Three new tomato plants
Basil
Marigolds
all added to the garden.
The seedlings are generally not doing well, nor are the transplanted things (several marigolds and both sets of cucumbers died, the lettuces are not sprouting, the green peppers are stagnant). A few clues as to why: The part of the beds that we didn't work compost into (because there were established plants there) are doing much better than are the parts w/ the compost. We uprooted a dying basil plant to find that most of its roots had been eroded, eaten away. By what? I'm guessing the compost was still too hot (even though it was a commercial prep that advertised itself as being super-duper mild).
Sucks--and kind of pisses me off actually.
The newer things are planted in a buffer zone of potting soil just in case.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
Frozen Thursday
We had to cover the tomatoes and peppers last night because the forecast was for freezing temperatures. Yes, it's May.
Lots of wind recently which is annoying, but the corn, sunflowers, radishes, and some of the lettuce mixes are sprouting. Well, everything is sprouting to some extent except for the beans. So we'll see.
In the past week, we've added bok choi to the garden and lots and lots of marigolds. (At least we know the marigolds will do well.)
Lots of wind recently which is annoying, but the corn, sunflowers, radishes, and some of the lettuce mixes are sprouting. Well, everything is sprouting to some extent except for the beans. So we'll see.
In the past week, we've added bok choi to the garden and lots and lots of marigolds. (At least we know the marigolds will do well.)
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Saturday Again?! (Never Enough Radishes)
I'm wondering what happened to the salad mix seeds we planted. One of about three hundred seeds has sprouted. The rest are probably either non-viable or too deeply planted (my fault). The turnips, radishes, and other lettuce mixes are sprouted at least.
I don't think I mentioned that we also transplanted lemon cuke seedlings, which are struggling in the sad way cuke seedlings do. In the morning they're laying on their sides with their heavy little heads down on the dirt. They perk up with some watering and encouragement, but the same cycle happens again the next day.
Today's run to two nurseries yielded yarrow, 2-4 packs of marigolds, and a 4-pack each of lemon basil and regular old basil. Those will go in among the tomato plants, which is going to be a crowded little garden party considering we already planted marigolds there and seeded the ground with zlata and king bora radishes.
You can never have enough radishes.
I don't think I mentioned that we also transplanted lemon cuke seedlings, which are struggling in the sad way cuke seedlings do. In the morning they're laying on their sides with their heavy little heads down on the dirt. They perk up with some watering and encouragement, but the same cycle happens again the next day.
Today's run to two nurseries yielded yarrow, 2-4 packs of marigolds, and a 4-pack each of lemon basil and regular old basil. Those will go in among the tomato plants, which is going to be a crowded little garden party considering we already planted marigolds there and seeded the ground with zlata and king bora radishes.
You can never have enough radishes.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Friday Night
Planted tomatoes tonight, five of them, and marigolds, and radishes, and ollas. We bought a six pack of bok choi and a little sage. Lots of things sprouting in the garden and on the patio.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Daily Update
Fell close to (or below) freezing last night (was about 33 degrees when I checked around 3 a.m.) so Dave hauled in the tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, chiles, and basil plants. (He did it earlier than 3 a.m. of course.) I brought them back out again in the early afternoon when I watered everything.
In the garden, the red sunflowers, radishes, and a few of the lettuces are sprouting. Turnips, too, I think.
In the garden, the red sunflowers, radishes, and a few of the lettuces are sprouting. Turnips, too, I think.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Sunday Update: We'll See(d)
We've planted 41 pots on the patio, mostly seeds, but a lot of herbs, a few re-pots for overgrown perennials, and some very small amount of color.
The garden is still the same. Over the next week, we'll plant the five tomatoes and a few handfuls of seeds.
The garden is still the same. Over the next week, we'll plant the five tomatoes and a few handfuls of seeds.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Saturday Update
Below freezing temperatures this past week and wind wind wind wind wind. Ugh. Supposed to warm up, but the wind will continue for awhile.
On the patio, the radish and turnips have sprouted, but nothing else. In the garden, nothing! Our four little kale transplants look pretty lonely out there.
Dave's seeds arrived a couple of days ago and he planted some of them tonight while I napped. (Earlier we finally planted all the stocks and snapdragons I bought a couple of weeks ago.)
A visit to AGRA yielded two flats of plants:
Marigolds (2- 6pks) and salvia (4- or 6- pk, can't remember) to plant in the garden.
