Spring is here, but it's posing as winter...

Yup, spring is here and much of the relentless snow has been melted. This photo is dramatically different than the one in February's entry. By the way, it may still be cold outside as the temperature rocketed all the way up to a balmy 37 degrees today - however inside the greenhouse...

How about that! 78 degrees in here and it's all from the sun. I don't have anything growing out here yet because even though this is a heavily insulated greenhouse, the temperatures dip well below freezing each night. My only source of heat is from a space heater which is suspended from the ceiling. It works well, but I won't be using the greenhouse until mid-April.

Still, it's a nice place to visit when the sun is nice and high in the skies after noontime and it stays bright and sunny until nearly 6pm these days.

However, the snow still lingers on. As you can see, much snow still remains in the big garden. I actually was happy to see the tops of my herb garden signs! This means that the snowpack is below 2 feet - woo-hoo!

The snow is nearly gone from the straw covered garlic in the garden out in front of the house. The fence has been damaged from the heavy amount of snow this season. The posts are fine because I set them in 1 foot holes of Quickcrete (luckily) so all I need to do is re-staple the fence to the posts.

Okay, it's narly time! All of the planning, seed ordering, and organizing have been done. It's time to start some seeds! As of 3/26 & 27, 2011, I will first start my peppers, cabbage, basil, dill and marigolds. I use a big bin to mix my organic seed start potting mix with pure seed starting mix.

Here's another super-secret weapond I use for starting seeds - a split wooden clothes pin used upside-down, with measured marks drawn onto it. I call it my "seed dibble."

This is a photo of six pepper varieties seeded within the dibble holes. Only one more step remains before I cover the seeds with only a 16th of an inch of surrounding soil...

I always give each newly planted seed a good two shots of WARM water before I cover the seed with soil. I swear by this and usually get 100 percent germination rates.

Meanwhile, one of my cats is basking in the sunshine which floods the southwestern windows upstairs. This is where I built a two-level shelving system to start seeds (my cat is on the lower level in this photo.) I start the seeds on the top level because heat rises and is warmer on top in March. The starter shelves are 8 feet long, on two levels with 4x2 T8 energy efficient shop lights hanging above the seedlings.

So as you can see, a lot of planning and years of experimenting makes it look as if I actually know what I am doing!

All that I can say is, the more I document this stuff, the easier it gets.

:)

Snow, snow and more snow

Snow, Snow and more snow.

This has been one of the snowiest winters ever recorded. Not just here, but most of the country has seen its share of snow including the deep-south and even the hills of San Francisco, CA for the first time in 35 years. Time and again we get some sunny weather and the snow & ice melt – but this is short-lived as more snow comes in 4 inches one day and 3 inches a couple of days later. There seems to be no end in sight.

Many structures have collapsed due to the heavy snow build-up this winter. I measured 30 inches on the garage roof in mid February and it got me nervous. I ended up going up there and shoveling the majority of the snow off, but it was no easy task. Shoveling a roof or even using a snow rake is exhausting and gets downright painful to do. Snow removal is one of the hardest jobs you could ever do.

The days have lengthened considerably with it still being bright after 5:30 PM. The green house gets direct sun around 9:30 AM and temps inside are above freezing by 10:30 AM. While it’s still too early to set plants out in the green house, it can be a cheery warm place to do odd jobs outdoors as it gets into the mid 60s around 1:00 PM.

These winter days are a great time to work on the computer and retrieve weather data. I’ve managed to browse all of the spring and fall freeze dates since 2007:

5/14/2007 29.7 degrees  9/30/2007 32.0 degrees

5/05/2008 32.3 degrees  9/20/2008 31.8 degrees

5/19/2009 29.3 degrees  9/26/2009 31.9 degrees

5/11/2010 26.4 degrees 10/13/2010 30.1 degrees

On a hunch, I was curious to know what the moon phase was for each of those dates. I was astounded to find a direct correlation in both the spring and fall dates! All of the spring freezes happened on or just before the new moon. All of the fall freezing temps occurred when the moon was half full or just a few days after.

Based on the above observations, I have gone ahead and studied the moon phase calendar for 2011 and have made the following predictions:

May 6, 2011 should be the last freeze for May – however there could be a late frost on June 1, 2011.


September 3 into 4, 2011 could get down to 34 degrees, however the first fall freeze will not be until October 5, 2011.

I can’t wait to see if this works!

:)

First Snowstorm of 2011

The above photo of my gate to the front garden can be thought of as both happy and sad. I say that because while I can't be outside gardening right now, I know that with this snow there is

already hope and warm thoughts of the spring that is only 3 months away. A lot of what January is about to a gardener is hope. We look beyond the ice and snow and spend the time indoors reading and planning for the spring. Seed catalogs seduce us with their glossy-colored pages that make the spirit stir with inspiration of what will be. Our starry eyes sparkle with each turn of a page, we fill up order forms and wonder why they can't be longer. Ah, yes it's that time of year - and it only gets better!

