Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Storms Passed

Well, the storms came and went. I thank that Lord everyday that we didn't get the terrible weather that Mississippi and Alabama did. Such devastation in such a short amount of time. The worst for us was around 7 PM and it rained hard with straight-line winds (I think that is right). I mean that rain was horizontal!! I have never seen anything like it. Watching the trees, it reminded me of the TV pictures of a hurricane coming in. After that, it calmed down and rained the whole night. I really don't think my tomatoes would have made it.

I really need to get my plants out though. It is suppose to rain today and I think all week. I know it is suppose to thunderstorm all weekend. I have lost my watermelon. The container it came in is just engulfed with mold. I don't see how it could have been from me over watering since none of my other plants are dying, but I guess I was just not meant to have watermelons lol Last year, I got a pretty vine, but no watermelons. This year one out of 5 seeds germinated, and then was killed in a freak accident that took all my other seedlings (the container that held my seedlings flipped over). Now this. Oh well. I still have my cantaloupe!

Other that that, nothing much is going on. In my daughter's box, we planted carrots and radishes with the seed "tape" method of Granny's. The radishes look great! Looks like a bunch of clover invaded the box LOL but the carrots are not showing their faces yet.

I am planning a cruise for the end of September (my daughter's birthday). Not 100% sure we are going, but I am going to have to start getting this weight off! It would be a sad site to be in such a beautiful place and not be able to enjoy it because you are worrying about how you look in a bathing suite! :D

Thursday, April 22, 2010

The beginning of planting

I have finally been able to start planting. Last weekend my daughter and I planted carrots and radishes in HER bed. I about fainted when she said she wanted a garden. I said OK!! Now her having a garden pretty much consists of putting the seed tapes in and covering with loose dirt, but I am just happy she is interested.

Day before yesterday we dug up the garden where the potatoes were going. She was a HUGE help there. She said digging was her favorite part of the garden. I told her I hated it but go for it! She did a really great job. I planted some corn that I had started inside (in a baggie and they sprouted) and I planted potatoes. I also got some bush beans out. I cant wait to get some fresh beans out of the garden. I also was able to plant some okra plants that were also started in a wet baggie and were sprouting.

I was about to plant my tomatoes but remembered that I was going to wait until May to plant them. I figured they were still growing in the containers, they can wait a few more days. It's a good thing though. They are calling for some rough weather Friday night and Saturday. Possible tornadoes. I would have really been upset if I had planted them, and hale damaged them all! So sometime next week I will probably plant all my other plants. Tomatoes, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, pole beans, and pumpkins.

I bought some new hoses for the back yard. A hose in the front broke so my garden hose was moved to the front. I see now that 50 ft is just not that long. I bought 2 of them thinking I could get it down to the back beds better, but I was having a hard time getting the hose to reach to the back of the main garden. I am going to have to invest in at least a 75 ft hose. I did get some splitters so I should be able to get hoses to all my gardens and not have to carry water to anything.

When I bought my tomato plants, I found some more blueberry bushes on sale. I bought two more jerseys. I shouldn't have planted the berry bushes where I did because they are not getting full sun like the package said they needed. My berry bushes are growing and they look really good...to someone that has never grown berry bushes! lol But they are growing! I just dont know if I should just add the new ones to where the bushes are now, or move the new ones to full sun? I guess I could move them to where the banana tree is. That is about the only place that is full sun that wont give the guy that mows the lawn an obstacle course! LOL I already annoy him with all my hoses running all over the back yard LOL

I will try my best to get pictures, but there really isn't much to see. Maybe after I have planted everything it will look like a garden again :D

Added to tell you guys....I BOUGHT A DWARF ORANGE TREE!! Spring Hill Nursery was having a special. $20 off any order. Well, the orange tree was $20! While it said shipping was $7.95 before the coupon, it jumped to $12.95. But $12.95 for a dwarf orange tree SHIPPED??!?!?! AWESOME!! If anyone is interested, here is the link http://springhillnursery.com/ and the code is 414217. Here is the link for the orange tree. You can buy 2 orange trees and a pot or 3 orange trees without a pot for $12.95 shipped! http://springhillnursery.com/navel-orange-dwarf-citrus/p/16550/ or you can pick anything else out. Too cool eh?

