March 30, 2007

missing pea seeds

About 3 weeks ago I ordered some Blue Pod Capucijner peas from Sand Hill Preservation Center. Today, I emailed to ask where my seeds are. I am getting anxious, as its almost pea planting time! Sand Hill a very small, family-run organization in Iowa. They sell chickens, sweet potatoes and heirloom seeds. It seems like a nice business. But I keep watching for my pea seeds in the mail. I hope they come soon! S&P

March 29, 2007

pepper sprouts on my window sill

Capsicum

March 29, 2007

my irrigation system

Well, you could almost call this garden work … even though it only took about 5 minutes. The first step in turning over my garden in the spring is to pull up my irrigation system and move it out of the way. The tubing mostly came out fine, but there is one area that is stuck in the ground. Frozen. It seems that the soil is still frozen down about 5-6 inches deep. In most areas my irrigation tubes are in the top inch or two of soil, but in…

March 27, 2007

pepper sprouts

It is now 12 days after I planted pepper seeds (on March 15). Lots of little sprouts have come up. The pepper package said the seeds would sprout in 10-21 days (at 70F) and then be ready to plant in the garden in about 8 weeks (about May 15). I’ve been incubating these seeds at about 75F by keeping them next to a light under my fish tank. I found I had to keep a sheet of glass over them, as they dried out very fast without it. Once the…

March 26, 2007

new fence

I am experimenting with this new fence. I need a way to keep the dog out of the garden. Sorry Skip! It just doesn’t work to have him using it as a litter box. I need a fence that I can easily step over. Also it shouldn’t interfere with my sprinklers. This fence is 28 inches high and quite sturdy. I was able to get two of the four posts into the soil – its still a bit too frozen where the other two need to go. The fence is…

March 26, 2007

spring flowers

How wonderful that spring is here. Finally I have flowers in the gardens. We got about 2 inches of snow late last night. I was worried when I saw it accumulating, but it melted by noon today. The soil is mostly thawed now. In some areas of the garden I hit frozen soil about 4 or 5 inches down. But I’m thinking maybe the peas can go in soon. Maybe this week.

March 24, 2007

Once again, the snow in my garden has melted. We had several warm and sunny days and the snow disappeared quickly. Soon I will be able to turn the soil and install my new edging fence. Maybe today?

March 22, 2007

snow covered garden on the 2nd day of spring

I’m home after a brief vacation to southern california. This is what I’ve come home to. My garden still has 6 inches of snow cover. Where are the spring flowers? I would even enjoy a bit of spring mud! “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.” Hal Borland

March 20, 2007

my sister’s garden in southern california

Aahhhh…. Warm weather! I’ve been visiting my sister near Santa Barbara, California. She has a lovely garden with lots of pots, containers and ornaments. Many types of plants that I am not familiar with. This is a wonderful vacation from the New England snow! More photos of the California flowers and some from our boat trip out to the beautiful Channel Islands are at Skippy’s Backyard.

March 17, 2007

We have about 10 inches of snow today with a good layer of ice. It seems like a good time to go south. I have a well-timed ticket out of here! I’ll be back later.

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

missing pea seeds

pepper sprouts on my window sill

my irrigation system

pepper sprouts

new fence

spring flowers

snow covered garden on the 2nd day of spring

my sister’s garden in southern california

My garden this week

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17 years of archives!

Skippy’s vegetable of the month – Egyptian walking onions!

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My garden this week

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17 years of archives!

Skippy’s vegetable of the month – Egyptian walking onions!

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