Gardening

[cineater]

How the hell did the ground hog see its shadow with this weather?  Good news though, we could use a good ground soaking.

[pilferk]

We are starting to plan!  Starts in probably 3 or 4 weeks in the greenhouse.  Though, honestly, kale and lettuce have been going strong in there all fall/winter.  It's nice to have fresh leafy greens (and radishes!!) year round!

Cutting out the corn this year.  We got a bunch last year, but the space we have is really too small to make the commitment in space and resources worthwhile. We can get ears, from our local farm, from about .75 to $1 an ear.  I can use that spot for more squash and zuchini, which is higher yield, more expensive, and we had less of than we needed (we're just about out of the stuff we processed last year).  We can buy enough corn during the season to process...just makes more sense in terms of space and resources.

Adding some more pole beans (red/purple and another half trellis of green).  Those, too, are starting to run low already.  We still have a few bags of blanched frozen, but not enough to get us through til the first bush bean harvest in mid April.

Cutting back on tomatoes a little, though.  We had 10 cherry and 10 slicing plants last year.  We have more sauce, stewed, roasted, salsa, and other tomato preserved products than we will use before late Juneish when the next harvest starts....AND left some to die on the vine in October because we just couldn't harvest and process them all (I expect some interesting volunteers in the tomato "tunnel" this year).  We use a lot of tomatoes...and still had too many.  Cutting down to 5 and 5 or 6 and 6 this year.

Otherwise, more of the same.  A few reconfigurations, and a small structure to keep the birds and rodents (chipmunks mostly) out of our pepper plants...but otherwise pretty much what we did last year.

Also, switched up our seed potato company for our mid season replant last year.....and going to 100% stick with them.  Almost doubled our yield (ended up with over 40 lbs of potatoes in our last harvest).  We still haven't eaten all of them...and we harvested in late October!

[cineater]

People always have more tomatoes then they can use.  I'm a junkie for homemade tomato soup though.

With all these vegetables, have you noticed any change in your health?

I always say, no wonder kids don't like veggies if they come from the store.  They have so much better flavor coming straight from the garden.  Kind of tasteless coming from the store.

[pilferk]

People always have more tomatoes then they can use.  I'm a junkie for homemade tomato soup though.

With all these vegetables, have you noticed any change in your health?

I always say, no wonder kids don't like veggies if they come from the store.  They have so much better flavor coming straight from the garden.  Kind of tasteless coming from the store.

We have been veggie eaters (me, wife, 3 kids) forever.  Not vegetarians, but certainly a big component to our diet is veggies. We've always (for 15+ years) had a little garden for tomatoes and peppers basically for the summer months.

We expanded it a bit in 2019, and then just converted most of the back yard in 2020, and added the greenhouse.

I think what health benefits we see are related to WORKING in the garden from late March/early April until late October.  We're just outside and active more.

[cineater]

People always have more tomatoes then they can use.  I'm a junkie for homemade tomato soup though.

With all these vegetables, have you noticed any change in your health?

I always say, no wonder kids don't like veggies if they come from the store.  They have so much better flavor coming straight from the garden.  Kind of tasteless coming from the store.

We have been veggie eaters (me, wife, 3 kids) forever.  Not vegetarians, but certainly a big component to our diet is veggies. We've always (for 15+ years) had a little garden for tomatoes and peppers basically for the summer months.

We expanded it a bit in 2019, and then just converted most of the back yard in 2020, and added the greenhouse.

I think what health benefits we see are related to WORKING in the garden from late March/early April until late October.  We're just outside and active more.

I'm always in such great shape at the end of the gardening season.     And a little tired.   

[cineater]

So nice to be out in the sun even though there's a foot of snow on the ground.  Need to charge up my batteries.

Mother Nature is still holding together at the garden.  I don't know why we have to take that down in the spring.  Can't we just keep adding new plant material to it?  Cheers went up when Papa Smurf dug through the wall of snow from the parking lot to the greenhouse path yesterday.  Er, that was the wrong place to dig.  He has us walking over grass that is going to become a mud patch and packed down soil not to mention that entrance is the middle of a parking spot.  Going to keep that to myself because I didn't have to get out there and do it.   

Takes a minute to appreciate the garden in her winter coat.  Takes a while longer to adjust to the brightness.  But it still has it's beauty if you stop to examine it closely.

