How is your garden doing so far?

[vfem]

Wow... it was like 85 today!!! Sunny and gorgeous (in the shade) but no will to work or do much. Then 8pm hit and it was nice and cool and just enough light to say "HEY, lets dig out that raised bed by the fence and fill it with dirt." So we did. Now I'm pooped...

I'll take photos this weekend while its 85 and sunny again!!!! :coolsun

 

[digitS']

HEY, it's only 52, there's a 15 mph breeze, and it wasn't supposed to be this nice.

I didn't make it to the garden but was out there during the snow flurries yesterday. My gardening today amounted to getting flats of onions, leeks, kale, broccoli, and cabbage out to harden off.

DW said, "The onions should be okay outside tonight. Why don't you leave them?" I pointed out that it would NOT do these babies one bit of good to freeze, whether it kills them or no. The greenhouse and tunnel are full but they are tucked away in the carport behind boxes.

Aaaand, its only 7:38 PM. (What a difference 3,000 miles makes .)

Steve

 

[jlmann]

I really need to get some more pictures to post. The last couple of weeks have been rainy then sunny every 2 or 3 days , so the garden is loving it. You guys in the colder zones don't lose heart - spring is on its way!

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi digitS', :happy_flower

My heart goes out to you with all that cold weather still going on. It's just SO FRUSTRATING........!!! Especially when we are all going on about our daily adventures, playing in the dirt It would drive me CRAZY !!!! I worked for a while up in Edmonton, Alberta (as a theatrical designer, doing sets & costumes) & I was often there in the middle of winter so I have a little experience of what it is like. At least you have a greenhouse & a tunnel so you can benefit from the joy of seeing the little bits of green coming through some earth. I think it is so good for our sense of well-being in the dark of winter. I know that is true for me as I suffer from SAD! I try to do things that counteract that At least you will have all those little plants ready to go in once the soil warms up. Do you cover your soil with anything like mulch, black plastic or deep straw to keep it a bit warmer ??

Because I'm only really feeding myself & my chickens (plus a few treats for friends) I can grow all I need in a few raised beds. Mine are edged with double-walled black PVC & they warm up quite fast
once there is a bit of sunshine. I put glass or rigid clear PVC covers on them well before Christmas. this means I can get my broad beans & peas in early. They are about 12" high now & I have covered them with fleece stretched over arches (recycled stuff ). This is to protect them against the high wind we have been having lately & my marauding crew of free-ranging chickens.

Hi vfem, :coolsun

I too have been trying to work in the shade in the last few days as I tend to get overheated in the sun. I've been trying to clear giant brambles & nettles out of an area of the garden where no foot (other than the chickens) has trod for 4 years I was dreading it, but I really enjoyed myself -- I sat on my gardening stool/ kneeler with all my tools around me, suitably dressed, with long sleeves etc. & wearing my favourite gardening hat ( a straw gaucho's hat that I bought in Mexico), looking like a real English eccentric, much to the amusement of my neighbors. I took things very gently but it went much faster than I expected & I have cleared it in two days. Under all this I found 3 more raised beds (filled with nettles of course) but still in good condition. I've got these walls out & tomorrow I will put them together again in the new area with the 3 which are already in use (in fact full to bursting). I'm so pleased with myself I still have to fill the new beds -- I'll use the old soil from them augmented with my lovely matured compost. Then I will grow my potatoes on the old nettle patch. I have some old straw I can mulch them with plus the dried out nettles. I've piled these in the run belonging to my roos -- the ones I don't let free-range. they love to throw them around. It's a perfect place for them to dry out until I mulch with them. The potatoes have already chitted so I'm ready to roll

It's 5am here & the dawn chorus has just started -- I always have been an early riser! It wont be long before I can get going for the day. So I should stop all this chat & have some coffee & a bite to eat.

