Wind damage

Well, the wind did some damage to the garden yesterday. Winds got as high as 63 mph in the city, 72 mph clocked in other areas outside the city and all the way to 99 mph at Sandia Peak. True sandstorm. While driving home yesterday afternoon, there were times the road wasn't even visible. But most of the garden is fine. One of the worst parts of a sandstorm is, even if you can protect the plants from the winds, it still dries them up quite a bit. Luckily, I had watered before the winds got really strong.

Now have over 80 tomato sprouts showing. Likely to have well over 100, as I double planted a number of the containers. Just hate seeing empties and they can be separated later, when they get large enough to have some strength and roots. Even the trays treated with ammonia and vinegar are sprouting now. Not yet seeing any difference in growth.

Also more strawberry sprouts coming up still.

Keeping the plants under artificial lights for a couple of days. Still rather windy and cold, down into the 30's tonight and tomorrow night. Hard to believe but there were snow flurries falling today, last day of April. Hope that means we'll have a mild summer. Had to move the dog inside and, though I had introduced the bunny to the hutch, brought her in also.

Daughter is having bad sinus allergies from all the dust being blown up. My own allergies aren't good but not as bad as hers. She doesn't complain or let it slow her down, though. She hates standing still long enough to bow her nose.

Going to get some more seeds in the ground for lettuce, cabbage and a few other cold weather crops, since it appears I may manage a second crop of them if I do. Meanwhile, I'll get more green beans and melons started inside this weekend.

Expansion

Getting ready to expand the garden to the north side.

I now have over 40 tomato plants started indoors. Sounds like a lot but it's only half of what I planted. Should see more coming up in a few days. Mixed variety and I didn't label them, so they'll all be mixed when planted. It's my understanding that tomatoes do better when multiple strains are planted near each other, any way. Definitely be more colorful this way.

Also have at least a dozen strawberry sprouts now active from the seeds I started a few days ago. More reading says they may produce a few small berries this year but don't do much until the second year. But between those, two roots growing and four purchased plants, should have some strawberries this season. 

Have to start building up the mounds, fertilize and let the soil settle a bit before planting out.

Have to keep the tomatoes on the north side of the garden, since so much corn is planted on the south side. Everything I've read says they don't play well together.

After doing some more reading, found the plants that died were almost surely because of temps dropping. Still getting nights in the 30's here in the valley once in a while. Like tonight, after a serious sandstorm today. Had winds over 60 mph and measure 99 mph at the mountain peak. Couldn't even see the road in places while driving home this afternoon. Of course, some plants can't take things like that. So, I'll have to replant those things inside soon.

I have been happy to see that some Contender green beans have survived the temperatures. All others have died off. So, if Contenders produce decent beans, it will probably be my green bean of choice in the future. Then again, have to wait and see how it does in the heat, too.

Some pumpkin sprouts have continued growing. Need to get them in the ground.

Once the weather gets too hot for peas, I'll convert those mounds and trellises to green beans. Not expecting lettuce to keep growing all summer, even with the corn plants shading them. Not sure what I'll convert all those mounds to later but want to keep the lettuce going as long as I can.

Got a lot done yesterday. Weeded the entire garden, pulled about 10 lbs of weeds from the south garden. I went ahead and sprayed the non-garden areas with weed killer, since the field of weeds from last year was coming back. Knees really felt that last night at work! Haven't been able to afford more propane to burn them off. Want to keep them at bay so they don't invade the garden completely. Cleaned up some of the yard, raked up some of the elm seed pods but hoping the mulching mower will take up most of it. Planted more spinach, since only a few of the original seeds took. May have been scattered or dug up by dogs.

Okay, need to get to bed. Not sure if or when I'll get called in tomorrow.

The coop is up!

Worked on the coop earlier today but didn't have time to finish it. Not for bad reasons. Got called in to fill out paperwork and do a urinalysis for the job I want. They don't do background checks or urine on everyone who applies, only those they intend to hire. So, it's all formality now. Be quite a change, regular job, regular hours, regular paycheck. Haven't had that in years now. Be nice to have some stability once more. It will be a complete change in my schedule. I've worked nights nearly my entire life but this job starts at 5:15 AM. Won't be as hard changing myself around as when I was younger, as I've gotten used to being up all hours of day and night. It will be kind of rough financially the first couple of weeks because I won't have the daily pay I've been getting for so long. Have to see if I can get some per diem work in along the way. It may interfere with my scheduled time with my daughter if I have to work weekends. But luckily her summer vacation is coming up quickly, which will make it less of an issue.

