Garden time.... moving fast!

If you would have asked me yesterday, I would have told you that I was not going to be planting anything in the garden on Sunday, 5/22.  Even waking up this morning, I really questioned the possibility.  Even up until 3pm, I still questioned my sanity for asking.

I was WRONG.

Spent most of the morning doing some general repair of a raised bed that was damaged when we took the birch down earlier this summer.  A new 2x6 was all that was called for.   Also tried out my father-in-laws B&D 14" electric string trimmer.  Not very good reviews on Amazon, but it did a really great job for me.

My wonderful wife took the time to spend a couple of hours weeding and all she asked was that I help.  Gladly.  We got a big push done and now both of the big compost barrels are full.  Grass cutting took almost 2 hours given the amount of growth that has gone on.

Some pictures to mark the progress that is finally being made.  Thank goodness for raised beds!

Harrow Sweet Pear - Garden Spot

Contender Peach - Garden Spot

Bartlett Pear - Garden Spot

 The garden beds are a blessing in a wet year like the one we are in.  In a lot of instances, people are still going to be a week or more out.  Get me close, and I can get it in!

Onions are starting to come on very quickly

Block planted greens: chard, beets, spinach.  Yes, the beans are up!

Parisian Pickling Cucumbers

Peas, and the trellis is ready!

Tomatoes after a hard rain, with a little hail thrown in.

ASPARAGUS - this is what it is all about!

Garlic, three ways.  Getting ready for a foliar feeding!

Be safe, stay dry, and always practice safe gardening.

Bill

Warm day, time to plant.

Took the opportunity to get 5 more garden beds tilled as well as planted 11 broccoli, cauliflower, and kale plants tonight.  Looks like everything we planted on May 8 is through the ground.  Took time to finish planting my greens bed.  Believe it or not, I have beans through the ground.

Windy, Cold. Windy. Cold.

It is hard to believe that today is the 15th of May.  I had to wear a sweatshirt today when I cut the grass.  Cold northerly winds went right to the bone.  The good news is that today was relatively sunny, warming the soil and allowing for some opportunistic weeding.

Really nothing to report new in the garden. Everything that we planted last week is pretty much sitting, waiting for warmth to start growing.  I expect to see radish plants poking their heads up pretty quick.  The rest of the garden beds are too wet to work.  Perhaps we will see something by the end of the week.

I did have the opportunity to get out to the UWGB NAS Heirloom Plant sale.  #17 in line.  One of of my best performances.  Picked up 32 plants: tomatoes, peppers, flowers, and some other stuff.  I have to say, the selection was great and the plants looked great.

I then took a quick trip up to Oconto to visit the Martins at Garden Spot.  Picked up 3 fruit trees for the yard.  Two bare root pears and a potted peach tree.  Kind of difficult to think about planting things when it was raining pretty hard.  Great looking trees and a great selection.  Ronald is very helpful.

I have moved my transplants of broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts outside.  They got a good workout in the wind, but it will toughen them up.  Hopefully this week I can get the balance of the kale up and on the deck.

We'll see what the week brings.  I would like to get some more in the garden.

Until then, garden safe.

Bill

Happy Mother's Day - Spring may actually be here.

Took advantage of the break in the wet / cold weather to tackle the garden tasks at hand.  Primarily, we have been waiting on the soil to dry out in order to plant some of the cool season seeds (spinach, swiss chard, and beets).  Given that it stayed relatively dry over the past few days and the sun decided to shine, I was able to do a little work on Saturday to break open the soil.  On Sunday, I was able to get the Mantis tiller out and work 4 beds into somewhat reasonable shape for planting.

#8, #5, #9, and #13 all got worked.  #9 was planted with Sugar Snap peas, after I got up the trellis for the new plants to hang themselves on.  I also planted 3 blocks of spinach, beets, and swiss chard along with 3 blocks of Speedy green beans.  I know that it is probably a little bit early for the beans, but they do taste good.  I also stuck a number of radish rows into the planting.

I did finish weeding the asparagus beds (#1-#4).  It seems the work was just in time as I have a meal of asparagus almost ready for picking.

The raspberries are slow due to the wet and cold.  I am very concerned about the purple raspberries coming back after a very, very rough wet summer last year.  Some of the red raspberries have broken dormancy, but I have not been able to find any signs from the purple.  Time will tell.

The inside seedlings continue to make progress.  I probably will have a couple of potted candidates to take outside, sometime this week.  Kale, broccoli, and brussel sprouts make up the base of most of the plantings.

Hoping we don't get deluged this week.  It would be good to get at least another one or two beds ready to go.

