Garden Delights

This Spring I decided to resurrect my gardening abilities after spending the last couple of years working on expanding my knowledge base in a totally unrelated field.

The drive to get the garden producing again was due to my need to fulfill the want for vegetables I only look at in the store. Hubby doesn't really enjoy eating some of the morsels I have known since childhood, so I make concessions. However, now I have the opportunity, I am going to take advantage. Seeds are relatively inexpensive compared to what they charge in the retail setting for the end product.

My flannel wearing tomato has gained in size appreciably and there are good sized tomatoes getting the red hue as of July 14th.

As you can see my early set tomato has gained company. In the row next to it I planted white potatoes that my sister had given me from  her kitchen cupboard. It is said they don't make good specimens for replanting but the only thing left to see  is how big they will be when they are ready to be dug.

When my focus was on picking berries the rains decided to come, and the weeds flourished since they were the ones inhabiting this space for quite sometime. One good thing was that the vegetables had an established start so they could withstand some competition until I got back to defending their position. The battle of the weeds will probably never totally end; over time there might be less.

Yes, solutions such as mulches etc...do exist, but I like bare ground best, with wide row plantings for vegetables suited to that method.

I like space saving measures with viney plants to try to keep them from swallowing up too much area. It also helps to keep the fruits, or veggies from getting so dirty, or wet that disease rots them before they are ready to harvest.

I am all for recycling materials for structures in the garden if I find them. Presently, I am removing a makeshift fence made by the previous owners of our property. They included some fence panels which I intend to place on the wooden fence posts in my garden to promote plant alternating rows from season to season.

I really like making/having the concrete reinforcing wire cages for use with both tomatoes and cucumbers.

Time to get to other things...So, I will leave you all for now.

Stay cool and safe !!! ;)

Good Morning World!

Good Morning World! The crisp air at sunrise gave the perfect setting for all the birds to erupt in song. What a perfect greeting for the day to begin! Later in the day hubby took advantage of some smooth air to get off the ground for a short hop around the patch before the sunset. Clouds had moved in to set the stage for future moisture. It has been a wonderful day with forays into the timber to see what flora is erupting with the warmer temperatures. Time lapse photography would have been fun today. The Mayapples are erupting swiftly from the ground. It won't be long until they are blooming,an indicator for us to be looking for the coveted Morel Mushroom. Gooseberry,Wild Raspberry, Honeysuckle and Multi-flora rosebrush are among the plants putting on new leaves preparing for fruiting blooms. The Wild Honeybees have been awake and buzzing for almost three weeks. They would invite themselves into the house when I opened the back door during some of the cold snaps. It didn't take them long to find there wasn't anything they needed andwould head back out the other direction. It wasn't very long ago there were cooler temps. I was wondering if it would ever end. True Spring has arrived at Timber Life and the hope to see new life begins anew. Hope things are improving in your neck of the woods too! ;)

Time to Garden

The weather had improved giving us some rain free days. Decided it was a perfect time to see about getting the Troybuilt out of the shed. Once Hubby did some spring time spiff ups I was on my way. I am the turner of the soil facilitated by the 8-HP Troybuilt Horse model. Love the way it works the soil for planting beds. The dirt between my toes. I start off with shoes and socks on, but if the day is warm I am not satisfied with walking on the tilled surface with shoes or flip-flops on. Wanted to mix up the little garden to start getting some of my plants into the ground. Planted 6 - "Burpee's Big Mama" sauce tomatoes, 2- of an antique variety called "Brandywine" that seems to be making a come back,6 -"Burpee's Big Boy", and 4- patio tomato(only they got put into the garden with the "BIG" tomatoes). Got 10 - "Burpee's Carousel Peppers" and 4 - eggplant put into the ground. They are very small so I might end up replacing them if the rain that is coming is extremely heavy. The sweet potatoes and basil will be the next to put into the ground. Not going to plant things real close this year. It hasn't been tilled or weeded for a couple of years so will need to leave room for the tiller to help out in the weeding direction. Because the garden sits on a incline I leave most of the soil unsmoothed so the water won't run it all down hill. Leaving some pockets to hold the water, at least until we get alot of rains. Then it has to be stirred up again. With prices going up in the store I needed to get my freezer stocked with tomatoes and peppers, to start with anyway. Progress reports to come. Here are some other bloggers you might like to read getting ready for the produce planting part of Spring. Jody at The Hunter's Wife has a really great little garden she is sharing with all of us. Then check out Windyridge over in New York. She has had some challenges with the weather click here and here. I am quite sure she will be ready for the weather to finally be ready for gardening. I will certainly be keeping my eyes peeled for more gardening updates from these two gals. Looks like fun in my book !!! ;) This is only a section of the 25X50 garden that has been worked first at my house.

Garden Plant Update

The plants are liking their location by the window. I can see changes everyday. I am able to switch the plants around during the day to help make the stems stronger as they are drawn back and forth. The larger plants were seeded on March 19th. The peppers and eggplants were seeded at the same time, but it took them the normal 21 day range for them to sprout; their size is equivalent to the tomatoes I seeded on April 4th. I had some sweet potatoes left over from what a friend gave me last fall. They have been trying to sprout so I stuck them in a soil less potting medium. I broke one sprout off and placed in a plant cell, it developed roots very quickly. This is the first time I have tried this so I'm having a good time learning from instructions I have found on the 'Net.

Garden Dreams

This is the time of year gardeners are getting a need to play in the dirt...I am among them. Thus the name CDGardens... Last year,I didn't cultivate my deeply ingrained need to start plants from seed. Through the winter the seed offers me the best option of continuing to be productive. To watch life spring forth, mature, and then return to the earth. In the past I used to start seeds way back in January. My kitchen became a jungle as the plants needed to be given more potting mix to maintain its health and continue to grow.By the time spring arrived I was ready to empty out the house. As soon as I placed the plants outside,it wasn't long until they were chewed off by one animal,or another. Then of course I felt great loss,because in just a few days all my work had been reduced to wilted heaps. Eventually, I built some fences to try to keep marauders of all sizes at bay. For a brief moment it worked. That is until the rabbits decided to go over the top of the rabbit wire at the base of the fence in the big garden, and under the gate of the little garden, even with a board across the bottom. You can surely say, "Where there is a Will - There is a WAY." The wildlife aren't doing things to be mean. They are looking for an easy source of nourishment. More times than not, the rabbits would chew the plant mat-erial in two, realizing afterward they really don't find the taste all that appealing. Little critters either smelled or saw fresh greens . BLESS their Pea Pickin' hearts!!! Happens year after year...They have a lapse of memory. My gardening dreams still continue in spite of set backs, because it seems to come from deep within the heart of me - so I continue on with determination. The Farmer/Huntress syndrome?