April 2021

April has gardening promise. I'm hoping to get more gardening started in this month. I must get the strawberries in the fridge planted. They will go into tire treads in bed number 1 at Terra Nova Gardens.

List for April

1. Clean up front yard - Thursday, April 1

2. Dandelion tool modification - Saturday, ‎April ‎3

3. Repair pedestal for flower pots - Monday, April 5

4. Buy plants

     Bought California Wonder pepper - Monday, April 5

5. Sprout and plant seeds - Thursday, April 15

6. Repair fence at Terra Nova Gardens

     04/08 - Removed fence panels from broken post

     04/09 - Dug out broken post.

     04/12 - Set post in Quikcrete

Plant strawberries at Terra Nova Gardens

Clean up patio garden

Clean up basement seed starting area

If I accomplish all this it will be a wonder. I will try my best to get it done before April's end. 

Plant diary

Plants            Sprout  Trans  Plant  bloss  fruit  harvest

Onions

Sweet peas        04/10                  04/15

Tomatoes                           04/14

Bell Peppers                      04/14

Zucchini

Cucumbers

Sweet corn

Squash

‎Saturday, ‎April ‎3

Today will be finishing the repair on the sidewalk pedestal. I have to take Bradley to see his girl friend at 11 a.m. There's many things to do just deciding which has the most priority will be daunting. They all are top priority.

Monday, April 5

I replaced the broken front piece and glued the pedestal together. The broken piece will be used in the back for one of the raised beds in an area that won't be noticed. I will glue it together and then to the cement blocks.

The next big thing is to get the back yard cleaned up and ready to plant. I need to make a dump run but that will be after I return the TV to Lydia's bedroom.

Wednesday, April 7

I need to really cleanup the seed starting area and actually start sprouting some seeds for late planting. I should buy some early tomato plants today. There's much to do even if I can't get out to the garden. It's supposed to rain all day today.

I started preparing the strawberry patch at Terra Nova Gardens. I have Three tire tread beds in process of preparedness. I completed one and have almost completed another but rain halted the progress.

Thursday, April 8

The fence panel has been knocked down either by the forces of nature or by kids. Maybe a little of both. I saw there was barrels with tops off, tools from the toolbox stuck in the picnic table, and other indicators that kids had been messing around. I'm not sure that I can save this panel. One post is broken off at ground level and will need to be dug out. There's two bags of Quickcrete holding the post in the ground that will need to be lifted out of the ground. It's time to crack out the log chain and fulcrum it out of the ground. I've done it before. It's not a fun thing to do and can be a difficult task but it will be easier with the soft moist ground. I will start on that tomorrow weather permitting.

I've decided to leave the beds as they are and build the cage around them. Two beds at a time will be the project. The first item to accomplish is to do a good clean up. The plan now is to set T-posts every five feet around the beds. Then wrap the bed with five foot steel welded fencing. Then build a steel welded fence top supported by PVC pipe. It's a cap that sets on top of the T-posts and fastens to the fence that wraps over the top onto the wrap around fence. I'm hoping for a much cheaper structure. 

Friday, April 9

Yeah, I didn't think I was going to make it out to Terra Nova Today as I had to find landscape timbers to replace the broken post. Menard's didn't have any so next stop was Lowes. I bought two because I needed to replace another one on the north side of the garden. I did make to Terra Nova Gardens and dug out the broken post as you can see here. I had in mind to just throw a log chain around the concrete base and leverage it out of the ground but there wasn't a big enough lip to grab the base.

The next option was to give it a few whacks with a sledgehammer and bust it into pieces. This worked better than I thought it would and soon the pieces were out of the ground. All the dirt was put back in the hole and packed down with number 12 boots. The dirt needs to be packed more and a wheelbarrow or two more to bring it up to ground level before digging another hole and setting another post.  The rain is supposed to set in for the night which will help settle the dirt in the hole. 