So, got some work done on the coop and had the whole main structure completed but had to stop for the afternoon. Took a nap so I wouldn't be exhausted for work tonight. Then got canceled, so went back out to finish things up.

The front wall is now a door which opens for cleaning, changing bedding, collecting eggs, etc. I cut a small door for the chicks into the big door. (Have to remount the door panel, which broke off while I was moving the coop to the current location.) The top has two open sections, for ventilation. Going to mount a couple of flaps on them for cooler weather and rain protection. I used some very large pallets I found for the walls of the run. Offer better protection and lower visibility from predators than the straight chicken wire, which I attached to the outside of the pallets. Total dimensions are now roughly 8 ft long combined, 4 ft wide, 5 ft tall. Should be enough room for 5 chicks, especially with a roost and nest built in, making it three levels inside and a run outside.

I placed bedding inside, then moved their food and water before moving the chicks. They fussed a bit when I moved them but they're not as paranoid as they were before. When I got them to the new coop, all but one just allowed me to pick them up. Only took a minute for them to settle down and notice the food and water. From there, it was easy.

I'll let them get used to the new coop for a few days, then start letting them wander the yard and garden.

Tomorrow, need to clean out the hutch I've been using for the coop and introduce the bunny to it. Or do some little modifications. Bunnies don't like heat. I already have a double roof to keep the heat down. Think I'll attach an external wall to the outside of one wall. Roof and wall will have ventilation space in between. Can paint one side white for summer, other side black for winter and just reverse the panels when weather changes. That turns one wall and the roof into solar chimneys for summer and thermosiphon heaters for winter.

Climbing

The peas are starting to climb the stakes and trellises now. The taller they get, the faster they grow. I imagine it's mostly due to more leaves absorbing oxygen, CO2 and sunlight, providing more energy to the plant in general.

Need to get out and weed again. Still had quite a few weeds after last time I pulled them because I couldn't discern between weeds and plants. Can tell the difference now.

Other things are growing well. Should be able to harvest some lettuce this week. Some other plants have died off. Mostly melons and cucumbers. I believe it's because the temps have gotten too cold for them at night. Some green beans are going well and others not so much. Again, weather? Have to make note of which ones do best in what weather. Potatoes are growing. Much bigger plants than I expected above ground. Red cabbage is progressing. 

Got canceled from work, so after running some errands came back home and started back to working on the chicken coop. Just haven't had the right combination of time, money, materials and favorable weather for a while to finish it. Changed the design a bit as I went. The front wall will now be a large door, so the whole front swings open for cleaning, changing bedding, collecting hay, etc. Still need to cut a smaller door for the chickens into the big door but the door is assembled, otherwise. Just have to mount that and build the run, which won't take too long.

Not much else going on. Just going to watch a rented movie and get back to bed so I can get the coop finished in the morning.

Tomato experiment

Planted over 80 tomato seeds this evening. I'm not expecting all to survive, as this is an experiment. Most were planted with regular potting soil. Some were planted with a strong vinegar and ammonia solution, to see if they germinate and/or grow any faster. I'll treat different ones in potting soil different ways. Some will be raised normally, some will receive varying strengths of the ammonia/vinegar solution and others will receive rabbit compost mixed with the soil at a later date. Of course, the results will have to be all the way to consumption because it won't do much good to have plants grow like wild, then not produce any tomatoes or produce tomatoes which can't be eaten. But I may actually avoid the use of commercial fertilizers, just to see how less expensive alternatives perform. They will all be planted with compost, though. I'll post results as things progress.

Plans for this afternoon were to put up trellises before the climbing plants start crawling. Didn't happen. When I woke up this afternoon, it was raining rather heavily and it's been raining on and off since then, until now. I did bring the 1x2's in, cut them to size and drilled holes to thread the twine through. After calculating, figured out that I need to get another roll or two of twine, though.

