Galvanized

Took apart the connections to the well pump. PVC isn't all that reliable for the purpose. I am at the point where it will cost me only a few dollars to convert the entire system to galvanized steel. Long as the home improvement place has the right parts for it. Otherwise, I just need to clean the pipes that have been sitting for a while. The foot valve is good. Couple of minor issues. One is keeping the heavier pipes suspended. That was a problem previously. The other is that I will have to use a tap and die to install the fertilizer injection system. I'll deal with that part later. 

Okay, started this earlier today. Picked up the parts to convert to all galvanized on the way home from dropping daughter off. Cost a little more than I had hoped but galvanized is not cheap. However, it will last for many years. PVC has to be repaired at least once a year, usually twice or more. Puts the pump at risk of running dry. Then I'd have to replace the pump. 

Got two more bags of gypsum and a new garden sprayer. I think that should be enough for those supplies for the rest of the year.

Honestly, there are times I think I would feel somewhat guilty about how much I spend on the garden. However, in the long run it saves some money on groceries. More than that, it keeps me occupied so I don't spend more money on other diversions. It gives me a feeling of security. Once the garden is growing each year, I know I'll have some food always present. I have an alternative water source via the well. I still have the generator as backup power. Can call it a survivalist outlook but considering the things I've gone through since coming to NM, I just call it common sense. 

Just a little more

Got more tilling done this evening. Only a little more done to finish the first pass. Then go through and cross-till to make sure I didn't miss any large sections. Should have it all completed in a few more days.

Lettuce sprouts are coming up. Soon as I'm done tilling, can get them and carrot seed in the ground. 

Checked the cucumber vines today and all but 3 of the ones I transplanted the other day are doing well. So, I have 23 cucumber vines started. 

Nearly 50 tomato plants but many need to be transplanted. If I don't have quite so many this year, that okay. I'd rather have fewer healthy and highly productive plants than a high number of less productive plants. Still wondering if any of the ones from last year will revive. 

More tilling

Got more tilling done this evening. Much easier with the ground dampened and softened up. Still more difficult with the worn down tiller tines. Still getting it done. About half of the south garden and part of the north garden done. Glad I don't need to till the front yard, though. Or maybe I'm just thinking it was easier previously than it was. I do recall spending days tilling. 

Got spinach seeds this evening. Strangely, Walmart was nearly out of them and I had to look closely to find packs which were mixed in with other seeds. Only found 3 packs. Have to get the spinach and a few other things planted soon or it will be too warm for them to germinate. 

Good news is that garlic is sprouting inside. 

I need to check with Helena Chemical and see if they're open on Saturday. If not, I have to figure out when I can get there to pick up a few bags of gypsum and maybe sulfur. 

Oops!

Well, the soil in the garden should be damp and softened up. I forgot the sprinkler was one and it ran quite a bit longer than I had planned. Think it should be much easier to till tomorrow. 

Had to plant a new rosebush in a large planter because it was in a rush to grow. Got it last week at Home Depot and figured it was dormant. Yeah, not so much. It started forming leaves last week. By today, every single branch has formed leaves and even growing smaller branches. So, I planted it in a planter tonight with 90 percent old potting soil and 10 percent new. Plus some fake snow. 

I really have to get the rest of the solarium put up. Give me a place to move things out for hardening them off. That is, a place where the dogs can't destroy them. I will still have to put them where the puppies can't reach them. Puppies aren't big enough for the invisible fence collars yet. However, they're growing really fast and should be big enough in only a few weeks. 

Part tilling

Got part of the tilling done this evening. I know I'll be getting more done starting next week, after the time change. 

Right now, the ground is hard as rock. Hard to till. Still too much clay. I'm running the sprinkler to soften up the clay a bit to do more tomorrow. Can't believe the tons of material I've added haven't loosened things up more than they have. It has definitely improved the overall soil quality. While I do need new tiller tines, I don't think they would help all that much without enough water. I think this soil will be hard and somewhat sodic until the top few inches are basically nothing but organic material. Right now, it's pretty much clay with nutrients added. 