Remember, the NAS Heirloom Plant Sale at UWGB is this Saturday at 9 am.  They start handing out numbers at 7am.

Have a good week.

Bill

A week after Easter and it still feels like it could snow

With the cold and wet weather continuing, I took the opportunity to plant some spinach and swiss chard inside.  It will give me a leg up once it gets dry enough to work in the garden beds.  The onions are still very slow, and probably quite cold.  Once the weather warms, they should shoot right up.

The garlic is doing well after an application of bone meal.

We had some very wet weather last year and I was afraid my raspberry patch was a memory.  Today, I got in and cleaned them out.  For the most part, I was pleasantly pleased.  I saw good regrowth on all 4 varieties.  The primocanes from last year showed enough life to be optimistic about the potential for a crop this year.  Time will tell.

Next week is Mother's Day.  Make sure you plant something for your Mom.

A note of reminder.  May 14 9:00 am will be the annual heirloom plant sale at the UWGB NAS.  I know that I will be there early.

Be good and be safe.  We'll talk next week.

Bill

Took the opportunity....

The weekend was very good.  A good break on Saturday afternoon and Sunday from the rain.  After another day of drying today, I planted both the yellow and red onion plants that I picked up from Garden Spot on Saturday.

The soil worked up very good and I was able to get the 3 rows of double plants into one of the 12' beds.  6 " spacings will allow for a generous taking of green onions throughout the summer and some really great onions later on into July/August.

Rain is predicted for the next few days so timing appears to be good.  Keeping fingers crossed.

Be good..

Bill

Happy Easter from the still cold waste lands of the Frozen Tundra

Chives are doing great!

We still find ourselves in the middle of a continuing cold and wet stretch.  Last week saw 10" of wonderful white stuff grace our yards.  For the most part, the snow is gone and only small plow banks survive.  Yesterday was rainy and cold.  You know the kind  of cold, right down to the bone.  It did clear up a little in the afternoon with the sun finally coming out after 4pm and allowing the temps to get into the high 40's.

I took the opportunity to get a few more seeds into starting medium.  Red Russian kale and cauliflower made it into starting cups.  I will start some dwarf curly kale on Sunday.

Also on Saturday a trip to Garden Spot in Oconto to check out the plants.  Ronald and Lillian Martin have a great little green house located about 4 miles west of Oconto on Hwy 22.  For people reading this, Ron is a regular at the Saturday Farmer's Market in Green Bay.  I picked up my onion plants (Red & Sweet Yellow), some primocane Blackberries (PrimeJim & PrimeJan), and some kale seed I was looking for.  I will be following up on a couple of fruit trees this week.  Be sure to check it out:  Garden Spot, 3645 Hwy 22, Oconto  920-835-1237,  M-Sa 8:30-6:00, closed Sunday.  Well worth the drive.

The garden continues to lag.  Cold and rainy does not get the garden started.  The garlic is doing great and will get little help from some bone meal today.  After that, it will be all about foliar feeding with fish emulsion.

Grass is green but beds are very cold and very wet!

Garlic is doing well, despite the snow of last week!

 

It's April 19th in NE Wisconsin.

8-10" of snow.  Aren't we supposed to be planting?

Hopefully we can make it to work tomorrow.

OK. It's late, but....

It's tax time and not time to be planting seeds.  I know that.  I articulate that.  I still don't follow my own advice.

Today, I planted the following:
Brussel Sprouts - Long Island Improved, Bubbles
Broccoli -  DiCicco, Calabrese
Kale
Cauliflower
Basil - Italian Large Leaf, Genovesse, Thai, Licorice, Sweet
Parsley - Moss Curled, Double Curled, Italian Dark Green
Cilantro
Rosemary
Lettuce / Romaine - Outback, Caeser Blend
Swiss Chard - Lucullus, Bright Lights

They are sitting on top of the boiler so a nice heat source that should help the seed explode.


This year I am going to do a lot more staggered planting of our plants.  Think about it.  You go to your local garden center and get some plants that most likely have been started at the same time.  They might have been slowed up to meet some predetermined delivery window.  The way I look at it, one should keep the plants growing very, very fast and not slow the process down.  From inside, to deck, to hardening off, to garden.

Time will tell.  Consider that the sleet on the windows last night put me to sleep and the flooded back yard welcomed me to light of day.  Remember, this is spring.

Be safe.

Why would you want to garden.

A great article from ThePeoplesVoice.org should give everyone a new reason to plant a garden this year.  Some of the thoughts you will agree with and some not.  But in general, you can't argue with them.

Enjoy the read.

