Summer Heat is Here

07-16-2010

The garden is doing pretty well.  We have still been getting lots of cabbage. They are as big as basketballs. The sunflowers are getting tall and the flowers are blooming.

The heat has arrived but we have still been getting lots of rain.  I got 2″ again last week and 3/4 of an inch on wednesday.  I think with all the rain the garden was losing nutrients so I put on a general purpose fretilizer this week.  It seemed to help right away.  We now have greenbeans ready to harvest.  My green bean plants were getting a little yellow, after fertilizer they really greened up and I have beans to pick. It appears that Tanner likes green beans. But I think we will eat them ourselves.

I have been having some trouble with my tomatoes.  Every time a big tomato gets ripe, something eats it. On tuesday I was out in the garden in the morning and there was a really nice big tomato. I left it thinking I would pick it later in the day. When I came back it was almost totally eaten, and in the middle of the day.  It seems to be something that can reach pretty high.  The tomato was still on the vine but almost gone. I have a netting around the whole garden so I don’t think it is a bunny.  Thinking more like a raccoon or possum.  I have never seen any raccoon around so I don’t know. So I don’t know what kind of rascally varment is raiding my garden.

My giant pumpkin is growing pretty good but I thought it would be bigger by now, I will have to research and see if there are any secrets I can uncover.

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

June 27, 2010

I hope everyone’s gardens survived the severe weather we have been having. I got 1 1/2″ of rain on Friday night and 1″ on Saturday night. My garden escaped the hail so it is doing well. I have cabbage that is ready to pick.  Most of my tomatoes are doing well. I do have a couple that seem to be yellow and not growing as well. I need to find out what is going on with them. My Big Boy and Better Boy tomatoes are growing great. Potatoes are going crazy, I can’t wait to dig them up.

 On a different subject, my flower gardens are also doing really well. All this rain is doing wonders.

The Iris were blooming and the alyssum is just doing wonderful. Day Lilies are beginning to bloom. I just love it when everything thrives.

Just a reminder to everyone,that with all the rain we have been having, gardens need fertilizer.  Especially container plantings.  I put osmocote slow release fertilizer in all my planters, but they still need some liquid fertilizer to really keep them at their best. Planters get leeched out with all the watering and rain so a dose of liquid fertilizer is really good for them.

Garden is Going Crazy

June 17, 2010

Wow, the rain finally seems to be giving us a break. I had 3″ in my gauge. The garden is increasing in size by the day.

I have been harvesting lots of broccoli. It is delicious and abundant.

Andy thinks they make better maracas. He is not real fond of broccoli. Lettuce is growing so much I can’t keep up with it.  The buttercrunch lettuce seams kind of mushy in the middle, I think it is because it has been so soggy out.

The sunflowers have grown so much, I think they must grow 6 inches every night.

The giant pumpkins are doing well. I have to admit though that the pumpkins I threw on the manure pile are at least twice as big as in my garden.  I did fertilize the garden but I guess they like the manure better.

I have been trying to grow my vegetables as organic as possible, but I did break down and dust my cabbage the other day with Seven. They were really getting chewed up. I followed the directions and dusted very lightly. I did get a couple cabbage out before I dusted that were ready to eat. The rest aren’t quite ready yet.

My peppers don’t seem to be doing as well as the rest of the garden. Maybe they will take off soon with warm weather on the way.  My corn has finally taken off.  It is not as big as the farmers corn near me but I think the crop is going to be good.  I still have a couple of weeks before the forth of July before they should be knee high. I am sure they will be knee high on Andy.

My potatoes are going crazy too. I am so excited since last year I only had 1 plant make it.  I haven’t quite decided whether the garden is doing better because I have a year of experience or if it is just dumb luck.

Whatever the reason I have a garden to be proud of. 

Growing, growing, growing

6-11-2010

Wow the garden is growing. We had another 3/4″ of rain. Rain is like a miracle drug.  I can water, water and water some more, but have a good rain and the garden gets lush. 

We have been harvesting lettuce.  The broccoli is showing the florets. It won’t be long and I will have broccoli comming out of my ears.

I have added soil to the potatoes, they are growing well. I am very excited, I love potatoes.

