Topsy Turveys and More Landscaping

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington


I planted tomatoes in our Topsy Turvey Upside Down Tomato Planters yesterday and today. It’s been nice enough I can have them out for awhile during the day, then bring them in at night. I’m a bit challenged to find a place to hang them on bad weather days in a window where they can get some light, which are coming soon, but we’ll figure something out. I don’t want to drill any holes in the ceiling or walls or wreck anything for this interim arrangement. In about a month we should be able to leave them out all the time. I put two plants in each one (three varieties=three planters) because the instructions said I could. The one planted yesterday (left) has already begun to curl its stems and leaves upward. It should be fun to see them grow like this. It was a little tricky getting the tomatoes carefully into the planter, but I don’t think I damaged any stems. The planters took a LOT of potting soil, and I left more room at the top than was recommended. I’ll add more soil later if need be.


Tim finished back-filling the dirt behind the bricks and is almost done leveling out the rest of the area on the west side of the yard. After we take out the hot tub I think it will be very cute to have some flowers right there alongside the bricks, and a table and chairs on the patio (currently under the hot tub). In the corner we will begin amending the soil there for my asparagas plot where I will also plant some of the tomatoes, basil & parsley, which are supposed to benefit the asparagas. The asparagas are perennials, so I’ll let them grow big this year and leave them alone there in the corner to sprout next spring.

I never knew I’d be so excited to see worms, but when Tim was digging and leveling the soil, we saw worms pop up and it was a lovely sight. We wanted to know they found us and are working our soil under our sheet mulching project. Now we know they’re there!


The “kids” came to check out what’s going on. Come veggie time, they’re probably going to want to come into the garden for sure!

Seedlings in Blocks – Future Plans

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington

I must say, the seedlings started in the soil blocks (with the soil recipe found in the Burpee book) are doing MUCH better than the ones I started previously in store-bought soil starting mix! I will not go back to the previous method! The soil blocks are so handy (and cute) and the bottom-watering process is easy. I lift out my tray with holes in the bottom, pour water in the plastic tray underneath, then dunk the soil blocks in their holey tray back down into the water. I either spray the tops or drizzle a little extra water on top if the tops appear dry. These new tomatoes (started 3/20) are very cute, eh? The empty blocks are some seeds I planted in some of the blocks that didn’t germinate–I figured it would be worth a try to re-use them.


Peppers: Small pot seed planted 2/20. Soil blocker seed planted 3/20. The soil blocker plant is swiftly catching up with the one planted in the small pot!

I made some more soil blocks and started a few new seeds, some for things I hadn’t started yet (sage, summer savory), a few more tomatoes for a later season harvest, some more spinach (some of the ones I’d started never germinated–this way I’ll have a few more to harvest later on, some more endive and lettuce, and some sweet peas. At least I’m being smarter and not planting too many of any one thing all at once. Next year I’ll know better right from the start.

Soon we will need to get some soil ready to plant a few things that can go out previous to the frost date–then I’ll have more room under the lights inside to transplant other seedlings into larger pots.

Tim is working on the raised area on the west side of the yard. It had previously been held up by some old railroad ties that were in bad shape and leaning. He took out a raised bed that had been supported by large bricks, so he put these bricks alongside the new raised area and will fill that in with dirt (photos to come). He also began to take out a small pine tree that was there, then stopped limbing it so we can think about doing something clever with the tree trunk–put a birdhouse or feeder on top? String wires to it like a maypole and grow pole beans or something from it? Hmmm… Here is a “before” picture from last February, I’ll add some photos tomorrow of what it looks like now.

We plan to get rid of the hot tub that is currently set on a brick patio, and replace it with a nice table and chairs. In front of this I might plant some flowers and ground cover, and enjoy this cute little spot. Tim warns me that it will be hot there in summer and too buggy to enjoy, but I’m sure there will be some times that it will be nice. I envision enjoying coffee there in the mornings!