Daughter wanted to form her own little garden this year. So, yesterday she potted it out and I tilled it. Added compost and calcium, she added dead grass and wood chips and I tilled those in. Then she used her little hoe to form rows. We'll fence and plant it this coming weekend. 

Giving tobacco another try this year. Tried it last couple of years but either it's too salt sensitive or I moved it out too soon. Or all the above. Started it earlier this year and give it more time before moving it out. Then try planting some out and keeping some in containers. 

I need to get more plastic shoe boxes to put peat pots in. 

Then I have to slow down and/or add more shelves in the office. I'm out of space!

Fake snow

I have some fake snow and similar water beads left over from the past two holiday seasons. Rehydrating them to mix with potting soil and seed starting mix. I think they may do really well in that capacity. Though once these things dry out in a clump, it takes a really long time for them to absorb water again to capacity. They're okay as long as they're not allowed to completely dry in clumps. 

Did an experiment not long ago with the larger beads to see how they perform under heat. I boiled some of them. They did great! Kept their form and the colored ones even kept their color. Once I let them dry out, they shrunk but when water was added they absorbed the water just as before. My thought on that experiment was the idea of using them to increase thermal mass. Not completely sure what I'll do with that knowledge yet but I am thinking of using it for the solarium in some form later. Done right, it would be both functional and decorative. 

Some of my seedlings may die off before I get them transplanted if I don't move them to larger containers by tomorrow night. They're growing surprisingly fast. Then again, this is the first year I can recall having the correct combination for them. All potting soil or seed starting mix, moisture retaining seed trays, no native soil and being home nearly 24/7 so the heat stays above 50 degrees in the house at all times. Though the seeds I'm starting now (from past experience) are more appropriate for cooler temperatures, at least for starting now. 

The riskier/less certain crops will be started this week. Some of them. Others to be added later.

Cucumber vines

Checked the cucumber vines I planted the other day (less than a week ago). They have all sprouted and growing fast! So fast that I will have to transplant them this weekend. Slow as they grew last year, I wasn't expecting them to take off like little rockets this year. 

However, they are currently in potting soil. So that is a big illustration of the difference in soil. Definitely a sodium problem in the native soil still. It improves year upon year but not quite fixed yet by any means. 

I'm going to go check a local compost company not far from my house this weekend. They probably sell compost by the bag because I know their products are or used to be carried in major chain stores. 

One of the good things for the garden plan this year is that it will leave more room to do intensive treatments with acid this year. From experience one the last couple of years, I'm not worried about burning crops because the acid is almost instantaneously neutralized in the soil. I can apply huge amounts of acid, enough to help control weeds and not fear doing damage to food crops or flowers only inches away. (Long as I don't over-spray.) 

Tomato plants I transplanted the other day are mostly doing well. I think only one failed. Have to transplant more soon.

 

More spring prep

More spring planning.

Have the sprinkler running during lunch right now to till the north garden this evening and to see if the tomatoes from last year come back. I can always hope!

Bought some peat pellets last night. First time using them but worth a shot for some items. Going to buy more trays tonight to start seeds.

Ordered new micro sprinkler inserts, which cost about 1/4 the whole sprinklers. Can replace the tops on these, which is nice. Especially since I keep tearing them up with the weed whacker. 

Also have more seeds on order for various things. 

I think the garden is going to look nice this year, with broader rows. Less cluttered and a lot less weeds. However, lots of flowers. Have lots of seeds saved from last year. 

Going to add Cosmos to the front yard this year, in addition to the sunflowers. 

Got another rose bush. Haven't decided on placement but it isn't waiting to be planted out. Still in the bag and has leaves forming!

Okay, back to work.