I planted more corn. I don’t know why my corn isn’t coming up.  It is very sporatic.  So I planted more in the rows that are missing a lot.  I will finish up the corn next week.  Then my garden will be done as far as planting.  I may plant some late crops as we harvest lettuce and broccoli.

So far I haven’t had any pest problems. The Preen I put down is working really well.  I have a few weeds but nothing like last year.

My giant pumpkins are growing well, however the ones I planted on the manure pile are really taking off.

I think I can sit back now and just watch the garden grow. I think I’ll get out the straw hat and corn cob pipe and pretend to be a scarecrow. So far I am lucky, no deer and no bunnies. Keep your fingers crossed.

The Heat is On

06-04-2010 

Wow we really have had a roller coaster of weather these past weeks. The heat is helping the garden at an amazing pace. You almost think you can see the plants grow. They seem to grow overnight.  The lettuce is ready to harvest. We will be eating fresh salad this Memorial Day weekend.  Monday night we had 3/4 inch of rain. The garden just seemed to come to life after that. I can water every day, but a good soaking rain just makes the garden seem fresh.

In the last 2 weeks I we have planted corn, squash, beans, radish, pumpkins, sunflowers, peppers and tomatoes.  The corn is coming up kind of sporadically. I still have to plant more. The beans came up really fast and are growing it seems like an inch a day.

I have to admit that the tomatoes I planted were large to begin with. I even have some with tomatoes starting.

I planted my giant pumpkins and they are growing nicely.  I have been watering and talking to them.  I also planted a few in the manure pile from my horses, kind of a trial, maybe they will get so big they take over the compost pile. I will be doing some research and see if I can find some tips to get them really big.  Everyone I have talked to about them has secrets to success. I planted some regular pumpkins by the corn so they can meander through the corn stalks.

I planted 3 kinds of sunflowers.  I have 2 rows of giant and 2 rows of 3 foot flowers.  I just loved these last year.  They make great cut flowers for your table in the fall.

I still have some more corn to plant and another couple rows of beans.  Then I think the garden will be complete.  I treated the garden with preen weed preventer, which is working pretty well.  So far the weeding has been minimal.

The carrots in my pots are growing pretty well.  I tried to plant the seed one at a time but I think when I watered them they all went together.  A couple of the pots all the carrots are in one area.  2 of the pots look great. I won’t even have to thin them.

The potatoes are growing too.  I just added some soil to the bags and to the rows. I dug rows to put the potatoes in so, I just took the soil that was piled up next to them and raked some soil into the trench.

Well Memorial Weekend is here and I am going to finish planting, sit back and enjoy all the beautiful flowers and plants I have been planting.  Enjoy the weekend.

Ready, Set, Plant

May 17, 2010

After 2 weeks of rain and cold this past weekend was glorious.  The rain gauge for the last week was 1 1/2″.  Plenty of water.  I spent the weekend planting flowers around my yard.  Now I am ready to tackle the garden again.

The plants in the garden are doing really well. As you can tell Andy is happy to be helping in the garden again. I told him it will help build up his finger muscles to play video games. You can see the cabbage, celery, lettuce and broccoli are growing well even through the cold weather we had.I was excited to see that the corn is popping through and the potatoes have sprouted. I was so happy to see all these little plants since last year I only had one plant. Carrots are also popping through the soil in my pots.

I am heading out to the garden to plant another batch of corn today. I am also planting beans and sunflowers. The weather forecast is nice and warm for the rest of the week, so I am hoping to plant cukes, Squash, tomatoes and peppers this week also.

Blowing and Sowing

05/05/2010

Well the May weather has turned blustery and cold.  I planted 5 rows of Sweet Corn on Friday.  Now I am just watching and waiting. Nothing coming up on the potatoes yet. Cabbage, lettuce, etc… are doing very well.  With the weather we are having now, everything may just sit for awhile until it gets warmer. Hope everyone watches the weather over the weekend.  Frost is predicted so if you have anything tender bring inside or cover. My vegetables will be fine.

Planting Continues

04/29/2010

I started planting last week, and the same night we had frost and again this week. Cabbage, lettuce broccoli etc are cold tolerant but can get a little damaged.  My cabbage has some damage but it will grow out of it.

