We did something earth shattering and pruned and sprayed all the fruit trees. We've prune in the past but never had the time to spray. It on the calendar now.
We went to the Seed Bank in Petaluma, Ca, pretty impressive. The people there were very helpful. Planted a bunch of seeds in starter trays.
Four weeks ago we had a few days of no rain and weeded and turned over the garden. Everything is prepped we just need it to stop raining. We've had twice the normal rate of rain.
If it is predictable then it is preventable....... Gordon Graham
So if it is predictable and preventable then you better prepare.
oddly enough, we're getting rain too... freezing rain, and the ground wont be thawed for another two months-ish. Crazy year.
Caveman, thanks, but I picked some up... I didn't see your post in time, and I don't need much, just for a small container.
Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day!
Light a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life!
Cat's are food... not friends!
If you're going to fight, then fight like you're the third monkey on the ramp into Noah's arc... and brother, it's starting to rain.
Well El Cheepo (DH) finally got a landscaping company to come and clean up the grounds. It doesn't look bad but there is stuff we just couldn't do ourselves. He has arthritis very bad and I couldn't do much over the last few years due to work AND ALLERGIES. We are having the Spruce and Apple trees trimmed and sprayed and the beds around the house cleared out and mulched along with the drainage ditch in front of the house regraded so no more standing water, Yippee no more skitters. It sucks getting old. With that done this year we can get back to our planting schedule and get the gardens going again.
My update from the original post:
Fruit trees all looking good and fruit set, though the apple is just starting to blossom. Boysenberries are in full bloom, blueberries have set fruit and are growing. I never did get around to propagating the blueberries last year but we did add a third plant. Our grapes are leafing out nicely.
I had a failure with my first planting of tomato and pepper seeds. I think they had a day when they dried out, so I am now way behind on that front. The first plantings of sugar-pod peas are up and doing nicely. The green pole beans are starting to sprout.
Lettuce and kale doing nicely. We had about 10 days of unseasonably warm weather here in SoCal and some of the lettuce began to bolt. Harvested some onions and green onion looking good.
We just missed a heavy frost last night. Good thing to, I have apples, pears, blueberries, & pawpaws in full bloom. Taters have come up nice and full. Cabbage and onions are growing off nice. Gonna plant a tray of tomatos and peppers this week.
Rhubarb is exploding(3 years old now), Raspberries and Black Jewel Raspberries in coming on strong. (Small back yard) Made a nutter 3 yard batch of soil and dispersed it in a few raised garden beds. Been doing regular stops at Starbucks and picking up ~30# bags of used coffee grounds and adding em to the compost piles. Draining the swirl filter in the Aquaponics system and pouring it on the all the garden beds. Growing seedlings in the basement for the soil beds. Hoping this will create a plentiful season.
The tallest oak in the forest was once just a nut who held its ground.
Be decisive. Right or Wrong, make a decision. The road of life is paved with flat squirrels who could not make a decision.
Planted 20 winter squash, butternut, acorn, and new for this year buttercup. Planted 12 watermelons 4 sugar baby, 4 black diamonds, and 4 from some type I forgot to mark as to what they were.
Worked out my growing plants. Sprayed for tater bugs. I tried Neem oil as a spray to see how it works.
I am not a fan of cumbers per se, but do enjoy most pickles. My wife likes cucumbers so we have grown a few plants on a number of occasions. This year I decided that I was going to make pickles on a smal scale, perhaps between 5 and 10 quarts. One thing I did not do, was plant enough to produce enough at one time! Duh, stupid city boy! Ok, I never lived in the city, spent most of my life in the 'burbs but we have had vegetable gardens for perhaps 45 years. Oh well, there is always 2018!
My cucumbers plants produced one. Have 5 plants. So we went to the farmers market and bought a case of cucumbers. Pickeled em and used our Grape plant leaves for extra Tanin. The make a crisp loud snap when you bite into them. Still trying to have my garden preform like others. But not there yet.
The tallest oak in the forest was once just a nut who held its ground.
Be decisive. Right or Wrong, make a decision. The road of life is paved with flat squirrels who could not make a decision.
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