Season 2019 journal
 

Greetings,

I hope you all are in various stages of planning your garden -unless you're lucky and have started it already. We had a moderately dry January here, but the past few weeks have been wintry. A couple nights ago we had fierce winds, howling all night and kept me awake. We could hear all kinds of stuff flying around and many trees came down. In the morning while having my coffee I looked out the back yard and noticed things missing. The gas grill and the WSM smoker had lost their covers, and a large canoe that was tucked against the fence was gone. I went around the property looking for it, it was blown/slid over 150 ft and was caught by the far fence.

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So i can honestly say I started my 2019 garden, and my first planting was a 16ft Mad River Canoe.

Back inside, I couldn't wait either and early February, I started 2 flats of walla-walla onions. I had an older unused pack, and didnt want to waste it. Seeds germinated in 4 days, but many didn't. So I bought a new pack, divided and added it between the 2 flats. Here's how things looked today.

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...And because it's too early to do anything else outside, keeping busy de-stressing with home improvement (aka honey-do) projects.

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Beautiful floor, taboule! Glad you and the Mrs were (mostly) okay after the wind storm. 150' is a long ways to roll a canoe and good thing the fence was there to stop it!

Best wishes to your 2019!!

Thank you Bee, happy new season to you too.

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So here's my first challenge for the early spring timeframe. I need to take an overseas trip to take care of some old personal business. Will be gone 3 weeks, mid-April through the first week of May. That is prime garden starting time -usually very busy tending little seedlings inside, possibly take some (cold tolerant types) out for hardening, and more seed starting. Dear wife is staying behind and graciously accepted to look after my babies. But we know it's a big job, and I want to make it as easy as possible. I'm thinking watering only -she'll have plenty of her own things to do.

I'll have to figure out the schedule, and would like to ask for any ideas or considerations you may have. Any experience out there on a similar scenario? Once plants are in the ground it's easier, as I have an automatic irrigation setup.

Thanks for any thoughts you may have.

Off to the races
 

We're expecting more snow tonight and tomorrow. So to keep the blues away, I decided to start a few more seeds, 6 new flats (in addition to the onions).

Flat 2, Peppers: Jalapenos, Nu Mex big Jim, Corno di Toro, California wonder, and a Greek frying peppers (no name)

Flat 3, Peppers: Poblanos, Habaneros, Long cayenne, and another Greek mild salad pepper (seeds are very old, that is my last chance probably of germinating them.)

Flat 4, lettuces: Silvya (red), Giant Cesar, Iceberg.

Flat 5, cabbages: Earliana, All Season, Red Acre, and baby choy (we started doing Asian stir frying in a wok, and these are perfect to add at the end.)

And to keep DW happy, a flat each of Pansies and Zinias.

Everything on heat mats, and for the peppers, I added extra insulation below the mat, and over/covered the plastic domes. That will keep more heat inside the flats and keep a higher temp.

I'll wait to start my tomatoes later than usual, due to my trip. We'll see how long I can hold off.

Good stuff Taboule!

I got depressed this winter, I couldn't wait to start, so I planted Maglia Rosa and Rosella Purple on February 17! Got 100% germination and my nursery is kicking with 7 seedlings.

Chose these as height wise they should still be manageable once we get to end of May to transplant outside.

It looks like you have some unused rooms in your house, ever thought of doing some kratky hydroponics? :D


Cheers,

It seems that i am lucky down here in the south.
My next hurdle is freezing teps for the next 3 nights , 24, 27 , 35F..
As a precaution i will just cover my sweet peas.
I just potted up my tomato and pepper seedlings . I,ve got 4 weeks until plant out.
Good luck , Taboule. Whish your season starts soon

Thanks Gardenner, today we had a smorgasbord of sloppy weather: snow, sleet, and now freezing rain. My deck is frozen solid and I havent been able to grill nor smoke/bbq in weeks.
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Banadoura, Marhaba w'yeslamo.

I have done worse than hydroponics inside the house, but that was before DW moved with me. That bedroom floor is now finished, and I don't think she'll let me use it for anything unconventional.

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Now I have a large basement for such experiments. More seeds have germinated the past weeks. Here are some greens, romaine lettuce and cabbage.

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Zinias, it took these little guys less than 2 days to pop up.

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[QUOTE=taboule;728488]Thank you Bee, happy new season to you too.

