It sure feels like I'm behind last year's schedule, but after reviewing last year's garden notes - not yet! Yesterday we came a long way in getting ready for this year's garden season. I hired Smoker Excavating to put a sluice in the ditch that divides our property so we can get in and out of the garden with heavy equipment (dump truck loads of mushroom soil, for example), without running over our water line from the well.
He removed the stump pile from above the garden and leveled it out. The top soil from the roots looks like the best soil on the property! It's too bad that we didn't have that area cleaned up before we made our garden! I also had him bring in a tri-axle load of mushroom soil, about 30 yards worth.
I wish I would have had him come in last fall instead of the kid I did hire. I think the garden would have been ready for easy tilling instead of the back-breaking work we have ahead of us to remove the roots and rocks the other guy buried.
One last note on excavating - if you hire an excavator make sure you're able to be present during the entire job. Questions always come up and the excavator might have a pretty good idea on what you want, but if you're not there to make sure it's EXACTLY what you want, you may not get it. Everyone has a different picture in their mind and you need to be on hand to provide some direction when your picture and the excavator's don't match precisely. Using yesterday for an example, David and I had a different idea on where the sluice pipe was going to be placed, had I not been there it would have been 20 feet further down the ditch than where I wanted it. It still would have worked, but it wouldn't have been where I planned it to be which would have interfered with my ideas for the future.
Back to the garden.
We are now on par with last year's schedule, except for planting onions. Last year we didn't plant them until May 1st and most of them didn't get very big. This year we planted some around March 24th and they're already as tall as the garlic! I hope we get enough large bulbs to can all of our spaghetti sauce with them this year. Last year we had to buy a 25lb bag to finish.
I finished reviewing last year's notes. We didn't buy our plants until May 15th and couldn't even start planting them until the 21st, finishing on the 26th. I need to take a deep breath and relax, instead of trying to work in the mud like I just did!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Greenhouse Plantings and Flowers
In addition to more ground-breaking in the garden and cleaning up some of the brush, we started planting in the greenhouse this past weekend. Melissa planted flowers, spices, lettuces and mint. The mint is a lot like horseradish in that it will spread like a bad weed so you have to be careful where you plant it.
The garlic is doing well and has come up through the 2 inches of compost we covered them with last fall by another 4 inches or so. The crocuses I planted last fall are blooming. So far there's yellow and white and none of the blues that I like. Daffodil's and Tulips all seem to be coming up and the Pansies are starting to bloom.
Our ground-breaking continues in the garden with about another 500 square feet added on. I believe we're harvesting about 2 lbs/rock and 1 lb of roots per square foot, but my estimate may be LOW. I don't know how our fore-fathers managed to clear as much land as they did for cultivating crops without the modern tools we have available to us today. It must have taken a long time to carve out an opening large enough to grow gardens and crops among the eastern forests. I've used chainsaws, bulldozers, backhoes, and a tiller to help clear our small garden.
The garlic is doing well and has come up through the 2 inches of compost we covered them with last fall by another 4 inches or so. The crocuses I planted last fall are blooming. So far there's yellow and white and none of the blues that I like. Daffodil's and Tulips all seem to be coming up and the Pansies are starting to bloom.
Our ground-breaking continues in the garden with about another 500 square feet added on. I believe we're harvesting about 2 lbs/rock and 1 lb of roots per square foot, but my estimate may be LOW. I don't know how our fore-fathers managed to clear as much land as they did for cultivating crops without the modern tools we have available to us today. It must have taken a long time to carve out an opening large enough to grow gardens and crops among the eastern forests. I've used chainsaws, bulldozers, backhoes, and a tiller to help clear our small garden.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Ground Breaking
Looks like I'm a bit behind schedule this year, compared to last. On March 22, 2011 I wrote that I had spent 3 weeks on garden soil preparation already. This year, soil preps began yesterday, March 11, 2012.
Luke, Melissa and I spent most of the afternoon tilling some of our garden expansion area. There's nothing like a hand tiller to find lots of rocks and roots! All of the rocks are making a nice border around the maple tree at the edge of the garden. This will help keep me from killing it by whacking off the roots.
Anyhow, all of the work that we did on Sunday effectively doubles the size of last year's garden. The net planting result will remain the same as we need to spread some of the bushier plants out some over last year (tomatoes) so I can get through them without breaking them off.
