Notes for August 17, 2009

Well on Friday I finally was able to cut the grass. It had been a couple of weeks but at first it didn't need it. Then we started getting rain at regular intervals and my calendar wasn't letting me out there to cut it. Soooo when I finally got to it Friday night, I had to go half speed at half width and raise the deck a notch in order to get it done before nightfall. While I was cutting the grass I avoided, not one, not two, not three but FOUR toads. That's a new record for me. Each were small, about as big as my thumb. It baffled me why so many until I realized they were out there chasing some of the hundreds of crickets I also saw in the thick grass. Saturday the calendar opened up again and I was able to get a nice chunk of time in the yard. I first harvested some green beans (first picking of third green beans), peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers and the last batch of onions. Then I tended the tomatoes (trimming suckers and tying). There isn't much tying anymore, most of my plants are six foot or taller and have out grown my 8 foot stakes (each stake is in the ground at least a foot). So I trimmed the suckers I could reach and tied the lower/slower growing tomatoes. I am surprised I don't have any hornworms yet. Now that I said that, I will probably pull of several tonight (I plan on watering tonight). I pulled out all the remaining onions and really didn't get many more. I noticed that the onions that went to flower never really formed an onion. So I think that starting next year I won't let them flower and I will snip the bud off when it starts forming. I added some wood ashes and then turned the onion patch and planted two rows of carrots. Earlier this week I received two German bearded irises (that I ordered in the Spring, but didn't realize at the time that they wouldn't be delivered until August). So I planted them in the front of the house. I pulled out a low lying evergreen first and planted them there. The evergreen was bare in the middle and the outer edges needed trimmed back which wouldn't have left very much. It needed trimmed, part of it was a trip hazard for my front steps and another part was growing into the driveway and so I wasn't liking it. After planting the irises, I finished cleaning up the tree debris from the tree I had cut down about a month ago, (my friend came by this week and picked up the cut wood for his wood burning stoves). I also had to fill in the depressions that the falling pieces left. And finally I weeded and mulched the front gardens and the other driveway garden. The other driveway garden is kind of bare. I lost a bunch of perennials there this year. So I will enjoy thinking of what I can plant next year.

Notes from May 28, 2009

This Hosta was saved from a friend's house where their Hostas were deer food. Of all the ones they gave me, this one is doing the best. To the right is Agastache.

I bought a white Rhododendron two years ago and this year it bloomed.

This is a painted Daisy (in the chrysanthemum family). It doesn't look impressive because its become rabbit food. Five other nearby have also been eaten. Not surpised because the leaves are similar to carrot leaves.

Can't remember the name of this perennial. I started it from seed a couple of years ago and its been steadily growing in size. I think it was called Centaurea?

Here is a painted Daisy that the rabbit didn't get to. And for a bonus there is some sort of bug on the flower.

Stayed home from work today but didn't get to work in the yard until the afternoon.

Today I planted the remaining cukes, replacing several cukes that had died and picked a handful of radishes.

I fertilized the cukes, tomatoes and peppers with a drink of fish emulsion.

I planted tithonia along the fence of the veggie garden along with 6 of the transplanted marigolds that I dug up last week.

I trimmed several trees of lower branches (two holly trees, a dogwood and several oak trees).

I watered what I didn't fertilize (radishes, beans, onions and two patches of young grass in the lawn).

Then I started mulching the paths of the veggie garden. I didn't mulch around the plants yet, I'd like them to get a little bigger.

Some of the sunflowers have started to sprout and all of the annuals I started two weeks ago appear to have sprouted.

I am planning on planting another row of green beans on Saturday. I hope to start a row every three weeks.

Notes for May 18, 2009

Watered the radishes, onions, green beans and the patches of grass I put down earlier this year (grass looks nice so far). While I was putting away the garden hose, I apparently disturbed Mr. chipmunk as he dashed past the back of the house.

The green beans have sprouted.

Notes for April 27, 2009

Busy weekend with beautiful weather. Its been in the 80s and near 90 since Friday and will be again today and tomorrow. And yes we broke down last night and turned on the AC (IN APRIL!).

Friday night I cut the grass to get a head start on Saturday. Saturday, after the usual running around (dropping off and picking up my daughter and picking up hoagies from the local church hoagie sale), I finally did get to work in the yard. First thing I did was to plant the flower bulbs we got for Easter (hyacinths and tulips). I planted them with a handful of ground up leaves and a tablespoon of bone meal.

Then I mulched up the six bags of leaves that my neighbor gave me. I dumped them out of the bags and ran them over with the mower.

Next I played with a toy I got for Christmas and finally took out the new weed wacker out of the box and started that learning process.

