Winter garden update

            Well another year with the winter garden.  This makes year two.  Over all I’m not sure if it was better or worse then last year.  It was planned a little bit better.  My plants were all started from seed and we had a good variety going.  However, a nice little caterpillar decided to take up home in my tomatoes so the little bugger ate all my tomato leaves and blossoms so that never really ever recovered.  Otherwise I really would have been in AWESOME shape for the winter with at least cherry tomatoes.  We had fresh peppers all the way until Christmas this year which was fantastic.  The herbs still need a little work, but maybe this year.  This biggest thing that killed us this year was actually the wood stove.  What we thought would be fantastic for the heat that it would give off but it ended up being our downside this year only because we didn’t keep up with the watering.  Great news is that now we know that the water reserves that were our down fall last year might well be the best thing ever come next year when we go for try number three.  We’ll be starting it up early this year.  Once everything else is in we’ll get it going for next year and make sure all the herbs are nice and happy by the time august comes around.  Live and learn and I am bound and determine to get this right yet. 

Update: So knowing that this has sat for a while it's time to let everyone know that the new and improved can be found over at www.gardeningfoodies.com I've learned a lot over the years and I'm super excited to share that with everyone.  So come check us out and see what we now have in store for you.  A lot of food, a little bit of bon COOK business and a sprinkling of gardening to bring everything together.  Or just check out our growing community over at www.gardeningfoodies.com/fbgroup Can't wait to see you there and catch up.  

Surprise Vacation

Well another weekend has gone by and I haven’t even touched dirt.  A last minute vacation or at least last minute booking whisked me away to see family while my husband works.  The great thing I get two weeks off with a whole lot of nothing.  I have been able to spend mornings walking and trying to get myself back into some sort of shape while enjoying afternoons on the beach, and I’ve actually read one whole book already.  The downside, it’s actually killing me to not be able to play in the dirt at such a critical time of the year.  My friends are getting theirs all set, but the most I’ve been able to do is play with some new programs to get an idea of how much I should be planting.  Now don’t get me wrong it’s been pretty fun to see the different layouts I can do, but of course I left my graph paper at home so I can only really do things on line for right now, but it’s been neat to see how the different programs work (more on that later).  I actually have someone plant sitting for me this time.  Still hoping my lemons hold on for me. 

I don’t come back until late Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to be able to do too much that weekend while I try to adjust back to the east coast time.  What’s worse is even the next weekend I’m booked, NH Saturday and then Comstock Ferre Festival on Sunday.  So in the meantime I’ll be enjoying some more sun and waves crossing my fingers that everything holds on at home.  I threw in the vine seeds right before we left so they should be HUGE by the time we get back. 

Update: So knowing that this has sat for a while it's time to let everyone know that the new and improved can be found over at www.gardeningfoodies.com I've learned a lot over the years and I'm super excited to share that with everyone.  So come check us out and see what we now have in store for you.  A lot of food, a little bit of bon COOK business and a sprinkling of gardening to bring everything together.  Or just check out our growing community over at www.gardeningfoodies.com/fbgroup Can't wait to see you there and catch up.  

Seeding starting 2012 update

            So spring hit especially early this year.  Or at least if you want to call it spring.  I can’t remember ever having 90 in March.  We usually open our pool in April as soon as tax season ends so that we’ve got it open for the first 80 degree day.  Only this year Mother Nature decided to throw us for a loop.  March is a little early for the pool even for me.  I don’t use heat mats on my seeds so sometimes it takes a little longer.  I’m also really good at not conditioning my sprouts.  I’ll start them inside and then just throw them to the wolves.  Typically my seedlings go straight from inside to the garden.  It’s not like I don’t know they should have some time to readjust, but frankly there’s just too many of them.  We can get frost all the way until mid may here, and with them going in the ground for Memorial Day typically I never get around it moving them.  Well this year I decided to try to take advantage of the extra warm weather that we were getting and moved them all out to the driveway so that they could get all the extra heat from the black top. 

            Two problems with this.  1. Way more watering then I’m use to so oops some of them dried out way too much (tomatoes took a hit so they got reseeded).  2. Still early in the season so a couple nights it dropped down into the 30’s.  Well in the fall when that happens I just throw a sheet over the plants and they’re just fine.  Not so much in the spring.  I throw a sheet over them and the first night it was just fine.  The second time it dipped through the entire sheet was frozen straight through to the plants.  Some of the peppers didn’t like that too much.  So a bunch of those got reseeded this year.  Unfortunately I missed the fact that the ghost peppers were out there and they accidentally got left outside.  I had a few seeds left over so that I reseeded with what I had. 

