Of Teepees, Beans and Herbs...

I've had it with the northern climate this year, so I've been diving in and starting on the garden. I hope that it doesn't come back to bite me later, as we can still get frosts through May, so I'm having to really pay attention to weather.

I'm only doing cooler weather things right now. Some chard, lettuce and parsley have already gone in, and lettuce has started coming up. Looks like parsley as well. I have started building teepees for peas and beans,although I think I may let the Scarlett Runners go right up one of the bushes on the side of the herb garden as they get so tall. I also put some new herbs in to expand the herb garden. I've added marjoram and chamomile. I also had to tie up a sage plant. It was getting a bit heavy and falling over a bit.

I've also been trying to figure out where other things will be going in the various gardens around the house, barn and even garage. And I started some more seeds indoors today as well as purchasing 2 tomato plants to get an early crop while waiting for the ones I'm starting from seed.

Hoping for a great garden this year!

As of Today.....

When I checked one of my "garden experiments" this morning, I found one of the lettuce seedlings went MFB (missing from bag). Three seedlings instead of 4. Hmmm.......pondering...... Bunny? Mouse? I doubt a deer. Maybe one of the barn cats nibbling on greenery. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

The parsley may be coming up already. Only 3 days? Seems awfully, awfully fast, but there are little sprouts right where I put the seeds in. The herbs are coming back. The thyme seems a little worse for wear, but hopefully will bounce back. Looks like only one lavender survived, and just barely. Then I accidentally pulled it with a handful of weeds......twice! I hope it will retake again.

Looks as if the horseradish is coming up. This year I have to harvest some, as it has now been almost 2 years since I planted it, but wanted to give it time to spread a bit. I'm going to start the ghost chili seeds this weekend along with some beans and peas. In fact, I may put the beans and peas directly in the ground on Saturday. If we do get frost yet, which we can, I can just cover any seedlings that might sprout.

Looking at the aftermath of the tornadoes. Makes me work harder at trying to get Spirit Seed going now.
We pretty much lucked out here. We did get a good thunderstorm last night, but not what was expected during the night. Our tornado watch came and went.......5hrs long. Sun is shining today, but the winds have been at it all day. Other areas to our west and south, however, didn't fare as well. Nothing like in the south, but still some very, very bad winds with outages, a few had some roof problems, trees......still,this area was lucky 

Storms.....

We had a good storm earlier this evening, and still on tornado watch as I write. Although we are still under a watch, I think that we're OK, as the dog has finally settled down and zonked out. Up until about a 1/2hr ago, she was a nervous wreck, long after the storm had passed. It did get a little funky looking in the sky with the weird bright yellowish light, but the peepers were yelling and I could hear crickets as well, so I figured we were fine there as well. But I kept checking, as if they abruptly stopped their "singing", that could signal a problem.

As it was a beautiful, warm day today (hit 80), I put a few plants out, but brought them back in due to the storms tonight. I'm hoping the cool weather seeds that I planted don't get so wet that they rot in the ground, but I guess we'll see.

I've been following the weather channel, not only for updates for this area, but seeing what is happening down south. Just awful. It is for situations like these that I hope Spirit Seed and Garden will be able to assist in the near future.

Wind is kicking up, and as the laptop is plugged in as I type (battery is low...figures), I'm signing off and unplugging in case of thunder popping up again. Although our sever storm warning was canceled an hour ago, we're still not out of the woods for bad storms later tonight. It will be a loooong night with Chance if it does storm. She'll be pacing, panting and keeping me up. Even radios on loud don't seem to help her.

Everyone in storm areas.......stay safe!

Looks Like It's Working

The experiment that I have been trying with growing lettuce in the soil bag seems to be working. There are little sprouts appearing. However, I think I will need to make the holes in the bag a bit bigger, as it looks like there really won;t be space for the plant to start filling out. Once the seedlings get bigger.

One thing I did find, is that when moving the bag, caution is necessary so that the seedling doesn't get lost in the bag. So it is necessary to keep the bag as level as possible when moving. At least until the seedlings get bigger. (Right now they're no bigger than a pencil tip.)

More news as they grow.....I hope!

Garden Gifts

When doing your Mother's Day shopping, how about considering gifts for the garden this year. You can make up great gift baskets of pots, seeds, seedlings, and have lots of fun putting it together. As this is exactly what I did this year, I can honestly say, it was the most fun I have had in putting a Mother's Day gift together.

I bought a decorative pot to use as the "basket" and have been purchasing unusual vegetable and herb seeds as I find them, as well as some little peat discs, a small garden decoration and a few other little things that I know Mom (and Dad too) will enjoy.

Lettuce Under Water.....

The lettuce seeds I planted in an old bucket have started to sprout. Little, but they're coming, even with this overly cold weather.

However, we had one big storm about 2AM and when I took the dog out this morning, found the poor little sprouts about an inch under water. I poured the water out, then covered to protect from the rain we're supposed to have today yet. Hopefully, the bucket isn't so soaked that it will rot the sprouts out. We'll see.

Well, our second, though unexpected experiement. A good one though.

Changes.....

If you've noticed, I've changed the look of the blog...just a bit. I hope that you all find it brighter and a bit easier to read through, both in the articled themselves and sidebars.