The downside to feeding the worms

Today, I was out planting the second round of beans and I saw something that gave me a bit of a scare (not as much as something else I heard today, but I'll get to that in a minute). Right behind the peppers' covered area and actually under a piece of chicken wire that was laying on top of the straw, I saw a clump of what I am quite sure is bunny fur. Then, I looked across the bed and saw this raised area. It's a little hard to see in the photo because of the straw, but there was a hump 6-8" or so high where the yellow beans are supposed to go. I had a moment of panic, thinking there was a bunny nest in my garden bed and I have seen spots in the mulch out back that looked like bunnies were starting to nest. I resisted the urge to immediately dig into the mound (though I'll admit, I did peek) and went inside to get my camera.

Thankfully, I don't have a bunny nest.

Remember my happy worm pictures?? http://transplantedgardener.blogspot.com/2009/03/worms.html

What I do have is lots and lots of squash or pumpkin sprouts (still, much easier to handle than cute little baby bunnies though I'm not quite sure what to think of the fur).

I guess we shouldn't be too concerned about planting Curcubit seeds too deep...

Don't get me wrong, it DID occur to me last fall that this could happen - I didn't put any squash in the bed I where I planned to plant similar plants come spring, but I didn't really think they would push up such a big area on their way up. I found another mound toward the north end of the bed, where I have corn starting to sprout. I reached into that one and tried to pull those loose without disturbing the corn too much then smushed it back into place. We'll see how effective that was before too long.

This photo shows the Sugar Snap Peas two weeks ago (Friday, 5-15)

and here they are today!

I can't believe the height change in two weeks. The hoop and the brown wire fence visible above are still in the same spot, just much harder to see. For a good reference, check out the hoop behind the peas (over the lettuce). No peas yet, but there are more blooms. The weather has been cooler this past week though today was the first of several (forecast) warm days, so the plants should be kicking back into gear again.

The beans are starting to sprout. These are the Rattlesnake Beans but some of the Landreth are popping up as well. I'm really really hoping I didn't make a mistake with the sticks I used here. These are prunings from the neighbor's Austrees, a vigorous tree of the willow family. They had been removed from the tree for several weeks and to (hopefully) be on the safe side, I peeled all the bark from the bottoms of the branches. I'm worried though because the branches are starting to bud out again. I don't know if it's stored energy in the wood or if somehow they are sprouting roots?? Is it possible for them to grow even though I peeled them??

The direct-sown zucchini I planted under plastic in Ring #2 sprouted early this week. I had 3 sprouts under there Tuesday (when I was telling the neighbor what was planted where) but when I looked yesterday, I only had two!! One was completely missing and another has a couple holes in it's little leaves. I forgot to check on them today, I hope the others are still there.

My Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce I sowed in the milk jug this spring http://transplantedgardener.blogspot.com/2009/04/photo-update.html was split up. Some went into the garden and some are living in yogurt cups on the front porch waiting for my friend to build her garden where they are supposed to be living. Maybe the ones in the garden have been busy growing massive roots or something, but I may have to steal one of Andrea's plants for a comparison. So far, hers are bigger than mine, and she doesn't even have them yet!

Lettuce in the garden...

Lettuce on the porch...

It didn't make it into the photo, but her spinach is bigger too. I may just squeeze one of these into the garden to see if I should leave mine on the covered porch longer next year. The porch plants don't get as much sunshine but they probably warm faster because of the containers and stay warmer because they're up next to the house.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you my scarier story! I could see from my house that one of the neighbors on the street behind us was having a garage sale today (the house in the distance in today's pea pic). I stopped by on my way out to run errands today, in part to see if there were any goodies I needed and partially as an excuse to meet them. I get a chuckle sometimes as I hear her yelling at her dogs when they take off - hers listen about as well as mine do! Anyway, we chatted about the dogs a little (she notices Veronica's impatient yelping at the door - it is a bit different for a big dog. I mentioned to the husband that Wilson was obsessively barking at something last night (every time he went out the door, he ran out barking- several times in a couple hours) when he tells me he heard something going up the street past his house one night that he really thought sounded like a MOUNTAIN LION. I'm not actually sure what he meant - what the sound was - but he said it was distinctive.