I finished taking the tarps and cover debris off the beds that will become the cage beds for the next year. I'm excited about building the new idea for cage beds. (See April 8th)

Saturday, April 10
I don't have any real garden plans for today so I'll just be putzing around Urban Ranch. I probably should start sprouting some seeds.

I put the sweet pea seeds in the sprouting bags. The package said there were 50 seeds in the package but I think there was more. I want to plant them when they sprout into a big container with a trellis to set on one of the pedestals by the driveway. The information that I saw for sweet peas was that from planting to flowering it would take three to four months. That would be July or August. They don't do well in hot weather so I don't know if they will amount to anything.

Well, the dandelion harvest was not as much as I thought it would be. I've plucked them out of the ground for about three years and ever year the harvest is smaller. I think last year it was twice this much. Today was the second round. I might have a few more but as I'm removing the dandelion plants I can see many more buds that would become flowers so the next round has been eliminated as well. It takes longer than a weed killer but I try to keep my yard as chemical free as I can so I can use the grass on the garden. I will spread some nitrogen on the yard but that's not going to hurt the garden. 

Sunday, April 11
I left my tomatoes and peppers that I bought outside last night and it got down to 34 degrees overnight. Brrrr, that's a bit cold for those plants. The weather man says that the temp will be in the 30s for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights. I want to transplant these plants today and give them a boost of fertilizer. I will use the double cup method for the transplants. That seems to be a great way to grow bigger plants. That way I can make trays to carry them that are studier than the flimsy 1020 trays.

Then there's the onions that need to be transplanted. I think there's at least a couple hundred. Those will go in the smaller cups and put in the stack boxes. Lots of work and things to accomplish.

I washed 18 double cups.

Monday, April 12

I am hopeful to get the plants that I bought transplanted. I will purchase a bag of Quikcrete and a bag of potting mix for the tomatoes and peppers.

The next two days will have low temps in the lower 30s. I'm bringing my plants in to give them protection.

The post is set with Quikcrete. I'll leave the supports on for a couple days. It looks like I will need to replace many of the posts. Neighbor Dave at Terra Nova Gardens came up with a great idea for the next round of posts. The bottoms of the posts should be coated with tar to keep the moisture off the wood.

Tuesday, April 13

No gardening today

Wednesday, April 14

The plants that I bought were finally transplanted into 16 ounce cups. I make my own potting mix with the following recipe:

1 bag of garden soil

1 bag of manure

1 bucket (3 gal) of used potting mix

1 large coffee can full of perlite

1 12 ounce glass of nitrogen 46% 

I mixed it all up in the compost tumbler. I think that will be the mix for the patio bucket garden as well. I still have to plant all the poor man's patio trellis. I will buy the plants soon. 

Things are starting to come together. This will be a good garden year. I hope.

Thursday, April 15

I put my plants inside the garage last night but forgot to close the door. They look ok. The temperature got down to 29. The nights are going to be frosty for another week.

The last frost date used to be May 15th but now I see that it is April 21st. I'm not sure that's going to be the case this year. I've always kind of used Mother's Day to plant the frost tender plants outside.

These are sweet pea sprouts five days old. It's supposed to take up to two weeks for these to germinate but sprouting the way I do they sprouted in five days. I like this way better for a couple reasons. First they sprout much faster. Second I only plant the sprouted seeds so there's no bare spots when I plant them.

This was a pot given to me from hauling the stuff to the dump for Teresa's friends. The trellis was from them as well. I am hoping to grow some awesome sweet peas. They are cool weather flowers and they take three months to flower. In three months we will be having hot weather so I'm not sure how they will fair in the Nebraska summer heat. It's a crap shoot but worth a try. If they don't turn out, well, that's the beauty of having containers. I'll just replace the failure with a different container that is flourishing.

I put a couple bricks on the bottom to hold down the trellis before putting the soil mix in the container. I gave the soil a good soak before putting the seeds on top of the soil. Half of the seeds sprouted quicker and I put those seeds on the soil and covered them up with more soil mix. The other batch needs a bit more time to sprout. I think I'll put those in the 1020 trays just to see which way will be the best way to grow them.

