Posting again

Seems that I have a habit of posting for a bit then completely ignoring the blog for long stretches of time.  This time there was a mis-communication on moving the blog from blogspot to our own domain and then going to Wordpress for posting.  I wasn't sure that actually ever got set up and then I was told I could post from blogspot still....by that time I had already kinda lost interest in the blog and just never got around to posting again. 

Obviously.

Well, yet again, I am back to posting and this time hopefully I can keep it up more regularly in the coming year. 

I think the end of the old year and the start of the new really make me think about posting.  I always have all these ideas that I want to do and talk about, especially during the cold month while I shut myself inside and wait for spring to arrive. 

So much has changed this year going into 2013 I am still trying to wrap my head around it.  Soon I will be putting together my seed order for the year and another garden season will be started.  I am hoping to get tomatoes and peppers in seed pots by Feb 1.  Guess I need to get myself in gear and find somewhere to put them!

-Fin

The garden is in bloom

It's planting season!  It's a super busy time, so posting has been bad again, but I've been taking pictures of all the stuff that's getting done!  Hopefully I will have time to start posting more soon!

- Fin

New green house frame and seedlings

Statice:


eggplant - listada de gandia:



Cabbage - savoy:



cabbage - early flat dutch and red acre:



Pics of the new greenhouse frame:





It was way too windy to put on the plastic today. I had no desire to become a kite. I will be working on that in the next couple days.

- Fin

Seed Starting

I started some eggplants and cabbage today.  I also tried a small flat of toilet paper roll seed starting pots of cabbage to see how it would work out. 

-Fin

Fish auction!

Another spring fish auction has come and gone and I am absolutly wiped out.   I took many more bags then I usually do this time it looked like everyone else did too. 

We had over 720 items that we auctioned off...it took almost 7 hours.   Crazy times.   I worked the check in/out table this year and it was just non stop with items to be entered into the computer. 

The prices were not as high as the spring auction last year and there were some real deals to be had.  I picked up a co2 regulator for $24 dollars that I am super excited about.  I also got some spixi snails and a pearly occie.  I thought I had pearly occies....turns out they are black occies.  Oops. 

All in all a good time was had by all.  I am pretty sure I made enough money to pay for my pond expansion this year, which is all I was really going for.  It would be nice if the fish hobby paid for itself, or at least funded itself somewhat!  I am, however, glad there isn't another auction till fall though, any sooner might kill me.  What a day. 

I am hoping today to get some eggplant seeds started.  I am also going to get some parsley seeds soaking to get them started out tomorrow.

It's nice enough today that I have the windows open...which really, really makes me want to go plant something in the garden!  I have to keep telling myself that its too early.  If I plant out now then a killing frost will come along and wipe everything out just as it gets a good start. 

That's how we roll here in zone 6a.

-Fin

Seed starting

Wonder if I have enough pots? This is round 2. We planted out 18 flats yesterday of peppers and tomatoes but I forgot to take pictures. I also found a great big fat worm out in the garden yesterday when I was working on the pond!

-Fin

Planning out the Garden and Shovels

This weekend was a super busy weekend but a whole lot of stuff got done!

I broke what I thought was my last shovel on Friday trying to get that tree stump out of the ground, which sucks, because I have a whole lot more stuff to do with a shovel before the season even begins this year. We went to several estate sales yesterday trying to find a new shovel with absolutely NO luck. Isn't it usually the case that every time you're not looking for something that they are all over the place but as soon as you go looking for it there is none to be found? That was the case with shovels yesterday. The only one we found was a really crappy short handled one and I really wanted a long handled shovel. I did end up getting a couple new large sized tomato cages tho, and when we opened the trunk of the car to stick the cages in there we found a shovel! Go figure. It must have been in my car when I hit the deer and gotten stuck in Fates car without me realizing it. Unfortunately it was a short handled one, which wasn't what I wanted.

We went to Ace Hardware on the way home thinking to maybe pick up a new handle so I could replace the handle that I broke. Man, those things are expensive! They wanted like $15 for a new one. I started looking at the shovels on the wall and saw a all steel one for $29, with a lifetime warranty! Considering I've broken about 5 shovels or more in the last 3 years I figured the lifetime warranty was the way to go. I ended up getting this Fiskars long handled shovel. The wider base for stepping on and the life time warranty were the major attractions for me. Its a bit heavier then the other shovels I have used but I guess that works out well in the goal of I have of building more muscle! I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but will be sure to post a review when I do.

Today was spent sorting out our massive seed order. 172 different varieties! I think we might be a bit insane. We have 4 different places we are planting. My parents house, my brothers girlfriends friends farm (in three different places), my brothers house, and my house. Seeing the amount of seeds we have I am having trouble believing that we have ENOUGH seeds. Then the other part of me wonders where in the hell we are going to even put everything. Its crazy.