Then I put some block edging in a circle around my mailbox post where the Joe Pye Weed is. I put the rest of the edging around some tiger lillies in the back yard but I didn't dig them in yet. Next I straightened out the pile of remaining edging and old bricks (to be placed in the trash a few at a time; just after the used mortar pieces are gone).

I water the radish and spinach (which are starting to sprout) and the onions. I then mulched the onions.

I then sifted the bag and a half of potting mix (using a dollar store wastebasket). There were just too many large pieces in the mix. I put the large pieces in the flower bed as mulch.

Notes for March 29, 2009

The weather fore-casted for this weekend said that nothing outside was going to get accomplished. But instead, life interrupted and I got done very little. On Saturday it was damp, dreary, dismal and drizzly. But at least I did get some seed starting soil mix in hopes to get some seeds started today (Sunday). I would have got more done but I spent most of the day getting a car exhaust repaired.

Sunday morning I did a bunch of things before church so maximize my time at the seed starting bench but life interrupted again and instead, all I got done was some household weekly chores. I will try again each night this week to get my tomatoes and peppers started. And to top it off, the afternoon was beautiful. The sun is out, its in the 60's and muggy. Thunderstorms are expected this evening. So in preparation, I did set out my rain gauge and so my blog will keep track of it.

My onions haven't sprouted yet, but we did get some light rain this week. the daffodils in the yard are in full bloom and there is a nice line along the back fence.

Notes for March 23, 2009

All right! Things have started! I finally got out in the yard yesterday and did something. I planted onions (yellow and purple). To prepare the onion bed, I added leaf mulch, bone meal and wood ashes and then turned the soil. After leveling it off, I added a little more wood ash and bone meal and then scratched it in before planting the onions.

Then I started working on the wind blown leaf piles in my yard. The first one I took care of was the one against the house by the back door. Since our back door is two steps below grade, the door well gets leaves and then the leaves get tracked into the house. Then I cleaned out the leaves along the back fence where the daffodils are coming up .

Not bad for two hours of work.

Notes for March 12, 2009

I finally got my seed/plant orders off. I ordered the usual as well as some new things. I ordered some ferns, some Hosta, an orange Iris and a red Iris, a pink dogwood and a magnolia.

My local garden center has onion sets in but they aren't open on weekends yet, so I am asking the wife to stop by. Hopefully I will plant them this weekend.

I stopped at the Aunt and Uncle's house on my way home from work yesterday and picked up a five gallon bucket of wood ashes that they saved from their wood burrning stove. They have another one nearly full and are still using the stove, so I am probably going to drop off another empty bucket maybe next week. I also picked up a small bag of bone meal this past weekend and will prepare the onion patch with the bone meal, some wood ashes and a healthy layer of ground up leaves before planting. Then I will get to the piles of wind drifted leaves around the yard.

Notes for September 1, 2008

What a jam packed weekend (situation normal here). Always too short and tomorrow its back to work and my son goes back to college (he's commuting this year). My daughter goes back to High School on Wednesday.

Saturday I picked vegetables (tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, couple of cucumbers and one green pepper). I also planted carrot seeds and I had to water them five times before the water started to soak in instead of just run off (we haven't had rain for 17 days). I think next year I will plant the carrots as soon as I clean out my onions.

Also on Saturday I went through the onions I had drying in the shed. I threw away (into the compost pile) about one-third of them because they were getting soft and rotting. I wonder if I left them in the ground too long, or on the picnic table too long or in the shed too long? Is it too hot for them in the shed?

I also tried to transplant a 30" tall dogwood I had growing up against the house but the roots were entangled with a nearby bush and were about an inch from the house so it was hard to isolate the roots. So I ended up just digging it up. I think I found another one but its much smaller. Next time I am working outside I may dig that up and give it to a friend.

I also found some garlic chives growing on their own next to the flower pot I have the chives in. I did dig them up and placed them in another pot and I will pass them on to one of my flowering friends.

Sunday was another picnic day but later in the day I watered everything in the veggie patch.
Today I picked tomatoes and cucumbers and wax beans. We had some of the wax beans with dinner and again I swear they are sweeter tasting than green beans. I also watered the carrots.

Notes for August 6, 2008

I picked cucumbers and and tomatoes (cherry and regular) last night. I wanted to water but I had an annual appointment with the veterinarian for the dog so he can go in the kennel when we go on vacation. And the forecast was for rain last night but I think all we got was sprinkles this morning while I was at work. So I will be watering tonight. I also put my two racks of onions in the shed. The third rack remaining on the picnic table will go in the shed next week.