Clay

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington

I know that the soil here is not good for growing, and that it is a very clay-like medium.  It’s been really noticeable this week after it snowed and melted.  It is so gross!  Mud and muck everywhere. I have shoes saved for the purpose of walking in this stuff, but I still can’t get used to all the mucky stuff that gets stuck to them.  It’s slippery, too.  And you can’t always tell it’s mud until you step in it and slip. The water doesn’t drain well.  It just stands on top of the clay before it mixes in.  We have (had) some wood chips on our walkway area, and they’ve already gotten mixed in with the mud and are seemingly useless.  Bleahhhhhh…..  I am not used to this.  I liked the soil (and mud) much better at my house at Lake Tahoe.  (It had its limitations too, but the mud wasn’t like this!)  OK, I’ve vented. 🙂


It drives home to me the point that we will have a lot to do to amend this soil and get it ready to plant.  I wish we’d started this project last summer or fall, and started our sheet mulching then or grown some green manures, etc.  Oh well, we’ll just have to make do the best we can.  Next year we’ll be ready to go in tip-top shape.

So Many Tomatoes

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington

By now it’s no secret, I planted way too many tomato plants and started them way too early.  They are big enough to be planted outside, but I can’t put them out there for another month.  I decided to take drastic measures.


I decided I need to transplant them again into larger containers.  These will need to hold them until they go into the ground.  I’ve already used all the sour cream and cottage cheese containers I’d saved, so thought I’d try to buy some.  I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on them, but went out to look for some–up until now I haven’t noticed any cheapie plastic containers for sale, but wasn’t really looking.  I went to Home Depot and didn’t see any so I asked.  The guy I spoke to didn’t think they had any and asked how big.  I saw a cart with some plants on it which were in some of the nursery type containers I was looking for, pointed to it and said, “Something like that.”  He said those were dead plants they were going to throw out and perhaps I could have those containers for free.  He went and asked his manager, and sure enough, we got busy pulling the dead plants out
 of the containers and I came home with 26 recycled, free pots!  Way to go!


I transplanted several of my tomato plants, trying a couple of different things with different ones and keeping notes to know what I did.  If some do better than others, I may determine what works best.  I have plenty, so it’s okay if I mess up and kill a few.  From my reading, I’ve found that when I transplanted them the last time I should have buried them deeper, cutting off the seed leaves and burying them above that spot so they’d grow roots there.  It may be late, but I did that, and in some cases also cut off the next leaves up from the bottom, burying them to that point.  In some cases I pruned off the top as well, to get them to slow down and bush out more.

Tim fixed the shelves under the lights so these can have more room.  The tomatoes seem to be happy on their new shelf and in their new big pots.  

I also plan to get a couple more of the Topsy Turvy upside-down planters and plant a few in those. According to the directions I can put two plants in each. They can hang outside during the day as long as it’s nice, and I’ll have to bring them in at night for the time being.  I still have more plants I haven’t transplanted (see photo at left), so I’ll need to figure out what to do with all of them–keep them as-is and see if they make it?  I’m sure I’ll give a few away.  Unfortunately I don’t have any more large containers, so whoever gets them will need to do their own transplanting.

I wish I’d read and/or processed all of the things I’ve read BEFORE I made mistakes, but with lots of different references and in some cases conflicting information, it will continue to be a “live and learn” effort, complete with mistakes.  Next year I should know better.

More “Potting On”

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington


In the past couple of weeks, we made a second shelf of grow lights for more seedlings and to make room for the larger size of pots for the seedlings I’ve transplanted.  I think I did about a hundred of these today!  Tim also rigged up some shades to cover them at night to deter the cats from messing with them.  Quite a setup!



The tomato plants are doing very well, nearing a foot tall.  I know that I planted way too many, too soon.  Live and learn!  I wish I didn’t have to learn by making mistakes, but I guess that’s the best teacher, in some ways.  I’m sure we’ll give away some of the tomato seedlings.  I also planted some endive right at the beginning and they are doing well.  

At this rate, they may be full grown before I can put them outside.  The artichokes also seem to be doing well, as are 
the broccoli and kale and several herbs.

I’m concerned about the peppers.  
The leaves have turned yellow, and they aren’t growing very fast.  
Perhaps the rate of growth is normal, but I sure don’t like the yellow leaves.  Thinking they may have been overwatered, I’ve cut back on the watering and I think they’re doing better.  
Now that they are in their new, larger homes, perhaps they’ll do better.  I have plenty of them, so even if only a couple of plants in each variety make it, I’ll have some peppers.  I also started a new batch for later harvest, so it’ll be interesting to see how well they do and compare.


I’m still having lots of fun with this.  I updated my plan with clipart just for fun.  Really classy.  

