Tomatoes in my shower??

Yes, that's right, I have tomatoes in my shower. I started to think the basement might still be a little chilly for the toms and they might benefit from some upstairs time. Problem is, I only have ONE south-facing window on the upper floors of my house. Here it is:

One benefit to having seedlings in the shower - they're easy to water :-)

On another note, I have finally broken out the colored pencils again and created a garden plan.

I still have a couple tweaks to make - like filling in the tomato varieties and adding the potatoes but it's pretty close. I'll use the ladder trellis in the cucumber ring and the other trellis I built last summer for the winter squash & cukes.

I'd best get busy soon with some outdoor work as spring may have finally sprung. I'm seeing signs of life around the yard now. The grass is beginning to green. The jostaberries have leafed out. Tulips, hyacinths and iris are showing green leaves and the daffodils are blooming. We need some rain soon though or I'll have some serious watering to do this week. We've got a chance of afternoon showers for the next few days, perhaps some moisture will come our way.

These little green sprouts are the new suckers from the Anne raspberries I planted last year. The Carolines are also spreading. I peeked under the leaves around the one blackberry that grew last year and I saw a little green sprout under there.

The rhubarb popped out of the ground quite nicely this past week. No sign yet of the asparagus or strawberries but it's probably not quite time for them yet. Soon enough, we shall see.

It's Spring, Why Does it Feel Like Winter??

WhooHoo, April Fool's Day...

This is what it looked like out my front door on Wednesday evening. You can't see it, but it is snowing sideways. This is also what it looked like today, except I think the wind was a little worse today. With temps in the mid-20's and strong winds, it was cold out there! At one point, the sun did try to come out through the blowing snow. It actually got up to 70 in the garden! I've gotten nothing done outside for days now because it has either been cold or really windy, or both. Tomorrow is supposed to be cold but Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be nice. My rhubarb and asparagus came in the mail today. I'll plant them, and some potatoes, on Monday.

Since I haven't gotten too much done this week, I thought I would share my garden plan. Please forgive that it's a bit messy, and truly not quite complete (pretty close though).

The first scan is the overview of the garden area. I drew this up quickly tonight for this posting but I really did need to do it. I took the layout from a partially completed drawing and I never completed the measurements, so this is off by just a bit. The space between the potato bin and ring 4 is not that large and the 2.5'x 11' bed is about 3' closer to all the other beds than this looks (that's my guess at least)

This next one is the one I actually use. This comes to the garden with me. I still have a few details to decide on. I'm not sure exactly the number of tomato plants I'm going to try to include as well as the final numbers I'm going to try with the cukes, squash & other vines.

You may notice the center of the first bed is shaded in blue. That's the area I'm trying to get started early. Some are doing better than others, but I do have life out there at least!

I am a little concerned that I'm planning to plant some major chaos in the 2.5'x 11' bed. All of the vines will be trellised, but I may be underestimating the jungle potential.

Since the zucchini really take up a lot of space, I'm putting them in the "rings" instead. I have 2 of them built but the other 2 aren't quite finished yet. I should add that to Monday's list.

There are also some companion plants marked here. That's to remind me which plants will help which crops (and one to avoid).

We've decided not to use the sprinkler system this summer so I put the potato bin back where it was last year (they were watered with overspray from a sprinkler head & DH didn't realize it. While I was out of town, he watered them some more...they didn't make it). Most of my potatoes are going in containers along the side of the house this year (north edge of the garden area).

These are the perennial edible varieties I am planting.

ANNE RASPBERRY
CAROLINE RASPBERRY
TRIPLE CROWN THORNLESS BLACKBERRY
CHIPMAN'S CANADA RED RHUBARB
JERSEY KNIGHT HYBRID 2 YR ASPARAGUS
HONEOYE JUNEBEARING STRAWBERRY
CANBY RASPBERRY RASPBERRY
SEEDLESS RED CANADICE GRAPE
SASKATOON BLUEBERRY

I also have 2 more rhubarb roots I received from someone on Freecycle recently. They are planted on the north side of the house (far enough away from the house to get good sun though). I also want to try some Jostaberries along the front of the porch as a backdrop to the flower garden.

Here is the list of vegetables, herbs & companion plants.