Neglected to mention one reason I picked up the pallets this morning. I ran out of lawn staples, so tried laying down cardboard without them. Hoped watering and rain would set them well enough to not need to be fixed down. No such luck. Wind picked up, cardboard went flying. Not bad now but as plants grow taller, it would do a lot of damage. Harbor Freight was still out of staples, even after their delivery truck came in. So, I figure cutting up some pallets would work, be more stable and last much longer. May do double and just lay the boards over the cardboard. Deter weeds from growing up right between the boards. I don't think these pallets are treated with anything. They're pretty much one time use pallets. Only pallets intended for reuse are treated. No oily residue or chemical odor detectable, either.

Got a call from one of the methadone clinics I applied with, offering a possible job. However, it was the first one I applied with and I have a somewhat negative intuition about it. Hoping I get a call from the second clinic. Even as unstable as my work situation has been for so long, I've learned the lesson to listen to my intuition. When I don't, bad things happen.

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!

I'm going to start giving away the baby apple trees this weekend. Giving the first one to the ex.

In the true spirit of Earth Day, I was scavenging after work this morning. Good morning to do so! Got six more pallets, a tire for a swing for my daughter and, coolest of all, four rather large plywood panels! Some may laugh but check the price of plywood. What I picked up for free and in nearly new condition would otherwise cost $40-60. 1/4'' Neatform Bendy MDF Sheet Besides, if not picked up and reused, that plywood would be picked up, crushed in a garbage truck and dumped in a landfill. And more trees would have to be cut down to produce more plywood.

Not writing forever this morning. Need some sleep and get up this afternoon. Have to build some trellises before the climbing plants start crawling.

11 gone

The dog's tie-out line is in reach of the two new raised mounds. She had been behaving and I had pointed out the two mounds after planting and told her "no" twice. Wasn't enough. Last night, she dug up 11 of the 14 tomato plants there. Three remain, though they were damaged, too. Most had been started as far back as January and I had nursed them along until this point.

I planted more tomato plants out but most are much younger. I'll have to start more seeds this week if I'm going to have a really decent tomato crop this summer. Had to replant the pepper seeds, also. Still need to replant the catnip and parsley, because she even dug out the cinder block holes.

The dog is not a bad dog but she has to go. I'm tired of doing battle with dogs, especially when my daughter rarely plays with the dog. I play with the dog to keep it entertained and happy and my daughter sometimes seems to feel like the dog is competing for my attention. Better to find a good home for the dog than to continue this way. I really cannot stand spending months of effort, just to have it destroyed by a dog in a bad mood or seeking to eat the rabbit shit in the soil.

Weeded the garden, got over ten lbs of weeds removed. Should be easier after this, long as I keep up with it. Pretty much everything is growing which has been planted long enough to be growing. Even the cabbage is coming up, one of the last things planted. Have two mounds of green beans and a partial mound of pickling cucumbers, need to start more to complete the row. One row of watermelon and another row of cantaloupe. Lettuce is doing exceptionally well and I'll have to thin at least one row in a couple of weeks or it'll get overcrowded. Want to wait until some grow large enough to eat. Baby Romaine is good for salads.

Weather had pushed things back but now seems to be helping things along. Having a string of warm but cloudy or even rainy days. Even if the ground gets completely soaked, it still drains off quickly. This soil is much more of a challenge to keep moist. But it's getting better after all the work I've put into it. To the point where it's not bad but I think in another year or two of working it, it will be really good gardening soil.

New clothes/ planting out

Not so much in the financial situation to buy new clothes for my daughter and I right now. However, not in the position to not do so. Both of us needed some clothes badly. So went and got us each a few articles of clothing today. Just T-shirts for me, since almost all my remaining shirts are long-sleeved. Got her some shorts, shirts and a denim dress. She picked out a weaved hat which matches it perfectly. Looks like a little country girl. She loves dresses but she's quite a tomboy, so I usually make her wear shorts under a dress.

The surviving tomato plants are officially hardened off to being outdoors now. However, they were all drowning this morning from the rain last night. I went ahead and planted the 14 largest out in the new raised mounds. Drained the excess water from the rest. By afternoon, all looked better than this morning.

Filled the form holes in the cinder blocks and planted parsley and catnip in the holes. Also planted new pepper seeds between the tomato plants. Good thing about the cinder blocks is that the form holes will also be easy to set really stable stakes for cages.

Planted out all the green bean and cucumber plants I have started and staked them. Daughter helped me plant flowers. Among other flowers, we planted lots of marigolds to deter some pests.

Laid down more cardboard in the trenches but going to have to get busy weeding when my daughter isn't here.