[cineater]

Minor freak out with the greenhouse, the heater didn't stay on last night and it got down to 28.  The flame senor needed cleaned.  I'll check it later tonight to see if it's working.  I was suppose to drop off my 800+ onions in there today and bring home the broccoli and cauliflower to germinate tomorrow.  Surprises me every time how many plants I can get under my lights and how much we grow for sale.

If you missed the produce safety class here's the link:  https://umsystem.zoom.us/rec/play/ht29yFw2vDNspKQRU4bCoFs15dXgKJE74f6eiLh7SDjxMJjseRvShW2-ZHmieFFuJpBYv-rHXjayBtfc.k61z6mjqqhv4724x?continueMode=true&_x_zm_rtaid=CGg9Weq7SgW0khMk7KdwfQ.1644346933686.6763635be6f8ee69c2a9cfbefa60d06d&_x_zm_rhtaid=844   It will be up for 45 days.

[cineater]

I such a dork.    The broccoli and cauliflower we seeded on Wednesday is coming up.  Just makes me happy to walk into the plant room and see stuff coming up.

I get a call last night from Marsha who is in charge of all the plants in the greenhouse ranting about the mess the greenhouse is in.  Laura's in charge of all the organization of the greenhouse.  Marsha "can't do it all" and she just leaving it making Laura do her job.  I just let her go on.  Her shit is all over the place too and she left candy in there.  That's a big no no.  It draws bugs.  I've tried that approach for years of leave it and force people to take responsibility for it.  But last Wednesday they both passed the point where I can't take it any more.  I called in my Sunday crew two weeks early.  It gets destroyed all week and my crew cleans it up on Sunday.  We've been doing it for years.  Left the greenhouse a thing of beauty.  Sent Marsha and Laura pictures.  Good luck finding your shit girls cause we cleaned it up.     Just makes me happy.

[cineater]

Started winter bush pruning.  I like to find a few days in a row that are going to be warm so it gives the cut a minute to seal itself off before the dry cold hits again.  I hit up my ones that have been pruned regularly first. 

The ones I have targeted for a major cut back because they haven't been tended to in years, I save for closer to the time they will start growing.  I'm trying to get them through the shock of thinking they were dying and jump them as quickly as possible into, time to start growing.  I tell people that's what I'm doing when in reality I'm hoping they didn't notice I chopped the hell out of that bush.     Yeah there's nothing left on that bush, hope it lives.

[cineater]

Watching this guy presenting on native plants for an hour.  All the reasons we need to plant natives and support our bugs and pollinators.  Goes off on people talking about saving the plant.  "The planet is going to be fine."  The sun has billions of years to live, it takes millions of years, a short time to a planet, to rework itself.  "Don't worry about the planet, save your own dumb ass."   

He's right.  We're fucking up our food chain and headed towards extinction.  Glaciers have come and gone, volcanoes have blown, land masses have separated, dinosaurs became extinct.  The planet remains.  The planet will be fine.  We need a new motto:  "Save our own dumb asses".

[cineater]

Made my planting towers.  Easy way to get more planting space and some height in the garden.  It's a wire basket inside a burlap bag to make it pretty and then a black trash bag inside that to keep the soil from leaking through the wire and it helps with moisture retention.  Cut large holes in the bottom of the trash bag so it drains.  I fill it up with mostly compost, some soil and some leaf mulch.  Compaction of the soil is a problem so don't pack it down.  Just flip the excess burlap over the top to get it well below the soil and cut off the trash bag to be a couple of inches below the soil.  Cut before those final scopes of soil mixture go in.  Plant the sides and the top.  Mine will get lettuce next month and then flowers for the summer.

[cineater]

Oh man, we have an aphid infestation in the greenhouse.  18 flats of pansies are infected.  We got them out and in our unheated hoop house but the lows are going to be too low from here so they are coming over to my garage.  I'll keep them here until we are sure the aphids are gone.  Means on sunny days I'll drag them all out to the driveway.     Two years ago when they kicked us off property because of the pandemic I had a two car garage packed full of flats that I pulled out every day.    18 ain't nothing.

[cineater]

Our greenhouse floor is rock.  Monday I stood on it for four hours transplanting.  On Tuesday my muscles were jelly and thanks to the rock, my joints all hurt.  Anytime I stopped moving for a bit, it all tighten up again.