So I went about my merry way and later on, I spotted the neighbor behind us out in her backyard (the other house you can see in the pea pic). I wandered out to say hello as I haven't seen her for a while and told her what the guy across the street told me. She told me that about a month ago when her brother was in town, they were headed in to register their ATVs (they recently moved here) one morning about 8:00 and as they passed the open field at the edge of the neighborhood (about 1/3 mile from my house by road, shorter as the crow flies) they both saw a large animal, reddish/brown color with a long tail, out in the field. They thought it looked like a cat but didn't think they lived out here. When they were at the office (wherever you have to register ATVs- I don't actually know here) they were looking at the mounts there and became quite convinced that they had in fact seen a mountain lion.

Having TWO people tell me this kind of information in the same day is incredibly disturbing to me. I thought the most dangerous wildlife we have here is the fox. Mountain lions are one of the scariest animals around. I think I'd rather have bears.

Now We're Growing!

After a few days of beautiful weather this past week, we've had some noticeable growth around the yard and garden. This is one of the lilacs (all the photos were taken yesterday-Thursday). This one is out front, and hasn't been moved (yet) like the others. The ones in back are doing well and are just a smidge behind this one with their blooms. I did have to water the transplants with the hot weather (mid-80's) we had. When I felt under the mulch, it felt wet, so I wasn't sure at first if they were wilted because of a lack of water or too much. I watered just a little and they perked back up, so they must have been dry in their reduced root area.


Look at the peas!! I can't believe how they've grown in just a week! This photo was taken 5-21. The photo in my last post was taken 5-15. They are starting to bloom so I should be eating Sugar Snaps soon!

I was able to harvest a little from the salad greens this week. The baby lettuces I set out are being a little slow but I expect they'll take off soon.

These are the potatoes in my bin. I added a little straw around them today. I think I'll be adding the first board later next week.

These are the tomatoes in ring#4. When I planted the tomatoes, I messed up my planting plan a little. There were supposed to be two Galinas Gold Cherries. One of the cherries didn't make it so I just had the one toward the back/left to plant here. When I planted the rest, I separated the plants by type - cherry, slicer or paste. After I planted all the slicers (using all the available space for them) I realized I had mis-categorized one plant. I had confused the Imur Prior Beta as a paste instead of a slicer. I had started Roma and Paquebot Roma for paste, so I knew there were 2 kinds but I forgot the Paquebot start didn't make it. I plunked the Imur Prior Beta in with the Galinas Gold Cherry. So much for being organized...

The plastic is to help create a little bit of a microclimate for the plants. The day I planted them was really windy and our nights are still pretty cool (40's mostly) so I figured a little extra protection might do them well. All of my more tender plants have some sort of protection, it varies from bed to bed right now. I uncover some plants more often than others but none require daily attention . So far, so good. The Galinas was starting to flower but I pinched the blossoms. I'll leave the next ones, I just felt like they should be in the ground just a little longer before trying to set fruit.

These are the slicers, well, they're at least not cherries or pastes... I couldn't say for sure that slicer is the correct term for all of them, but it works for me. The 2 on the left are Kellogg's Breakfast, a yellow variety. The center 2 (one must be hiding behind the jug) are Thessaloniki (Red) and the right front is Rutgers (red) and back right is Neves Azorian (red).

The poor little Black Cherry was really looking bad last week. I didn't think it was going to make it but it is looking much better this week. It might survive after all!

This is the same potato I posted the picture of last week. I added some straw around this guy today too. This is one of the "overflow" patches. If you look closely toward the center, you can see the stick that is the grape- the intended resident for this space. It is also showing signs of life. You can see one of the posts I put in this week for the trellis. I set posts for the grape and the blackberries. I used wood from a split rail fence my neighbor removed. I used the posts for the grape and the rails for the blackberry. I still have to install the raspberry poles but I 'm using T-posts, so while I'll have to install more of them, the installation will be less involved. It was a little tricky for me to cut off the excess height on the tall ones (alone). I got it done though.