Daughter and I sat on the sofa and watched a video tonight. I caught the bunny (who I was letting run loose in the house) and we petted her while we were watching the movie. She's skittish but it seems like that was a turning point for the bunny in accepting us. I eventually just let go of her and she wandered off to the far end of the sofa but came back again a minute later.

Back to green again!

   








Sunday, 4-11-2010

Thur morning, 4-15-2010

Thur afternoon, 4-15-2010I gave in and started using some chemicals on the lawn and garden this week. Everything was looking rather faded. Know from last year's experience that it likely would not survive if I didn't do something about it.

I had watched a documentary called "King Corn" about two guys who grew one acre of commercial corn. One thing I learned was that commercial growers use as much as 125 lbs per acre of anhydrous ammonia per year, which accelerates plant growth. Now, I have no urge to get anywhere near that amount. It results in runoff which causes a lot of problems in the environment. Anhydrous ammonia is the same as household ammonia but about 5x stronger. To equal that, I would have to use roughly 200 lbs of household strength ammonia for my 1/3 acre. As of now, I've used less than 1 lb of household strength ammonia but with awesome results!

Healthy soil contains ammonia. If you apply commercial fertilizer, look at the label. At least some part of it comes from ammonia. If you apply animal waste, you are applying ammonia. There is also ammonia in the air around us, naturally occurring. However, desert soil is notoriously low in ammonia and is very alkaline.

For that reason, I also added vinegar to the mixture I applied. I only used a small amount mixed in a hose type garden sprayer to dilute it, then applied it. At first, I tried it on the grass only. I had good results in the test area in one day. The next morning, I applied it to the rest of the lawn. By that afternoon, I could see a dramatic difference. So, I applied the mixture to the whole garden in the evening. Not much difference could be seen overnight because the ammonia helps with the process of photosynthesis. But by the following afternoon, I could visibly see accelerated growth of both existing and new plants.

Unfortunately, it does accelerate weed growth, as well.

The pictures above tell the story. Everything in the garden has accelerated and become greener. Lettuce is growing like crazy and I'm going to have to thin it out. Corn is growing taller at a rapid rate. Existing pea plants have grown taller and new sprouts have shown up. I know that some of these things are following a natural progression and new sprouts had to be ready to show in the first place but things are definitely happening much faster than they were.

At the low cost of these materials, this is something I can apply as often as needed. I will continue composting and applying that. The garden still needs organic materials and nutrients which this mixture will not provide. I am still avoiding chemical weed killers and pesticides.

Some words of caution- If you follow suit and use ammonia and vinegar for your garden or lawn, watch for certain things.
Be sure your soil is alkaline. Test it or have it tested before applying.
Don't use too much of either chemical. Use a small amount in a hose type garden sprayer. Better to use too little than too much. You can always apply more later if that happens.
Check your label. Be sure you're buying/using pure ammonia with no added detergents. Do not use ammonia based cleaners, which can kill everything.
If you can actually smell the ammonia or vinegar while spraying, your mixture is too strong. Stop applying, water it down and try again.
Only apply just before sunset or early in the morning.
Test one limited area before applying everywhere. Give it at least a day to see the results before continuing.
You may want to apply either or both of these, then water over again to rinse the vinegar off the leaves and help the chemicals get down to the roots.

Mounds? Raised beds?

Started building up the mounds today. I guess you could call them raised beds because I'm enclosing them with cinder blocks so far. This is an experiment, so I don't want to use up all the cinder block and have none left over to work on the solarium. So, I have two mounds and will likely get some tall plastic edging for the rest. Search Amazon.com for garden edging

Not going to mortar these this year, so I'll have to line the inner sides with cardboard to keep the soil in. I'll fill the form holes with sandy soil and/or plant flowers and smaller plants along the outer edges. Maybe some herbs in some.

Going to use a combination of existing garden soil, compost and potting soil to fill the inside growing area of each one.

These are 6-8" high, so some I may line with plastic in the bottom and some not. See which ones grow best.

Decided that I'm going to use the raised beds down the center for tall flowers and strawberries. Think the shade from the flowers may help the strawberries along in the heat here. Search Amazon.com for strawberry plants

Had to move the tomato plants into the shade. For plants that supposedly love sunlight so much, they sure take a while to harden off after being started inside. 