            So not only has it been the weirdest weather ever I’ve decided to go back to what works for me.  Those seeds are staying nice and warm inside until after mid may.  Then they’ll go out on the table in back for a week or two before going to the garden.  It might not be perfect, but at least it’s been working for me.  I’ll get this right eventually. 

Update: So knowing that this has sat for a while it's time to let everyone know that the new and improved can be found over at www.gardeningfoodies.com I've learned a lot over the years and I'm super excited to share that with everyone.  So come check us out and see what we now have in store for you.  A lot of food, a little bit of bon COOK business and a sprinkling of gardening to bring everything together.  Or just check out our growing community over at www.gardeningfoodies.com/fbgroup Can't wait to see you there and catch up.  

My lemon tree

When we bought our house i knew I wanted to get as much as I could in the way of edibles in.  I've always had an knack for doing things people say I can't do.  I also had a goal of eating my way around our yard.  So far the skeleton is in the works for that.  But honestly none of that would be complete without tropicals.  I love my oranges and I love Lemons and Limes.  So back in 2009 I got a lovely set of 4 citrus plants.  I had to wait because I went to order them too late in 2008.  So I got a Lemon, Tangerine, Key Lime and Orange.  Well so far the only one that has done anything (other then leaves) is the lemon.  I did just find out they like to be root bound before they bloom and put out fruit.  I put mine in HUGE pots for the plant size, but I didn't want to replant them for a while.  I'll find out this spring how the others are doing seeing as how they all need a little extra dirt and such. 

Last winter the lemon tree bloomed, but I didn't get an fruit.  So this year every morning I took my fingers and passed around the pollen hoping that this would be the year.  Every flower I found that was open I played with.  And this year it paid off.  I've also been watering it just a little every morning so that it doesn't try out and drop the fruit.  So far so good.  I've managed to get  8 fruits and they've been hanging on for over a month.  New record for me.  Now the trick will be can I keep them on it long enough to actually ripen. 

I'll try to contain my excitement for fear of disappointment. 

Update: So knowing that this has sat for a while it's time to let everyone know that the new and improved can be found over at www.gardeningfoodies.com I've learned a lot over the years and I'm super excited to share that with everyone.  So come check us out and see what we now have in store for you.  A lot of food, a little bit of bon COOK business and a sprinkling of gardening to bring everything together.  Or just check out our growing community over at www.gardeningfoodies.com/fbgroup Can't wait to see you there and catch up.  

It's been over a month and they're still there.  8 in total. 

Lemon

This is my absolute favorite picture of the blosoms.  It was actually my phone background for a while.

Seed starting 2012

Over the last few years I've been trying to move towards starting more and more of my own plants. And for the most part I've been pretty successful. Especially after switching to the aps units from gardener supply. Those have been a life saver. Of course they only work when you keep water in the bottom. With the unseasonably warm weather we've been having I may have let mine dry out a little too much this year. Oops I'll be trying some extra tomatoes this year just in case.

This year I'm also making the switch to mostly open pollinated varieties that I can keep from year to year. I was especially excited after getting some tomato seeds for the first time. It's amazing how just getting the how to makes all the difference in the world. So between the extra confidence I've gained and finding out that good old Monsanto actually owns most of the varieties you see on the stores I've taken the leap. Crossing my fingers it works out.

Update: So knowing that this has sat for a while it's time to let everyone know that the new and improved can be found over at www.gardeningfoodies.com I've learned a lot over the years and I'm super excited to share that with everyone.  So come check us out and see what we now have in store for you.  A lot of food, a little bit of bon COOK business and a sprinkling of gardening to bring everything together.  Or just check out our growing community over at www.gardeningfoodies.com/fbgroup Can't wait to see you there and catch up.

Orange Okra

I moved all my seeds outside to enjoy the warmth of the driveway.  Too bad mother nature decided it was too early. 

Moved all the tomatoes and pepers inside after mother nature decided to give us another good freeze.  Most of the tomatoes got a little too dry so they all got another round of seeds

The winter garden didn't do so well this year wit the catipillar eating everything so I deicided to pull it all up and put the space to better use.  Worked out pretty well.  Not sure what I'll do next year though. 

I'm like a little kid at christmas waiting for the seedlings to pop up.  Doesn't matter how many times I do it it just never seems to get old.