Tim is helping me with a garden database in Access so I can track everything I do, plant progress, mistakes, and add notes of things I’ve read, etc.  I should have all my info in one place.  Maybe when we’re done with it we’ll sell it to other gardeners.

Soil Blocking

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington

I made a few more blocks today–very fun. We haven’t built more grow lights yet, and the ones we have are pretty full, so I was wondering what to do with these newly planted seeds until we make the new grow lights. They don’t really need light until they germinate, but I need to keep them away from the cats. Aha! I put them on TOP of the current grow lights. They should benefit from the warmth of the lights, too. The trays of soil blocks look like brownies at first glance! Soon there will be little plants coming out of the top–basil brownies perhaps?


At night we’ve been covering the seedling area with the blankets tacked on top, to keep the cats out overnight, and that’s been working. The next shelf for our grow bench here will be underneath the current one, so we’ll have to create some way to keep the cats out….some sort of screen or something.


It seems like the costs keep adding up: we need this, we need that… So this first year will definitely be our “investment” year. After the initial costs, each year in the future we’ll be able to count our savings by growing our own food.

I ordered the 4″ blocker today. I got a call later to tell me it’s backordered until May 1. Dang! So I ordered it from another company and hopefully their’s aren’t backordered. I haven’t heard yet.

It sure is tempting to over-plant the seeds. I’m getting smarter and not planting so many all at once like I did with the first batch of tomatoes. I’m sure I’ll be giving away some of those seedlings, if they live. I’m a little concerned–they are looking sickly since I transplanted them. Hopefully they’ll perk up.

My First Soil Blocks!

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington


I made my first soil blocks today! Here’s photos of my first row, and then 4 trays almost done. There are a few recipes around for the soil to use to make the blocks; I used one from my Burpee book that seemed easy. I was glad that I’d seen another one that suggested to screen the compost & peat to 1/4″, because I did that, and I think it helped. I got quite a few of the larger chunks out that way. I had done some reading and found that it will be good to water them from the bottom, but that it’s important not to let them get to soggy by draining off the excess. I was planning ahead and wondering how to do that, and thought I’d need a smaller size tray that I could lift when full of dirt. I got to thinking I could use the aluminum trays they make for cakes & lasagnas. While I was searching at the store for just the right size, I saw some with holes on the bottom that were designed to grill vegetables on an outdoor grill. I got to thinking that with the holes, I

could easily lift out the pan to drain them after they’ve soaked a bit. These pans were more expensive, and I couldn’t find another one just the right size to lay them in while soaking. Then I noticed that there were cake pans with plastic lids, and a set of two pans with two lids were cheaper than the set of two of the pans with no lids. So, I thought I’d drill the holes myself, as you can see. I’ll set the pan inside the lid to water, then lift it out of the plastic lid before it
gets too soggy. The pans easily hold 20 cubes, maybe 24 if I squeeze really tight, but I haven’t tried that yet.

It was fun to make the blocks! The recipes suggested adding enough water to make them mud pie consistency. It wasn’t quite my idea of mud pies, but they seem to be holding together. I jammed the block maker into the stuff 2-3 times “charging the blocker”, then packed it in as tight as I could with my hands until there was some water seeping out before ejecting the blocks. I started 4 pans of 20 cubes today, and plan to do more tomorrow and next week. I’m at about 7 weeks to our last average frost date, and many of the seeds suggest 6-8 weeks before (those I planted today) or 6 weeks before the last frost. My challenge will be where to put them all until they go outside, so I’m being more conservative as to how many of each thing I start. For some plants I’ll start a few indoors, and save more seeds to be seeded directly outside to stagger the harvest. We plan to create another grow light bench this weekend, but it will still be tight!

I like the soil blocker idea! Now I’m sorry I started so many seedlings without it, but it was backordered from England, and I just received it. Next year I’ll be able to do them all with the blockers, if I still like this program through the entire process. Already I’m thinking that the 4″ blocker with the 2″ indentation would be a good idea for these seedlings when they need more space.

Tim got parts for the tractor, fixed it, and is at it again digging. Now he’s creating a drainage & walking path in the low spot, the center of our yard. The water will go out to pasture from there, if we get a big rain storm. We’re leaving some sloped areas for things that would appreciate the drainage, like strawberries, squash & melons. Tim has one more terraced area to shore up, then we’ll do some more lasagna beds to prepare for planting even though it’s getting a bit late in the season. We’ll just have to amend them if they aren’t “cooked” in time.