The zucchini I transplanted isn't looking so great. I removed two very yellow leaves before I brought the camera outside. I think it is too wet. I spread the straw mulch away a bit more and I think it looks like it might recover . I have started some more seed just in case. While most things really needed the rain we got today (almost an inch), the zucchini probably wasn't one of them... The grass should be much happier though.

I'm also seeing signs of life in the raspberry patch. This is one of the Canby Raspberries. I have growth on 2/3 of the Canby and 2/3 of the Caroline. The Anne that looked so impressive when they came in, aren't doing anything yet. One of the Triple Crown Blackberries has sprouted as well and leaves are starting on the apples and peaches. The asparagus is finally starting to appear and the Honeoye Strawberries are still looking good. They are starting to bloom. I have read mixed advice about letting June-bearing strawberries produce the first year (some even said they won't). I plucked the blooms from half. I'm going to let the other half do what they want.

So, that's the update for this week. I started moving the phlox and tulips today but was interrupted by a rather nasty thunderstorm. I have a graduation to attend tomorrow north of Denver, so the rest will have to wait until Sunday.

I think Spring is FINALLY here!!

I'm still here! I haven't posted recently as I was sidetracked by life for a little while. We had a house guest for a few days and DH has headed overseas for a time. I've been busy helping him get ready to go and then getting the house ready for company.

MAYBE we're finally done with winter! No snow recently and we have BLOOMS! The tulips survived this year and have been blooming nicely. The phlox does well here too. It bloomed like this last year. I hope these plants survive their upcoming relocation as they are in the future home of a few Jostaberries. This is in front of the porch and while the phlox and tulips are pretty, I think I need something a little larger for this area.


I planted the orange tulips in the fall. These are holding up really well. They have been in bloom for a week now, been blown by the wind and still look great! I found these on clearance at Walmart of all places.

We did have a little garden attack about 10 days ago. I went out to the garden and found this hole.

It's about one square foot and about 5-6 inches deep. The culprit is unknown. What is surprising is that the hole was dug in a nearly empty square. There were a few very very small onions there but that's it. It looks like something was tunneling in, but the hole didn't go anywhere. I had planted several tiny lettuce and spinach starts at the other end of the bed that were untouched. My main suspects are rabbit, small dog, or fox?? I think rabbits have dug a few spots in the backyard this month in some mulch areas, but this didn't look the same. This had a much bigger area dug up than the spots in the back. We may never know what it was. Very minimal damage though.

I hadn't realized how much the peas have grown until I saw the pictures in my last post. I think we'll have blooms soon.

Last weekend, I went to the plant swap for the Rocky Mountain Gardening Forum on GardenWeb. It was nice to meet some of the gardeners I chat with online. They have really helped me a lot learning to plant in my new location. I also brought home some great plants. I was especially happy somebody brought some peppers as mine did not do well at all. The few that germinated, didn't really thrive. I think it was just not warm enough for them in the basement. I got a California Wonder (green) and a Banana Pepper.

I planted out the peppers along with the tomatoes, squash & cukes I had started. It still may be a little chilly for these heat lovers, so they are tucked down into the straw mulch next to a gallon of colored water and are all under cover. I'm hoping I created a suitable microclimate for the little guys. Some of the tomatoes suffered from our winds this week. The black cherry doesn't look too good and I lost a couple smaller ones. Most of them seem in good shape though. The toms are all buried pretty deep to help them have good, deep roots.

The strawberries don't need their cover anymore. They're doing well still.

My potatoes are FINALLY starting to poke up through the straw. I've been peeking under the straw once in a while just to see if any of them were even alive! We're supposed to reach 82 on Monday. I think the plants will enjoy it.

Finally, here is one of the Freecycle rhubarb I got. This is the biggest of the 3 that I planted this spring but at least they are all growing!

I also planted some of the green beans. The beds seem to be pretty warm now and I also used covers to help keep it that way. We have finally hit our average last frost time, so I think it's fairly safe to try now. Next week I'll plant the corn then I'll try to stagger the rest of the bean plantings.

That's it for today's update. Soon, I think there will be much much more to report!