Notes for July 26, 2008

Had a busy day today. Picked cucumbers and a few cherry tomatoes and green beans. Trimmed tomato plants and tied the new growth to the stakes. Picked the last of the onions and now I have three trays of onions on the picnic table. Pushed the mulch back so that its now up against the Lima beans. Finished mulching the yellow beans. Then I cut the grass. The grass wasn't tall but it was thick in spots so it took me longer. I stopped about every half hour for a drink break. I plan on watering tomorrow if we don't get any rain tonight.

Notes for July 21, 2008

I hated to do it but it was the only time open in my schedule. I had to water during mid day. I had about an hour and a half after I got home from church and it was the only I had yesterday. I watered everything in my veggie garden. I did not water the flower beds. We haven't had rain for a week now and last night I saw a line of thunderstorms on the weather radar come across the state of Pennsylvania. This morning everything was as dry as it was when I went to bed. No rain. Again the line must have died at the Delaware River or shortly thereafter. I swear this is the only drawback living in the coastal plain in the summer time. The ocean has quite a moderating effect on our weather.

Anyway, I did pick about 8 cucumbers and three cherry tomatoes yesterday. I also picked about 2/3 of my onions. They are in "flats" used to hold trays of plants (like when you buy a flat of annuals). I am going to let them sit there for a week and then put them in the shed to continue drying for two more weeks.

Notes for July 3, 2008

Here is a picture of a Daylily in bloom right now.

I watered everything last night and did some weeding.

My onions will be ready to pick in a few weeks, the stems have started to fall over.

I hope to plant another row of string beans and mulch this weekend. The second row of string beans is starting to flower.

My sunflowers are about 4-5 ft tall now.

The Hosta I bought a couple of weeks and split, the smaller split has died completely. Haven't a clue why

Notes for May 6, 2008

Sorry that I have not written as often as I did in the past. I recently lost my job and found another and so life has been an adjustment.

I have onions, radish, spinach and green beans planted.

I have started another perennial flower bed.

I have had seven trees cut down in my back yard (all were dead from the gypsy moth damage).

I bought a red rhododendron (now I have to figure out where I am going to plant it.

I have transplanted a dogwood tree (3 ft high) and found two other small ones to possibly transplant.

About half of the perennials I bought last year lived through the winter. The Bee Balm has taken over its spot.

The grass seed I put down in late March is still waiting for the April showers (April was dryer than normal and so far so has May).

Notes for March 19, 2008

Last Friday I took the day off and by the afternoon it was around 60 degrees and nice enough to work outside. I emptied two five gallon buckets of horse manure (which I had saved from last fall) into my onion bed (second year). Then I turned it under by hand (shovel). Then I emptied four 40 pound bags of composted cow manure into the onion bed (2.5' x 15') and turned it under. I leveled it off and then planted about 100 onions (four rows), leaving room on the end to plant some parsley.

Saturday was again nice in the afternoon and I worked on the big veggie garden. I raked the leaves piled along the fence away from the fence into the middle of the garden and then mulched them with the lawn mower. I then spread a 30 pound bag of bone meal over the whole garden (using a trowel and not remembering that I had a lawn spreader in the shed that some one had given me that I have yet to use). I then spread a thin layer of finely mulched leaves over the whole garden (the mulched leaves were from my compost piles of ground up leaves gathered by the mower from the rest of the yard last fall) and turned it under using my tiller. My veggie garden is approximately 20' x 36'. I tilled in one direction and then I tilled it a second time at 90 degrees.

I spread some grass seed on President's Day back in February but it hasn't sprouted yet. Maybe I put it down too soon and its been too cold for germination. But I know we've had good moisture since and some warm days but I guess it hasn't been warm enough in a long enough string of days for germination. So it seems to be a lesson learned, don't put spring grass seed down until late March or until April (at least in my zone)

Notes for February 27, 2008

Yes its been over a month... so here goes...

We've had thunderstorms THREE times this winter which is unusual. I think I have only seen about one every other winter.

Earlier this month I stopped by my local garden center to get my supply of vegetable seeds (radish, spinach and green beans). They get them in in February and that's the time to go, otherwise the selection is gone when you want to plant. I also bought two bags of onion sets and hope to get them in the ground next month. To go with them I bought four 40 pound bags of composted cow manure. I have planted onions with the bags of composted manure and had fairly good results. This year will be second year I have this onion bed, so it still needs lots of organic matter and manure. I still have several five gallon buckets of horse manure and I may mix one of them in the onion bed and save the rest for the flower beds I never finished last year. I also bought a 25 pound bag of bone meal to add to my larger veggie garden. I will add the bone meal right before I make the second pass with the tiller when I till the garden. I have also asked my aunt and uncle to save the ashes from their wood burning stove for me to also add to my veggie garden.