“Potting On”

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington


Today I did my first “potting on”, or transferring the little seedlings into larger pots.  I made some larger pots out of newspaper, and put the little guys into the bigger pots.  It was easy enough, but I’m thinking that next year I may consider the potting blocker method all the way–from start to finish.  The larger size newspaper pots aren’t holding together as well as I’d hoped, and I’ll have to be careful with them.  I don’t want to use plastic pots–I think that transplanting will go much more smoothly in the newspaper pots as I can put them in the ground with the newspaper still intact.  


I received my  4 x 2″ size soil blocker this weekend, and plan to start some new seedlings in the next couple of days.  This will make small blocks (without sides) to start the seedlings in.  If, in the future, I should buy the 4″ size potting block maker, I will be able to easily put the 2″ size directly into the larger one in a 2″ hole that it will make.  It sounds a lot easier than what I did today, but it would be an investment to buy the block maker.  I’ll see how it goes.

I’m realizing that I started way too many seeds all at once.  Too many tomatoes and too many peppers for sure.  I should have started with just a few and then started more a month or so later. I’m sure we’ll have way too many tomatoes & peppers all at once, but we’ll live and learn!  Maybe I’ll be able to give some of the seedlings away to someone else to plant in their garden.

Rabbits

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington

Our plan has been to have a path around the entire perimeter of our garden for Lucky (the dog) to run, so she can continue to bark at the bunnies to keep them away!  


We were concerned that she would mess up our sheet mulching process, so we had Lucky confined to the front yard until we could fence it off.  The next day we looked out and saw that the bunnies have discovered that Lucky was gone, and already about 10 of them were having a party in the backyard, trying to find new goodies.  There is nothing there for them yet, but it was really something to see them converge in that area!  We let Lucky out back, and as soon as they smelled her, they scattered!  It was pretty funny. 

We’re glad we have planned to keep Lucky’s pathway!  She will definitely help to keep the bunnies away.  Hopefully the additional electric fence we plan to put up will keep them out when she is in the house at night!  

In the meantime, Tim put up a temporary fence around our sheet mulching project to keep Lucky out of that.  Now she’s happily back in her backyard, and the bunnies are on the other side of the fence being barked at. (The current fence is unfortunately not “bunny proof”.)

Seedling Progress

by with No Comment Garden-Wellington

I’ve started some broccoli, kale and yellow bell peppers this week.  I’m wondering whether I started some of the others too soon, but we’ll make do with what we’ve got.  I potted these in newspaper pots, and no longer plan to use the peat pots I used earlier.  I prefer the individual pots (I got the peat pots that are 8-packs).  They’re also cuter, they reuse old newspapers, and are free.  The 8-packs are also less convenient for tossing the ones that didn’t germinate or aren’t doing well.  I’ll have to cut them up to keep the best seedlings, and they look like they might fall apart if I’m not careful.


The tomatoes (all varieties) are coming along nicely, most of the peppers have sprouted, and the artichokes are coming along.  I’m bummed that not all of the “California Wonder” peppers have sprouted–I only have 3-4 good ones.  These were supposed to be nice sweet red peppers–my favorite! After reading the seed packet, I think I may have over watered them, so I’m being careful to cut back, keeping them moist but not wet.  I’ve also been reading about “dampening off” which may kill all the seedlings if I overwater.  This is definitely a learning process.  

Soon I guess I will need to be adding fertilizer of some kind, and I suppose I should have already been doing so.  I think I will make some “manure tea” as long as we have so much manure around (TGFH-Thank God For Horses).  I may also purchase some things suggested in books.

I’m noticing that the seedlings near the edges aren’t growing as fast as the ones in the center, directly under the lights.  I swapped a couple from the edge to the inside, and noticed that the bigger, inside seedlings already have roots coming out the bottom!  Maybe it’s time to repot them, or “pot on”.  By the way, these little roots were coming right through the bottom of the newspaper pots, so now I know for sure that they have the ability to do so.  Amazing how these things grow!!!

So, the little newspaper pots I made work well, but from now on I’m making them just a little bigger than the first batch, which may have been too small–I have to pot-on sooner with the smaller ones.  I’m using vitimin bottles to form them, and happen to have a variety of sizes on hand.