Bill

The garden season is almost done, but not quite yet!

Today, I picked a nice big handful of kale from the garden.  I know the temperature and the conditions (10 and blizzard), but we needed fresh kale for our non-pasta Wedding Soup.  It was frozen and I'm sure some of the snow made it into the soup pot, but I am certainly into season extenders.

We will most likely have another 2 or 3 meals and then, after the first of the year, it will be done.

Be safe and be warm.

Bill

This is getting very close to the end of the garden....

Today we picked what I think will be our next to last kale.  Yes, the weather has been in the very low teens for the better part of 12 days but the produce was great.  All of the kale went into kale chips and was safely in the dehydrator within 30 minutes of picking.  I have to say, the outcome (finished kale chips) is certainly something to wait for.

We'll watch the weather but I expect the last picking will be in the next week or so.  If the weather stays above 10, we should be OK.

Hanging on for that late, late unprotected harvest.

Bill

Time to plant garlic

On Saturday (10/16) we planted 75 hard neck garlic (3 varieties).  The bed had already been double dug, a healthy dose of 2 year old compost applied, and the requisite organic fertilizer applied.  It was a quick mix with the Mantis tiller (yes, I really like my little tiller) to get a seed bed that was perfect for planting. Raked the top level and layed out the marker lines.  Five 8' rows with 15 cloves to a row.  My actual planting was 3 rows, 4 rows, and 8 rows of three different varieties.  Punched them in by hand, gave them a quick shot fish emulsion and then finished back filling and tamping.

I also took the opportunity to plant 5 allium bulbs that needed to be moved.  I got these into the big rose bed in back, knowing that they will be a good addition to the bed.  Good moisture and good soil tilth, even after this weird growing season we've had.

We also picked the last of the randomly growing acorn squash.  We got 6 nice squash from a random plant that grew next to an old wood pile.  Don't know why, but it was.

Turned under 2 more beds, the tomato and bean beds.  I am afraid that winter just around the corner.

Still have kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, lettuce and peas growing.  I suspect that barring a really hard frost, we will be well into November.

Be safe, I will try and get some pictures posted.

Bill

Tilling and Planting continues....a full month early

Today is Sunday, April 18, 2010.  It was cool today, but definitely not the cold of a winter waiting to return.  The wind died down today, a calm amidst the last 4 days of a cold wind out of the NW.  It hasn't rained since we go and inch or about 8 days ago.  I also don't believe that it will snow again, but remember that we are in Wisconsin.

We continue to move forward with the garden.  Thanks to my friend from work, Brent Winebar who was good enough to share some All Blue and Carola potatoes from the ones he was planting in his own garden.  I was able to get 3 full hills planted when I supplemented them with some Rose Finn Apple potatoes that I purchase this week.  I utilized the plant in the fill technique and then encircled the hill with wire mesh and covered with 6" of leaf mulch.  All the potatoes had good swollen eyes and were showing the first signs of roots.  Potatoes were planted in #14, which is one of the new beds starting this year.

Earlier this week I planted #13 with onion plants that I started on 3/5.  Both red and yellow onions planted in multi-plant blocks, similar to the suggestions of Elliot Coleman.  We've had 2 frosts since then and they are doing just fine.

#11 was also planted today with transplants of spinach, swiss chard, and beets.  I also planted seed of leaf lettuce, spinach, more beets, and carrots.  The entire bed is covered in a plastic hoop house as I suspect we are going to have at least one more good hard frost.  Maybe not this week, but definitely the potential exists.

The last bed we planted was #15.  Super Sugar Snap peas went in.  I will put up the metal fence panels that I use for the trellis this week to make sure I don't kill too many plants by waiting.

I still owe people pictures.  It is on my list.

Happy Gardening, 2010 is here!
Bill

More seeds started, beds tilled and bushes trimmed

It turned out to be a very busy weekend.  While the weather was relatively cool and windy on both Saturday and Sunday, I did get the chance to trim out a lot of the woody growth from foundation plantings, trim the currants back (yes, I cut them back very hard), tip the red and purple raspberry plants, and trim off some ground hugging limbs on some blue spruce.

On Saturday morning I planted 3 varieties of broccoli, 2 varieties of brussel sprouts, 2 beets, 2 spinach, romaine lettuce, and kale.  In all, I got 108 multi-plant blocks started.  With onions, we are now creeping up to 200 multi-plant blocks started.  I won't be starting  tomato or pepper plants as the selection from the students up at UWGB is always good and offers a more robust selection then I care to.