SWEET BASIL
BORAGO OFFICINALIS (BORAGE)
NEPETA CATARIA (CATNIP)
ORIGANUM VULGARE (OREGANO)
THYMUS VULGARIS (THYME, ENGLISH)
ITALIAN PARSLEY
NASTURTIUM, MARIGOLDS, PETUNIAS, SWEET ALYSSUM, BLUE FLAX, (as companions)

RATTLESNAKE BEANS (POLE)
GOLDEN WAX BUSH BEANS
KENTUCKY WONDER POLE BEANS
LANDRETH STRINGLESS BUSH BEANS
CONTENDER BUSH BEANS
CHEROKEE WAX BEANS (BUSH)
GREEN SPROUTED CALABRESE BROCCOLI
DANVERS HALF LONG CARROT
CHANTENAY CARROT
GREEN DRAGON BURPLESS CUCUMBER
NATIONAL PICKLING CUCUMBER
SWEET SALAD MIX MESCLUN
BLACK SEEDED SIMPSON LETTUCE
WHITE LISBON BUNCHING ONION
WALLA WALLAONION
RED ONION
SUGAR SNAP POLE (PEAS)
SWEET MIX PIMIENTO DULCE (multi-color) PEPPER
SWEET BANANA PEPPER
POTATOES: ALL BLUE, KENNEBEC,PURPLE MAJESTY, VIKING, RED PONTIAC, DARK RED NORLAND, and a few that sprouted in the pantry.
SMALL SUGAR PUMPKIN
SPARKLER WHITE TIP RADISH
DAIKON RADISH
SPARKLER RADISH
CHAMPION RADISH
TETON HYBRID SPINACH
BLACK BEAUTY ZUCCHINI SQUASH
CALABAZA FLYING SAUCER HYBRID SQUASH
SMALL WONDER HYBRID (SPAGHETTI) SQUASH
RUTGERS SELECT TOMATO
ROMA ORGANIC TOMATO
GALINA'S GOLD CHERRY TOMATO
BLACK CHERRY TOMATO
PAQUEBOT ROMA TOMATO
THESSALONKI TOMATO
KELLOGG'S BREAKFAST TOMATO
IMUR PRIOR BETA TOMATO
NEVE'S AZORIAN RED TOMATO
SUGAR BABY WATERMELON

So, there's the plan...we'll have to wait for the reality...

Plans vs. Reality

It is the time of year that many of us are working on our garden plan for 2009. If you are like me, you're trying not to repeat the mistakes of last year. In the interest of sharing, I'm posting last years Plan vs. Reality.

So, here it is. My high-tech garden plan for 2008. Each bed is 4' x 10', so I have 80 square feet of planting space. So this page wouldn't just be some colors on a page that nobody could possibly read, I went ahead and typed the vegetable names onto the scan. (I want you to know, yes, I did have fun playing with the colored pencils.) I should explain the odd shaped plantings in the right (what will be the east bed). I purchased my seeds, but had no idea how much the packets would plant, so one night I opened them and counted (just the corn, beans & peas, not the small seeds). I wanted to plant all of my beans, so I made the number of squares match the number of seeds I had., then it became a matter of putting the puzzle pieces together. I will try to avoid the jigsaw look this year, as I would like the plan to flow a little better. I put this drawing and and a thin piece of cardboard in a plastic report folder (with the binder piece on what should be the open side) so that it stays clean when it comes to the garden with me.

This photo is of the overcrowded west bed.

The major problem with this bed is the 4' x 4' area that contains the cucumbers, zucchini and the one (bush) tomato plant. This end became such a jungle, it was difficult to work with. I ended up cutting out some of the bush zucchini leaves in an attempt to give those poor onions I planted in there some sunlight. The zucchini was even creeping in on the cucumber. Most of my onions did not make it. I had a little bit of garlic and no scallions. I planted sugar baby watermelon under the corn thinking that the watermelon could use some shading. Next year the watermelon will be where it gets more sun. I don't think it stayed warm and sunny enough under the corn to make the melons happy.

I did a bit better with the east bed. The biggest problem with the east bed is most of the plants were shorter, but then I had the peas (and pea sticks) in the middle. That meant in order to cover the bed when I needed to, I had to have the cover high enough to go over the peas. Height is going to be more of a consideration for the 2009 plan.

I am expanding the garden for next year, but of course, I'm expanding the plant list as well. I know that there will be errors again next year, but I hope I can do a little better job planning. I'm afraid only time will tell...