Gardens 2021

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There doesn't seem to be any shortage of seeds around here. Last year i bought several years worth of seeds, just in case. For peppers, tomatoes and a few others our growing season is to short to start from seeds.
Its still way to early to even think about gardening for us. Everywhere I look theres 6 feet of snow.
We are having lots of rain on top of our snow last week so we are saturated. It will be a few days before I can get started mending fences around the gardens. I have to down 3 trees prior to the fences. Time is getting away from me.
 
There doesn't seem to be any shortage of seeds around here. Last year i bought several years worth of seeds, just in case. For peppers, tomatoes and a few others our growing season is to short to start from seeds.
Its still way to early to even think about gardening for us. Everywhere I look theres 6 feet of snow.

I am in zone 6b/7a and always plant potatoes, onion sets, peas and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day ( March 17 ) or there about. They always seem to do fine. I will wait a little later into the spring to plant anything else.
 
Robin try some of the smaller seed houses. They seem to clean out the larger and easier to find seed houses first. Below is a link to one of my favorites.

Everwilde Farms

Do not forget for most beans you can buy dried beans from the grocery and plant them successfully just remember they will more than likely be bush beans. I know you like climbers.

Also i a pinch I have even bought things like peppers and cucumbers from the grocery and planted the green seeds. You would be surprised how well that works. One of the best pepper crops I ever had was from pepper seeds green out of a grocery store pepper :)

Many Extension offices host spring or Fall seed swaps in their counties. It is worth a try.
Most things in grocery stores have sterile seeds now, but not all. Monsanto dosent believe anyone has the right to duplicate their strains of produce. Rat bastards.....
 
Right now I have about different varieties of 80 tomatoes, 24 different sweet peppers and another 24 hot peppers to go into the ground, BUT with our weather this year, I am leary. I did get potting soil from the feed store in case I want to re pot until planting. I still have my milk jug hot houses, just not ready to plant as of yet.
 
We found a sweet chestnut tree sapling in the store yesterday!!! Gonna plant it this March and hope to get a few nuts in a few years. How long do they need to grow before you get any edibles??? Anybody got info?
Also planted 3 different pumpkins in cups yesterday for putting out later, watered sweet peas and they are shooting tiny roots after only 2 days. We are expecting minus temps this Thu/Fri and will plant after that. Radishes and Taters are ready, gotta build a Rose arch for the front yard, got 5 different flower seeds and she will be putting them in little plastic shot glasses for replanting later...GP
 
I bought some seeds of chilly peppers, tomatillos and some others which didn't survive last year. I planted on a 8 m2 balcony that was walled in with windows it got really hot sometimes. Now i gave the seeds to my mom to plant it in the village because i moved to another apartment and don't have room to plant anything and there is no sunlight strong enough to support the growth. Such a sad thing i love plants and growing food.

But on the other hand all the seeds i saved from last year my mom get to plant this year chilly peppers ( cayenne)a and tomatillos.
I also saved some seed from store bought fruits such as cantaloupes ( honey ) and cantaloupe ( Snow ball ) they are these cute small cantaloupes size of bigger snowball.
Found a sapling of horse chestnut while walking through a forest last year replanted it in pot it survived and now its with my mom waiting to be replanted in to ground

Have some experiment mango and avocado babies in a pot for decoration if they survive i will try and make a glass house for them to maybe grow and produce fruits.
 
I ended up bringing in all of my transplant for the next couple days, except my strawberries that I just brought up to the back porch near the freezers. Temps will get down to 38 and then 39 for the next 2 days. Hoping to start getting the garden tilled again soon, but need it to dry out some more before that happens. Shouldn't rain again till Friday and I should be off on Thursday. . . I was supposed to have been off today too, till I got a text this morning.
 
I went out weeding my 2 1/2 beds of onions finally. I only got 1 done after work today, but only lost 2, which taking a guess of about 100 in that bed, after the freeze and snow . I did find 1 staggler in the walkway so replanted it into the row. I also weeded the "kitchen garden" in the back yard. I had thought only 4 of my strawberries survived but found out there was 8 in total. I already have 8 more to add into the mix.
 
Spring is finally slipping in on us. The gooseberries have green buds. The daffodils and daylilies are breaking the ground. The robins have returned and the male gold finches are starting to turn yellow I noticed at the feeders. The forsythia have not bloomed yet though. The local farmers co-op has put out it's plants on sunny days. I hope this spring is milder than last year. A year ago today this area had killer tornadoes that killed a bunch of people here on top of the plateau. With 7 sunny days in the forecast lots of yard and garden cleanup to do.
 
Oh, isnt the garden shed a new project added to the list? It does come in handy I will admit, for storing all my tools, containers (when cool weather to cover) and tiller, along with bags of lime, fertilizers, ect. I need to get out there and clean mine out. I had picked up a lot of lawn decorations last year during hurricane season and never put them back out. Guess I need to get up off my butt. . . 🤣. Decorations are the least of my worries right now. . .
 