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So here's my first challenge for the early spring timeframe. I need to take an overseas trip to take care of some old personal business. Will be gone 3 weeks, mid-April through the first week of May. That is prime garden starting time -usually very busy tending little seedlings inside, possibly take some (cold tolerant types) out for hardening, and more seed starting. Dear wife is staying behind and graciously accepted to look after my babies. But we know it's a big job, and I want to make it as easy as possible. I'm thinking watering only -she'll have plenty of her own things to do.

I'll have to figure out the schedule, and would like to ask for any ideas or considerations you may have. Any experience out there on a similar scenario? Once plants are in the ground it's easier, as I have an automatic irrigation setup.

Thanks for any thoughts you may have.[/QUOTE]

If the seedlings are in at least 4” pots, and those are set into trays, she could shuffle one tray outside each nice day in rotation, and just water everything else. If there’s a stretch of weather with nights above 50 she could leave them outside.

I used to live in Westwood, MA and was starting to leave seedlings outside by mid-April, typically. Good luck!

Hello,

Jane, I've been thinking along similar lines, except no round trip. Sometime between late April and early May, several varieties can go outside for hardening, without needing to come back, reducing the workload inside. I seem to be developing my strategy as I go, and so I started my tomatoes this past weekend.

Here's what I have so far:

Black Krim,
GGWT,
Brandywine, both Sudduth (pink) and red,
French oxheart (Coeur de boeuf),
SOTW,
Mortgage lifter,
Cherokee purple,
Carbon,
Greek Thessaloniki,
SOO,
PBTD,
trying to get a biggie one with Big Zack,
and for an early one, fourth of July (hybrid).

About 200 seeds total, more than I need but also accounting for less than perfect germination, and gifting. They should have enough time to sprout, and a transplant into 4" pots before I go. I probably would even start another batch before my trip, they'd need more babying before I'm back.

Also started some curly parsley and another batch of Sylvia lettuce. I had a hard time with the first batch, maybe the seeds were old.

Been looking at the SSE catalog, encouraged my wife to pick a few flower packs. So now I am committed to order, and been looking at the following, let me know what you think if you know them:

Gold medal
Hungarian heart
Speckled Roman
Red Zebra
and Rosso Sicilian

I'd like something new and different, that's why the bi-colors interest me. I also would like a good and productive determinate, for the old garden possibly and for sauce. If you have any ideas let me know.

tbc...

And while waiting for germination
 

A few days ago we topped 63 degF. Much of the snow melted, I was so happy to finally dig out my grill and the WSM smoker-they were frozen in ice on the deck. It felt like spring. I went shopping for groceries early and found a sale on various meats ahead of saint Paddy's day. So I picked up a few pork spareribs and beef short ribs. I could only find the cut up ones, but they were thick and beefy so they came home.

Made new batches of rubs, 2 kinds, and prepped as below.
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It was more than the 18" bullet could handle at once, so had to do it in 2 batches, it was work due to the wind and cold. But it all came out good, here's what's left after I dug into it.

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And the leftover snacks for future consumption: tomato sauce in the summer, smoked meats in the winter.
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I enjoyed your thread but couldn't see the pics. Not your side, likely something with my log in.


I find some flowers need a lot more light and thus attention. I hope she remembers to take care of the rest! Save some to direct sow too.


People from MA always strike a nostalgic note for me. Are you coastal or westerner?
- Lisa

Lisa, thank you. It's not as enjoyable without the pics, the experience is partly visual.

I don't know much about trouble-shooting this type of issue, although I ran into it myself a few times (and was not be able to see my own pics.) If you like, you could try this:

You probably still see the icon of the pictures. Click on that, you may be redirected to a new page (in a new browser tab) where the site will ask you to log in again -even if you may be logged in already. Go ahead and log in, and you >might< be able to see the pics in the previous tab. Can't hurt to try.

WRT nostalgia, I'm probably a "coastal" although a transplant to MA -an old one at that. But I've lived close to the ocean/sea all my life, couldn't do without it. The new house we moved in is the farthest I've ever been from a coastline (maybe 30 miles straight?) and our next (retirement) home will be much closer to the water- Cape Cod if in the States, or waterview/front if in Greece 8-)

Taboule, your place is looking great! :D Such a roomy plant setup. Great job on that floor too!
I wish I could advise you what to do on holiday because it's one thing I can't handle - leaving stuff in the greenhouse especially is a non-starter. So it's a daily commitment for me once I start plants for the summer. Lucky your DW can help.:)
Re: your retirement home - be careful about moving too close to sea level... that thing is rising and we don't really know how fast it will happen. :o

Hi there, nice to see you Bower, and thank you. No worries about rising sea levels, I'll never be able to afford living close enough to it.