Last fall we had several stumps removed and added on to the fence to keep the deer out. We thought that the work we were having done would leave us with a straight-forward, ready-to-till garden, but the landscaper we hired thinks that 2" is deep enough for a garden. We were left with most of the roots and rocks still lurking just under the surface. We had also talked about him running a rock hound through it, but when the time came he said "It isn't designed for that". I have heard that about various pieces of equipment from different folks since we first started clearing our garden 3 years ago. I know that a tiller wasn't designed for that, but it helps to get the job done.
But, I digress. Our plans for this year will result in our garden being nearly 3 times as large as it was last year. It sounds like a lot described this way, but it's not even a quarter of an acre. (An acre is 40,000 square feet: 200x200). With all of our gardens added together we MIGHT reach an eighth of an acre this year. We had enough space last year to raise all of the broccoli, green and yellow wax beans and beets that we needed, all but about 2 bushels of tomatoes (for 2 families), and enough pickles for 3 families. We also grew some potatoes, onions, peas, garlic, lettuce, hot and sweet peppers, and carrots. We plan to plant another 3 doz tomatoes and a few more hot and green peppers this year. Things were a bit cramped though and I broke more than one plant trying to get between the rows.
I have nasturtiums started on the basement windowsill (I hope I don't let them dry out like last year's parsley) and we're chomping at the bit to get some fresh greens planted in the greenhouse.
Luke, Melissa and I spent most of the afternoon tilling some of our garden expansion area. There's nothing like a hand tiller to find lots of rocks and roots! All of the rocks are making a nice border around the maple tree at the edge of the garden. This will help keep me from killing it by whacking off the roots.
Anyhow, all of the work that we did on Sunday effectively doubles the size of last year's garden. The net planting result will remain the same as we need to spread some of the bushier plants out some over last year (tomatoes) so I can get through them without breaking them off.
Last fall we had several stumps removed and added on to the fence to keep the deer out. We thought that the work we were having done would leave us with a straight-forward, ready-to-till garden, but the landscaper we hired thinks that 2" is deep enough for a garden. We were left with most of the roots and rocks still lurking just under the surface. We had also talked about him running a rock hound through it, but when the time came he said "It isn't designed for that". I have heard that about various pieces of equipment from different folks since we first started clearing our garden 3 years ago. I know that a tiller wasn't designed for that, but it helps to get the job done.
But, I digress. Our plans for this year will result in our garden being nearly 3 times as large as it was last year. It sounds like a lot described this way, but it's not even a quarter of an acre. (An acre is 40,000 square feet: 200x200). With all of our gardens added together we MIGHT reach an eighth of an acre this year. We had enough space last year to raise all of the broccoli, green and yellow wax beans and beets that we needed, all but about 2 bushels of tomatoes (for 2 families), and enough pickles for 3 families. We also grew some potatoes, onions, peas, garlic, lettuce, hot and sweet peppers, and carrots. We plan to plant another 3 doz tomatoes and a few more hot and green peppers this year. Things were a bit cramped though and I broke more than one plant trying to get between the rows.
I have nasturtiums started on the basement windowsill (I hope I don't let them dry out like last year's parsley) and we're chomping at the bit to get some fresh greens planted in the greenhouse.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Our First Greenhouse
My wife, Melissa, has been talking about her mother's greenhouse for years and now that we have our own place, I want one too. Since her birthday was yesterday, I figured it was the perfect time to fulfill her overdue wish to have one, so a few weeks ago I set about preparing for it.
My original thought, and ultimate plan, is to build one right above the garden. But after clearing the brush pile deposited there during construction of our home, I found much more to do for site preparation than I could accomplish before this growing season.
During this time-frame we were walking around in our more-or-less local big construction store and we stopped to look at a little 4x6 plastic-covered job. Even though it was indoors, and not in direct sunlight, it was a few degrees warmer inside it. Melissa said something about it, and even though I can't remember anything close to the words she used, it planted a seed.
Fast-forward to President's Day and I found the perfect excuse to be going in the opposite direction from the wife - she had made plans for a friend to accompany her to Altoona. That left the neighbor and I free to go to the other big construction store in an even less local town under the guise of retrieving my trailer from my brother, which is more or less on the way.
When we went I had intended to buy the materials to build the "Winter Optimum" Greenhouse I designed and posted in a previous post, but due to the time constraint, and stumbling upon a 6x8 model of a similar greenhouse to the one Melissa and I saw, I changed my mind. For $199.95, an opportunity to use the greenhouse this year and a chance to make Melissa happy on her birthday, I bought it.
