Whooo, hot out there!

Gryph and I were working in the yard. It's pretty hot out there in the western sun! Really discomfortable... and I am discomforted to be sure! So glad we're going back to spring weather tomorrow.

Veggies: Peas are up in the greenhouse, as are lettuces and a tiny number of carrots (Cosmic Purple). We moved the flats off the fridge and the herbs off the washer, so the greenhouse is filling up.

Weeds (which are actually herbs): Henbit and speedwell are blooming all over the yard; purple archangel (deadnettle) is just coming into bloom. I notice that the polar vortex set them back quite a bit; they're all pretty short this year. Last year they were just tall enough to look like a gentle meadow. Dandelions are leafing out and once in a while blooming. No sign of violets, but the curly dock is a good six inches across.

Bulbs: The crocus finally gave up the ghost and the daffodils are just coming into full bloom. A lone tulip has come up in one of the front yard flower beds and I believe that's where I'll put all my grocery-store tulips, see if they can adapt to life in the yard.

The new peach tree is blooming already, sooo pretty those pale pink blossoms, wide and delicate. I'm considering putting her in the front yard but for now she seems to be glorying in that hot western sun so I'll leave her on the back porch.

The potatoes have gone into my first big pot by the wheelchair ramp. We left the bag of potting soil next to the pot so I can fill it as the taters grow, and covered the pot with bird netting to keep the squirrels out.

Invasives: We  have to do something about the Star of Bethlehem. It's toxic and invasive and I need it GONE. It's so hard for me to deal with that I'm actually considering an herbicide for it and for the English ivy which is taking over the entire house and yard. I just haven't got the stamina to deal with them, never have had, and I also don't have the money to pay someone else to deal with it.

Ooops! Need to catch up!

I see there's been a week between my posts. It's like I left y'all in limbo! So! I did get the potting soil, 3 bags of organic 50 quart from Miracle-Gro for $9 apiece (Costco is mah frien'!!). 50 quarts is 1.67 cubic feet, and I could have gotten 2 cubic foot bags of conventional at the hardware store, but they would have been $15 apiece and none of us could lift them.

When I opened the first bag I almost started singing. The organic potting mix is glorious!! Fine grained and smells wonderful, feels wonderful. It's brown instead of black and holds a LOT of water. 

The buckets have holes (courtesy Gryph) but I changed my mind about how I want to use them. One is now going to be dedicated to sweet peas because I don't want to take a chance on mixing them in with garden peas (sweet peas are toxic). The other may be a new potato bucket, but the starts I had are now in a restaurant to-go bag, a big clear one with handles. I just couldn't resist, lol. It's now out in the greenhouse and will get more potting soil as the leaves grow.

I've repotted the strawberries--such teeny lil things they are!!--and I've filled another flat of sixpacks with soil and seeds, part bok choi from Baker Creek, mostly salad mix from Wild Garden Seed.

Had to rearrange the garden corner of the kitchen. It still doesn't work quite right and I probably have to address that sometime in the next two weeks.

The 72 cell propagator on the fridge is filled with teensy herb sprouts, almost all of them up in just a week! But it's too soon to plant them out because we're due for frosty weather the 13th through 18th of March. After that they can all be potted up and moved to the greenhouse.

And now I think we're all caught up, at least until I plant something else!

Gorgeous day!!

Hello my friends! Tis a truly gorgeous day, started off foggy with rain but is now 66 F with a lovely breeze. Makes me wish for a porch swing.

Paris Island Cos (romaine lettuce) has now been seeded in every greenhouse pot, and the second 72 cell propagator has been seeded with Black Prince snapdragons, Bull's Blood beets, Touchstone Gold beet/chard, 5-color silver beet (swiss chard), Early Purple Vienna kohlrabi, Pokey Joe cilantro, prairie sage, and milkweed. This is my cold stratification flat, so it's out in the greenhouse for some freezing nights.

I have so much more to do but have used up my spoons for the day and am close to using up my potting soil. Once I get more, I'll need holes in the bottom of my two new paint buckets--they're the 5 gallon size--because those taters have got to be planted soon. Never seen anything so enthusiastic; they're already opening leaves! And the bag of taters in the kitchen is all sprouted as well, so I can grab quite a few more starts since this works so nicely. No sweet tater starts yet though; I ate them before they could sprout. Have to try that again. **grin**