The Road Home

The Road Home
There is no place like home.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Working in the Garden

Once the gardening season starts, there is always more work to be done. It is a never ending activity until the frosts of late fall bring it to an end sometime in November...maybe. When I read other blogs and some of the comments, it's hard for me to imagine still having snow on the ground and having to wait until June to plant. By the middle of February, I am ready to play in the dirt and get things going. Here is a run down on our latest activities.




Earlier in the week we planted more onions, then we got the last of them in today.




Even though the carrots are not growing as good as they did last year, we went ahead and planted them by the peas as well. Even though the peas are growing, we feel they should be doing more than they are. We will see.




The potatoes are coming up and look great.

 






The beets are growing and look pretty good.



This afternoon we got out the pots we had made and filled all 220 of them. Here is a list of the seeds we planted. Some of these varieties we have tried before and some we have not.


  • Romano Italian green beans (very good pole beans)
  • Dr. Jaeger's Cantaloupe (new variety)
  • Early Cluster Cucumbers (new variety)
  • Swiss Chard Fordhook Giant (new variety)
  • Oakleaf Lettuce (new variety)
  • Summertime Lettuce (new variety)
  • Tendercrisp Celery
  • Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach (new variety)
  • Earliana Cabbage
  • Early Jersy Wakefield Cabbage (new variety)
  • Premium Crop Hybrid Broccoli (the only hybrid we grow)
  • Early Golden Yellow Crookneck Squash
  • Large Smooth Prague Celeriac (new variety)
  • Red Russian Kale



The tomato and pepper seedlings are doing very well. We will begin to harden them off out on the porch after the cool nights expected this week pass. Then we will plant them in the garden in a few weeks after it warms up a little more.




Even though April 1st is our last average frost, we are still having some cool nights. Once these seedlings are up and hardened off, our gardening season will be in full swing. It's a very busy time of year, but one of our favorites. We will still be trying to tuck in some projects in between all of the regular chores that come with everyday life at our homestead. Life is good.

Until next time - Fern
 

6 comments:

  1. I envy your seed planting/growing area! Once we get present building projects finished here, I hope to have a place to do the same.

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    1. Leigh, we have tucked working spaces in everywhere. What started out as a regular porch has turned into another great work space. Now I don't have to worry about making such a big mess in the house when I plant seeds. Our small growing area in the house is 1 x 12 boards set across our dressers and stacked up on storage totes in front of a south window. It may sound and look a little funny, but it works great. It has been the 'birth' place of many vegetables eaten at our table. Life is good and we are blessed.

      Fern

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  2. Your seedlings, both inside and out, look terrific.
    One question - do you start with new seeds each year or use seeds left from last year?

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    1. Thanks, Bellen. Somehow I still feel like I am way behind since I didn't get things started as soon as I would like, but most people are just now getting started with their gardens around here. Not many people I know grow their own seedlings, though.

      I use a little of everything. Many of the seeds I planted this year I bought this year. Some were left from last year and a few are about 3-4 years old. Sometimes I like to experiment with older seeds to see if they are still viable, I just plant more of them since I expect the germination rate to be lower.

      Fern

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  3. We got our potatoes into buckets yesterday. It is a simple method to get Irish potatoes when you have very limited space. Your potato plant looks awesome! Well all your garden has that wonderful look of POTENTIAL! It is interesting how every year is a bit different. God Bless you both.

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    1. Good for you, Fiona. It's funny you think of the empty dirt as potential. So do I. I tell Frank when we have a freshly turned garden that I can just see all of that food growing out there. Then I see all of the jars full of yummy things to eat. What a great life!

      Fern

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