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Saturday, March 28, 2015

Seedling update

A couple weeks ago, I started some more seeds, mostly flowers this time.

zinnias
marigolds
tassle flowers left, amaranth right
basil
They all look dried out because I took these pictures before I watered them. It's almost time to thin them already, and I realize I might've put a few too many basil seeds in each cell.

The brassicas are growing well.



They've all been moved to larger pots, and I can tell them apart now, so I don't need my labels anymore.

out of order

I feel like I have so many seedlings, but the truth is, I have so few, I only need one light fixture.


I just have to hang it crooked so they all get the light they need.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Broadforking the garden

I'm continuing to take advantage of our warm, dry weather to get outdoor chores done early.


This weekend, I broadforked the garden.

Before
After
Don't you love it when you spend a lot of time doing something strenuous that leaves you exhausted and you can't even tell you did anything?

If anyone is wondering, the inspector was in the garden as soon as the gate came down.


Thursday, March 19, 2015

Compost happens

I did something the other day that I've wanted to do since last summer: dig everything out of the composter and see if I'd managed to make any compost.

First, I had to deal with the last pieces of my bad design. When originally built, the wire fencing came more than halfway up the front side of the composter.

July 2013
That little bit of fencing did nothing to deter rabbits or Scout from climbing in. Not long after this. . .

May 2014
I trimmed the wire down even with the front board. Even that, however, clearly wasn't enough. How did I think was going to get anything out of there?


I finally got my act together and tore the board and the rest of the wire off the front.


Then the fun began. Everything came out, which is much easier said than done.


Beneath all of the uncomposted stuff on the tarp above, I did find some earthy goodness.


Not as much as I would have liked, but the fact that it's composting at all feels like a victory. I'm not very scientific about compost, so I'm glad to know that it's working. Unfortunately, I also know that I'll have to wait another year or so before I'll get much out of it.

Gardening is about patience, if nothing else.

Monday, March 16, 2015

I know, I know

Enough about the weather. But, seriously! When it's 87 degrees on March 16th, how can you not talk about it?


Luckily, the forecast is showing that we're going back down to reasonable temperatures on Tuesday. Today is one of those days when you could use both your air conditioner and your furnace and your neighbors wouldn't consider you crazy. That's springtime in Nebraska.

With temperatures like this after a fairly dry winter, I've already watered the strawberries and asparagus a couple times. The strawberries definitely survived the winter.

lots of green

The asparagus is anybody's guess at this point.


I've started contemplating some potential roommates for the asparagus plants, so I guess if some of them don't make it, I'll have more room for their companions. That's me trying to see the positive side.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Rain barrel maintenance

I realized this winter that the rain barrel was noticeably tilting backward.


I say "noticeably", but it's not very obvious in this picture. What is obvious is that I had trouble taking pictures that didn't include dogs. The beautiful girl standing beside the rain barrel is Cleo, a fairly recent edition to the K's Garden family. Our first German Shepherd Lucy passed last summer at the age of 13, so when Cleo, who is a senior citizen, showed up at our local humane society, we knew we had to give her a good home. She's a wonderful, sweet girl.

Back to the rain barrel. I wanted to get it straightened out before it got filled with water again. I was kind of surprised at the amount of muddy sludge in the bottom of it.


This isn't even half of it. The cinder blocks had settled considerably since we put them in.


I dug out the area and leveled it off.


This time I got smart and put paver leveling sand down before replacing the blocks. I even used a level to get them fairly straight.

Inspector Cleo
Now the rain barrel is back, clean and level and ready for rain, if we ever get any.


Saturday, March 14, 2015

The time had come

for my least favorite part of seed starting.

Before
After
I put it off again this year, because I hate doing it. Not only do I hate killing a plant that I purposely made grow, but also I worry about picking the wrong seedling to save and ending up with nothing. Everything worked out last year, so I'm sure it'll be fine this year, too.

This is going to be a busy weekend. With the warm weather, I can get some things done outside. And I'll be starting some more seeds.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Too much?

We're in the midst of unseasonably warm temperatures here. Upper 60's to mid 70's for the highs is much too warm for March, in my opinion. And it's dry. I sure hope this trend doesn't continue.

With the warm weather, things are growing, so I decided to go looking for my garlic.


It's been tucked under a nice thick layer of straw all winter. When I started raking the straw off, I realized just exactly how thick that layer was. Apparently I was really concerned with my garlic freezing.


I didn't rake it all off, but I moved enough to see some of the sprouts from last fall.


None of them looked very green, but maybe being uncovered and getting some sunshine will help. I just don't want another total loss because I finally used the last of the 2013 garlic I had in the freezer.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Let the garden begin

The 2015 garden is under way. I planted broccoli, cabbage and kale seeds on Saturday.


Instead of marking each cell like I did last year, I came up with a new idea that I think is pretty clever. I filled the cells in a pattern.


Then I made a sign for each vegetable that shows its pattern.


So if the sections get moved around, I'll still know which one has broccoli and which one has kale.

As of this afternoon, they have all sprouted, so it's time to get the lights on.


In a couple weeks I'll start some more seeds, mostly flowers and basil. I don't think I'm going to start any rosemary this year. I have enough dried and frozen from last year that I think I'll be fine just direct planting them in the herb planters.

It's so exciting to be growing things again.