Five tomato plants.
Nicotiana.
Three kinds of sweet potato vines.
Three kinds of basil.
Oregano.
Thyme.
Sandia yellow hots (4 pk).
Jalapenos (4 pk).
A visit to Home Depot netted us two more bags of mushroom compost and a bag of organic potting soil.
On the patio, the radish and turnips have sprouted, but nothing else. In the garden, nothing! Our four little kale transplants look pretty lonely out there.
Dave's seeds arrived a couple of days ago and he planted some of them tonight while I napped. (Earlier we finally planted all the stocks and snapdragons I bought a couple of weeks ago.)
A visit to AGRA yielded two flats of plants:
Marigolds (2- 6pks) and salvia (4- or 6- pk, can't remember) to plant in the garden.
Five tomato plants.
Nicotiana.
Three kinds of sweet potato vines.
Three kinds of basil.
Oregano.
Thyme.
Sandia yellow hots (4 pk).
Jalapenos (4 pk).
A visit to Home Depot netted us two more bags of mushroom compost and a bag of organic potting soil.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
New Pots on the Patio
New Pots Skulls and desert coral planters, planted with oat grass.
Small red-dotted planter. For--?
White planter.
And a green one.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Sunday's Siren Song
Dave was unable to resist the siren song of bedding plants, so we bought a four-pack of Russian (?) red kale, rosemary, cilantro, and dill. The herbs went into pots and the kale into the garden surrounded by mesclun seeds.
We also planted Indian popcorn which--did you know this? I did not--needs to be planted 4 inches deep or deeper. That seemed wrong ("modern" corn varieties apparently only need to be planted 1 inch deep), so we varied our planting from about 3-4 inches to 1 inch (all within a single hole, so we'll see).
On the patio, along with the herbs, we started some Thai eggplant seeds (which never germinated last year), purslane and, mixed in with the herbs, more salad mix and radishes.
At the bottom of the ziplock bag that serves as our seed storage, there is a mix of god knows what kinds of seeds. I'm tempted to just pour out all our little seeds (not just the mystery mix, but all the seeds) and make seed bombs. Maybe not this year, but next year any seeds that we don't plant this year gets turned into bombs.
Oh--and David was also unable to resist the online seed purveyors after all. We have Mexican sour gherkin cucumbers, Bora King radish, Zlata radish, Boro beet, golden beets, Nelson carrots, Naro Di Toscana (Black Palm) kale, super sugar snap peas.
Tl;dr--
Today we planted:
Garden: Kale and Indian popcorn
Patio: rosemary, cilantro, dill, radish, mesclun mix
We also planted Indian popcorn which--did you know this? I did not--needs to be planted 4 inches deep or deeper. That seemed wrong ("modern" corn varieties apparently only need to be planted 1 inch deep), so we varied our planting from about 3-4 inches to 1 inch (all within a single hole, so we'll see).
On the patio, along with the herbs, we started some Thai eggplant seeds (which never germinated last year), purslane and, mixed in with the herbs, more salad mix and radishes.
At the bottom of the ziplock bag that serves as our seed storage, there is a mix of god knows what kinds of seeds. I'm tempted to just pour out all our little seeds (not just the mystery mix, but all the seeds) and make seed bombs. Maybe not this year, but next year any seeds that we don't plant this year gets turned into bombs.
Oh--and David was also unable to resist the online seed purveyors after all. We have Mexican sour gherkin cucumbers, Bora King radish, Zlata radish, Boro beet, golden beets, Nelson carrots, Naro Di Toscana (Black Palm) kale, super sugar snap peas.
Tl;dr--
Today we planted:
Garden: Kale and Indian popcorn
Patio: rosemary, cilantro, dill, radish, mesclun mix
Saturday, April 13, 2013
In the Morning Sow Your Seeds
Seeds we have on hand as of today, April 13, 2013:
UPDATE:
This morning, we raided our seed stash and planted--
--in the garden:
Pole Beans, lettuces (of all sorts), beets, carrots (both kinds), turnips, kohlrabi, radishes, and three kinds of sunflowers.
--on the patio in pots:
Brussels sprouts, turnips (for greens), mache, Chinese cabbage, red cabbage, radishes, ground cherries, borage, and bush beans
I'm sure I'm forgetting something...
The weather was gorgeous today.