When I got home last night, the neighbor dog was in my yard. Knew he was playing with my dog. Chased him off. This morning, found that wasn't all he had been doing. He had dug up several plants in the garden. So, not only do I have to keep my dog away from digging in the garden, I have to keep the neighbor dog out of the garden, too. Have to get a slingshot and some semi-soft pellets. Won't do any good when I'm not here but maybe after a time or two of getting stung, he'll get the idea. Search Amazon.com for slingshot

Going to eat something and take a nap. Feel cruddy right now, between my bouncing schedule, conflicts in my life right now which I find ridiculous and the fact that they were stripping floors at work last night. Best to take a Benadryl before my nap.

Still not finished

Bummer. Still couldn't finish the coop yesterday because I didn't have enough materials of sufficient size. Have to finish it during the week. Have all done but two walls and the yard/run. Figure 2-3 man hours of work left.

Transferred the apple trees to larger containers today. Each one had roots extending and wrapping around the bottom of their respective cups. Now all 20 are in larger containers.

Some things in the garden have grown enough to be identifiable. Mostly lettuce and a couple of pea plants, aside from the corn, garlic and onions. Some flower seeds are beginning to grow. In many cases, it's still hard to tell which are plants and which are weeds.

Some grass is growing in the garden. No surprise, since a grassy area was tilled under for that section. Not too bothered by that, as it will help stabilize the soil. My attitude may change in coming months but I'll wait and see. If it's too much of a problem, I'll control it as best possible over the summer and cover the whole area in black plastic over the winter. May also place cardboard in the trenches. That may not be a bad idea, any way. May help with weed, bug and erosion control all season. May help retain moisture for deeper roots, as well. Of course it would look best if I covered it with mulch when I have the money. Decision made. I'll get started on it this week.

Gotten warm enough that I moved the tomato sprouts outside under a tree to get them used to being outside again. If the weather remains warm enough, I'll have about 30 tomato plants ready to transplant into the ground soon. Can't take the chance just yet.

The Sterilite idea for starting seedlings outside is working well. I'm using a deep container, so the unfiltered direct sun is blocked most of the day. If it gets cold again, can always bring them inside. Easy to maintain humidity in the containers, as well.

Coop over halfway done

Got the coop over halfway done this afternoon. Then ran out of the right size nails and screws, so had to go get more. It was dark when I got home.

Made the frame from pallets. Laid a couple of 2x4's over one section, then a piece of composite board for upper nests. Laid down plywood for the bottom nests and floor. Nailed a 1x2 in place for the roost. Not going to raise it for now, just leave the height as is. I still need to put the outside walls in place tomorrow. Cut windows and nest access doors. Got two sets of cheap hinges from Walmart, under $1 a set. Won't be able to finish the run/yard for a few days. Need to get more wood and brackets to make it really sturdy. I'll insulate it later, as well.

Got the new bunny today. She's really cute! Younger than the first one was and a bit skittish. But she'll be okay in the box in the house for a few days. Not allowing any kids inside the house.

One big reason I couldn't afford to finish everything today was because my nursing license is up for renewal. So, after 16 years of nursing, they choose now to want my fingerprints. I really don't recall if I had to have that done when I first got my license. I know my prints are on file from when I got my license in AZ for a contract there before they became a compact state. Any way, my driver's license was also up for renewal. Grand total between DL, fingerprints and Priority Mail was $60. And I haven't even paid the fee for my nursing license yet. Between that stuff and the phone bill, not much slack left. It's okay, nothing that can't wait for a few days.

By the way, the Sterilite idea is working. Just leaving one box outside with the lid on at night with seeds starting inside. Green beans and some melons are coming up. Since I started taking the lid off during the day as soon as I saw growth, hardening off shouldn't be necessary.

Got some more seed corn today and will get that in the ground in a few days. 

Not done yet

Haven't gotten the coop done yet. Been kind of sick today. But did come up with a design which should go together quickly and easily, while incorporating the nests on two levels. So, won't have to do that later.

Got more pallets from Harbor Freight today. They had two stacks out back, said I could have all of them but only six would fit in the van. Have enough for the coop and a couple of other projects. Couple more trips like that and I'll have enough for a good size playhouse for my daughter. At least the frame, then just have to get covering materials for inside and out. 

Checked the appearance of my blog. Still jumping from font to font. Changing settings did no good.