Photo Update

Since I last posted, our weather has had quite the mood swings. We've been from Winter to Summer to Winter...must mean it's Spring!

We were out of town the weekend of the 18th. We barely missed one heck of a snowstorm. It was snowy that Friday for about 30 miles and the rest of our trip was just rain. While we were gone, we got enough wet snow to leave almost an inch of water in the rain gauge. By the time we got home Sunday, the roads had thawed and the snow was disappearing fast. Just a few miles north, they were snowed in for the weekend, but I think we got less than a foot. Then we had a few beautiful, sunny, warm days in the mid to upper 70's. Soon, winter returned. Sunday night, we got another 3-4" of snow (and another 7/8" of moisture - very very wet snow). Today was cold (40's) and wet until afternoon. By dinner, it was 60!

The tulips are so close to blooming. Last year when they got this close, they froze. I've tossed a bit of straw over them when it's been nasty this year. I'd really like to see them bloom!



I started some more seeds winter sowing style. These are my lettuce sprouts. I have lettuce, mesclun, broccoli and spinach all sprouted in the jugs. I will do these this way next year for sure.



This is one of the rhubarb roots I got through Freecycle trying to pop up. I have another one that I ordered (a couple days before the Freecycle offer) that is finally showing some signs of life. I wasn't sure, it didn't look great when I got it.

Some of my berries arrived. Here are the Caroline & Anne. The Caroline looked so-so but alive for sure. The Anne looked really good. Large canes with lots of healthy roots. I was impressed.

You can only see the indent, but the patch is now it's intended U-shape. I used some cedar pickets I scavenged from the neighbor's scrap wood pile and pretty much built a floor, 2 boards thick, to act as a center barrier to help keep it orderly later. It shouldn't be terribly hard to keep track of varieties when they creep. Caroline -red, fall bearing- are on the left. Anne - yellow, fall-bearing- are by the fence and Canby - red, thornless, summer bearing are on the right.

The Honeoye strawberries came right before our trip. They are doing quite well. There were 26 in the bundle and they all are still there. I put the plastic hoop over the bed to help warm it a bit more. The ends don't close on this one, so I can just leave it for a while. These have been in the ground probably 12 days at the photo time.

The rest of my fruit is en route. I need to use the one nice-weather day (Wed) to do some prep work before they all come. The blackberries, Canby raspberry, grape, saskatoons, 2 apple and 2 peach trees are all on the way. Here's hoping they arrive in good shape! I will admit, I succumbed to the $25 coupon on the catalog with the iffy ratings (the yellow, G one...). So far, I think I'm doing ok. The asparagus roots seemed a little more dry than I would have liked (and I'm still waiting for them to come up) but otherwise, the plants have been alright.

If you noticed, I slipped a couple more items into my fruit selection. I was planning to use a $100 gift card to get 2 apple trees locally. When we went to look, I couldn't get the kind I want in a price that I could justify. They were about $99 each. I just couldn't do it. I'll use my card for another tree and some shrubs. I ordered 2 semi-dwarf apples (Honeycrisp & Golden Delicious) and 2 standard peach (Red Haven & Intrepid). I bought all 4 of them for less than the cost of one local apple.

The Sugar Snap Peas are still growing and the row I added is making some progress. I take off the plastic whenever the weather is over about 50 so they get sun and fresh air.

I have 3 little Daikon radishes started. The other 3 didn't make it. I don't really water enough under the plastic. I need to start some more. I'm not sure how well they'll do since they are considered a winter radish (planted for fall) but I wanted to try.

The little lettuce has been out there for quite a while. It's finally starting to grow, just a little.

Finally, a little trip to the backyard. The lilacs seem to be doing well. The bigger white one gets a bit of a lean after a strong wind, so I know they need some serious root growth. They are getting ready to bloom soon though. I'm hoping that's a sign that they are doing ok and not a last-chance-to-reproduce-before-I-die reaction. With the thick mulch and having gotten lots of moisture, I think they should make it. Lilacs are tough plants.


Hopefully winter will finally end soon. Our last frost date is May 15. I had really hoped to get more veggies planted out early. The weather guy mentioned the other day that we're really not safe from snow until about Mother's Day. Let's hope it's sooner.