These plants look a bit down in the dregs. I transplanted them in the soil mix I made with manure and 16 ounce glass full of  46% nitrogen. They still look a bit out of sorts. I'll give them a couple more days and then if they don't perk up, I give them some juice (miracle grow). This has been a really different kind of garden year.

Friday, April 16

I need to get ready to plant the next round of sweet peas in the 1020 tray under the grow lights. If the sprouted seeds that I planted yesterday can't survive the cold weather, I'll have a backup to replant the container. I'm hoping for a good display for the neighborhood. I'm becoming somewhat of a grower of flowers. Almost more so than vegetables. Who would have thought. I'm still very limited in my knowledge of flowers.

I harvested another bucket full of dandelions. There will most likely be one more round of digging up dandelions.

Saturday, April 17

I would like to get the second post set today but it unlikely that I'll really want to do that when I get back from Lincoln. The Quikcrete has been rained on so it probably is hard and can't be used for the post. I do want to use neighbor Dave's suggestion of tarring up the bottom of the post before setting it in concrete.

Sunday, April 18

It's supposed to be a beautiful day today. Temps in the mid 60s, hardly any wind, bright sunshine. What more could a gardener ask for. 

I collected some supplies to repair the fence at Terra Nova Gardens. I have six landscaping timbers to replace weak or broken fence posts. There are several and eventually over the next couple years they will all most likely need to be replaced. The next round of posts will last longer. I am a little more knowledgeable about fence posts now. The current posts have rotted off at ground level right above the concrete. The next posts will be set on top of rocks in the bottom of the hole and have a Quik Tube to bring the Quikcrete up above the hole. This will keep the moisture off the post and cause it to rot at ground level. The post itself will have the bottom painted with asphalt post paint. It seals the treated wood against water invasion. The whole idea is to keep the moisture from touching the wood at or below ground level.

Monday, April 19

There will be no outside garden activity today. The weather is brutal. Cold, rainy, and possible snow mix is on the schedule for today. I brought all my plants into the garage. It's been a rugged start for this spring.

My tomato plants that I bought look really sickly. I'm not sure what the issue is. I have them a shot of miracle grow and will see if I have to replace them. If they don't snap out of it within a day or two. I will just buy more. It's been a strange year all around. I don't know what happened but they are totally destroyed. I'll have to buy more today.

Tuesday, April 20

Even though it's cold the sun is shinning and the temperature will climb to 48 degrees. I really need to get the fence repaired at Terra Nova Gardens and the Urban Ranch patio garden cleaned up. The days of April have been cold, damp with misty rain and snow, and sometimes wind. It's been to ugly to be out working.

The tomatoes that I bought have all but died. I'm not sure what exactly happened to them but even a shot of Miracle Grow didn't help them. It seem to accelerate their death. I need to buy more and go with a different soil. Things are very strange with the garden this year.

After three working days of fence repair, I finally have the fence back together. The next couple posts down the line are very weak and I suspect that the only thing holding the fence upright is being connected to the rest of the fence panels down the line. But for now I have higher priority things to work on.

After some research, I found a product at Tractor Supply called Asphalt Fence Paint. It's a goopy thick mix of tar looking stuff that will seal posts from moisture and keep them from rotting. It's just what I need for garden posts. It takes two coats and after four hours to dry, it's ready to use. It's a great find and it's not too expensive either.

Here's six posts almost ready to use. One more coat of Asphalt Post Paint and these posts will be ready to last much longer than the ones used. Even without using the moisture sealant, the posts lasted 10 years. I'm hoping with this sealant and concrete up above ground level, I'll never have to replace them again. I'm slowly putting this garden back to production.

I've decided to cap the already wrapped section of the garden. Since there's wire around beds 7 & 8, I thought it might be faster and cheaper to just work on those beds that already have wire wrapped around the beds. That way all that has to be done is build the cap. It came to me as I sat resting while working on the fence. I wouldn't have to deal with the electric fence this year if I get it built before the corn starts to produce the sweet corn smell. 