The neighbor and I hid it in his garage until this past weekend. I had him call me Sunday morning when he got up and used the ruse that he needed my help laying out the stairs in his garage for about an hour or so. I got "the look" as I headed out the door, but sometimes you just have to take it.
It took us a little over an hour to put the metal framework together in his garage - no tools required. Then we snuck it through the treeline between our houses out back. We set it tight against the back porch and then went and got the cover from the garage and started putting it over the framework. We were nearly done when Melissa texted me, asking me how much longer we'd be. I replied "10-15 mins". We were attaching the last strap that holds the cover to the frame about 5 minutes later when I heard the front door open and Melissa yelling at the dogs. Mostly she was yelling at Whiskey who had heard us and came tearing around the back of the house, barking the whole way. I quickly thanked our neighbor for his help and headed around front to make sure Melissa didn't come around back. Whiskey and I found her headed for the front steps from starting her SUV to warm up, and followed her inside. She was getting ready for the two of us to go out and do some of the myriad things we had talked about doing on Saturday but didn't do because of the high winds. Fearing that we wouldn't get back until after dark, I led her out onto the back deck to show her something. She seems to be happy with her birthday present and now she wants to know what we're going to plant! Sunday evening Luck and I went out and moved the greenhouse over the septic tank and ran pole-barn spikes through the feet to hold it down.
I chose the location because of the heat from the septic tank. It does get snow-covered in the winter but the snow is always shallower there and is the first place to melt-off in the spring. It was 42° on the ground inside the greenhouse at 8:40 this morning, 36° under the enclosed back deck, and 27° at 9:10am downtown.
I will update the blog from time to time on the performance of the greenhouse. I hope to have fresh salads all winter long this coming year.
My original thought, and ultimate plan, is to build one right above the garden. But after clearing the brush pile deposited there during construction of our home, I found much more to do for site preparation than I could accomplish before this growing season.
During this time-frame we were walking around in our more-or-less local big construction store and we stopped to look at a little 4x6 plastic-covered job. Even though it was indoors, and not in direct sunlight, it was a few degrees warmer inside it. Melissa said something about it, and even though I can't remember anything close to the words she used, it planted a seed.
Fast-forward to President's Day and I found the perfect excuse to be going in the opposite direction from the wife - she had made plans for a friend to accompany her to Altoona. That left the neighbor and I free to go to the other big construction store in an even less local town under the guise of retrieving my trailer from my brother, which is more or less on the way.
When we went I had intended to buy the materials to build the "Winter Optimum" Greenhouse I designed and posted in a previous post, but due to the time constraint, and stumbling upon a 6x8 model of a similar greenhouse to the one Melissa and I saw, I changed my mind. For $199.95, an opportunity to use the greenhouse this year and a chance to make Melissa happy on her birthday, I bought it.
The neighbor and I hid it in his garage until this past weekend. I had him call me Sunday morning when he got up and used the ruse that he needed my help laying out the stairs in his garage for about an hour or so. I got "the look" as I headed out the door, but sometimes you just have to take it.
It took us a little over an hour to put the metal framework together in his garage - no tools required. Then we snuck it through the treeline between our houses out back. We set it tight against the back porch and then went and got the cover from the garage and started putting it over the framework. We were nearly done when Melissa texted me, asking me how much longer we'd be. I replied "10-15 mins". We were attaching the last strap that holds the cover to the frame about 5 minutes later when I heard the front door open and Melissa yelling at the dogs. Mostly she was yelling at Whiskey who had heard us and came tearing around the back of the house, barking the whole way. I quickly thanked our neighbor for his help and headed around front to make sure Melissa didn't come around back. Whiskey and I found her headed for the front steps from starting her SUV to warm up, and followed her inside. She was getting ready for the two of us to go out and do some of the myriad things we had talked about doing on Saturday but didn't do because of the high winds. Fearing that we wouldn't get back until after dark, I led her out onto the back deck to show her something. She seems to be happy with her birthday present and now she wants to know what we're going to plant! Sunday evening Luck and I went out and moved the greenhouse over the septic tank and ran pole-barn spikes through the feet to hold it down.
I chose the location because of the heat from the septic tank. It does get snow-covered in the winter but the snow is always shallower there and is the first place to melt-off in the spring. It was 42° on the ground inside the greenhouse at 8:40 this morning, 36° under the enclosed back deck, and 27° at 9:10am downtown.
I will update the blog from time to time on the performance of the greenhouse. I hope to have fresh salads all winter long this coming year.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
LED Lighting and Sticker Shock
On Friday Melissa and I went up to the "big city" to do some shopping. We needed a few supplies from the big construction store and made that our last stop before heading home.