Lettuce

Right now it's looking like lettuce and spinach are a low chance this year. Temps are going directly from freezing to above 70. Seeds may not germinate unless I start them inside and transplant them out. Guess I'll give that a try and see how it goes. Once they're started, they'll keep going until temps go over 90. 

Definitely going to build a lot of raised beds this year. Mostly for strawberries but maybe a few more for other things. Then build some form of partial shade structure for them because raised beds heat up faster than surrounding soil.

Still considering buying some compost. Finances may allow it in a few weeks. Wait and see.

Seed starting 2014

So, growing season is fast approaching. Thanks to schedule and heath issues, got off to a later start than intended this year for a few things. Mostly tomato seeds. However, they are started and many are growing. So are various pepper seeds and strawberry plants. 

Of strawberries, I have 8 plants actively growing and planted 10 more this weekend. Going to keep planting more of them each week until I reach at least 50, maybe 100. This year, strawberries are remaining in containers. I think I still have too much salt in the soil for them and they're too sensitive to it. 

So far, I have started tomato, strawberry, jalapeno, cayenne, garlic, cucumber and mint. Ordered seeds for tobacco, purple carrots and scorpion peppers. (Scorpion peppers are to sell and for various things like insecticide, dog repellant and pepper spray. No urge to try and eat them. May give some to the ex's new husband, who likes really hot foods. He'd probably like them.)

Going to stick with a lot of container plants this year to try and beat the weeds back. With me being absent so much last year, they really gained control and I have to take steps this year to regain control. Lots of tilling and burning until at least early summer this year.

I'm also keeping a much wider spacing between rows and in between larger plants. More working space to pull and cultivate. 

I had planned on buying several tons of wood chips this year and mulching really deep. However, they doubled the price of delivery for the wood chips this year and I have other financial concerns more pressing. 

I have done several limited burns to the garden so far and have several more planned. Getting those done before actual growing season gets here. It has to be done in seriously limited sections because it is so dry and I have so much overgrowth left over that a fire spreads out of control in seconds. (Not kidding on that!) Nearly trapped myself once this week when a fire spread behind me too quickly. If I had not been paying enough attention, it would have been really ugly. Still, not convinced the burns went deep enough to do that much good. Other steps will definitely be required.

Good thing is that I am now working from home and my schedule will be changing, so I will have time to work on things and get it in shape. 

I also bought an invisible dog fence, which has so far proven quite effective to keep the dogs in the yard and out of the garden. So, when I start planting things out, they won't be dug up or scattered like last year. 

Most of the garden won't be planted out as early as previous years. Going to give it time to till and burn several times before planting out. Maybe by the time I do plant out, I can afford the wood chips as planned. I will plant a limited run of lettuce but very limited. I think it will get too hot for lettuce very early this year. Not even trying broccoli. May not be the best option for me with current health issues, any way. 

Over the fall and winter, I did get some portion of the solarium built up. If I can continue with that, it may wind up being cool enough for some cooler weather crops well into the summer. Dogs and wind have done some damage to what I have in place but it's more stable than ever before. Still a lot more to do with it. Even with the damage, this winter was fairly cold and the solarium did definitely help keep the place more comfortable than previous winters, especially combined with previous efforts of sealing off the crawl space vents and insulating part of the bathroom ceiling.

I believe this year I may finally be able to get some solar and wind elements built into the house. First elements in that vein will be solar heating, solar cooling and ceiling vents. Maybe install a skylight or two. I will also make a shot at a solar water pre-heating system. However, a bigger priority is insulating the ceiling of the main house. 

On consideration, I have decided to also add a smaller solarium structure to the front of the house at some point. That one will take a while and will have to be much more decorative than the one in back. It should help insulate the house in winter and, if designed properly, help cool it further in summer. However, want to complete the one in back first and take a few lessons from it. I do still consider this project an experiment in progress. So, it is a bit rough for now. No finishing touches until I find out how it performs in all seasons. Besides, I am still limited by finances.