Wednesday, April 21
It's kind of a rest day today. I just not able to work as hard as I used to be able to do. I will still pursue working around the yard and garden at home (Urban Ranch). I'm still puzzled about the plants that died. It might be over fertilized. I'll have to mix up another batch of soil without too many amendments. It might just be too hot for tender plants. I'm hopeful to find some more tomato and pepper plants to at least have some for myself this year. I think that Lowe's will have some as there vegetable plants are inside a sheltered area. Menard's are not. I'll check it out today. Ace hardware's plants are not sheltered either. This has been a cold frosty April. Supposedly the last frost date has been changed to April 21st for my area but I'm not seeing it this year.

The prediction is for rain tomorrow and tomorrow night.  

Thursday, April 22

I would like to get the new plants potted up. I found pots with two plants in them instead of one so I got the plants for half price.  I really need to get the other two tomatoes into the buckets.

I repotted the tomatoes and peppers that I bought yesterday. I now have four pepper and four tomatoes in addition to the two giant tomatoes that need to go into the buckets. That's probably enough for me and some to give away.

I should start some seeds or I can take the arm pit starts and plant them to take out to Terra Nova Gardens. I put the tomatoes and pepper in the garage for the night even though the temperature will only be 43 overnight. I want to keep the tender plants as warm as they can be. I maybe should have brought them in the house.

Friday, April 23

Another week as passed but some things have been accomplished. The temperature this morning is 48 degrees which is encouraging. The ground temperature is 48 degrees as well. The night time temperatures are starting to remain in the 40s instead of the 20s. That's a good sign that we are approaching the time for outside gardening to start. I need to step up my work outside.

I spent two and a half hours at Terra Nova Gardens working on the cage. The wrap and the T-posts for the door are done. I can start working on the top now. I have forgotten what fits over the T-post. I think it's 1 1/4 inch PVC. 

Saturday, April 24

Today I'll be working around the Urban Ranch. I have to start getting the bucket garden ready. I have a tomato plant that needs to be in a bucket. The temps are good to go at night for the plants to be outside.

The bucket garden patio has needed a good clean up for a couple years. It was past time to bag up all the debris. It took a couple hours to move all the pots and buckets, move the picnic table out of the way; and bag up all the leaves. There was three and a half bags of leaves. 

There! All done! yea! Now I can start setting up the watering for the gutters. I want all three to be automatically watered this year. I am thinking about top watering as well. I have an idea about that but I'm still mulling it over in my mind. It was a good day's job done. This is the bucket garden where the zucchini, eggplant, peppers, and eggplant will be grown this year. These are gutters that are gravity fed from my water tank and are kept level full with a float valve. The buckets have net pots that sit down through a hole in the bottom of the bucket that's filled with soil and will wick water up to the plants as needed. Eventually the roots reach down into the gutters and soak up water as they need it. It's an automated system that works well. So life is good and gardening has started for the year 2021.  

Monday, April 26

There wasn't much garden work done today. It was just yard work. 

Tuesday, April 27

Today I am hopeful to get some tomatoes planted in buckets and to have two planted in UR bed four. It's time to start seeds for cucumber and Zucchini plants. I need to do something with the onions that I've grown from seed. I will plant onions around the zucchini plants again this year to see if it keeps the vine borer away. I had many zucchini fruits last year and finally just pulled up the plants. 

I think I'll plant my lettuce plants outside this year and shut down the basement garden over the summer. I'll bring it back in the fall. I'm thinking that I'll try to succession plant the lettuce and radish outside again this year.

I really looks like something has been nibbling on my strawberry plants. I think it's those twitter padded pesky rabbits I see chasing each other around in the yard. They go nutso this time of the year creating new life.

Wednesday, April 28

I ordered 1 1/4 inch PVC parts for the cage at Terra Nova Gardens. It won't quite fit over the steel post. So my plan is to put 2 inch PVC pipe over the steel posts and then slide the 1 1/4 inch into the 2 inch pipe. Three screws will hold the 2 inch pipe to the steel post and three screws will hold the 1 1/4 inch pipe centered and straight in the 2 inch pipe. I'm using schedule 40 as it's pipe walls are thicker and stronger.