As we walked down the first aisle I spotted light bulbs and remembered that Melissa had one missing from her sewing room. We had talked to a solar company while at the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show and one of the things he talked about was how much brighter and even more efficient LED bulbs are over CFL's (compact fluorescent light).
After studying the lighted display, and recovering from the price shock, we chose 3 different bulbs to try out. One of the reasons we decided to go ahead with trying them out is that they come with a 5 year warranty and when starting prices are $9.97 a bulb, a warranty is needed!
The bulbs we chose for our trial are an 8W (40W equivalent, 429 Lumen - $9.97), a 13W A19 Daylight (60W equivalent, 950 Lumen - $25.97) and a 16W BR 40 (90W equivalent, 950 Lumen - $34.97). I know, absolutely ridiculous, right? Maybe not.
Let's talk a minute about the alternatives, regular light bulbs and CFLs. The obvious disadvantage to a regular bulb is the amount of energy required to operate them, 47W/hour/bulb adds up in a hurry. CFLs on the other hand are only a few watts more per hour and relatively speaking, are still quite a bit cheaper, but the kicker here is they all contain MERCURY; you know, that crap the government was trying to get out of our environment until China started selling us CFLs.
The reason we want to try out LED lights are to reduce our electric bill and our power consumption. I SO want to go Solar. And, I hate where CFLs are made and the fact that they contain Mercury.
THE TEST AND MORE ON THE BULBS
First, we put the 13W bulb in the corner of the sewing room. It is much smaller and lighter than the floodlight-shaped 16W bulb with the same Lumen measurement. (A Lumen is a measurement of light emitted). It did a pretty good job of lighting the area around it. We then replaced the 13W with the 16W bulb and there was a noticeable difference. The floodlight-type shape of the 16W bulb seems to spread the light a little further. It is a good choice for the dark corner of Melissa's basement sewing room. We have 2 lights for the long basement hallway and I replaced the burnt out light first with one of the 2 8W bulbs we bought and tried it out. The area around the LED light was noticeably brighter than the area around the CFL, so I changed it out too. This was our plan since our son frequently leaves this light on all night long. Next I replaced one of the bulbs over the kitchen island with the 13W bulb and the difference was immediate! The fixture is one of those enclosed globe-type fixtures, tight to the ceiling, that takes 2 bulbs. The LED bulb is a brighter blue-white light compared to the soft yellow of the comparable CFL that is in the fixture with it. We will be getting another of these bulbs for the other side of this fixture. At $25.97 I think that's saying something about the light output. Note: These lights put very little light out behind them. They don't reflect very much off of the ceiling, for example.
The next test is longevity - time will tell.
As we walked down the first aisle I spotted light bulbs and remembered that Melissa had one missing from her sewing room. We had talked to a solar company while at the Eastern Sports and Outdoor Show and one of the things he talked about was how much brighter and even more efficient LED bulbs are over CFL's (compact fluorescent light).
After studying the lighted display, and recovering from the price shock, we chose 3 different bulbs to try out. One of the reasons we decided to go ahead with trying them out is that they come with a 5 year warranty and when starting prices are $9.97 a bulb, a warranty is needed!
The bulbs we chose for our trial are an 8W (40W equivalent, 429 Lumen - $9.97), a 13W A19 Daylight (60W equivalent, 950 Lumen - $25.97) and a 16W BR 40 (90W equivalent, 950 Lumen - $34.97). I know, absolutely ridiculous, right? Maybe not.
Let's talk a minute about the alternatives, regular light bulbs and CFLs. The obvious disadvantage to a regular bulb is the amount of energy required to operate them, 47W/hour/bulb adds up in a hurry. CFLs on the other hand are only a few watts more per hour and relatively speaking, are still quite a bit cheaper, but the kicker here is they all contain MERCURY; you know, that crap the government was trying to get out of our environment until China started selling us CFLs.
The reason we want to try out LED lights are to reduce our electric bill and our power consumption. I SO want to go Solar. And, I hate where CFLs are made and the fact that they contain Mercury.
