5-24 update

Yesterday (the 24th) I planted lima beans, radishes, turnips, and kohlrabi. I also watered all the non germinated seeds down. I noticed that some of the slo-bolt lettuce is up, but no movement on the scallions or carrots.

growing blueberries link

Here is a good article on growing blueberries.

5-17

Dug the asparagus bed. Piled the sod next to DH's "Barn". Ready for the crowns to show up in the mail!

I do need to add some compost into the bottom-will buy some today (thurs 18th) Also saw that phosporus is supposed to be very vital for the crowns to produce well-we'll see.

Also thinned the little chard sprouts out to one per planting spot (There were about 3 or 4 sprouts at each spot)

5-15 & 16

I spent a lot of my free time the last two days planting out seedlings from my winter sowing. I planted the dwarf petunias all through the middle part of the round bed, then I planted the Candy Tuft at one ft intervals around the edge. My research says these are perennials, and they should be mulched with pine boughs for the winter. We shall see.

I took some of the extra petunias and planted them in the bed near the house. I also totallly weeded the front bed between the trees, and some of the bed near the house (which is full of itty bitty weeds)

I have my nicotania and pinks to plant out in the next day or so. In about a week I'll start hardening off the teddy bear sunflowers, zinnias and veggies.

Also, the tulip foliage is starting to look pretty nasty. I'm going to leave it as long as I can to nourish the bulbs, but then those babies are going to get hacked off at the soil line. The daffodill foliage doesn't look as bad so that will stay even longer.

Gardening Sat 13th May

Made 2 batches of soil mix. Filled 4 cedar 1/2 barrels (used plastic tubs, egg cartons, milk bottles etc as filler for 2/3 of it) 3 long and 2 shorter window boxes, Princess's garden, and the area for the sweetpeas in the front beds.

Mixed compost in with the soil around the base of the clothesline poles. Scratched 1 trowel of compost into every open square in the original Sq Ft garden. Also scratched in compost along the pea row and around the cabbage seedlings.

Mixed compost in with the soil behind the shed (will plant pumpkins there)

Planted out Sweet Pea seedlings from Winter Sowing containers into the front flower beds.

Friend came and took all the rosebushes on the left side of the house (leaving nice area for Blueberry bushes) and most of the Bleeding heart.

Cut edge of left side flower bed, totally weeded, broke up soil and mixed in 1 1/2 bags of compost.

Buried 4 milk jugs in the front bed with 2 pinprick holes as watering jugs.

5/12 Chard Seedlings

Finally, we have germination on the 3 squares of chard I planted out in the garden.

5/10 update

Bought 6 large bags of compost from a local farm yesterday. Then went to Frog Pond Farms and bought more scarlet runner beans, 2 blueberry bushes, and a bunch of veggies to eat.

I was also offered 5 hills of rhubarb from a neighbor. I need to dig some of it up and move it over (now that I have compost to fortify it with). She said that I could wait until fall if I though that moving it now would kill it. I'll probably move some and then leave some growing over at her place to harvest, just in case!!

No sprouting yet on the Chard I planted. I am studiously keeping them moist.

Tied up the Clematis that has started growing on the clothesline posts. I bought those last year and they did NADA! This year they suddenly took an interest in life.

Ordered Slobolt lettuce seed, asparagus crowns, and new zealand spinach seed online last night.

5/4 update

Well, on the 3rd DH and I put the string markers on my two square foot gardens so I could see where the 1 ft squares are.

Yesterday (4th) I planted 3 squares of Chard. I'll probably plant more. I planted them 1 per 2" (6X6 block) in each square. When they are bigger and need to be thinned, I'll take the "thinned" ones and plant them out in the front flower beds. I think that will work better than my orignial idea for Kale since the Chard doesn't bolt.

5/2

Well, between yesterday and today I finally mixed up the soil for the new 4X8 raised bed. It took a 3/4 of a large bale of peat moss, 2 big bags of vermiculite and about 8 bags of compost.

I planted 2 cabbage seedlings that were given to my by the neighbor in the original bed. I also filled 3 more flats with soil. I plan to start Kale and the Scarlet Runner beans tomorrow, as well as to use the new nylon string I bought to mark off my square feet in the gardens.

I need to buy more compost to mix up the soil for the 2 "squash" planters and for the window box planters on the deck that the scarlet runner beans will be planted in.

Still to be figured out are homes for the rubarb, asparagus, blueberries and raspberries that I want to plant this year. I am especially anxious for the asparagus and rubarb as they take a few years to really get goint.