My Garden Journal 2011

2/24 – Planted several rows of green arrow peas.

Heard the first songbirds in the morning.

2/26 – Planted Scarlett Nantes carrots.

Started Marzano Pole Tomatoes (both hybrid and OP)

2/27 – First mourning dove spotted.

First heavy “spring” rain.

Put in water barrel.

Compost dumped on herb bed.

2/28 – Roselle Sprouting!

3/3 – Tomatoes sprouting!

3/4 – Planted Ruby Queen beets and calendula, and of course, more peas.

3/5 – Everything started indoors sprouting well.

3/18 – Planted Liberty Blueberry and Chicago Fig at Blood River.

Peas all sprouted.

Leeks OK outside.

Calendula sprouting.

Tomatoes seeded outdoors (in greenhouse).

Half of tomato seedlings taken to greenhouse.

Garlic doing well.  Very large and robust.

3/25 – Bought chickens!

Peas doing well after snow.  Some burn but negligible.

Tobacco sprouted.

Goji sprouted.

Overwinted parsley up in herb bed.

Started using an LED grow light.

4/3 – A few leeks set outside.

Planted a row of carraway.

Lettuce and spinach sprouting.  Have volunteer lettuce next to garage door.

4/5 – Pricked out tobacco and reset.

Planted ginger indoors.

Carrots, beets up.

Planted 2 heritage raspberries at Suburbastead, rest (8) to Blood River.

Potted up most tomatoes.

Took Hybrid Marzanos to cold frame.

Tomatoes in greenhouse developing stem roots – weird!

Oregano, rosemary, goji inside sprouted well.  One watermelon sprouted.

Earlier goji in greenhouse is largest yet.  It may live for once.

4/6 – Gardened in barefeet.

Killed all hybrid tomatoes in cold frame.  Too hot.  Tomato sacrifice is done.  Can I grow now tomato gods?

4/7 – Redbuds in bloom.  70F

Saw the first mockingbird at this location.  Really a neat bird.  About twenty different calls during this sighting.  So strange.

Mulched the first planted peas.  Harvested about 1 lb. of spinach.  Growing great amongst wild clover.

4/9 -

I planted 3 hybrid tomatoes today.  I’m still worried about early blight (though its never been a problem here).  I just feel the need to get some in the ground before I leave for vacation because I could come back and find them all dead.  I covered them with a floating row cover.  Also used old t-shirts and pallet wood for shade covers which should work well.

4/10-

Mulched the second bed of peas with lawn clippings.  Started hardening off all plants in earnest.  Hope none die.  Burned the hybrid tomatoes a bit.  OP ones wilted a little but bounced right back.  I really love these San Marzano OP tomatoes.

Asparagus is going crazy.

Grapes are budding out.

Blueberries are leafing.

Spinach doing real well.

4/16 -

Put the bees in the TB hive.  Really nervous.  But everything looks well.

Chickens have almost all adult feathers now.  Looking like 2 roosters and 4 hens.

Mulberry, hazels, grapes, apples, plums, pecan, bush cherry all doing fantastic at Blood River.  Currant dead.  (NAME OMITTED) Nursery Blackberries didn’t make it again.  What a surprise!

4/19 -

Returned from vacation/Blood River and found that all of my plants made it with flying colors.  Of course the same day I turned the greenhouse over with a good deal of my plants.  Salvaged about half.  So disappointed and all my fault.  Upcoming show will deal with mistakes I’ve made.

Needless to say, to salvage some I had to plant early.  Planted some roselle, some huckleberries.  Planted what basil was left after the crash.  Replanted rosemary and basil seeds in new soil blocks.  Planted Roma Bush beans in the garden.  Planted more beets.  Harvested another 1lb. of spinach.

4/22 -

Planted another 3 tomatoes.

Cotton and tobacco are both doing great.

Huckleberries I planted totally died!

Basil also did not make it.

Planted nearly all of the leeks, seem to be doing fine.

Huge thunderstorms last night.

4/24-

Planted Garbanzo beans.

Grape bunches forming on vines.

4/25-

Gave up on carroway.  Bad seeds apparently.

Planted more saved dill seeds.

Weeded and tried to fix leaky rain barrel.  Seemed to work.

Leeks are doing well.

4/26-

Planted cilantro

Planted zuchinni

Planted butternut squash

5/1-

Planted Okra, corn, sunflowers, quinoa, more squash.  Put another tomato transplant in.

5/5-

Frost this morning.  Killed a few tomato plants, a huckleberry and a few roselle plants.  Good thing there are backups.

Garbanzos and corn sprouting.

Green strawberries are setting.

5/6-

Peas are flowering.

5/12-

All pea patches flowering.

Okra and squash sprouting.

Beans are getting eaten by bean beetles again.  Planted pyrethrum (again) to stop the spread.

Roselle is still not doing well.  It did not take to transplanting.

Found basil coming up-did not expect that.

5/13-

Planted canteloupe sesame and oregano.

5/15-

Pods setting on peas.

Several squash sprouted.

Started training new grape growth.

5/20-

Transplanted cotton, one more tomato.

5/21-

Bought and planted one oregano plant (bought at farmer’s market).

2nd bed of peas with large pods.

63 days to pod so far (68 days to maturity according to variety description-I might beat that with these bred seeds).

Best pea spacing=~6″.

Saw a ladybug and a honey bee.  Ladybug on tomato, honey bee on dandelion.

5/22-

Harvested about 1lb of spinach.

Planted empty space quinoa.

Beans are being eating to death.  Planted more roma beans to try and overcome the beetles.

Roselle does not transplant well.

5/26 -

Harvested peas first and middle beds.

Sesame up.

Saw hoverflies and another ladybug.

5/27-

Fireflies!

5/29 -

Harvested more peas.

5/30 -

Mowed down first pea bed.

6/1 -

Very hot ~90 degrees.

Mulched with straw.

Pruned tomatoes and made a video.

Planted 1 watermelon.

Harvested 1lb peas.

6/6 -

Largest pea harvest about 2lbs.

6/10 -

First pea patch done and removed.

Removed parts of aphid infested grapevines.

Harvested about 3lbs peas.

Corn in pea patch looks bad.

Drought conditions.

6/11 -

First rain in a week.

Bean beetles, flea beetles and aphids present.

6/24 -

Saw a parasitic wasp today.

6/27 -

Planted broom corn sprouting.

Harvested about 15 heads of garlic.

Zuchinni is making fruit.

6/29 -

Picked Calendula for salve.

Harvested about 15 more heads of garlic.  About 10 left in garden.

Harvested 5 carrots

Harvested radish seed.

6/30 -

Ladybugs going crazy on grapevine aphids.

 

Because of my move I was forced to basically abandon this garden.  I was able to move a lot of things out and into a new one.  It was interesting to see the garden’s response to complete neglect. 

We paid a nice couple to mow our yard while we were away with the instruction to leave the garden alone (no mowing, no weeding).  We were surprised when they sent us pictures of all the tomatoes and zucchini and okra. 

Journal Closed!