Oh, isnt the garden shed a new project added to the list? It does come in handy I will admit, for storing all my tools, containers (when cool weather to cover) and tiller, along with bags of lime, fertilizers, ect. I need to get out there and clean mine out. I had picked up a lot of lawn decorations last year during hurricane season and never put them back out. Guess I need to get up off my butt. . . 🤣. Decorations are the least of my worries right now. . .
She has a 12×16 building for her bee stuff and her garden tools. She's also using the pig shelter for more gardening stuff. Yes, she needs to get everything in one place. I have the floor built for her garden shed already but its currently under a few feet of snow. I may dig it out and haul it up to the shop and finish it.
Today is the second day that I didn't have to break ice in the water tanks since October. So this is how you southerners live.
 
Just saw the first buds on the cherry tree, spread 3 bags of potting dirt over the garden to get it ready for flower planting, the grapes, apple trees and roses are all cut back. 220 lbs of ground corn (pig feed) are in the smokehouse since I have to feed the pigs for the neighbor. (they are in quarantine since one of the kids in the kindergarden has a sore throat and he is the one who chainsawed his foot) None of them can come over or else WE will end up in quarantine also.
 
It was a blazing 8 degrees at 0700 this morning. By this Wednesday we are forecasted to be in the mid 50s.

Yesterday I plotted out on a computer program for all my indoor start seedlings, when to transplant outdoors, when to start seeds either indoors or out doors for continuous harvest. Helps me visualize, and keep track of dates.

Today, I start the first round of cabbage, onions, and peppers in trays with heat mats.
 
It was a blazing 8 degrees at 0700 this morning. By this Wednesday we are forecasted to be in the mid 50s.

Yesterday I plotted out on a computer program for all my indoor start seedlings, when to transplant outdoors, when to start seeds either indoors or out doors for continuous harvest. Helps me visualize, and keep track of dates.

Today, I start the first round of cabbage, onions, and peppers in trays with heat mats.
To add: Also, noting all my actions and observations (especially weather, temps) in a journal. Compare observations with the previous/next year as to what worked and what did not and why.
Make the same observations about nature, when the song birds, geese, ducks etc. have returned.
 
Bought a new gooseberry bush today. Started to plant it then remembered that I dropped a tree in the middle of my garden on Saturday. Looks like I need to get to work.

Bought a new gas chainsaw yesterday that should work faster than my battery operated 14".
 
I am so ready to go out and plant with this beautiful weather we have been having and if my hunny didnt pull up all of my fencing to get his tractor in there I would. I have reminded him that I want it back. His response was I hope you wouldn't. Well we never know when we have to relocate the cattle. . . His bull "gentle Ben" broke out of the back pasture Saturday and was relocated to the front momma pasture. After fences got fixed and we relocated him he ran thru my garden area. So do the dogs. One of the reasons I have not actually watered in the new seeds I have planted. I have my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants ready for transplant but wont until the fence gets put back up. Maybe when I am off on Thurs.
 
I am so ready to go out and plant with this beautiful weather we have been having and if my hunny didnt pull up all of my fencing to get his tractor in there I would. I have reminded him that I want it back. His response was I hope you wouldn't. Well we never know when we have to relocate the cattle. . . His bull "gentle Ben" broke out of the back pasture Saturday and was relocated to the front momma pasture. After fences got fixed and we relocated him he ran thru my garden area. So do the dogs. One of the reasons I have not actually watered in the new seeds I have planted. I have my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants ready for transplant but wont until the fence gets put back up. Maybe when I am off on Thurs.
Our Last frost date is April 15th. So I still have a while to wait for Summer crops
 
It was a blazing 8 degrees at 0700 this morning. By this Wednesday we are forecasted to be in the mid 50s.

Yesterday I plotted out on a computer program for all my indoor start seedlings, when to transplant outdoors, when to start seeds either indoors or out doors for continuous harvest. Helps me visualize, and keep track of dates.

Today, I start the first round of cabbage, onions, and peppers in trays with heat mats.
What's the program u using for that. can we have a look ?
 
The last two days have been beautiful here with sunshine and warmer temps. Mr. DD and I have been in the yard cleaning up and burning limbs and debris from that last winter ice storm. We pruned 6 large gooseberry bushes and moved an additional 2. Pruned 6 fig trees and cleaned under them. Transplanted 5 new blackberry sprouts from my blackberry row. Pruned a mulberry tree and pruned grape vines and tied up. Also pruned 4 plum trees. Blueberries and peaches yet to go. Also cleaned out the biggest asparagus patch. Feels good to be back outside again and working. Ben Gay is my friend right now :rolleyes:
 
Our Last frost date is April 15th. So I still have a while to wait for Summer crops
nothing gets planted out even in the mild south west until the last frosts have been and gone which is usually around Easter time here. nothing will germinate or grow when the soil temperature is low.
 
The wife is going through her garden catalogs and making a list of things she wants to order. She's also drawing out plans for where she wants to plant stuff in the garden. We had 8 inches of snow yesterday and the garden is still under 3 feet of snow. When the wife cleans out the coop she puts the shavings in a pile by the blackberry and raspberry plant's. The chickens, ducks and the wind spreads it around pretty good.
We have room in the orchard for 6 more trees. We want to get a couple more plums and another cherry tree. If peach or nectarines will grow here we'll get a couple of those too.
We went to town yesterday and saw some green in a bare patch of ground on a south slope between a couple rock bluffs. Spring is only a couple months away! I think around June 15th is about our last frost date. We'll plant before then and cover the more sensitive plants at night.
 
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