:coolsun I hope you ALL HAVE A GREAT GARDENING WEEKEND whether inside or out !! :tools :tools :tools :tools :tools :tools :tools :tools :tools :tools

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[beth1966]

I envy you that have such a jump on the season! Really anxious to get our garden planted this year. We didn't have one last year and sorely missed it. We're getting a late start this year. I just had abdominal surgery 2 weeks ago so I'm not allowed to do anything heavy/strenuous yet. I started seeds in the house several weeks ago, though, and have 24 healthy looking tomato plants (6 each of 4 varieties). I told my dad I had enough plants to share some with his wife and my grandma. (Grandma is 90 and SO spry it is unbelievable!). With fencing, we've just split our garden area into 2 halves, each 20'x30'. The chickens are confined to 'their' side, and we'll use the other half for our veggies and herbs. The chickens have had the entire 40'x30' space for the last year. During that time, we've added all of our grass clippings, fall leaves, and soiled chicken bedding as we've given them fresh. They've scratched it all up nicely and made their own 'deposits' to boot! There isn't a weed standing and all we had to do today was rototill the side we're gardening in. It is beautiful, rich soil and I can't want to get my stuff planted!!
Might have DH drive me to the nursery tomorrow so I can at least put in some onion sets.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Oh beth, I know just how you must be feeling after your operation. I had two nasty eye ops a few years ago. I was forbidden to do anything strenuous. I couldn't read or watch TV & had terrible double vision; my sense of balance went completely, & I was pretty helpless. A dear friend gave me a pair of chickens (miniature White Rocks) so at least I had Chicken TV to watch. At the time I wasn't even vaguely keen on birds of any kind but the two of them saved my sanity & I became a chicken devotee!

I didn't have a vegetable garden last year but before that( & now) I used raised beds as it enables me to start earlier. I virtually have two gardens but I haven't got the fence up yet so I erect fences of fleece round each raised beds. It keeps the chickens off the veggies & the insects can't bore holes in them. I keep them on most of the summer as the sun & rain can permeate it. If it gets really baking hot I take the lid off but leave the walls. My main garden is a woodland one -- all very green.

I too am growing lots of tomatoes -- I went a bit crazy at Christmas time when the new nursery catalogues arrived. I've stretched out the sowing of them so I have a succession of them in case something goes wrong & they flop over.

How long does the hospital say it will take before you will be able to move around & do things easily? Or is it up to you to judge it?

You were talking about putting in onions. Have you ever grown Walla-walla ones. I had them a lot while I worked in the US & loved them! I've managed to get some seeds but there is no information on the packet so I suppose I treat them like any other onion grown from seed. Any info gratefully received !!!

I hope you have a good trip to the nursery -- I wonder what else you will be tempted with ?

Take care & have a nice weekend. :happy_flower

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[digitS']

Hattie, I also seem to have that SAD problem. And, I live only at the 48th parallel!

It would probably kill me to face a Winter in Edmonton, that's almost unimaginable . . . :/

And despite the moderating effects on temperatures of the surrounding ocean waters - all of the UK is so darn far north!

Gloomy, dark and cold - even most of the birds have sense enuf to fly South.

. . . but, they're back !

Plastic tunnels (hoopies!) may have to go out all over the place if'n it doesn't warm up a little more. The plant growth in the greenhouse will demand it.

Steve

hardening-off the early Earlies, with my red snow shovel peeking out from the top of the steps:

 

[theOEGBman]

I bought more today! My mom called and told me we were going to get plants, I was shocked!

I got a Chili Rellano pepper, a Green Verde Tomatillo(Never grown these, so why not?), A Sweet 100 tomato for my dad and a Sun Sugar because my grandma said they're amazing!

I'll be planting next week, Im anxious! Flowers, squash, zuchinni, tomatoes, peppers, everything! :tools

 

[SoyBean]

Well I have one huge corn sprout in a pot (I know corn doesn't do well in pots. I just wanted something growing while I waited on my other stuff), one cucumber plant that just grew its first true leaf and the second is on its way. I have 7 radish sprouts, and 4 tomato plants that are doing well. The cabbage seems to be doing well too.

I took pictures with my cell phone, but I'm waiting on a text from my husband to tell me how to get them on the internet.

 

[Purple Strawberry]

Well I have one huge corn sprout in a pot (I know corn doesn't do well in pots. I just wanted something growing while I waited on my other stuff), one cucumber plant that just grew its first true leaf and the second is on its way. I have 7 radish sprouts, and 4 tomato plants that are doing well. The cabbage seems to be doing well too.

I took pictures with my cell phone, but I'm waiting on a text from my husband to tell me how to get them on the internet.

I can't wait to see them