It's raining! Again!

[maidservant]

Well, I've had to substitute teach for the past two days here in NC and the weather was beautiful. Today, I have the day off...but, it's raining. I've gotten all of the veggies that I am planning to start inside already started, I have the garden plotted out, and I just bought straw for the potatoes and mulch yesterday. I just brought home 3 blackberry vines, 1 blueberry bush, and 1 muscadine grape vine from our local 4-H sale. I'm itching for something to do!

Any ideas? I'm in south/central NC, zone 7b. The temps have been in the high 70's until today, and it's in the low-mid 40's and it's raining.

It's not supposed to freeze over the next five days, but it also isn't going to get over 60.

Thanks for helping me pass the tiime and not go crazy in the process!
Emily in NC

 

[vfem]

Hey Emily!

I've already moved my tomatoes out, planted my potatoes, put in sugar snap peas as well. I have 8 blueberry bushes in and I planted a grape vine. I have a bunch of decorative grasses on the deck ready to go too.

If you want to direct sow any seeds, I would go ahead now.

(My tomatoes are covered with milk jugs until the cooler weather passes though!!!)

 

[maidservant]

I was going to plant my potatoes and green peas today, but I don't like getting wet, especially when wet = cold!

I have 7 of my tomatoes in the ground already. I'm testing out the wall-o-water things I found at our discount variety store (a pack of 3 was only $2! I got 12 packs!). My sweet peppers are all in the buckets that they will be staying in, and are currently in our utility room under grow lights. It stays in the upper sixties in there even when it gets down to zero outside. We have a freezer running in there, and I have heat mats that I can turn on if needed to keep the peppers nice and warm.

If it wasn't so wet outside, I have the following that need to be planted (in addition to some things in the garden): 4 raspberry vines (plus some new suckers from our older raspberry vine), 2 plum trees, 1 muscadine vine, 1 blueberry bush, and 3 blackberry vines. Everything but the raspberries are in 1 gallon or larger pots, so they will be ok for a little while longer. I also have a fig tree that has sent up shoots, so now I have about 15 fig trees that need to be seperated from the big one and moved to their own location.

The problem that I'm running into right now is the fact that half of our yard is only 3 ft deep. 3 ft down, you run into bedrock! My parents had all of the dirt for the garden trucked in, and I am hoping to just find some shallow rooted varieties of plants to put on the other end. Where the garden is there is easily 10 ft before you run into bedrock. Still not really enough, but it works.

I could make a list a mile long of things that need to be done around here, but they are all either too expensive for me right now or outside (some fall into both catagories).

One thing that made me smile earlier today: I went to our local Lowes trying to find something (which they were out of), and happened to see that they had their tomato and pepper plants in. Wow. Starting my own tomatoes and peppers in January seemed like a bit much, but my plants are easily twice their size, and very nice and green. Plus mine didn't cost $3.50 each!

On a side note, what herbs grow well from seed? I'm thinking of constructing a few small herb gardens for containers to sell, I just don't know which varieties would be worth trying.

Thanks!
Emily in NC

 

[vfem]

Oh yes.... I went to Home Depot yesterday (where I picked up new pillows for my deck bench, and many new pots in lime green and bright blue) and I saw all their herbs, lettuce, tomatoes and peppers out for sale. People were checking some out while I was there as well!!!!

Plus TONS of trees, grape vines, roses and Jasmine vines! My goodness it feels like spring.

As for herbs I grew Basil and parsely in the house all winter. I'm going to put in some fresh basil seeds in the ground with my tomato beds. I ready they grow well together and the basil increases the tomato flavor as well as keep the tomato caterpillars away.

I bought a huge herb pot for my deck as well... I'll have parsely and basil in it. I would like to add dill or thyme.