- Early scarlett globe radishes (x3)
- Arugula (x2)
- Purple top white globe turnips
- Mesclun lettuce mix (x2)
- Henderson bush beans (x2)
- Ruby streaks mustard greens
- Edamame
- French breakfast radishes
- Swiss chard
- Borage
- Coriander
- Kentucky wonder pole beans
- Arizona fescue grass
- Blue Lake pole beans
- Water-wise flower mix
- Wheat grass
- Early purple Vienna kohlrabi
- Lemon queen sunflower
- Superschmelz kohlrabi
- Sand lovegrass
- Laurentian rutabaga
- Harris model parsnips
- Straight eight cucumbers
- Miner's lettuce
- Boule d'or turnips
- Indian ricegrass
- Mache
- Oak leaf lettuce blend (x2)
- Salad burnet
- Red orach
- Detroit dark red beets
- Little finger carrots
- Asian carrots
- Red acre cabbage
- Rainbow swiss chard
- Bok choi
- Shiso
- Ground cherry
- Thai eggplant
- Moulin Rouge sunflowers
- Chinese cabbage
- Brussels sprouts
- Green purslane
- Shungiku (edible chrysanthemum)
- Mammoth Russian sunflowers
UPDATE:
This morning, we raided our seed stash and planted--
--in the garden:
Pole Beans, lettuces (of all sorts), beets, carrots (both kinds), turnips, kohlrabi, radishes, and three kinds of sunflowers.
--on the patio in pots:
Brussels sprouts, turnips (for greens), mache, Chinese cabbage, red cabbage, radishes, ground cherries, borage, and bush beans
I'm sure I'm forgetting something...
The weather was gorgeous today.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Wind
Ridiculous wind, sixty miles per hour wind, snow predicted in the mountains. Worst of all: Elm tree seeds.
Weekend Warriors
Sunday we turned another 18 cubic feet of mushroom compost into the garden (15 bags that we bought at Home Depot in the morning and the 3 that we had left over from Saturday morning's purchase). I watered the beds a couple of times and Dave watered the beds a couple of times. The whole thing took about 5 hours (x2 since we both worked on it) spread over 3-4 days. But it's done! The prep work anyway.
Of course the big chain garden centers like Home Depot is selling every plant under the sun, but the local greenhouses (AGRA and Plants of the Southwest) are much more limited in their selections, and that has made us more conservative about our purchases this year. Aside from the snappies and the stocks I bought at AGRA, we have purchased no bedding plants so far. (We still have tons of seeds from last year, though our storage of them has been less than ideal, so I wonder if they're still mostly viable.)
Of course the big chain garden centers like Home Depot is selling every plant under the sun, but the local greenhouses (AGRA and Plants of the Southwest) are much more limited in their selections, and that has made us more conservative about our purchases this year. Aside from the snappies and the stocks I bought at AGRA, we have purchased no bedding plants so far. (We still have tons of seeds from last year, though our storage of them has been less than ideal, so I wonder if they're still mostly viable.)
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Turning Over and Turning Over and Turning Over
Yesterday Kelly and I went down to AGRA greenhouse and practically had to beg the owner to sell us plants. She said it was too early--everything's going to freeze and the wind will get whatever the frost doesn't. It's not that I necessarily disagree with her, but I was a little chagrined to find that apparently my money wasn't as green as I thought it was. We managed to talk her into selling us some snapdragons and stocks. I bought a flat and Kelly bought two flats. They're on the patio now, ready to be planted tomorrow.
Tonight in the garden we finished turning over the shady bed and turned in six more bags of mushroom compost (slightly larger 1.25 cubic feet bags versus the earlier 1 cubic foot bags). We got about 2/3 of the way through turning and composting the sunny bed before we had to break for dinner. All together we've turned in 18 bags of compost (19 cubic feet, if my math skills are holding). Dave would like to double that amount.
Our wish list is simpler this year:
greens
kohlrabi
radishes
carrots
tomatoes
jalapenos
cucumbers
peas
beans
sunflowers
Dave wants to forgo the broccoli, bell peppers, green chile, ground cherries, chard, kale, and corn. We'll see about zucchini. We'll plant basil on the patio where we can keep it shade and verdolagas in pots where we can keep it from spreading like the happy little weed it is.
A few onion slips and salad burnet (sp?) survived the winter in the beds (both the sunny and the shady beds) and parsley overwintered in the sunny bed.