Some of the plants in the garden which I thought were garlic have gotten really tall in the last few days. Today I realized that they're not garlic, they're corn! (When small enough, they look surprisingly similar.) Came as quite a surprise, since I just planted the corn about a week ago. Several are already at least 8" tall. It's a good thing they're growing so fast, which will accomplish the intent of providing some shade for the cooler weather plants. Did not expect them to come up so fast with some of the cold night temps we've had the last week.

Need to get to bed. Have things to do in the morning.

Couple days off

Worked ER tonight. Got sent home a couple of hours early but finances look better than they did at the beginning of the week. Close enough to 40 hours that it's doubtful I'll be called in because of risk of the hospital having to pay OT pay. They'll understaff long before even considering that. If I do get called in, I'll be shocked.

Between now and Sat afternoon, need to finish the chicken coop. At least enough to house the chicks. If required, I can construct the nests later, since the chicks aren't near old enough to need laying nests for some time. 

On Sat, getting some more bunnies. Two this time, so they won't be lonely. The hutch is safe enough for them, I just need to clear it of chicks for them. 

I wonder how old chicks are before they stop huddling together? Never seen adult chickens do that. They're really cute bunched up in a pile. Seem happy, singing. Getting fat, tall and feathering out. Rather fast runners, too. 

Weather still keeps fluctuating a bit but not as badly. Had light frost on Tue night, went into low 30's Wed night. Not low enough to kill things off but what is growing is growing very slowly. Lots of little things sprouting but not big enough to tell the difference between plants and weeds yet.

Some of the seeds I've tried starting in Sterilites (with a lid on) are beginning to come up. That's good because all the sprouts in one container I had tried hardening off died. Guess I left them out too long, tried to force it too fast. Bummer. The peat pots are still intact enough to replant in the same pots. Have to keep trying.

More trees to fell

I was wrong about what kind of trees are in the yard. Not dogwood. Going to have to take down every one of these trees. They're Chinese Elm. They spread like weeds and grow to truly enormous sizes in a short time. They have multiple trunks which spread out widely. With the trees in the yard right now, if I don't take them down, they will eventually leave the entire yard in darkness. Next door neighbor has one in his yard, probably the source of the ones here. His is at least 80 ft tall and 50 feet across. Not kidding. He got an estimate to have it cut down. Estimate was $3000. Not a typo, I do mean 3k for the one tree.

I wouldn't mind them if I never planned on growing anything else. They offer really good shade.

Not going to take them all down entirely just yet. I'll top them off, see if I can control them but I rather doubt it, the way they grow so many trunks. I'd like to get some fruit trees growing to a decent size before completely remove them.

This yard is like an Asian jungle. Chinese Elm and bamboo! WTF? I guess before these things were here, nothing was growing here but weeds. The grass must have been an accident because it doesn't seem previous residents would have planted it on purpose.

Some progress

Didn't get the north garden dug out as planned yesterday. More windy conditions and decided to do some amending of the soil before forming mounds. While the wind was just at lull enough, I sprayed the area with a hose mount sprayer filled with vinegar and an N supplement. This is the area where I'll have most of the tomatoes planted.

Today, anyone that saw me would probably have thought I was kind of crazy. This morning, I opened up all the bags of leaves I had beside the shed and proceeded to dump them out on the bare ground. Then took a couple of plates of alfalfa from the bale and spread that in with the leaves. Took out the mulching mower, ran over it a few times with the bagger on. Dumped a couple of bags into the compost pit. Then took the bagger off and ran the rest over many times until it was rather finely chopped. Raked that directly into the soil.

I've been doing linear rows broken into shorter elongated mounds. However, I have been reading a lot on the use of more circular mounds and think I will give this a try on the north side of the garden. That will have the garden with linear mounds, circular mounds and raised beds. Which will let me determine the benefits and drawbacks of each for my garden needs. Many benefits I can think of to mounds but the first to jump out is that it would be rather easy to lay down plastic underneath for water retention. I still think I'll eventually have all raised beds in some fashion but this could work well until then.

Okay, need to hide eggs for my daughter and get to bed.
 Search Amazon.com for raised garden bed kit

Strawberry seeds

Learned how to harvest strawberry seeds. Though I keep finding conflicting information on growing them. Some sites say they're biennial and won't produce any fruit until their second year if grown from seed. Others say they grow just fine. May depend on the variety. In any case, the produce store across the street had them on special, so I bought some. Harvested seeds from about four berries, which amounts to around 200 seeds. Just put the berries in a blender with water for a few seconds, then let them sit for a minute. Good seeds sink, bad ones float. Planted them in a thin layer of potting soil. Then made a strawberry-orange smoothie with the fruit. I'll follow up later with how they do. Though I'll likely get some dry roots from the store to increase chances of fruit this year. 