Tuesday night is pinball league.  Step up for a practice game and I have the shakes getting my body to move.  My favorite machine and I totally sucked.  Step up to my first league game.  I have a death grip on the machine.  I'm going to power through.     I did.  First place on all four machines.  Not by just a little, blew by them.  Most earned points in the whole league for the night.  Warmed those muscles up.     That's how I do it though.  I kick my own ass gardening, warm up those muscles when they've rested to where they ache and go back at it.  I'm always surprised how much I can get out of them.

[cineater]

https://partnersfornativelandscaping.stlouisaudubon.org/

Whole free series on planting with natives.  They partnered with the library to bring these to people virtually.  Doug Tallamy, the plant native god, is the keynote speaker.

Kind of proud of this library partnership that has developed.  I started this several years ago and it spread through the St Louis plant communities like wildfire.  You wouldn't believe the shit I got for wanting to do it.  It exploded with the response from the community and suddenly everybody wanted to present.  I'm really happy this worked out so well for the library too.  It was a win for everybody especially when the pandemic hit.  "And to all those opposed...hmm...well..." 

[cineater]

In the morning I go out and push 3 flats with my leg out onto to the driveway and at night push them back.  I have to remember to switch legs.  The whole time I'm thinking wax on, wax off.   

The pansies get a shower today today to knock off any of the aphids left.  I'm learning a lot about aphids.  The most interesting is if you see ants that's a good sign of aphids.  Ants protect them because they collect the honeydew aphids leave behind.

[cineater]

Watched an interesting show on the wildlife that is taking over Chernobyl.  Not sure if those animals came in after or they are the offspring of the animals affected by the radiation in the explosion.  They don't think the tumors are showing up because the animals have normally short lives.  The animals and plants are thriving.  Not finding mutations.  It's not what they expected.  Finding species that were on the brink of extinction doing well there. 

Further proof the plant will be fine, we can extinct ourselves and the planet will repair the damage and live on.  "Forget saving the planet, we need to save our own dumb asses."

[cineater]

Damn, people are ready for spring.  I've been getting pressure to set a date to open the gardens for volunteers to work.  It's the middle of fucking March people!  It's soaking wet out there, the low temps are still going below freezing and the bugs haven't come out yet.  My main crew hasn't even started showing up.  They will, they are anxious to get back out there.  And I don't want random people dropping by to work any way.  They are suppose to be on teams with the main crew.  I've been running this garden for 4 years and my crew knows their shit, we've got this.  Stop fucking reminding me of what needs to happen.

Okay, positive spin.  At least there is a lot of concern, interest in the gardens.  I can keep the cussing to myself and off my face.  I gave them an open date.  That should shut them up for a minute.  The crew does their thing and it all comes together when the timing is right.  I've got my to do list and there's more on it then they can come up with.  I can tell you when and what needs to happen before it can be checked off.  And if you're going to pester me about it, it's an opportunity to talk about what garden you're going to be helping in this year.     They forget, talk to me and I'm putting your ass to work.

[cineater]

Our weather people are reporting we are in spring.  It's been warm for a few days so I'm going to start taking down what I left up for the bugs.  Along with the weather guy report, it came out that we are the number one city for tornados.  Would have thought that was Kansas City or Oklahoma City.  And I brought a house without a basement. 

The lettuce I've been growing gets planted in ground Sunday and any cool season crops we have leftover from the plant sale this weekend.  I'm going to sow seeds in my containers after Friday when I get a chance.  I don't grow a lot of food at home and I'm not real skilled at cooking with it.

[cineater]

Happy first day of spring.

[cineater]

That was a quick take down of the yard.  Weed whacked down the tall stuff and ran over everything with the lawn mower.  Let the debris lay.  I have 3 beds left to take down at the garden, 2 are mow overs and I am ready to plant.

New to my salad container garden this year is Little Gem Lettuce and Shanghai Green Bok Choi.  Trying to get a more upright, compact plant for the small space.

My lettuce garden this year is a salad bowl mix.  Rather than plant individual verities, I got a mix of seeds so when you harvest you already have a salad mix rather then a couple of different of kinds.  This way when they get it from the pantry, they don't have to buy a lot just to have different stuff in your salad bowl.

It's not as much fun planting up my garden in lettuce when the dick who's office looked out on it got fired and I can no longer send karama his way that says, eat me!