The lettuce , broccoli and onions suffered no damage.

I planted potatoes last week. This week I planted some in bags. You fill the bag about 6 ” plant your potatoes.  When they start growing you keep adding more soil. The bag also has a flap on it so you can check on the potatoes at the bottom of the bag. When they are ready you dump the bag out and you have your potatoes.

I am also trying carrots in pots. Last year I gave up on the carrots. They got so weedy and I didn’t get them thinned out good.  So I am trying deep pots.  I planted 3 pots by putting a seed on the end of a pencil and planting one at a time, the other 2 I scattered seed so I will probably have to thin them.  I am hoping this will work. We shall see.

All the bulbs I planted last fall are finally blooming.  I know in the city many tulips are already done. Mine just opened and are at their peak. I have tulips, daffodils, and my perennial phlox and euphorbia are all gorgeous.

Spring Planting Begins

04/21/2010

The Garden Begins.

Boy what a spring we have been having. I know everyone is very anxious to get planting. Remember we live in Minnesota, we could still get very cold weather. But with that said, there are things to you can plant now, pansies, perennials and many vegetables. So let the garden begin.

I decided to do my garden a little different this year.  I am roto-tilling the rows instead of the whole garden. It was a tough job. Because we had the ice rink on the garden, it was really packed down.

I am planting onions, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli and celery. They can all tolerate cool weather.

All these crops grew good for me last year. I am not planting brussel sprouts or cauliflower. No one in my family eats them so I decided to skip this year.

I am going to attempt potatoes again.  Last year the plants didn’t sprout.  I think when I cut them, they dried out too much.  So this year I cut them in the morning.  You cut potatoes in halves or quarters, trying to get 3 to 4 eyes on each.  This is where they sprout. I let them sit out and dry and planted in the afternoon. 

I dug trenches to put them in.  With potatoes you have to keep putting soil around them as they grow, so if you start with a trench you don’t have to pile soil so high.  I am growing 3 different kinds, Yukon, ready in 90 to 110 days, Burbank ready in 110 to 140 days and Lakoda a red potatoe.

I covered with soil and watered all the plants in.

I will be planting carrots this week also.  I am going to plant my carrots in pots. I will have tall pots and plant the seeds one by one so I don’t have to thin. 

I hope to get Andy out helping me, but he has been busy with baseball this year. But I had Tanner to help even though he did steal a few potatoes and ate them. He hasn’t calmed down since last year, he is still my Marley.

Spring has Sprung

April 5, 2010

Spring is here, who would have thought at the end of March we would be getting into gardens already.  I hear that the record high for March 31 was -1 back in the 1960’s.  Wow how can that be, of course it can, it’s Minnesota.  Well I have been looking at my garden and thinking about getting it ready to plant.  I am getting a soil test this year before I start. I will do that this week and if the weather holds out will be planting onions and maybe potatoes this weekend.

I keep getting asked what to plant now. Well it is pretty early, but you can sure put out pansies.  If the ground can be worked you can plant them or just put out a bowl of pansies on your deck. Just be prepared to cover if we really have cold weather.  Most things should wait.  The ground is still cold so they won’t grow much if you plant now.  But the pansies are bursting with color in the greenhouses.

 Once you can work the ground you can also plant many vegetable crops like lettuce, peas, radishes, cabbage, cauliflower, onions.  These can all be planted when it is cool.

The tulips that I planted last fall are popping through the mulch.  I am very excited to see what I planted.  I forgot that I planted them until I saw them popping  up. This is the first time I planted tulips.  I am also going to start some sunflower seeds so they have a good start when I plant.  I want to try the giant ones just for fun.

I have a new theory for my garden this year after my experiences last year.  Plant some things just for fun. I am going to try to grow a giant pumpkin.  I have been researching on the internet so you can follow the progress of the giant pumpkin.   The garden will be very interesting this year.

Backing me with expert knowledge is our great management team. They are there for me whenever I get stumped by a problem.  They have a wealth of knowledge that I can draw from.  Remember I am a novice vegetable gardener.

Hopefully I will gradually become the old pro. The key word there is old, I will probably be old before I am a pro.