My black thumb still persists. Plants die off and I replant them. In some cases, I can tell why they die and learn from it. In other cases, similar plants right next to them keep right on going. That's okay. It tests my resolve and determination. May actually make me enjoy it more when I have some measure of success.

Saw good news on the news this PM. I was afraid I could get hit with a fine if I was seen watering during certain times. Turns out you can get fined for running a sprinkler during certain times but not for hand irrigation or drip irrigation. Whew!

Another sandstorm

Hoping I have the font set properly on this now. Been battling with it since I began this blog. Had tried setting the font at the very beginning but it somehow reverted. I've tried setting the font for each post but somewhere along the line, it reverts back with no announcement of doing so. Hence, all my posts seem to bounce from one font and size to another.

Not getting the work done outside today that I had planned on. Another sandstorm, supposed to last all day. If you ever experience a sandstorm, you have no surprise that the land is mostly bare where they occur. The wind blows strongly enough to rip plants right out of the ground. You do not want to do things outside if you can avoid it because the sand and dirt gets in your nose, eyes, mouth and lungs if not protected.

By the way, it also sucks the moisture completely out of your skin and the topsoil.


Dog doesn't seem to mind it too much. Still trying to get her to accept the doghouse. Maybe this weather will do the trick but she's really not all that bright. Cute but not too smart.

I did get outside and plant some corn. Some ornamental corn but mostly sweet corn. Need to buy more. Going to plant more corn than I had originally planned on. If I can get it to grow early enough, it will offer shade over the cooler weather crops and extend their growing season.

Read about an old Native American planting technique called "Three Sisters" which I'm going to try. It involves planting corn in mounds first. When the corn begins to sprout, you then plant climbing beans (pole green beans will work) and squash (pumpkins in this case) alternating in the same mound. Corn grows tall, beans climb the corn stalks and squash leaves act as natural mulch, helping to prevent weeds and retain moisture in the soil.

Apparently, lots of things I'm planting will help the N problem in my soil. All forms of peas and beans are of the legume family and draw their N from the air. They also harbor certain bacteria in the roots, which help fixate the N in the soil. This makes them excellent companion plants for many other crops. After harvest, the plants can be turned back into the soil or composted. Personally, I plan on cutting them off at ground level and leaving the roots, while composting the rest. 

Since this sandstorm is supposed to last all day and into the night, guess I'll go take a nap and get some indoor work done later.  Dragging today. Quitting smoking and I've been without a regular cigarette for just under 36 hours. I am using both lozenges and electronic cigarettes but there is still a big difference. This is the longest I've gone without smoking for 37 years. Looks like I'll finally quit.

Things done

Well, got quite a bit done today toward getting everything in order around here. Moved all but one or two Sterilites out to the shed, bringing the house very much in order. Moved the storage hutch the ex gave me into the office, to help organize in there a bit more. Have the shed pretty neat. I'd been rather messy with my work area in the yard while building things, so stacked all the wood in one spot. Spread the compost from the pit, mixed it in with the manual cultivator, then raked to even it out. Refilled the compost pit with the bunny compost. Filled the unfinished raised planter with leaves and potting soil. That got rid of several bags and emptied some boxes, which could be stacked and moved aside. Had to pick up garbage in the yard. Seems each time the church behind my yard "cleans up" their parking lot, I wind up having a lot of trash in my yard. 

Took a nap, thinking I'd be working. Got canceled at 5 PM, of course. So, did some laundry and dishes. Did some indoor planting of warm weather stuff. Not a lot of each but enough to get things started. Pickling cucumbers, three kinds of green beans to figure out which to plant more of later, watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew. Some of the existing plants inside were looking sickly. Found most needed more root space, so transferred them into larger containers. They look happier already.

Going to dig out and form the south side of the garden tomorrow (by this time, I guess it would be today). Going to take a big chance and try planting some corn and pumpkin today, as well. Figure the worst that can happen is that I have to replant again in a few weeks. Best that can happen is an early crop of at least one of them, maybe both.

Need to take a bath and get to bed or none of that's going to happen.