I'm fine tuning my strategy as I go, one critical element is to keep the commitment relatively smaller this year. Fewer of everything -ha. Yes I know it's easier said than done, but really that's what needs to happen when gone for 3 weeks during the prime time. A month really including a few days before and a few after, getting ready and recovering.

Well I practiced that economy yesterday when I ordered seed from SSE, all flowers for DW, and 1 (that is ONE) pack of tomato seeds, Speckled Roman. Never had much luck with romas, and wanted something new. Plus this one is so beautiful.

New seeds sprouted yesterday: finally the first peppers, about 19 days after seeding. I'm a bit worried the trays are getting too hot, I'm using a larger mat (20x20) and it gets very hot in the middle. I wanted to make sure they're warm enough. They'll either sprout or be cooked.

I also got germination of Sylvia lettuce, from a 2nd batch I seeded on sunday. Those were new seeds that I collected last summer. The previous batch I started was from older seed, and NONE germinated yet, after 2 weeks+. Both on heat mats, no other variables except age of seed -so I'm learning a lot about that, depending on the type of plant, it makes a big difference.

Yesterday was the first day of spring, it feels good. Hope you're all doing well.

Time to go out?
 

Have been watching the forecast and temperature predictions, looking for a long stretch of above freezing temps at night. A couple of my trays of the hardier types could probably go out anytime now, I was hoping yesterday or today. But then we're expecting Sunday and Monday nights to be 30 and below. Will keep monitoring but do you guys think the below could handle 30 deg?

Walla-wallas, I'm thinking of trimming the tops and using them in a salad, they look so appealing.
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Various greens, lettuce and cabbages.

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DW's zinias. I never ever planted flowers, can these guys go out now? The pansies (not shown) are still little, they look a bit stunted (?) But saw a bunch of them already for sale at the Depot and understand they are hardy.
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And here's the group photo.

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I have various other trays spread out on other shelves and table tops. My first batch of tomato seeds are out.I forgot to check frequently enough on some of them and they germinated and grew in the darkness for a day or two, and so got leggy. But once they have a couple leaves I'll re-pot them a bit deep, and all will be well. They'll be the right size during my 3-week absence, small enough to be easy to water and take out when the time comes.

I'm beginning to notice the difference in germination between newer and older seeds, of course under the same conditions. My pepper trays are way behind, maybe I over-heated them. Don't care too much in this case, keeping the operation on the smaller side this year will be a must. I finally concluded that I wont be planting the "older" (remote) garden this year. I need to keep things manageable this summer and will have plenty to do. Mid season I will clean it up -weeding and probably put in a weed barrier and get it ready for 2020. I still have enough sauce from last year, so no need to produce as much. Also planning another 2-week trip late september...

To the folks up north, let me know when you're planning to start taking your babies out.

They all look great, Taboule! Those onions wouldn't mind a 'haircut' one bit before you plant them out, so... enjoy! :D

We are so far behind you ... will certainly be a late/cold spring as there is a record amount of sea ice around the island, and when that does clear, it'll be icebergs next. I haven't even started tomatoes yet. :|

First all looks really nice.
Next a question, you didn't pull the base boards before you put the floor down.
Why is that?
Does the wood not swell and shrink or is it stable?

Best of luck this year. :)

Bower, thanks, I'll trim these onions the next day or two and have my first treat of the season. We had a high of 66 F yesterday (19C to our Canadian friends), 61 F today (16C) but rainy. I spent a bit of time yesterday cleaning the beds, and wanted to do the same today -alas, we have rain. Monday night is expected to be very cold, 25F/-4C, otherwise extended forecast is all above freezing. So will definitely start taking my babies out.

Worth, thank you. WRT installing the HW floor, I understand about wood movement across the grain. Here are my thoughts to that, a bit long.

1) As you said, that particular flooring is pre-finished and very stable. It's left to acclimate in the space before installation, and I nail it down solid -it's not going anywhere. I've done similar jobs many times with no issues, this one is a small room -very little movement.

2) Although in theory leaving a small gap under the base could be useful to hide any movement, I dont understand how the outside boards can move anywhere close to the recommended 1/4". They're supposed to be tightly secured to the sub-floor, they don't float.

