me

I don't usually post a photo that someone else has taken. In fact, I don't think I have ever posted a photo that I did not take. But why not a first. My husband took this picture of me.

Garden Rant recently asked what we gardeners are doing with ourselves in the off season (their post is titled "Substitutes"). Here, I'm doing my only outdoor winter activity. The daily dog-walk. At least this gets me out. Today we have light snow. A few inches of very light fluffy whiteness. The spring garden seems pretty far off.

photos of Kathy

a year in the garden

Here's last year's garden. April through December. From brown to green to white.

April 28 and May 25, 2007

June 25 and July 27 2007

August 28 and September 18, 2007

October 8 and November 1, 2007

December 13 and Dec 28, 2007

garden aerial view

flowers by the window

seeds arrive!!

The days are getting a little longer (abut 2 minutes a day!) - the sun is getting a little brighter - and my seeds are here!!! Spring seems just around the corner. (57 days, I think.)

Slave to a springtime passion for the earth.
How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed
On through the watching for that early birth
When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed,
The sturdy seedling with arched body comes
Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.
- Robert Frost

forgotten chiles

As Scott reminded me, I did not order any chiles. I was actually feeling that I had way too many last year and I needed a break. But I just looked back over comments from last year and found Scott's suggestions about chile varieties.

In the future you might consider other, more flavorful, New Mex chile varieties such as: Hatch ("supreme" or "big jim") or Espanola Improved... big jim is the local favorite but I prefer the supreme.

Maybe I'll order one package of seeds ..... just to try these. Here's a link to a company in New Mexico that sells Big Jim (but not Supreme - Every time I google "Chile Supreme" I find out what Chile's supreme court is up to).

row direction

I'm planning to go back to my north-south rows this year, which I have usually done in the past. Last year I tried east-west rows, because I read these get better sun exposure. Not only do I think the longer rows (N-S) look nicer in my garden, I think they grow better. Not that I've done a good study of this - it just seems that way to me. Any other ideas on N-S versus E-W rows?

garden tee

Not much to do in the garden now, so I have a new garden-related project. I'm working on designing a gardening tee-shirt with my photos. I would like a design that is black and white on a colored shirt. Ideally pictures that look like ink drawings. And words that relate to growing vegetables. I have some nice software to work with the photos. This design is a start, but pretty far from what I'd like. I'll continue to work on it.

collecting seed potatoes

My husband brought home a nice bag of fingerling potatoes from our local warehouse store yesterday. A mix of La Ratte, Russian Banana, French and Rose Finn (though I don't know which are which). Since these were varieties I was planning to mail order as seed potatoes, I immediately pulled out a bunch. I'll save these for planting instead of ordering and paying for shipping costs. Last year I had very good luck with planting supermarket potatoes. Why not?

I also noticed I had a Yukon Gold that was beginning to sprout, so I added this to the collection that I put in a bag with airflow and hung in a cold dark area of the basement. I'll look for a few more varieties to add to my collection in the next few months. (Potato planting time is April 10-15.) I'm looking forward to a nice potato patch this year in my new community garden plot.

Solanum tuberosum

spring planting time line

I like to get a list of when and what to plant in the spring. Another way of working on the garden when its still the middle of winter. Also, I can get an idea of when I need to have the soil and pots and tables ready.

This year I'll use my fish tank light again as a good area to keep the soil warm for sprouting (>75F). It worked well for peppers last year. This year I'll plant peppers, tomatoes and squashes (cukes, zukes, watermelons, pumpkins) indoors.

Spring planting timeline:

February 15: Winter sowing in plastic bottles outside of perennial flowers: black-eyed Susan, daisy, delphinium, hollyhock and coneflower. Also experiment with this method of planting onions and dill by sowing small amounts of seed.
March 5-10: Sow kale, broccoli and lettuce seed indoors.
March 15: Sow pepper seed indoors.
March 20: Sow seed in home garden for peas and fava beans.
April 5: Sow tomato seed indoors.
April 10-15: Sow in home garden spinach, arugula, and radish seeds. Also, set out kale, broccoli and lettuce transplants at home.
April 15: Sow cucumber seed indoors.
April 20-30: Transplant pepper and tomato seedlings to larger pots indoors. Sow seed in home garden for spinach, more lettuce and peas. Sow beets, watermelon, pumpkin and summer squash seed indoors. In community garden, plant potatoes and onion sets, sow seed for radish, onions, carrots, parsnips and potatoes.
Our last frost date in my home garden is usually May 5-10. In the wide open community plot the last frost is said to be May 31!
May 15-20: Sow seed in home garden for beans and sunflowers. Set out dahlia tubers. Set out plants for tomatoes and cucumbers.
May 30: Set out peppers and eggplants in home garden (store-bought eggplant seedlings and home grown peppers). In community plot, sow soybeans, set out watermelon, pumpkin, and summer squash.

Tomato culture (from Johnny’s): Sow in flats, using soilless peat-based mix (NOT potting soil). 5-6 weeks before plants can be transplanted outside. Keep temperature of the starting mix at 75-90°F. When first true leaves develop, transplant into plug trays or 3-4" pots. Grow seedlings at 60-70°F. Fertilize with fish emulsion or a soluble complete fertilizer.

Cucumber culture: Sow indoors in 2" plug trays, 3 seeds/cell, 4-5 weeks before weather is warm and settled. Keep temp. above 70°F day and 60°F night. Transplant 12" apart in rows 5-6' apart. Do not disturb roots when transplanting.

Watermelons, pumpkin and summer squash: Sow indoors in 2-3" pots or cell-type containers one month before transplanting outdoors. Plant 3 seeds per cell, about 1/4" deep. Keep temperature 80-90°F until germination. Handle young plants carefully and never let the soil dry out. Grow seedlings at 75°F. Reduce water and temperature for a week to harden seedlings. Do not disturb roots when transplanting.

Sunflowers: Sow directly in garden. Dislikes root disturbance.

S&P

collecting plastic bottles

I'm going to try winter planting this year in plastic milk bottles. (Several bloggers have posted about doing this recently: wintersown.org, My Skinny Garden, Old Roses.) So, since it was recycling day in my town yesterday, I drove around and collected a dozen empty one gallon milk bottles. I have ordered a few types of seeds that I hope will do well with this simple method of planting:
Purple coneflower (Echinacea)
Zebrina hollyhock
Rudbeckia

I'm wondering if any vegetables/herbs would do well:
onions (from seed)
dill
lettuce
beets

S&P
winterplanting

snow day

So much for our winter thaw and the bare ground. Today we got about 8 inches of fresh white powder on the garden. A good day to stay inside and look out the window.

50,000!!!

Well my counter hit 50,000! Amazing. I have to take a minute to thank everyone who stops by my site.

I used to feel that gardening was a lonely activity. Occasionally one of my neighbors stops by and talks. Skippy always hangs out with me. But its different with a blog. I look around my garden and think - this is a story I could tell. And I take a photo and write up a post. Then I hear comments from all corners of the world. And from very close by.

I am very, very appreciative of every piece of gardening advice I receive. Also the greetings, compliments, suggestions and questions. These make an incredibly rewarding hobby even more so.

Cheers!
Kathy and Skippy

Topic: martini!

mid winter thaw

After some very warm days and a lot of rain, my garden has thawed. I'm always surprised how much is growing, even in the middle of the winter. My winter rye crop is growing nicely. I use this as a cover crop over the whole garden - to add some organic matter. That's what all the grass-like shoots are.

My garlic top sets have turned into tiny little shoots. Last years garlic row surprisingly is a nice row again - I must have missed some cloves. This fall's garlic is OK too. Small, but OK.



I also found several little sprouts of pretty salad greens - volunteers, scattered here and there. I have two rows of lettuce I planted too late in the fall that is hanging in there. I wonder if it could overwinter an make an early spring crop? I have the same question about my late fall planting of broccoli. I wonder if it could overwinter? And the kale may still be OK in some areas, though a lot of it was very damaged by the cold days earlier this month.

It looks like winter will return tomorrow and my garden will again be under a thick blanket of snow. In the meantime, the warm thaw is a nice respite.

time for a celebration soon

Once my site meter hits 50,000, I think it will be an occasion for a celebration. Lets see - a nice carrot martini? I always like a cause for toasting.

Topic: martini!