Temperatures hovered in the teens the last few days as we had snow all day yesterday into the night which ended up being about 8 inches total. This was the first big snowstorm of 2011 - I'm just glad that I was asleep while the bulk of the snow fell last night. By the way, the time on the clock is still set to summer time, it was really 8 AM...

The orchard looks like it was photographed in Siberia - so barren, so bleak... It's hard to believe that these trees could be alive from this scene. One thing's for sure, these trees are protected with white plastic trunk guards below the snow. This is a no mole/vole zone!

I thought this was a nice winter photo of the remaining Mugwort that grows close to my mailbox. One thing that I learned from recent reading is that you should be careful where you plant mugwort because it tends to kill-off any flowers or plants nearby. Once established, mugwort will grow back each year and it's great for making incense or smudge sticks.

I'm glad that I brought the remaining 2 cords of firewood in last week because I sure wouldn't want to have to be digging it out as in previous years. I guess I might actually be getting smarter with age after all!

The big garden can be seen in the distance, dormant as ever, but I'm adding wood ashes to each section on the weekends to help amend the soil for the spring. Some so-called experts say not to put too much in the garden - but I disagree. My soil is starving for anything to be added to it! It's better than doing nothing at all. Besides, I add bags of compost manure in the spring to help even things out.

I placed my first seed order last week with R.H. Shumway. I like their online ordering and rate the site 8 out of 10 for ease of ordering. The only problem I had was that an offer in the catalog was not listed online - yet I was able to get the offer in my cart by using the quick order number from the catalog (it was tricky, I had to open that in a 2nd window) that's why I can't give the website a 10.

There's much more ordering to do and many books to read. January is good for that.

Keep warm!

:)

Christmas Outside

I created three of these wooden thermometer houses last summer. The temperature reading pretty much sums-up December around this area. Temps only get into the twenties by mid-day and generally go down to the low teens each night.

I've seen no evidence of the garlic bolting, so that's good news. My only concern is that I may have been a week or two too late in getting them into the ground. They may not have had enough time to establish roots before the ground became frozen. We'll see...

I shoveled some ashes from the stove down the center of this garden last weekend. It can only help - and I personally disagree with the experts that say to limit the amount of ashes thrown into the garden. They're wrong!

This is what's left of the seed bell that I set-out for the birds 6 days ago. There was a 2nd bell hanging next to it, but the raccoon pulled it down!

I created this birdseed sanctuary to entertain my 2 cats. The Blue Jays start early at 6 AM, then the Black-Capped Chickadees spend the rest of the day feasting on the seeds. FYI: The Black-Capped Chickadee is the official State Bird of Massachusetts.

I've also got plenty of suet hanging for the birds. This bird feeder is something I designed earlier this year. I plan on making many more of these to attract a larger bird population to the gardens.

This is as bleak as it gets as far as the big garden looks... It boggles my mind at how barren this scene appears right now - when only a few months ago it was lush and green and teaming with life - weeds & all!

Things may have screeched to a halt outside, but inside, next to a warm wood stove, the dining room table is adorned with seed catalogues. Each page teams with life and color!
A spark of hope kindles my imagination and glows within my mind - the garden planning for next season has begun!

I will list these seed catalogues (as photographed, left to right) below with links to each website. These are my favorites and the best sources for rare heirlooms in the country:

Johnny's Selected Seeds
955 Benton Avenue
Winslow, Maine 04901-2601
1-877-564-6697

Vermont Bean Seed Company
334 W. Stroud St.
Randolph, WI 53956
1-800-349-1071

Totally Tomatoes
334 W. Stroud St.
Randolph, WI 53956
1-800-345-5977

(Yes, I was surprised to see that the above two catalogues have the same mailing address!)

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
2278 Baker Creek Road
Mansfield, MO 65704
1-417-924-8917

Comstock Seeds
263 Main Street
Wethersfield, CT 06109
1-860-571-6590

Seed Savers Exchange
3094 North Winn Road
Decorah, IA 52101
1-563-382-5990

Click here to print or download this list in MS Word format.

Let's get busy and start ordering seeds!
:)

November Garlic

Time to plant the garlic!
After hanging in the rafters since late July, it was time to cut them down and break open the bulbs to get the official tally.

The bulbs cannot be broken up until the day of planting to ensure good germination. The first step is to cut-off the dried stalks from the bulbs.

It's always a good idea to do this work outside where it is easy to sweep-up afterward.

So after planting 46 cloves last fall, 100% grew into 46 bulbs which average 4 cloves each. A few had 5 cloves and one ended up with only 3. The grand total of cloves this time was 174!

I waited a full month later than previous years to plant because of the warmer weather. These were planted on November 7, 2010. I ended-up doing two rows and planted 162 cloves. The extras were saved for the kitchen!

I am amazed when I think back only 3 years ago when I started with 10 little cloves of this German Extra Hearty variety. With 162 planted, I should be able to sell some bulbs next season as well as save a year's supply to eat.

Looks like I got the garlic in the ground just in time! It snowed a bit the next morning...

No problem though, the snow was melted by noon and I was able to place straw over the two rows for the long winter.

I can't figure how the straw stays in place with all of the howling winter winds before the snow cover, but it stays-put!