I've seen this type of construction (HW planks butting against base) in many older houses that were still in great condition. I once visited in Northern NH a huge mansion/estate whose well-off owner was restoring into a fancy resort. He was sparing no expense, with some of the fanciest woodwork I've seen anywhere. I visited with the master craftsman who was showing me his work. In one of the rooms he had redone, I noticed he had the base down before the new floor was put in. When asked, he insisted that as far as he knew, that's how it's always been done. And this was for the sand/finish in place type.

I think it has a lot to do with acclamation too and the type of wood you use.
I dont know if you know but I put one down in my garage.
Here is the floor after I did it, and how i used a wedge to jam the flooring together when I got close to the wall.
The rest was done with a flooring nail gun air assisted.

White oak red oak mix utility grade I rented a sander too.
Finish real tung oil.
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Nice and fancy floor for a garage, I dont remember seeing it before -but I dont remember too many things lately :)) What's the subfloor, I can't tell behind/below that tar paper (?) You must have used MANY nails, some of those strips are short ;-)

I used the wedge trick too along the edges, but do as well now (and faster) using a short pry bar with sacrificial scraps towards good surfaces.

2x4 sleepers on side vapor barrier and 3/4 OSB tongue and groove 4 foot by 8 foot, felt paper and then the flooring.

[QUOTE=Worth1;731077]2x4 sleepers on side vapor barrier and 3/4 OSB tongue and groove 4 foot by 8 foot, felt paper and then the flooring.[/QUOTE]

Worth, solid construction, wood floors are nice on the feet (and dropped tools) in the shop.

So I did my first harvest and taste last night, there was enough for a garnish for a salad. So nice not having to wash it before munching, tasty.

Shown next to the fine China plate is the only new (to me) tomato I'm growing this year, Speckled Roman. You can faintly see in the photo thin specks of yellow/orange. It's also the only paste I'm growing this year, I've almost given up on those a couple years ago. But SSE claims these are good eating fresh too, and it is so pretty, decided to give it a try.

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Woke up to 34F this morning, I'm glad I resisted the urge to take out any plants yesterday. Tonight's low is expected at 26F. Then again at 28F for Thursday night-hopefully the last cold one for the early season.

Zinnias would not be happy at those temps. Pansies however seem to come through anything; they’d get a few frosted leaves is all.

Thanks Jane, I'll sit tight for another week.

Greetings,

So last weekend I decided to take the plunge and took out the first young plants for hardening. The walla-walla onions, some greens (lettuce+ cabbage) and the first batch of pansies (for DW.) This stone patio absorbs some of the sun's heat and gives it back at night.
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We've since had a couple nights in the low 30's, but everyone did fine. Then this weekend, Saturday was in the high 60s, then it hit 74F on Sunday. I finished prepping one large bed:gentle hand till/turn (the compost had settled a lot under the snow load), added 2x bales of peat, a large bag of perlite, and mixed in some organic food. End result was nice and fluffy like potting mix. This is Giant Cesar, 2 or 3 plants per jiffy puck (the extra large size).
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tbc...

In the ground
 

Two week forecast has lows over 40F, and I'm running out of time before my trip. i want to leave as little as possible for DW to tend, so finished this half bed before the rain on sunday.

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In-between the two side rows I'll seed some kale or chard.Many of the pucks had 3 or more plants, and I did separate what I could, hopefully didn't kill many. I understand they're not as hardy as tomatoes, they have tons of small hair-like roots. In the bunch were also a few baby bock choys (far left), and Sylvia lettuce (variegated red leaf). Then some parsley (far right).

Back inside, I've been up-potting the tomatoes, here's one batch out of a few.

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DW was chatting and said "you'll have a lot on your plate the next 2 months." I said yes, will downsize and not plant the"remote" garden, to lessen the load. She asked why would I want to do that, since I enjoy it so much. She suggested I sleep on it and reconsider. She's a keeper ;>)

Taboule, that's a great porch for hardening off. :)
My faith in alliums is being renewed this cold spring, it looks like they're going to withstand our frosty weather and I'm sure your Walla walla's are happier in the ground than they would be to wait.


You have quite a season ahead of you and I'm very impressed with how much you have done to make it happen when you're not there. :D I hope it all works out for you. I bet your DW will have some delicious surprises for your return. :yes: