August 2019

August 3rd
The summer is quickly passing by. I totally skipped over July so I'll catch up some with July gardening. All my vlogs that I follow are harvesting buckets of produce now. I'm harvesting a few tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers. The buckets this year are struggling. First it was cold, then extremely hot and now moderate temperatures. The bucket soil got up to 98 degrees during the extreme not weather. I think that greatly affected the plants. They are producing but the foliage doesn't look too healthy. The two in ground tomatoes faired better.

The poor man's patio has really put on a show this year. I did it the same as last year but it sure seems to be having a better display this year. Well, there is one difference this year. I usually set up automatic watering but this year I didn't. It requires me to get up close and personal to every plant while watering it. I kind of like it better. Maybe that's why the plants are doing better. They like the personal attention.

The old water tank had to be retired. It was just too much to keep patching up the leaks in the tank. This one even though it's advertised as a six foot tank is smaller and hold 50 gallons less than the old one. I'm thinking about painting the tank but it's quite a process to clean off the oily film and scratch the surface with sand paper before painting.

August always seems to be out of control weed cleanup month. This August is no different. I've already harvested five bags of yard waste from just three beds and around the water tank. There's still much more to go. The tree sprouts alone will give me a ton of yard waste this week. 

My idea of setting out potted flowers where the spring bulbs are has been a great one. The flowers are last sales of scraggly Walmart plants and grown from seed Marigolds. They are just starting to flower and will be putting a spectacular show during August. Well, I hope.

August 15th
Sheesh, the month is half gone; school for Bradley has started; and the garden is dwindling down. The bucket garden this year is struggling. The hot July week heated up the soil in the buckets to 95 degrees. It nearly cooked the roots. Next year will be a different plan of action. I'm thinking that the plants will be started in buckets but when the weather warms up enough they will be buried in the ground. The soil bucket will have the bottom cut out and holes cut in the sides. The soil bucket will have weed fabric that lines the sides to keep the soil from coming out the sides. The soil bucket will be set inside another bucket with the net cup. When the time is right, the net cup bucket will be removed; the weed barrier will be cut to let the roots grow out of the soil bucket and the soil bucket will be buried in the garden bed up to the neck of the bucket. In theory it all looks good in the mind. The biggest thing is the removal of the net cup bucket and getting the soil bucket into the ground without destroying the plant. If it works it should be the best of both world. 

I always seem to forget to take a before picture. This was a four bag yard waste project. Every year about this time I start the yard and fence clean up that always is a major task. Trees and vines seem to love my yard. I would like to plant a Fall garden but I just don't think it will happen. The time is just not there again this year. Yard work won't happen again today, tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day. Well, I don't know maybe some today. Well, that is if it don't rain. A big storm front is headed this way. As I watch the radar, I see it dwindling away. That happens quite a lot. It must be the lay of the land for God's hand that directs most storms around Omaha. August

August

August

August

June 2019

June 6th
Yeah, I'm not keeping up on this blog very well. May is gone without an entry. Now almost a week has passed in June and nothing in this blog. What's up with that. Oh, maybe because I'm busy. Yeah, that's it. 

My neighbor across the street at Terra Nova got some rocks delivered but was the wrong kind of rocks. He told me I could have them so I spent a day moving them over to my property.  They will be used to build up the raised beds on the north side of the property. There should be enough there to build up another layer around the raised beds.

The bucket garden has been started for this year. I'll have a few tomatoes and a few Bell peppers.

The threat of hail inspired me to bring the buckets inside the house. It brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, "kitchen garden." After a couple days the threat passed and the buckets were back outside where they liked it much better.

The potatoes are liking the new raised bed. They are close to blooming. There were planted close to the end of April soon after Good Friday.

I have started building the hügelkultur bed by laying down a layer of grass clippings. 

Then come the wood. This wood comes from trimmings the power company did a couple years ago that they just left piled up. My pile has covered this portion of the bed. It's taking more wood than I thought. There are a couple more piles along the tree line that I can use but I really thought that I could build a couple more but I'm thinking one will be it. Another layer of grass clippings will cover this wood and then about a 12 inch layer of dirt. This bed will rest until next year before planting. 

June 8th
Today was a good day. All the pots for the trellis and wall were planted and watered. The cucumbers were planted in the cell trays. I have about 25 cucumber seeds that sprouted. That's about half the seeds on the mat. I suppose that's fairly good germination for seeds that are several years old. I think I'll try some zucchini seeds next. They might be coming in late in the season but that's ok.

I planted the cosmos and the hollyhocks. So we will see if they survive. They should have been planted a month ago so they are so over grown and leggy that I'm not sure they will really do any thing. 

June 10th
I used the caulk gun sealer to seal up the leaks in the gutters. I'm hoping that I can start using the gutters to water the plants again.

June 11th
It rained today. I'm not sure how much. I brought in the newly sprouted cucumbers. They do look good. I will let them get a little bigger before transplanting them into the bigger glasses. I started the fresh seeds from Burpee. There were 34 seeds planted. Now I'll have to start working on the pots for the cucumbers and the water tank for the watering.

June 15th

The bucket garden is thriving quite well. The tomatoes are covered with blooms and all the plants look really healthy. I just am having trouble sealing up the gutters for watering. They just continue to have leaks some where. 

Sprouting old cucumber seeds. Only half of these sprouted. They sprouted in five days.

I planted the seed sprouts in seed cells and two days later they were up and growing. This is about a week after the sprouts were planted.

When they were big enough I transplanted them into 8 ounce plastic glasses with holes drilled in the bottom. The next stop will be the final home in the plastic buckets.

Filled the gutters with water but couldn't see any leaks. The tomato gutter seems to be dry every day so I'm suspecting a leak some where still. Hmmm, it might not be a leak that's causing the water to be gone out of the gutters. It might be birds taking a bath in the gutters splashing the water out.

April 2019

April 2019

April 20, 2019  
Boy, time is flying by. April 20th and soon the planting season will be in full swing. I'm so far behind but yet the weeds are some what under control. It's been a different year for gardening. The weather is finally co-operating and half the potatoes are planted.

This is my idea of a raised potato bed. I was orginally meant to be a sweet corn bed but I changed my mind and made it a potato bed. This is before the potatoes were planted in the bed.

March 2019

March 2019

March 30, 2019  
Really, March 30th and nothing posted here in the March blog. This month has flown by with all types of weather. March did indeed come in like a lion and is going out like a …. sheep not a lamb. It still has a lingering of cold and chance of snow in the forecast. So far it's missed us but the threat is still there.

GARDENING YEAR IS HERE

I do love the Spring flowers. They just don't last long enough. These are always the first to come up and are so colorful. Crocus is one of my favorite flowers. Daffodils, Tulips, and Hyacinth are the others that are on my favorite Spring flower list.

TERRA NOVA GARDEN

The garden is such a mess. This is the starting point for Terra Nova Gardens. Last year was a total bust and the garden went rogue. It totally went wild and I lost all control and finally just gave it all up for a season that was lost. Only my backyard raised beds did I get any harvest from. Hopefully, this year will be a different year. There were just too many family and friend responsibilities last year. My plan this year is to garden early before family and friends schedule take over for the day. If I can get a couple hours every day, it should be enough to reclaim the portion of the garden that I want to manage this year. The rest will be given a sabbatical under tarps. 

There is a granite countertop business near my house that throws away the pallets that the countertops are shipped in. These pallets are 12 feet long and 32 inches wide. They are made from heavy oak wood and weigh probably close to 100 pounds. Here is a plan to make raised beds even more raised than the rocks. The pallets have to be remanufactured some before using in the garden but still they will be a great asset to get some raised beds that are ascetically pleasing to the eye. How long they will last before rotting out, I don't know but I'm hoping for at least two to three years. By then I'll have a new plan for longer life.

So this is bed 11 which is next to the bed with the weed mess. This bed is the first to receive the make over. Much of the weed mess, about 18 inches deep, has been piled on top of the bed and then dirt is piled on top of the dried out weeds. Another layer of weed cleanup will cover the dirt and then another layer of dirt will finish out the raised bed. I originally wanted to plant sweet corn in this bed but have changed my mind to use it for potatoes.

This is over half of the sides up and with the first layer of dried weed cleanup and dirt. Now for the fabrication of the next section of pallets. That's it for today. 

February 2019

FEBRUARY 2019

Feb 20, 2019  
February has definitely been Winter weather. We now have over 43 inches of snow this season which is 24 inches above normal. The soil temperature remains at 30 degrees at four inches and varies between 28 and 32 degrees. Snow seems to keep the soil warmer than bare soil. Most folks are tired of snow and are grumbling quite a bit with this snow. I for one am smiling as the snow piles up. I see lots of nitrogen rich water that will slowly soak into the soil as it thaws out. True a good portion will run off but what does soak into the ground is the best ever fertilizer. Cold temperatures will kill bugs and bug eggs so it's a win win for gardeners.

GARDENING YEAR HAS STARTED

The lettuce has sprouted in just five days. It's now under the grow lights for 16 hours as day with great hopes. The garden season has truly started. These were germinated in 69 to 73 degree temperature and bottom watered once. Regular Florissant lighting will be used and space from plants will begin at two inches. Bottom watering will be done every three to four days.

I need to start some cabbage in the tray space that was lettuce. I should buy fresh seed. I only have seed that's several years old.

Feb 24, 2019 
The started seeds are growing great. I planted another tray with flowers this time. I still have to plant cabbage.

These are heirloom hollyhocks from some where. I'm not sure about where they came from or how old they are. I do like hollyhocks but have never had any lock growing them. Supposedly once they are planted some where they will self seed and keep growing. Grandma Potter had wonderful hollyhocks growing beside her house and I always admired them. I heard that Grandma Potter was hard person to get along with but I never had any trouble with her. I guess holly hocks are a flower that reminds me of her. The smell of dill reminds me of my mother. Evidently she grew it in her garden every year because that's the smell I remember in Mom's garden.

The weather is still very harsh. The Season Snowfall 52.8" +32.3" Season to Date. We had 9.5 inches just last night. It will take a while to shovel out. Then I won't be able to get out of the neighborhood until the snow plow goes by. It doesn't look good for an early start in the garden this year. The forecast is for cold bone chilling temperatures for the rest of the week. It will be in the single digits every night this week and highs during the day only in the teens. Helping the neighbors with snow removal is the only time I can get to talk with them during the winter months.

Yea, I started the cabbage today. I do want to make more sauerkraut this year. I make it two years ago but didn't refrigerate it or keep it hydrated so it dried out and went bad. I do have the jars and the garage refrigerator space for many gallons of sauerkraut. Yum. Last year the cabbages looked really good until the weeds took over and smothered it. Hopefully, this year will be better.

Feb 26, 2019  
No more seeds sprouted. It's been 10 days for the peppers and onions. I recall that the onions were up in five days when on the heat mat down stairs last year or maybe the year before. The soil is 72 degrees average in the computer room so that should be enough to sprout the seeds. The ones on the towel have not sprouted yet. There are no signs that they are even thinking about it. 

We received another 9.5 inches of snow over the weekend. It bring the total season snow up to 53 inches which is 31 inches above normal and I have the feeling that nature isn't done yet. Farmer's Almanac says that more snow will come in march with stormy weather all of March and then a wet April. Spring will not arrive until the end of April. It looks like we are in for a wild ride this Spring.r.

January 2019

HAPPY NEW YEAR

January 7, 2019  
Three days of 55 degree weather. January? I was out at Terra Nova Gardens today. Only a sweat shirt was needed and I was thinking about going down to T-Shirt. Seven years ago when I first acquired Terra Nova Gardens the weather was just like this. I was working in a T-Shirt in January. I don't remember what the summer was like then. I think it was the summer of record number of 100 degree days. I believe it was the summer I built the fort for Bradley. It was so hot that summer. Maybe we are headed into another hot summer.

I covered up four beds in the North half of the garden. It was real muddy and soft. I have three beds left to cover up. I took down the tomato towers and moved the A-frame to where the tomatoes were growing last year.

January 22, 2019 Tuesday
Still no progress on the seed starting station. I have a plan for the new station but just haven't started building it yet. I'm concentrating on the kitchen floor.