March 16, 2010

Week in review:
Made beds for side yard and filled with purchased topsoil and humus.
T/P strawberry plants
Collected 10 bags of leaves and 3 bags of grass this morning and used some of them and the old side yard open-ended bed to frame and fill a new passive compost heap.
Taped up the top of the green bin and will use it for kitchen scrap compost.
Turned active pile today.
Filled planters for the stair step: purple zinnias, big marigolds and Liliput zinnias. Fourth planter is chives, a golden thyme and a herb to be chosen.
Constructed and planted a Tomato Bag with a Sweet 100.
Weeded paths, put down newspaper, garden bags and the last of the weed block in bare areas and covered with new leaves. What I found when weeding is that the leaves/grass on the paths get trodden into great leaf mold. The new plan: rake cover off paths twice a year and sift for leaf mold. NB: BUILD OR BUY SIFTER.
Lost the weeder somewhere in the new leaf cover, but it will turn up.
Put in nails for twine trellises. Cut boards for green mesh trellises for driveway fence.
De-cluttered porch, swept and sprayed.
NB: DO NOT START T/P's IN POTTING SOIL WITH FOOD. The seedlings are VERY spindly.
Use Jiffy, not Miracle Grow. It was like feeding steroids to Morgan Jane.
Bought a load of dirt at Strong's and will use it to fill in yard and top off beds.

Hot weather vegs are supposed to go in on the 23 rd, but may wait a week. It is still quite cool and damp. Global warming, my foot. It was like this last year, too.
Peas are up.

To-Do:
Plant corn, radishes, lettuce, mesclun, morning glory, moonflower, sweet peas, nasturtiums and other annual flowers.
Finish and hang mesh trellises.
String twine trellises.
Have Ves figure out a yields chart on MSWorks.

Friday, March 5

Took Morgan Jane to Lowe's to pick up more trellis supports: she was not impressed with sitting in the cart while I looked for 1/2" elbow connectors. Found a new publication there: The Urban Farmer and bought a copy to try out, as well as radish seeds and a Patio tomato.
Sis's neighbor had grass in wonderful thick black plastic bags, but I was only able to pick up one.
Also went to Big Lots to price soil and bought a hose that's supposed to spring back into its space-saving shape, but doesn't, really. Hey, it was Big Lots. But they also had the Tomato Bag, which I would like to try. I might be able to construct one- they look very simple. The question would be where to hang it.

Today:
Constructed and set up new trellis. Had to use green plastic mesh as the nylon mesh has disappeared. I'm pretty sure I still had some but can't find it. I did discover that I have three balls of binder twine- it's like tomato paste.
Moved the buddleia planter to the end of Bed 4.
Moved the stair-steps to end of Bed 2, but will move them back if V. objects.
Planted the Patio tomato in the new green plastic tub and put it next to the buddleia.
Layered and watered the compost heap

To Do:
Finish modifications on plastic planters
Buy peat moss, compost, perlite
Construct grids
Work out plan for side yard
String twine trellises for morning glories, moonflowers, nasturtiums
Finish plans for Beds
Put a brace on the stair-steps and paint
Research Tomato Bag

Seeds have sprouted in mini g-h, that's fast!

Tuesday, March 3

And we're back.
Planted so far in Bed 1: lettuce, beets, romaine seedlings, onions and brocolli transplants.
Actually, planted most of that five weeks ago at the end of January and covered the 4x4 section with a plastic drop cloth over bent 1/2" PVC, per Mel's SFG plan. This worked very well, even in out unseasonable snow.

Compost heaps are building. One is the working heap, one is the kitchen waste heap. Took out the bin composter: didn't work well enough for the space it took up. Will probably store bags of soil, peat, etc. in it in the garage. Leaf mold container is up and being filled.