On Saturday afternoon I also turned over my 2 early beds (potato and greens).  The leaf mulch from the fall has broken down substantially and the earthworm population had taken off.  A week of warm weather as its forecast should lead to optimal conditions to plant some spuds next weekend and get the A-frame set up on bed #11.

On Sunday I tackled the new area, freshly broken for beds 13-16.  I turned the sod over in the fall and it has mellowed nicely over the winter.  The Mantis tiller had its work cut out for it but was definitely up to the task.  I didn't try to tackle all of the tilling in one move but rather attempted to get the tops knocked off and ready for the next tilling.  If time permits, I will be assembling #13-16 beds next weekend and then tilling inside the beds.  First thing that will be planted will be onions.  In and out quick and allowing for some potential double digging.  We'll see how it goes.

As we ran out of time and energy this weekend, I promise to get some picture up and posted next week.  However, I wanted to give you a little taste of our recent trip to Kona, HI.

At 9,600 ft of elevation not much grows.

Monday 3/8 standing at 13,700' elevation on top of Muana Kei.  The hill in the distance is 70 miles away. And yes, the clouds are below us.

Be safe.
Bill

Welcome back from a somewhat long winter (which isn't over)

Just wanted to drop everyone a note that we are still alive here in De Pere, WI.  The snow has been reduced from last year and for the most part, the winter a little milder.

Thoughts are turning to gardening.  I had the fortune of attending the Garden Expo in Madison a couple of weeks ago.  Lots and lots of people, lots and lots of stuff.  Picked up some giant asiatic lilies for the NW bed in the yard, but more importantly, picked up my seeds.

Stopped at Jungs in Sun Prarie and in 45 minutes had all of my seed.  Great supply and great variety.  Now I am ready.

My plan is to plant our onion seeds in blocks of 6 this year to follow the Elliot Coleman approach.  We will be in HI during the week of 7-13 March and plan on seeing a lot of great agriculture.  We are staying on the big island so there is less commercialization.

After we get back, I will get some additional plantings started with brussel sprouts, broccoli, and kale.




Be good, be safe.  We'll talk soon.

Bill

Dec 6 and snow is predicted for tonight

We're expected 1-3" of snow tonight and I wanted to get a last shot of the garden before it goes away for the next 4-5 months.  We have had a very abundant harvest this year and have decided to add another 11x17 patch to the garden.  This will allow us to plant 3 30" rows with a small walking path between.

The one close up is of the garlic bed for next year.  It is already tucked away with about 4" of rough compost on top of  the planted crop.  This is a reduction from the two beds we usually keep but our stores of dehydrated garlic are abundant and it would be good to give the garden a break in the rotation.  We'll see where we stand next year.

The third picture is the two leaf bins.  Going into the winter we have approximately 200 cu ft of leaves for next year.  Should be adequate for making additional compost throughout the year.

Thanks to everyone who has taken a liking to this blog.  I hope my ramblings have not lost anyone.  We're going to take the balance of December off.  Lots to do in the house as well as getting ready for the holidays.

Be safe.

Bill

The season is coming to an end...

I find it hard to believe but the 2009 garden season is almost done.  The last two days have been in the mid 60's with a nice shot of sunshine to make the days even better.  Just the fact that it is already 1/3 of the way into November and we are still able to have this kind of weather makes me smile.

The garden is slowly finishing up.  We harvested lettuce today and will most likely be able to continue to cut fresh lettuce until the next frost.  Seems we don't have a next frost scheduled for at least another 10 days.  We also took the advantage to digging the last of the beet greens.  I will wash them well and then saute them with a little garlic and oil on Tuesday night.

Have all the beds tilled (hand spaded) except for the brussel sprout (#7) and lettuce (#8) beds.  These will go sometime in the next couple of weeks.  Dug #9, #10, and #11 on Saturday and spread green sand and rock phosphate on Sunday. 

I also broke sod on #13, #14, and #15 which will be 30"x 16' beds in the Elliot Coleman style (30" bed with a 12" path.).  These will be pepper, brussel sprout, and onion beds for next year.  I'll take a hard look at adding two additional beds for 2011 depending on the success that 2010 brings.  The sod was pretty stout, but the tree roots were even more interesting.  I will definitely be challenged with tillage in the spring.  We won't rush, but we will do it right.

The weather was so good this weekend, I also got a chance to grind leaves that my neighbor Mike brought.  They were exactly the right moisture, dry, but not tinder try.  I ground 13 full bags of leaves.  For perspective, a full bag will cover a 32 sqft bed about 6 inches deep in ground leaves.  By covering the asparagus beds, it builds soil and keeps the weeds down.  Putting leaf mulch on the tilled bids creates an environment that the worms really like and adds substantially to the tilth of the soil.  I'll keep adding on an annual basis until somebody a lot smarter than me comes along and says stop.