I plan to purchase and plant the following perennials this year: Bee Balm, Sedum, Yarrow, Butterfly Weed, Daylillies, Iris, Hardy Geraniums, Columbine, Spiderwort (Trinity plant?), Joe Pye Weed, Lobelia, painted Daisies and Hosta.

The Daffodils are coming up already as they do every year. They are up about two inches. I transplanted numerous daffodils last year and they are going to look nice. I lined my back fence. I planted in three rows in a diamond pattern. I will try to get a picture when they bloom.

A week ago Monday it was Presidents day and I had off. By the afternoon it was 60 degrees F. Unheard of for February. So I did some work outside. I mulched up all the leaves that had piled up in the spots where the winds collects them. I ran over them a few times with the mower and then bagged them with the mower, making a nice fine mulch. Then I spread some grass seed in some bare spots (after raking the spots to loosen the soil). I bought about 25 pounds total of several different blends. I think I have a three pound bag left. Since I put down the seed, we've had precipitation about every three days, which is great for grass seed in the winter. The first dousing was just as I was finished spreading the seed and thinking of gathering up the branches in the yard that the winter winds had blown down. So the branches are still out there.

On Friday the kids were home from school due to snow and forecasted changing over to freezing rain. I also stayed home from work just to stay out of the mess. On Friday and Saturday we were visited on the suet feeders by Bluebirds. There was nothing special about the suet blocks. They were just the cheap ones that you can buy anywhere which I put up to attract the woodpeckers and nuthatches.

I am still going to order a bunch of other vegetable seeds and start them under the grow lights next month. I hope to have the order out next week. Mainly the varieties of Tomatoes and Peppers I want and want to try.

Can't wait to get out there again!

Notes for August 10, 2007

All this hype about rain in the northeast? Its hogwash for me. Yes, I'm jealous. It seems like everyone else is getting rain and I only emptied out 0.1 inches this morning. Oh well, got to get the hose rolled out again.

I still haven't decided what to plant in the onion bed. And this morning while I was emptying the rain gauge, I did notice that there still was alot of light brown soil to be changed over to dark brown through the addition of manure and mulch. I think it did help to dig up the onions by hand (to look for more) which caused the soil to get mixed nicely.

Notes for August 9, 2007

Even though it was raining when I got up, there was only a trace of rain in the rain gauge yesterday.

I dug up all my onions yesterday and I'm looking to plant something else there for fall. Not bad for a first year onion bed but in a couple of years of adding manure etc., that bed should be wonderful.

Notes for July 31, 2007

Still no rain. So I had to water last night and fight off the mosquitoes. I did pick several large tomatoes, about two dozen cherry tomatoes, about a dozen onions and about two dozen cucumbers. My cucumbers are doing well this year. I probably should have thinned them just a little more but so far so good. And during the last few years I always seem to lose a few plants so I left them thick this year.

I did notice that I probably should pick green beans before this weekend, maybe Thursday.

I am surprised I haven't seen any tomato horn worms yet.

Notes for July 26, 2007

The family schedule has prevented me from doing much anything lately. Hopefully tonight I plan on cutting the grass and watering the gardens. I would like to do more but that depends on the weather (normal possible thunderstorms) and how much energy I have and how bad the mosquitoes are. I would like to continue planting the garden edging I have had laid out for a while now. And I have some perennial seedlings still yet to plant.

I did pick cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and onions last night and I noticed that I have a regular tomato getting ripe (my first this year). When it looks like I have picked all my onions, I will dig up or I should say sift through the soil and see if there are any I missed. But that won't be for a few weeks.

Notes for July 17, 2007

I did finish mulching last night. So everything I wanted to get mulched this year, is now mulched.

I watered the vegetable garden and the flower beds last night. I will need to pick tomatoes and cucumbers tonight.

I now have another daylilly in bloom and it is a dark red. I hope to have a picture later this week. Of the five I purchased and planted last fall, it is the third daylilly to bloom. The fourth has buds but the fifth does not.

I weeded the onions again and picked around 8 onions whose stems were brown. That's when I pick them (or rather dig them out) is when their stem turns all brown. They were all medium size. Now they are sitting on the picnic table for the outside to dry out a little (or at least until the stem breaks off easy). The mulch I used on the onions was grass clippings which turned out to be very weedy. Since the onions are closely planted, I guess I will stick to leaf mulch next year.

I started to plant more garden edging but the mosquitoes in my ears were too much. I should have gone into the shed and used the skin so soft that's in my fishing box but I was also tired of the sweat dripping down onto my glasses (the hat I was wearing wasn't doing a very good job of soaking up the sweat). The edging is for a third flower bed planned. I have enough edging for a fourth and that will be next.