Slow Progress

I haven't posted for a while because I was hoping to have a bit more to show for the week. I think we've had more snow since the official beginning of Spring than we had all winter. We very much need the moisture here, so I won't complain too much. We seem to have a couple of fairly nice days and then a little return to winter. It's coming again this weekend.

The asparagus and rhubarb arrived last week. After a couple days in the garage (because of snow) I got them planted. I worked on the raspberry patch last week to change it from a giant lasagna bed to the U-shaped patch it was intended to be. I used some of the "lasagna" to top off a couple of the newer beds that have settled down a few inches, to create rings #3 & 4, and soon will take some more to prep for the blackberries. I need to make some progress with the blackberry spot because they should be arriving in the next week or so. The strawberries should be arriving any time now. I hope they come tomorrow so I can get them planted before the weekend.

I did have a surprise this morning though. Last week, while I was out planting potatoes -and let me tell you, I had A LOT of potatoes - I even had to dig a couple small beds because I ran out of planned space and still had some more to plant! Anyway, I was out planting potatoes, and I saw the power company cutting some shrubs at a house down the street. I wandered over (after much debate with myself whether or not to do it) and asked if they had any wood chips to dump. They didn't have much in the truck then, but took my name and address. This morning, I had a load of pine mulch delivered (Free! Yay!) . Of course, it's A LOT of pine mulch... it looks a little funny because the pine needles are still green, but I don't think it matters, they'll brown and blend in before too long. I wish I had known when he was coming, I could have had a better spot for him to dump it, but I'm not going to complain. I don't have to hook up the trailer and go get it, so it works for me. I wonder if the pile will heat up since it has the chipped wood and green needles (and is about 4' tall and 6-8' around).

I've collected a couple buckets of snow from these storms. I'm making a bucket of compost tea (though I'm not sure it's doing anything, maybe I'm just making dirty water??). I also want to try making lacto bacillus (sp?) or something... I need to do some more reading so see just what I am going to make. I collected the snow now, because it might be a long time before I can collect a bucket of rainwater. I also collected a little bit of fresh, clean snow for something else I haven't had in years, Sugar on Snow. For those who don't come from the land of maple syrup, the syrup is boiled down a little more and drizzled onto the bowl of snow. It is supposed to be sort of chewy and candy-like. I must have boiled a little too long. I made some really hard-to-eat maple candy that seemed to completely encase a couple of my molars for several minutes before I could finally pry it off (pretty huh?). What was left in the pan turned to a much easier-to-eat bit of maple sugar. I have one more bowl of snow in the freezer, so I may attempt it again one of these days.

I've had a few more seeds sprout (indoors), moved the wintersown containers to the front porch (where they should be warmer), took some cuttings of the creeping phlox we have out front to see if they will root, moved another small tree (I needed to fill about a foot of dirt around the corner of the patio, so the tree had to move), and moved the 2 clematis from the front to the back.

The poor clematis, I'm surprised they were doing so well. I moved them because I'm going to plant Jostaberry bushes in front of the front porch (where the clematis were). When I dug them up, I discovered they were planted in bottomless coffee cans. One of the cans was mostly rusted away, the other I had to cut off. They were very rootbound. I'm amazed they got enough water to survive (and bloom quite nicely) last year, as I rarely watered directly where they were. I assumed they had roots out around the plants. I can understand if they were mint or something, but I have never heard of planting clematis that way (of course, I've never had clematis before). I think if they can survive that, they just might make it growing up the posts to the back deck.

***update*** Steve over at Valley Gardens (see my blog list) tells me that rootbound clematis are supposed to bloom better which is probably why they were in the coffee cans. Thanks for the info!!

I've been working on quite a few things, I just haven't gotten so many things finished. I don't even have any new pictures (can you believe it? I'll take more soon though). I actually feel a little more productive now that I have written down what I have worked on. It didn't feel like I had done much, even though I have been busy. If the weather is decent tomorrow, I need to take the poor puppies out for a walk. We've played ball a bit, here and there, but they need some good exercise and attention.

