Garden Log

[George the original one]

First salad from our garden this year: baby kale, baby spinach, lettuce, and the daily handful of radishes. Probably won't have another for a few days.

[enigmaT120]

I think George took "A Modest Proposal" a little too seriously.

[jacob]

Yesterday DW pulled up some asparagus that was planted last year thus setting a new personal record in terms of culinary garden fanciness.

The rhubarb is working too. Some of the kale that was covered by a foot of snow actually started back up but it's beginning to bolt already. Also a couple of onions survived. Otherwise, we're clearing stuff out and getting ready to seed. The blueberries (which looked nigh dead last year when we planted them) are waking up. First half of the worms who overwintered in two containers in the basement are back out.

[vexed87]

I planted about 1/8 of my seed potatoes in 2 2x4m beds this weekend, the rest will likely end up in the compost heap. I had too many to plant on my own and I never did get around to getting hold of a rotavator.

I just dug my 4th and perhaps last veggie patch and weeded and prepared my remaining bed for planting/seeds next week as the last frost date is just around the corner. Feels good to get over the inertia of doing nothing in the garden, next year I really ought to invest in building some cold frames and cloches. Maybe I'll experiment with them at the end of the season.

[George the original one]

FROST! Oh, I suppose it's alright. Knew it would be mid-30s last night with a clear sky, but didn't really expect frost. Living in a deep valley, though, one has to expect cold air to collect at the bottom when there is no wind to push it out. And... last average frost date is still a week away.

Greenhouse seems to have protected the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, & watermelon.

[enigmaT120]

It was 32 at my place this morning, but no frost. I live on a ridge.

Cold motorcycle ride to work. Those heated grips are turning me into a big pansy.

[George the original one]

I planted about 1/8 of my seed potatoes in 2 2x4m beds this weekend, the rest will likely end up in the compost heap. I had too many to plant on my own and I never did get around to getting hold of a rotavator.

I just dug my 4th and perhaps last veggie patch and weeded and prepared my remaining bed for planting/seeds next week as the last frost date is just around the corner. Feels good to get over the inertia of doing nothing in the garden, next year I really ought to invest in building some cold frames and cloches. Maybe I'll experiment with them at the end of the season.

For the potatoes, just keep digging and don't worry about the rocks/grass. Let the spuds be crowded. You'll still get some yield. And then you can tidy the bed for next year as things will be looser than they were this year.

I put in 45 row feet of Norland early red potatoes this afternoon. Not quite half of that 25 lb box. Made a beautiful rock-free bed from what used to be a grass infested strawberry bed with blackberry and tree roots poking up through it, scraped & reserved half the dirt/compost mix for future mounding. No, you don't want to know how many man-hours I've got into making that bed...

The rest of that box of reds will probably fit in the space around the greenhouse that's already mostly prepped. Reserved dirt will go on top of the pathways and alternate with layers from compost pile. Can do that tomorrow. Next week will be devoted to finishing the other new bed where the 25 lb box of Golden Yukons will go; rocks & roots have been removed from about 2/3 of it, so have to finish that and then add some compost. Probably skip reserving any dirt and just use compost.

[yes, it's nice to not have to visit a job and then come home to do this in a rush]

[jennypenny]

We are getting rid of two old Ikea twin beds. They are platform-type beds, so we removed the slats on the top that held the mattress and set the frames outside to use as raised beds. Now I'm wondering what's in that mystery material Ikea uses in place of wood and whether there's something hazardous in it that might leach into the soil. Does anyone know? I plan on using the beds for vegetables.

[CECTPA]

I planted one rhubarb yesterday, from a root division shared by my friend.
Bought 2 raspberries, basil, oregano and a lupin from a local greenhouse. I am not crazy about flowers, but I probably need them for the beneficial insects. Not planting them into soil yet and taking inside for nights. Last night was +4C (39.2F).
Days are beautiful, real summer! No frost is expected in the next 2 weeks.
My onions are peeking out and tulips got the buds!

[George the original one]

Now I'm wondering what's in that mystery material Ikea uses in place of wood and whether there's something hazardous in it that might leach into the soil. Does anyone know? I plan on using the beds for vegetables.

I believe particle board & plywood are traditionally made with formaldehyde glues. Don't know whether that leaches or decomposes.