We started a google document that listed out all the starting times for getting things started indoors, transplanting, and direct seeding for both the spring and fall time. I am super excited to get everything going. We should be starting out the first of our seeds here very soon as our last expected frost date is April 15th. I'm really wondering how that is going to go this year since we don't seem to have had a winter around here. Knowing this area tho, even tho the winter has been super mild, I can see our last frost happening the end of May. A freak June snow storm isn't out of the question either.

My brother took a bunch of the salvaged wood I brought home and made out quite a few of the boxes for the garden for me. I'm happy about that as it will save me a ton of work. There are quite a few to go, but he made a whole lot of progress on them today. I will be concentrating on getting those into the garden this week along with getting the rest of the hugelkulture beds in the front yard dug out and filled up. I have the wood now to get those going, and the new shovel to get them dug out! I need to get that little tree moved and then I am in business.

Things are really coming along around here!

-Fin

Hugelkulture

These beds are the ones that I put in recently in the front yard.  One finished, one started, and one to go!  Need to move a tree before I can do the last one. 

-Fin

2012 Seed List

This is what is getting planted this year....of course always subject to getting added on to, depending on our whims :)

hairy vetch
oats, hulless
winter rye
amaranth - golden
amaranth - mayo indian
amaranth- love lies bleeding red
bean - dragon tounge
Beans - selma zesta
beans - grandma nellie's yellow mushroom bean
beans - rattlesnake pole
long beans - Chinese mosaic long beans
Long Bean - thai purple podded yard long
beet - lutz salad leaf
beet - chioggia
beet - golden beet
beet - mamoth red mangel
broccoli - romanesco italia
broccoli - waltham 29
cauliflower - early snowball
brussels sprouts- catskill
cabbage - early flat dutch
cabbage - premium late flat dutch
cabbage - red acre
cabbage-savoy
carrot - danvers
carrot - cosmic purple
carrot - jaune Obtuse du doubs
celery - utah tall
corn - cherokee long ear small popcorn
corn- wade's giant indian
cucumber - poona kheera
cucumber - edmonson pickling
cucumber - home made pickles
cucumber - little leaf h-19
eggplant - listada de gandia
eggplant - rosita
ground cherry
red wonder wild strawberry
wonderberry
yellow wonder wild strawberry
Garlic- Best selling sampler
wong bok cabbage
kale-lacinato
kale-vates
kale - russian red
kale - larks tounge kale
leek - king seig
lettuce - iceburg
lettuce - jericho (cos)
lettuce - yougoslavian red butterhead
lettuce - wild garden lettuce mix
melon - edisto 47
melon - kansas
melon - green machine
okra - bowling red
okra - burmese
okra - jing orange
onion - crimson forest-bunching
onion - he shi ko - bunching
onion - evergreen hardy white
peas - sugar snap
pepper- napoleon sweet
pepper-orange bell
pepper- yellow bell
pepper - sweet chocolate
pepper - anehiem
pepper - jalapeno
pepper - ashe county pimento
pepper - corno di toro
pepper - sweet bananna
pepper - aji dulce
wildflower- siberian wallflower
radish - easter egg
rutabega - nadmorska
sorghum - mennonite
wild flowers- maltese cross
spinach - bloomsdale
wild flowers- black eyed susan
spinach - new zeland spinach
Zinnia - persian carpet
spinach - red malabar spinach
squash - kamo kamo
squash - tromboncino
squash - waltham butternut
squash_ golden bush scallop
chard - five color silver beet
chard - oriole orange chard
chard - perpetual spinach
tomato - green zebra
tomato - black plum
tomato - cherokee purple
tomato - yellow bell
tomato - german red strawberry
tomato- otv brandywine
tomato - striped roman
ground cherries - cossack pineapple
turnip - boule d'or
turnip - scarlet ohno revival
watermelon - moon and stars, long milky way
basil - cinnamon
Marigold - brocade mix
basil - holy basil
lavender, english
bee balm - lemon
catnip
Chamomile
parsley - dark green italian
parsley - moss curled
purslane - golden
sage
soapwart
bachelor's button - polka dot mix
cockscomb - dwarf mix
cockscomb - tall
milk thistle
valerian
marigold - tashkent #1
Morning glory - grandpa ott's
Nasturtium - tall trailing mix
Lion's Tail or Wild Dagga
zinnia- Envy
sunflower - peredovik
sunflower- tiger eye
Sunflower - mammoth

I also plan on making seed tapes this year. I've developed a taste for orderly rows that are easy to mulch. I don't have enough patience to plant each individual seed and always end up scattering them. Then I either live with the really spotty coverage that gives, or I dig them up and make nice neat rows. I think just having the tapes from the beginning will make a difference on having to dig things up. I've come to realize that proper spacing makes a difference on how things grow, especially lettuces!

-Fin