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...

Colorado Blizzard

As you may have heard, Colorado had some nasty weather the last couple days. We were under winter storm and blizzard warnings until noon today. We were expecting anywhere from 8 to 13 inches of snow in our area. I don't really know how much snow we ended up with because of the winds and the drifting. They closed highways, schools and Air Force bases last night and today and we heard stories of pretty rough driving and a few bad accidents. I didn't have to be anywhere, so I just stayed off the roads and hubby worked an overnight shift at the fire department last night, so we weren't travelling.

This was my driveway this morning. I forgot to take a picture before I started to clear it, so this is the best pic I have. It doesn't look like much in the photo, but the snowdrift was about 3' deep and ran across the drive (even though I did get it mostly cleared last night). The rest was pretty clear. The chunky snow on the left is what I had moved already. One neighbor came to help me shovel and another came with his 4-wheeler & plow. He had taken out the highest portion of the drift and was clearing the mailbox area when a cable broke on his plow. We got enough done that hubby could get the car in when he came home. Once he got home from work, he fired up the riding mower & plow and finished the drive.

While we were working, one car couldn't make it up the hill (we tried pushing it but couldn't get any traction) and a UPS driver decided not to try it as he had already been stuck once today. Turns out, if I sit on the front end of the mower with my feet on the plow while he drives, it can do a really good job clearing the street, so we actually plowed the road too. With the county budget problems, we had no idea if/when they would make it out here to plow, and people would be coming home from work soon. We were happy that when the plow did come by around 6:30 or 7:00 he didn't just re-spread the less-than-professional-plower piles we left between houses causing us to have to clear the end of the drive again...he zigged around them instead.

I was watching the temps in the garden throughout the day yesterday. Before the storm rolled in (around 11), it was sunny, about 32 outside and about 50 in the garden. The clouds came and within an hour or so I think, the temp outside dropped to about 20. About midnight, it was 7 degrees outside and it had finally fallen to 30 in the garden. I plugged in the just-in-case Christmas lights I had strung in the bed, and the temp went up to 35. We had a bit of a snow drift up the side of the bed last night, but by morning, it was HUGE!

This is about the same viewpoint I took a photo from the other day (just from a little further back). The metal trash can you can see is at the end of the garden bed that has the plastic cover (and the veggies started). That drift is about 5' tall. (Notice the bare ground in the back yards)

Just to the left of center, you can see the top of the plastic covering the bed. The end over the garlic didn't hold up well and appears caved in, but I really didn't go poking around there too much today. We are expecting cold temps tonight and I figured the insulation was good. Right now (at 11:20 pm) it's 18 deg outside and 31 under all that snow. I didn't plug the lights back in, mostly because I have no idea what they're touching now.

Finally, this is my neighbor's trampoline, and not the neighbor who's yard it's in. It travelled quite a ways and over 2 fences to get there. It has held up surprisingly well to some strong winds this year, but I guess this one was just too much for it. We saw them move it back to the owner's yard. It didn't look good.

All in all, it was some nasty weather but warmer temperatures are coming back tomorrow. It brought some much needed moisture to our area, and for that, we are happy.

March Updates

It seems I have garden projects scattered all over the place right now! I have a few seedlings under lights in the basement. I'm pre-sprouting the seeds in the egg cartons on the cable box then moving them to the lights as they come up. Here are a few of the baby tomatoes I have down there. I have tomatoes, a couple peppers, herbs and a few ornamentals for companion planting. I found a pretty helpful website on companion planting not too long ago. Some of them I knew but many were new to me. Check it out at http://www.homeandgardensite.com/companion_planting.htm . I actually have seeds for a number of plants on the list so I'm going to work them in around the garden this summer.

Here's a look in the garden today. The peas I pre-sprouted and moved out are doing pretty well. They're about 3-6" tall now. Of the sprouted seeds I moved out, most of the seeds I started on the paper towels didn't make it. I might try this method one more time but only if the upper layers of the bed are more like soil than mulch. I think they just dried out. The seeds I started in the organic starting mix are doing better. When I started putting these out, I planted them into a layer of more finished compost I added to the mulch layer so they'd have a little more to grow in.