Tonight in the garden we finished turning over the shady bed and turned in six more bags of mushroom compost (slightly larger 1.25 cubic feet bags versus the earlier 1 cubic foot bags). We got about 2/3 of the way through turning and composting the sunny bed before we had to break for dinner. All together we've turned in 18 bags of compost (19 cubic feet, if my math skills are holding). Dave would like to double that amount.
Our wish list is simpler this year:
greens
kohlrabi
radishes
carrots
tomatoes
jalapenos
cucumbers
peas
beans
sunflowers
Dave wants to forgo the broccoli, bell peppers, green chile, ground cherries, chard, kale, and corn. We'll see about zucchini. We'll plant basil on the patio where we can keep it shade and verdolagas in pots where we can keep it from spreading like the happy little weed it is.
A few onion slips and salad burnet (sp?) survived the winter in the beds (both the sunny and the shady beds) and parsley overwintered in the sunny bed.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Off With A Bang!
Time to fire up the garden blog for this year!
Tonight we sat on the patio (our first full meal of the season sitting outside!) and Dave ate pizza (green chile and red onions) and I tucked into some chicken wings. While we ate we looked over some of what's thriving already on the patio (mint, Jerusalem sage, chives, Russian sage, something called a butterfly bush, the cottonwoods newly planted in their new huge pots) and we plotted over the plan for the patio and the garden. We have a trunk that we bought at an estate sale a few years back and I want to turn it into a planter, so we decided to repot our New Mexico sunflowers into it. We have a mountain of empty pots that I'm tempted to plant lettuce and basil and other herby, useful things in--but I know that the minute we hit the garden center I'll head straight for the showy flowering plants. I know it. Also, there must be marigolds and coleus at least.
After dinner we turned over 2/3 of the shady garden bed and then turned in six bags of mushroom compost. Dave wants to add another six to that part and then another perhaps another ten to the last third.
On the patio we planted a wildflower seed mixture that says it thrives in full sun (Ha! Welcome to New Mexico, little seeds!) in the larger bed near the crab apple tree. In the smaller bed I filled in some of the bare patches in our little ten square inch "lawn" with some more seeds. I added mushroom compost to both bits. We planted oat grass in one of our new, studio-made planters. It's ostensibly for the cats, but they've never touched it in the past.
Last weekend we relocated our two little cottonwoods into larger pots and moved them across the patio to avoid their running into the power line that crosses into the casita.
Pre-planting:
And one of the pots they went into:
I need some post-planting shots of the little ones in their new pots, but for now I'll note that they're doing fine. Of course we had to tear up the whole patio layout and smash the pots the cottonwoods were in to get them into their new homes, but that's perfectly all right. A little chaos makes for a fine start to a gardening season!
Tonight we sat on the patio (our first full meal of the season sitting outside!) and Dave ate pizza (green chile and red onions) and I tucked into some chicken wings. While we ate we looked over some of what's thriving already on the patio (mint, Jerusalem sage, chives, Russian sage, something called a butterfly bush, the cottonwoods newly planted in their new huge pots) and we plotted over the plan for the patio and the garden. We have a trunk that we bought at an estate sale a few years back and I want to turn it into a planter, so we decided to repot our New Mexico sunflowers into it. We have a mountain of empty pots that I'm tempted to plant lettuce and basil and other herby, useful things in--but I know that the minute we hit the garden center I'll head straight for the showy flowering plants. I know it. Also, there must be marigolds and coleus at least.
After dinner we turned over 2/3 of the shady garden bed and then turned in six bags of mushroom compost. Dave wants to add another six to that part and then another perhaps another ten to the last third.
On the patio we planted a wildflower seed mixture that says it thrives in full sun (Ha! Welcome to New Mexico, little seeds!) in the larger bed near the crab apple tree. In the smaller bed I filled in some of the bare patches in our little ten square inch "lawn" with some more seeds. I added mushroom compost to both bits. We planted oat grass in one of our new, studio-made planters. It's ostensibly for the cats, but they've never touched it in the past.
Last weekend we relocated our two little cottonwoods into larger pots and moved them across the patio to avoid their running into the power line that crosses into the casita.
Pre-planting:
And one of the pots they went into:
I need some post-planting shots of the little ones in their new pots, but for now I'll note that they're doing fine. Of course we had to tear up the whole patio layout and smash the pots the cottonwoods were in to get them into their new homes, but that's perfectly all right. A little chaos makes for a fine start to a gardening season!
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