THE TEST AND MORE ON THE BULBS
First, we put the 13W bulb in the corner of the sewing room. It is much smaller and lighter than the floodlight-shaped 16W bulb with the same Lumen measurement. (A Lumen is a measurement of light emitted). It did a pretty good job of lighting the area around it. We then replaced the 13W with the 16W bulb and there was a noticeable difference. The floodlight-type shape of the 16W bulb seems to spread the light a little further. It is a good choice for the dark corner of Melissa's basement sewing room. We have 2 lights for the long basement hallway and I replaced the burnt out light first with one of the 2 8W bulbs we bought and tried it out. The area around the LED light was noticeably brighter than the area around the CFL, so I changed it out too. This was our plan since our son frequently leaves this light on all night long. Next I replaced one of the bulbs over the kitchen island with the 13W bulb and the difference was immediate! The fixture is one of those enclosed globe-type fixtures, tight to the ceiling, that takes 2 bulbs. The LED bulb is a brighter blue-white light compared to the soft yellow of the comparable CFL that is in the fixture with it. We will be getting another of these bulbs for the other side of this fixture. At $25.97 I think that's saying something about the light output. Note: These lights put very little light out behind them. They don't reflect very much off of the ceiling, for example.
The next test is longevity - time will tell.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
The USDA has come out with a new Plant Hardiness Zone Map. It now contains 13 zones. They are based on a 10° F window for the average cold temperature during winter. See the USDA news release here for more info. If you want to go directly to the interactive map, you can find the map here. For those living near me, we're in Zone 5a.
Garden Preps Begin
Okay. Okay! I get it. I might be a tad bit antsy but, I can't wait to dig into my garden expansion area to find out if I'm going to be able to get it ready in time for the spring planting. Given that the ground is frozen I can't very well start tilling it yet, so I started thawing it out! Well, not exactly.
It all started on Friday. It was a beautiful day out and I spent the whole day running around taking the dogs to the vet and getting their licenses. The relationship to the garden is that I was outside frequently, seeing bare ground and tolerable temperatures. And, after getting home from the vet's, the dogs and I wandered out back and had a look around the garden. It was late in the afternoon so we didn't tarry long, but I made a couple of mental notes on things that need to get done.
On Saturday morning the pull was irresistible and I found myself back in the garden with my faithful companion, Whiskey. The most pressing item on my agenda is to install an electric fence to keep the bears our of the honey bees that will be arriving early this spring. With this in mind, I started taking the brush that was stacked near the woven-wire fence and piling it in the middle of the expansion area. Whiskey and I worked on that until I couldn't take anymore and we called it a day.
Sunday found Luke, Whiskey and I back in the garden to burn the brush pile that I stacked the day before. I purposely chose to burn the brush in the new garden area so I can just till the ashes right into the soil when the time comes.
Of course it snowed 4" or so Saturday night, just to make things nice and damp for burning. We got it going without too much trouble and before long I had singed half my mustache, both eyelashes and eyebrows (Kayla would like the trimming they got) and a little of my hair. It's probably a good thing I shaved the beard off Friday night!
Anyhow, Luke and I (and Whiskey) cleaned up the brush above the garden near the gate; and we took out a bunch of the young beach brush there to get ready for leveling an area for a small greenhouse. We'll also be planting some of the 300-odd trees I have coming in the beginning of April there.
My next task will be to clear the entire path for the electric fence and start building it.
It all started on Friday. It was a beautiful day out and I spent the whole day running around taking the dogs to the vet and getting their licenses. The relationship to the garden is that I was outside frequently, seeing bare ground and tolerable temperatures. And, after getting home from the vet's, the dogs and I wandered out back and had a look around the garden. It was late in the afternoon so we didn't tarry long, but I made a couple of mental notes on things that need to get done.
On Saturday morning the pull was irresistible and I found myself back in the garden with my faithful companion, Whiskey. The most pressing item on my agenda is to install an electric fence to keep the bears our of the honey bees that will be arriving early this spring. With this in mind, I started taking the brush that was stacked near the woven-wire fence and piling it in the middle of the expansion area. Whiskey and I worked on that until I couldn't take anymore and we called it a day.
Sunday found Luke, Whiskey and I back in the garden to burn the brush pile that I stacked the day before. I purposely chose to burn the brush in the new garden area so I can just till the ashes right into the soil when the time comes.
Of course it snowed 4" or so Saturday night, just to make things nice and damp for burning. We got it going without too much trouble and before long I had singed half my mustache, both eyelashes and eyebrows (Kayla would like the trimming they got) and a little of my hair. It's probably a good thing I shaved the beard off Friday night!
Anyhow, Luke and I (and Whiskey) cleaned up the brush above the garden near the gate; and we took out a bunch of the young beach brush there to get ready for leveling an area for a small greenhouse. We'll also be planting some of the 300-odd trees I have coming in the beginning of April there.
My next task will be to clear the entire path for the electric fence and start building it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)