The #1 leaf bin is full (~80 cuft) of leaf mulch/grass clippings (compost).  #2 leaf bin is about 2/3 full (~70cuft) of rougher leaves and other garden waste.  I also have one of the black compost bins filled with leaf mulch.

Also got a chance to put up the protective wire cages around the blackberries.  Last year I was too late and we suffered with substantial damage from the rabbits.  Not this year.

Over the next two weekends, I will get the rest of the leaves cleaned up from the yard, mow at least once more, and put my final winterizer fertilizer down.  Then we will be ready for Thanksgiving and putting the garden to bed for the year.

Be good, be safe and be organic.

Nov1 and the lettuce is still growing!!!

Having spent our anniversary in NC with friends and family I have been gone for almost a week.  We had a great time in Asheville, NC see how life happens in Western NC.  I find it hard to believe that GB can not even support a whole food / organic market.  Asheville is 80,000 people and they have 4 markets doing a booming business as well as 2 food co-ops.  FRUSTRATION....

We got home this past Thursday.  The rain was just starting on the drive home from the airport.  It continued to rain all day Friday and at least until mid Saturday morning.  Spent Saturday cleaning out the garage and made great headway to get both vehicles back inside.  Let the winter start.

Sunday was spent in the garden.  Lots was accomplished.
1. Picking of vegetables
Picked about a point of broccoli side shoots.  They are nearly done and will most likely get pulled and sent to the leaf bin next weekend.  Great results for late season.  Will definitely do this again next year.

Cut swiss chard (bright lights), beet greens, and a big dish of lettuce.  Yes,  I know it is hard to believe but the greens are still growing.  I am making every effort to not cover them but still feel that the fact that we even have greens is a win.  A really big win.  I will cover as long as we continue to stay above 25.  We will get a good killing frost soon, but probably not this week.

Cut a big bowl of collard greens to make dehydrated veggie chips with them.  Still have two plans left to trim.  The collards were mixed with swiss chard, olive oils, Braggs Amino, and nutritional yeast .  12 hours in the dehydrator and yummy, yummy, yummy.

I still have about 9 brussel sprout plants that are still holding onto their prizes for me.  Great place to store these little gems.  It will be  at least another week until we have to start thinking about what we are going to do with them, other than Thanksgiving.

2.  Asparagus cleanup.
Cut the fronds down for all 4 beds.  Also took the opportunity to weed and clean up the beds.  Actually in pretty good shape.  Spread 13 oz of GreenSand and 12 oz of Rock Phosphate in each bed.  Had a garbage can of potting soil that I needed to find a home for.  Fit nicely as a top dressing for the beds.  Will spread some leaf mold after the ground freezes.

3.  Storing of the leaves
Mike, my great neighbor is really enjoying that fact that he has a place to empty leaves without making his front yard a mess.  He collects the leaves with his JD riding lawn mower and dumps them out of the 3 pt carrying bin right next to my leaf bins. While we were away last week he brought over 3 dumps worth.  They had some rain and actually stating fermenting. I cleaned them up and finished filling leaf bin #1.

By the time I had everything cleaned up,  he had already dumped another load of fresh leaves.  Time from bin #2.  This bin is 4w x 6d x 4 h.  #1 is 4w x 4d x 5h.  Between cutting grass/catching leaves from my lawn and what Mike brought over, #2 is now full.  It will settle and will take at least another 2 good fills.  Who knows, we might even need to put up #3.

All in all, a really good weekend.  Seems that winter is getting closer.

Have a great week
Bill

It may be October but we are still gardening

First off, I need to apologize.  It has been toooooooo long since I have sat down and took the time to let people know what was going on in the garden.  No explanation, just I'm sorry.

The growing season was less than stellar.  Cold early, dry in the middle, and then we got rain and warmth.  Alas, it was basically too late to salvage a great year.  However, the fall broccoli, brussel sprouts, and all the greens did good.  The beans were good enough to freeze some.

Today, I planted 70 white garlic, and 35 purple stripe in bed #5.  It was double dug, tilled with the mantis, fertilized with rock phosphate and green sand, and then planted.  Note:  the garlic follows the tomato/pepper beds.

I also double dug bed #12 to get it ready for winter.  We had peas in it as a green manure crop.  It didn't start out that way but it certainly turned out that way.

We're getting ready to head to North Carolina next week for our anniversary.  Will try and see some organic farms / gardens while we are in the Asheville area.

Until later..
Bill