Archived Posts from Gardening

I have chosen quite a few plants this year that I haven’t grown before now. There is a list of all of the seeds that were planted this year under articles. As usual I planted quite a few tomatoes and peppers but not quite as many as in years past. In years past I have notated the full name of my seedlings on wooden craft sticks. Starting a couple of years ago, I realized that I needed to find a way to limit the time spent labeling plants. I chose to simply use a letter and number sequence for each major grouping of plants. The plant ids are truly random and have not carried from year to year. A pepper this year has a prefix of “O” but last year had a prefix of “P”. At any rate, here are the seeds planted.

My desire to document the progress of the garden always starts out strong and fades. So, the information in the planting list is partial at best. It is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby so I guess I shouldn’t worry about it.

The planting list

Gardening

My father bought some sunflower seeds early in the season. Both of us have been quite excited to plant them but both soon discovered that we had no idea where to plant them. While working in the garden planting other vegetables, I came upon my solution.

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Gardening, Uncategorized

Even doing my best to keep my little seedlings next to the lights, it just isn’t enough. They need sunlight and this is about the time of year I give it to them. I use the back bed of the garden as a holding area. I use simple pvc pipe stuck into the ground on both sides of the bed forming little hoops. Then I cover the hoops with a long sheet of plastic. This works just fine for hardening off the plants. Unfortunately, it also creates quite a bit of work. I try to keep the plants covered partially, part of the time in the beginning so that they don’t get sunburned. I will cover them completely most nights to keep them warm. Gradually I will stop doing both of these things and let them sit out all day and all night until planted.

Strawberries planted last fall are blooming now and the garlic is doing quite well. We planted 6 or 7 different varieties of hardneck garlic last fall. I expect a good crop due to the late frosts last year. Irises transplanted last year are starting to bloom and the top set onions are incredibly healthy.

All in all, the garden is shaping up. The beds still need prepped over the next couple of weeks and I still would like to get some piping for watering the garden as well as a small arbor over the north bed.

Gallery, Gardening