Here's a rather messy view of the garden area today. The bed in the foreground with the plastic is where I'm starting the cool season plants. It's covered because it is still very early in the season here. Out last frost date isn't until about May 15. More than anything, I'm playing with these seeds and learning a few lessons along the way. Eventually I'll find the right combination of methods or the proper planting time will come along. Either way, eventually, something will grow...

Along the fence are the 3 new beds. These are filled with the horse manure compost from the straw bale bin, the contents of the temporary beds, the last of the pile of aspen leaves that wouldn't shred last fall, coffee grounds, a bit of compost and a handful of worms. I topped these off with pads of straw (that I soaked in water first). I'm thinking the straw pads will help keep the beds from drying. I'm really wanting these to break down and settle so I can top them off before planting. The straw does seem to be working. I also have them covered with some old landscape fabric to also keep them from drying out and to keep the straw from blowing away. I saw on the news last week that so far this YEAR we have had about 1/4 inch of moisture. Yep, it's dry! I also added a little more to 3 other beds (I stole some material from the raspberry area - where the path will be) and topped them off with straw as well.

In between the beds (adding nicely to the look of the garden I must say...) are the bags of shredded leaves I'm saving to use as mulch. Next year I need a nicer looking storage (or hiding) spot for those. I had them tucked away a little nicer until I moved the lilacs out and the new beds in.

In the left corner are the stacks of large (I think 35 gal maybe?) nursery pots I'm going to use for potatoes. In front of the bins is the kiddie pool that I used to park the strawberry plants I was given in October. Their bed wasn't built yet, so I thought they'd be ok in the pool. I stabbed some drainage holes in the pool and filled it with some of the (fairly fresh at the time) horse manure and hay mixture I had cooking in the raspberry bed. The plants looked ok in the fall. I let them grow until freezing weather came and I mulched them with straw and circled the pool (which was in the corner by the fence) with the bags of leaves as insulation. I didn't want it to thaw too early. I pulled out the pool this last week and uncovered the little guys. I should have done it sooner. The survival rate does not look good. Most of the crowns were rotting and very few show signs of life. I think they have recently rotted because the roots are black but still attached. If they had rotted in the fall, I doubt I'd see the roots. I pulled out all that I could find and moved them to small trays filled with the starting soil and put them on the front porch until I can see how many survived. I didn't dump the pool in case I missed some that might be alive. It's really quite a bummer. Now I think I'll need to order some. This is a little bit of the life left in that whole pool full of strawberries. (sigh...)

But spring is coming, the hyacinths are appearing... Daffodils and tulips are coming up as well.

And I had a moment of excitement this weekend. I was giving my wintersowing containers a drink and I noticed I have a few sprouts!! Not many yet, but I was happy to see that it just might work! I found a couple sprouts of Rocky Mountain Penstemon, Dianthus knappii, and Liatris. Here are the Liatris sprouts...

I actually sowed 22 more containers this weekend. I'm trying lettuce & spinach that way too.

These are the lilac bushes we moved (remember those fun-to-dig holes a while back?). I have one more to move but the straw bale poo pile is still in the way. I had it all planned out, but when we moved the bigger bush a piece split off so we planted it where the other one (from the front yard) is supposed to go. I really wouldn't mind the lilac in the front yard but it's planted in a spot where I don't think it will work well when it grows big. It's at the corner of the front walk. When it grows, it will encroach on the walk and block the view of the front door. I think they're going to survive the transplanting. We were concerned about the larger one but it has the biggest buds of them all. We dug up a saucer-shaped area around the plants to break up and aerate the soil for the roots. We put a layer of the composted manure around the plants, then mulched that with a layer of hay topped with some wood mulch. They actually stayed moist for two weeks this way. They may have gone longer but we watered them for good measure. I want them to have enough moisture to re-grow the roots they lost in the move.

And finally, some things don't really change... This seems to be how a game of fetch always ends... if only Wilson would play fetch... he prefers to play keep-away with the occasional game of "chicken" mixed in. I actually got smacked in the kneecap with his hard head the other day. Ouch. :-)