I also thought about future posts. Why couldn't I use 3 inch PVC pipe filled with Quikcrete that's been set into the ground with Quikcrete. It's something to think about.

It was a bust for planting today and for mowing. It rained in the morning and in the afternoon.

Thursday, April 29

This has to be the day to plant before any other yard or garden work. I will plant the tomatoes in UR bed four. I have decided that the buckets will be used to grow zucchini and eggplant this year. I want to see if I can smother out the dreaded vine borer with a layer of vermiculite. Another thought is to make an onion spray and spray the base of the vine with the solution. It just came to me now. Wow, what a thought. Last year onions were planted around the zucchini plants and there was not vine borer destruction.

I noticed that Menard's has tomato and pepper plants on sale due to the frost. They are alive but look a little sad. I think I'll buy some and just throw them in the ground at Terra Nova Gardens and see what happens with them. It might take a while for them to recover but late tomatoes are good. I'm ok with that. When the spring tomatoes are winding down the fall tomatoes are ramping up. 

Once again the year won't be much about gardening but will be about Terra Nova Gardens structure and Urban Ranch raised bed completion. I have high hopes for great accomplishments this year. 

Still much finish the water tower and have decided to make the ground level center under the tower structure a storage area for things to be locked up. Hoses and such that it seems the kids like to mess with. So lots to do and the years of being able to do it are counting down.

So the garden year begins with a slow start but with a little be of incentive it will end strong.

Job well done. My hips were aching when I finished mowing this lot. It took a couple hours. I was amazed that it had grown much faster than I thought. I've toyed with the idea to give it a shot of nitrogen fertilizer to boost production of grass for Terra Nova Gardens mulch. I'm not sure if I'm up to that just yet. Anyway I got seven and a half bags for the first mowing. I still have to mow my backyard which is borderline out of control. 

This is bed four of four raised backyard beds. Bed three will be given a refurbished and the landscaping timbers you see here will be replaced by cement blocks that a friend gave me. Most of my gardening supplies have been given to me from disgruntled gardeners that thought it was a good idea but didn't know that a garden had to be tended almost every day or it would become an eyesore. If things go according to my plan which it hardly ever does, I should be in a position to just garden and not have a lot of rebuilding to do in a couple years. This bed will be refurbished next year with concrete blocks. Beds one and two are already done and I planted strawberries in them. I will use these strawberries to produce babies to plant at Terra Nova Gardens in north Omaha. It's a work in progress. 

This is the bed cleaned up. I have planted the tomatoes in this bed. This is the kitchen garden that can be harvested right out the sliding door of the kitchen. Early Girl, Delicious, and Big Boy tomatoes are on the menu for this year. It's also time to plant cucumbers, onions, peppers, zucchini, and eggplant. I tried to get a picture of the planted tomatoes but the light was fading and it didn't show them very well. Tomorrow I'll be working on mowing the backyard and getting the mulch to put around the tomatoes. 

The tomatoes are planted. The fading light didn't take a picture very well. There's six tomatoes in this bed. I bought four of them from Mulhall's nursery but selected pots that had two plants in the pot instead of just one. So they were accentually half price. I found peppers with the same two plants per pot. I'm hoping tomorrow to plant the peppers for sure and maybe some other stuff as well. I should look into watering tape that Hoss tools use in their gardens. It's already made with holes for watering every foot. They bury their tapes but they sometimes leave them on top of the soil. I have used drip supply tube with adjustable drip waterers.   

Friday, April 30

Today's plans are to work on planting the bell peppers and start seeds sprouting for cucumbers, eggplant, and zucchini. I would like to find a cherry tomato plant for the big pot by the driveway that would eventually be put down my the sidewalk for passer's by to nick a cherry fruit or two as they walk by. I must purchase the planting flowers for the arch and wall for the front patio. April and May are big garden expense months.