I can relax now that the garlic is tucked-in for the winter under that protective straw blanket. I won't have anything else to do (besides occasional watering) until the first week of July when it's time to cut-off the scapes. Garlic is the easiest thing to grow!

This is a rare squash called Pipian from Tuxpan known for its unusual-looking gray & white seeds. The squash grows 4 to 6 lbs and the seeds are great for roasting.

The squash can be cut like butternut winter squash and prepared in the same way.

There's something about the sky in November that makes for great photos.

This photo looks great on my desktop! Yup, looks like winter is very near. Time to enjoy the winter squash at Thanksgiving and eagerly wait for the first seed catalogs to come in the mail.

:)

The 2010 Peppers

This was my first successful season with a few new varieties of hot peppers. The three best were Beaver Dam, Tomato Pepper, and the Fish Peppers. All three of these varieties were harvested before the first hard frost.

I love the Beaver Dam Peppers so much, I dug one out of the garden a few weeks ago and put it into a large pot in the greenhouse. It is still producing and living happily amongst a few other peppers in hanging baskets; Paper Lantern and the world's hottest - the Bhut Jolokia or "ghost peppers."

From what I've read in garden books, pepper blossoms are self-pollinating just like tomatoes, so no need for bees or other insects to do the job. These are blossoms on a paper lantern pepper plant.

The Paper Lanterns have a ton of baby peppers on them! And one of the Bhut Jolokia plants is forming its first flowers.

There must be 30 peppers forming on each of these two Paper Lantern pepper plants!

These plants will remain in the greenhouse until the begining of December, then I will have to move them inside. I have read that some folks have successfully kept pepper plants alive for many years - I'm eager to give it a try!

During sunny weather I make sure to set the onions outside to cure. At night they go back inside the greenhouse. After a week of curing, I will hang the onions from the rafters of my breezway (nexy to the hanging garlic) in custom made burlap boxes to access throughout winter.

here is a crosscut section of a tomato pepper. Not many seeds, but I saved every single one I could find! This variety is pleasantly hot - but not too hot, just like the Beaver Dam peppers.

I suppose this is why the Tomato pepper gets its name, it is shaped simular to a flat tomato or a mini version of a snow white pumpkin.

And last but not least, my favorite the Beaver Dam pepper shown cut open. The seeds are located on the top of the pepper just as you would see in a common bell pepper. And yes, I have saved well over 100 seeds for next season.

I can't get over how great this variety tastes and produces. I still have one plant in the garden that is hearty with new peppers on it - even after half a dozen frosts! This makes me wonder if I can set them out earlier in the growing season... I will have to try in 2011.

:)

September Update

September is a busy month mostly spent outside. Weeds now dominate in most sections of gardens that were not protected with bales of straw.

Here's an example of how the straw triumps over weeds with these six, caged Better Boy tomato plants. All of these plants are over 6 feet tall!

These tomatoes are hybrids which were planted specifically to make spaghetti sauce. I began harvesting them on September 19, 2010 - but I could have started a week earlier.When I began filling my wicker harvest basket with Better Boys, I had no idea how heavy the basket would be once filled. When I first tried lifting the basket, it was more like trying to carry a bag of cement!

That got my curiosity up, so I got out a scale and weighed the basket on the concrete floor of the garage... That got my curiosity up, so I got out a scale and weighed the basket on the concrete floor of the garage...

Ah ha! That's why it was so heavy - 40 pounds of tomatoes!

Here is the 2nd harvest one week later - I got smart and used the wheel barrow!

This 2nd harvest weighed 52 pounds! That makes 92 pounds total!

I'm so glad that I bought this machine - it's a
Roma Food Strainer & Sauce Maker
- Model No. 07-0801 Which I bought on Amazon.com

I highly recommend this machine - but it's not just for tomatoes,
it does pumkins, berries, salsa, grapes and even apples!

I chose to flash-freeze most of the sauce right away. But I did make a large amount of fresh spaghetti sauce on the 2nd harvest. I found that it takes about 7 hours to render-down the sauce to a good thickness for spaghetti and pizza sauce.

Don't forget the hot peppers for the sauce! What can I say, I've fallen in love with these Beaver Dam peppers. Perfect heat (not too hot) with a deep pepper flavor. The plants start producing in August and I've gotten about 10 peppers per plant right through the 2nd week of October.

I even dug one out of the garden and put it into a large pot and placed it in the greenhouse!

Needless to say, I have already saved hundreds of seeds for future crops.

Pictured from top to bottom: 1 Beaver Dam, 3 Wisconson Lakes, and 5 Fish Peppers.

The WI Lakes peppers were a dissapointment - no heat, so no seeds saved.

The Fish Peppers are fantastic! Watch out, these guys are a bit hotter than Jalapenos.

As you've learned, I have a compulsion to let vines grow up, not all over the ground.

The cukes loved it, the Marketmores did great growing up strings

as did this rare winter squash called Pipian from Tuxpan.

I noticed that the Pipian from Tuxpan had a flower-type patern on it, so I decided to compare it to a sunflower!

:)