NO hanging plants this year. They are too labor/water intensive for Texas.
Will try containers again on the step-holder. This year will provide better drainage.
Inspected the Garden Box planter at Calloway's but at $70.00 per box, that is too pricey.
As an experiment, I'm drilling some extra-large holes for run-off in the bottom of one of my long plastic planters. Then, I'm drilling holes in some plastic take-out containers, cutting down the sides and placing them upside down in the bottom of the planter, to provide some air space for the roots. This seems to be a key element of the Garden Box. I will see how it works in a mini-me version.

Also experimenting with take-out containers as tiny greenhouses for seedlings, as well as a commercial one from Lowe's. Planted: lettuce, leaf lettuce, squash, cosmos and zinnias.

One goal is to plant pollinator attractors on all three sides of the vegetable beds in the two fence beds and the stair steps.

To do: make new grids.
Make new pipe trellis.

Transplanted: Oregano, rosemary, dill, lemon thyme, German thyme along back fence.
Planted: peas (3), strawberries (2)

Journal March 6

Sunny, windy, hi: 70's

First time in a week I've had time/felt like working in the yard, other than feeding birds and watering.

Picked up mobile butterfly garden plants, one more herb and two tomato plants at Lowe's.

Time to start P/TP the hot weather vegs.

Blessed Bed II and TP two tomatoes: Better Bush and a cherry type.

There are now two peas up in the herb bed.

Moved some pavers in the Bird Area (it needs a better name) to make room for the new bed, and cut down the rosemary, prior to digging it up. It's about 10 years old and we let it grow out of curiosity to see how large it might get. But it's now in the way of a bed and nobody needs that much rosemary. So, good-bye and thanks.

Washed the feeder, watered. First daffodil up in the BA.

Ves mowed and trimmed for the first time this spring.

If Sissy brings the kids by tomorrow, we will plant the butterfly garden.

Journal Feb 14

Cool, partly cloudy. HI: mid-50's
Sis came over with the children and O and Bubs helped me set the bed in place.
We had a little lesson on using a level. It's not perfectly straight, but it's better than the first one.
We carted several loads of dirt to fill in the trenches and the bed.
O helped me rake it smooth. I need to get them a small shovel and hoe or rake.
Made one grid for the new bed. Only need one, as half the bed will be devoted to corn and cowpeas.
Mesclun is just barely up.
Next projects: resetting the pavers in the Bird Garden (its new name), using some of the dirt and moving the bird bath out from under the feeder.

Journal Feb 13

Windy, cool. High mid-60's
V and I put together Bed II and I finished digging it out.
Once it was in place, it needed some additional trench digging on the sides.
Pruned the rose bush and the jasmine and cut back the fennel.
When I picked one of the leather gloves to prune the roses, a copper-colored skink
fell out and scuttled away.

Journal Feb11

Sunny, windy. Hi: 70's
Exciting night last night, with the tornado warning sirens going off and the power going out.
Heavy rainfall- the run-off from the back porch gutter cut a trough through the back yard.
I see a rain barrel in my future. All our premises are fine and the power came back on around daybreak.
T/P: chives, catmint, lemon thyme, two lavenders. Mint to t/p later, in pot. All from Calloway's.
Also bought cowpea seeds and corn seed. No inexpensive rain gauges, though. Try W-M.
Finished digging 3/4 of Bed II.
New book: How We Garden Now from library. Divided into small, medium and large projects that teach all the basics of gardening. One idea she has intrigues me: a sunflower folly. I don't have enough space to do this in the backyard and the front is out, due to street repair. But I might try this in modified format in the Bird Area. A short, medium and tall variety by the front gate, maybe.
I also want to try a no-dig temporary bed idea from MEN's veggie supplement. This is planting directly into cut open bags of topsoil, that are then covered with mulch.
Garden Now has two good trellis ideas, which I might use for the squashes and beans.
Two little skinks on the porch- one tail-less. Want to encourage them for bug-eaters.
Vile nut-grass already sprouting in herb bed. Sprayed it with clove-killer. Really don't want to use Round-up. Will explore other organic remedies.

Journal Feb 10

Partly sunny, rain. Hi: 60's
Dug some more of Bed #2. Need to use the level to set this one straight.