Saturday, May 5, 2012
God said "let there be Maters!"
. . . and I am forever grateful
Behold! 12 tomato plants of three varieties (Juliet, Estiva, Parks CR improved) planted April 28 in a lovely 20' x 4' raised bed with recently tilled in compost and lime, staked in 40" tall wire cages holding 75% translucent cloth to prevent sun scald, with drip irrigation and "green plastic" to suppress weeds and warm the soil.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Spring has Sprung
April 15 is the average last frost date here, but our most recent hard frost was early March I think. We had a frost-on-the-cars-but-nowhere-else morning on April 10, but I didn't find any frost thing on any blooms. The mild Winter seems to have put everything ahead of schedule. The crossvine is already in full bloom now -- a good week to ten days early. Now all it needs are hummingbirds to adorn it.
The greenhouse is full of seedlings ready to go. The tomato/pepper beds are prepped and I'll probably get plants in them the last week of April. I've got "green mulch plastic" for warm season plants this year. It's supposed to suppress weeds as well as black plastic, but warm the ground more than black (though not as much as clear). We'll see how that goes.
The oddest thing so far has been the germination of my peppers. I planted Marconi seeds (2012) and Yum Yum Gold seeds (2009). I expected lower germination rates from the older Yum Yum Gold, but I didn't expect the huge range of germination times. Eight of the Marconi came up in about two weeks. The first YumYum did not appear until three weeks after seeding. Another two came up 24 days after seeding, and another four came up five weeks after seeding. I assume they are done germinating now, but who knows.
Meanwhile, my Golden Star Hybrid seeds (2012) have done nothing in three weeks. Doh!
The greenhouse is full of seedlings ready to go. The tomato/pepper beds are prepped and I'll probably get plants in them the last week of April. I've got "green mulch plastic" for warm season plants this year. It's supposed to suppress weeds as well as black plastic, but warm the ground more than black (though not as much as clear). We'll see how that goes.
The oddest thing so far has been the germination of my peppers. I planted Marconi seeds (2012) and Yum Yum Gold seeds (2009). I expected lower germination rates from the older Yum Yum Gold, but I didn't expect the huge range of germination times. Eight of the Marconi came up in about two weeks. The first YumYum did not appear until three weeks after seeding. Another two came up 24 days after seeding, and another four came up five weeks after seeding. I assume they are done germinating now, but who knows.
Meanwhile, my Golden Star Hybrid seeds (2012) have done nothing in three weeks. Doh!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Midwinter update
Well, not much of a Winter frankly. We had a handful of days in the lower 20's in mid-December, but aside for that is has been remarkably mild.
The carrots, lettuce and spinach have been great success. The beats and brocolli have not done well, but think that is because I planted both too late (mid Sept) and did not thin the beets enough (see previous post on thinning).
Lessons: (1) Plant Fall crops by mid Aug at the latest (2) Space them wide enough to avoid thinning.
The carrots, lettuce and spinach have been great success. The beats and brocolli have not done well, but think that is because I planted both too late (mid Sept) and did not thin the beets enough (see previous post on thinning).
Lessons: (1) Plant Fall crops by mid Aug at the latest (2) Space them wide enough to avoid thinning.
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