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Starting over

I still don't have pictures. Not sure what my deal is here lately. I will try to take some tonight with at least my phone. lol

OK so I went to Walmart to replenish my garden. All they had was Bonnie plants, which is fine by me, but they mostly just had tomato plants. I snagged a Better Boy and some other hybrid...I can't remember the name..and they both were a double (two plants growing in one container) for $1, and straight neck squash which I am hoping will taste like crookneck squash which had 10 plants in the pot and a pot of watermelon which has 10 plants in the pot for $2.50 each. There are like 10 plants in there. Then yesterday, I went to Lowe's and the Bonnie truck was there unloading. They had EVERYTHING!! I found a 9 pack of Giant Beefsteaks and one had a double for $3.48!! I also found a cantaloupe 9 pack that had 3 plants in each square for $3.48! I was ecstatic. The Bonnie guys were filling the shelves and they had a pile going of plants that were OK looking. I wouldn't have paid full price for them but they would have been salvageable. I asked what he was going to do with them. He said "throw them away. They are too tall" I said "well then can I have them?" He said "no. We can't give any plants away" it was SUCH a waste! I just couldn't believe they were doing that. There was another woman there with the same idea as I had. She kept pestering them. He just kept saying "no Ma'am. I can't give any of them away. I have to throw them out" I understand the reasoning. It keeps them from giving good plants away to friends and families and even keeps them from selling them themselves. But to throw them away! Because they were too tall?? poor babies :-(

The plants from Walmart was not very happy about being left out yesterday in the cool weather. I took them in until the weather gets warmer, which I am hoping will be Saturday! At the minimum, I will get the potatoes and okra and beans (both pole and bush) out. They will be fine underground until the cold snaps pass.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

More death falls over my garden

Yesterday afternoon, I went to get my "tray" of seedlings to set out in the sun for a couple of hours to harden off because I was going to plant them this weekend. I looked where they were sitting in the basement and I couldn't find them. Then I looked down. Somehow, the tray had fallen off the boxes it was on and fell. Just about all my plants are dead. ALL my tomatoes are gone and most of my squash. My pumpkin made it but that isn't a big deal. I was doing that for fun. I am just sick. over 2 months of work...destroyed. I am not sure what I am going to do now. It will be too late to start them now. By the time they grew and finally produced anything worth having, it will be fall. I am sooooo bummed. :(

Monday, April 12, 2010

Weekend Gardening

Well, Saturday, I was going to put off gardening again. We went out that morning running errands and I just didn't want to. I wanted to make burp cloths and bibs and hooded bath towels instead. But when my friend came over to help us poor widowed women with the yard work, I felt guilty and decided to go out and garden. OH BOY did I get on a roll!! I totally moved the original garden's soil. I topped off ALL of my beds and filled the other 3 I had waiting. Then I spread some Kelp over that bed and tilled it. *I* tilled it! Well, after my brother-in-law and my friend started the tiller that is. LOL I just KNEW I would be dying yesterday from sore muscles. Nope! Even today I am not sore.

I also got a big present for gardening when I really didn't want to. Not only did I get my whole bed tilled, I have a box FULL of strawberries! All my berries came back and MAN do i have a box full of blooms!! I just cant WAIT to get my first batch of strawberries!! I am going to till the garden again (it was very very moist...I kept loosing my shoes to the soil!) to make sure it is nice and fluffy for good drainage. I really need to go get a soil measurer thingie (that is the official name you know) The PH balance thing, to make sure it isn't out of whack. but other than that, I think it is ready to roll! I just have to harden off my plants first. Next weekend baby.... PLANT THOSE SUCKERS!!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Death of my desk garden

Well, all my plants died. I have no idea why. I was out Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and came back to them yellowed, and looking poorly..that ones that had not shriveled up and died that is. I don't think it had to do with no water because the soil was moist and that would show them as brown and not yellow.

Anyway, I wrapped all of my squash, pumpkin and watermelons with paper. I basically elongated the newspaper containers so the vines has something to rest on instead of drooping the the surface. So I guess I am not THAT BAD of a gardener! lol Hopefully I will at least get those out. I dont think the tomatoes are ready to go out. They are just too skinny. I just hope I can get caught up on my embroidery business, go to the grocery store, and get the garden tilled this weekend! Why, oh why, do weekends have to only be 2 days?

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Very bad Gardener

I have to admit, I am a BAD BAD gardener. I have YET to till up my garden. I should have had potatoes in April 3rd. Did I do it? Nope. Want to know my excuse I used? It rained....from 2 am til 7am with the rest of the day sunny....but it rained. It might have been mushy...wet...the tiller would be all gunked up! rriiiiight I wanted to sit, drink coffee, and fight the people at Walmart for parking spaces.

So I am going to have to do it THIS weekend when according to the moon, is NOT a good idea. Oh well. It was up to 87 degrees yesterday. WOW! I stayed inside because I was sick...booo. But I do have some plants going. I am seriously thinking of planting these babies either this weekend or the next. They are just getting too big and are falling over.

These are mostly my crockneck squash and Table Queen Squash


This is a bigger picture of what is growing but the other things are mostly tomatoes. I have 2 pumpkins growing and a cantaloupe. I couldn't get any other cantaloupes or any watermelons to sprout. I am going to try again though. I really really want more cantaloupes and watermelons.


Anyhoo, I gotta get this thing going! I was suppose to have radishes, carrots, and spinach going by now! I do have some broccoli and cabbage growing in the back yard. A lot slower than I thought it would be but I am just shocked they are growing!