[jennypenny]

Maybe I'll line the beds to keep the soil from touching the 'wood' to be safe.

FYI ... My plants are finally taking off, and the ones from the seed I bought from cmonkey are doing the best by far. I'm not sure what seeds he has left for sale, but I definitely recommend them.

[CECTPA]

Maybe I'll line the beds to keep the soil from touching the 'wood' to be safe.

I would email IKEA about that, they might know the answer

[jennypenny]

Maybe I'll line the beds to keep the soil from touching the 'wood' to be safe.

I would email IKEA about that, they might know the answer

I called them. After finally getting the right person on the line, I got the official corporate speech about how their products are "made with the safest materials possible" and something about the "lowest off-gassing" and blah blah blah. When I explained what I was going to do with the bed, she was momentarily stunned I think, and then asked why I would buy a bed to use in the garden and wasn't it cheaper to build a raised bed with lumber from Home Depot. I tried to explain I was recycling the bed, but got nowhere. It was an entertaining but unproductive phone call.

[jacob]

Still in delay-mode here.

I put half the [red wiggler/compost] worms outside while keeping the other half in the basement as temperature hedge. The rest will go outside in the next few days. No seeds planted yet. However, DW harvested a few asparagus already and the rhubarb is doing well.

[CECTPA]

Hardiness zone 2 update.

Today we started our brand new compost pile. We're doing that for the first time in our lives, so... we'll see.

I planted seeds of 4 varieties of peas, radishes and beets.

I just noticed that my kale is peeking out! So happy!

[Papers of Indenture]

I've got a 4x8 raised bed of Tokyo Bekana starting to pop up.

Over the last 3 weeks i've planted 2 pears, 3 apples, 2 peach, and 1 apricot. Also 2 raspberry bushes and 1 currant bush.

I'm using a very dense planting strategy for the fruit trees combined with summer pruning. Goal is to create bushy, shrub like trees about 4.5 feet tall that will still produce good loads of fruit. I'm using Dave Wilson's "Backyard Orchard Culture" http://www.davewilson.com/home-gardens/ ... rd-culture

[enigmaT120]

Our asparagus all bolted before I even noticed it was up. This is not the first time, sigh.

I'm experimenting with keeping a couple of new trees small. I never heard of Dave Wilson, but I got a book by some lady about the same topic. Too late for most of my orchard, but at least pruning in the summer should cut back on all those endless water sprouts I get! I'll try to shrink the trees down some, but it's too late to make them small.

[George the original one]

Good weather gave the garden a nice growth spurt and I'll be getting two salads this week. Having to water more than I'd like since we're about 1.5"-2" low on rainfall this April. Strawberries and blueberries are setting nicely, looking forward to their months of harvest!

So there I was getting the new bed all ready for potatoes when the filbert trees suddenly arrived. Eeek! No time to dig holes before weekend social activities, so just heeled them into the new bed which means the potatoes planting has been delayed. Playing catchup today, I'm getting the holes dug and then we'll see how much the weather cooperates for the remaining work.

On the other hand, I did plant most of the red norland potatoes before changing direction. Also gave the garden a slightly overdue thorough weeding. And counted the strawberry plants, determining we have at least 140 now.

The auxiliary onion bed, outside the garden's elk fence, is proving the soil is too heavy for onions. I rototilled the unoccupied space today, removed a bunch more rocks in the process, will incorporate compost, and then transplant those onions.

Earliest peas, from Feb 1, still only have blossoms. None of the later plantings have yet blossomed. One of the squash plants died from the frost last week, so I'm now forced to plant more. Way behind on planting more kale and spinach and lettuce, partly due to not knowing where I'd plant them.

[George the original one]

Somebody's been munching on the pea vines... just as I spot a pea pod, the vine disappears! Haven't caught the screwy varmint doing it, but I'm pretty sure I know who is responsible. I did manage to eat one young pea pod before more vines disappeared.

Filbert trees have been planted, though had to steal that freshly rototilled dirt outside the garden elk fence to fill the holes. Now I'll finally plant potatoes in the bed where the trees were heeled in. Maybe today. Possibly. The early red potatoes have emerging shoots.

No appreciable rain in the 10-day forecast and we haven't accumulated any in the past week.

[enigmaT120]

Will you have to water the trees?

Nice bicycling day today.