

What else is happening...oh the tulips are SO ready to bloom! There are lots of them this year, and they are just about ready to burst open, I can't wait!!

 

[NwMtGardener]

Got lots of work done in the veggie garden this weekend - sorry, it's too late to take pictures, it's dark now! My tomato, pepper and basil starts look AMAZING, and most are now in the ground. 3 of my tomatoes are in upside down pots. Last week the tulips bloomed like CRAZY, here's a few shots of them:

I spotted this cool flower while birding today, it's new to me! It had a round tough stem, and looked like the flowers had a paper wrapper before they opened, resembled some onion relative sort of...but I forgot to smell it! Haven't looked it up in my books yet, too tired tonight

 

[journey11]

What an unusual mystery flower. I will be curious to hear what it is. I've not seen anything like it around here.

Those tulips are gorgeous!

 

[digitS']

Temperature was in the 30's in your neck of the woods this morning, Heather.

Froze in Cheney, Wa - edge of Palouse Hills/Columbia Basin . . . and a nice little college town

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

Hah, I thought tonight was going to be the cold one!! Good thing I let the soaker hose run all night by accident! :/

I checked the garden quickly this morning, everything looked good!

 

[NwMtGardener]

Well...lots happening in my life lately, so I haven't been on TEG much! But finally getting a chance to breath and have a few extra minutes so I thought I'd fill you in on all these changes, good and bad!

Let's start off with the bad - Many of you remember our foster pup Scooby, well things really went downhill with his joints and muscle strength, so we made the tough decision to say goodbye. About a week later, our little llaso apso Charlie got very ill and disoriented while I was out camping. What was supposed to be a relaxing 4 day vacation for me turned into a trip to the emergency vet, then transfer the next day to the vet I used to work for...where Charlie passed away suddenly. It's likely he suffered a brain hemorrhage, from the signs and symptoms, and there was little to nothing that could be done. So, we went from a 3 dog family to our one lovely Lucy dog in about a week.

In the meantime...our house has been for sale. This past week, things began to move very quickly. We got an offer on our house, and after some negotiation we've accepted, and we're close to having our offer on a different house accepted. Oh, and I started my new full time job this week too. So yeah, things have been a little bit nutty!! We're very excited about the upcoming move - the property we hope to buy is much larger than our little city lot (half acre) and has tons of room for garden - both veggie and ornamental. There are a few things to work with - some evergreen trees, a few tiny aspen planted by the well house, and some decorative rock here and there. The big motivator to move was that we lived far from both of our work, now we're right in between the towns where DH and I work and both have a much shorter commute, plus tons more room - both inside and out! And we're going from a 65+ year old house to a 4 year old house!

I do have things started in the raised bed at our current house...that will end up being the new owners! But I planted some things in pots too, so I'll move those with us. Zucchini, tomatoes and basil are definitely coming. I'm hoping to dig small amounts of my favorite plants from the property too - the persiacaria (sp?) bush, some iris (from family) and maybe the yucca. Anyway, it's somewhat disappointing to think that I won't be able to see how the quinoa turns out (it's blooming already!!) or the brussel sprouts...but I still have seed so I'll be able to plant them next year in my new place! We're thinking the move will be in mid-July, so that gives me lots of time this year to get beds put together for next year, woohoo!