Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wow, Cam, you have been one busy bee this season. Holy smokes! I am envious!! Admittedly, I have cleaned up the majority of my yards in preparation for spring including "refreshing" my 12 Earthboxes, cleaning out the strawberry patch and flower beds, raking leaves, mowing, etc. We had a good stretch of gorgeous weather in the 70s for a few days last week into the weekend, but now we're sitting under 10" of snow and record lows around 10F this morning. Today is sunny and supposed to reach around 40F, tomorrow mid-50s, then another possible 6-12" of snow tomorrow night through Friday with lows back in the teens. We finally get out of it on Sunday and next week looks mostly in the 60s, nights above freezing and lots of sunshine. To have cold and snow in April is normal around here, but an entire week of much-below-freezing temps and what may turn out to be 20" or more of snow is rather unusual.
I did plant radish, turnip, rutabaga, Swiss chard, lettuce and carrot seeds over the past few weeks. Anything that germinated I brought into the garage. Anything that hadn't I left outside. As you know, several inches of snow is a wonderful insulator, so I think most of that which was left outside will be fine since we got several inches of snow before temps ever fell below about 27F. I feel I'm about 3 weeks behind last season at this point, though last May was one of our coldest and snowiest on record, so hopefully this year won't repeat and I'll catch back up.
I started 17 varieties of tomatoes on 04/12/20 - nothing germinating yet, but I did a viability test a few weeks ago and had almost 100% germination on seeds that are mostly more than 6 years old. I have 9 varieties of peppers (44 plants in total), some of which I topped on 04/12/20 and some I moved into 3" seedling pots.
See below for seedlings and before/after of the recent snow. I'll start my own thread once we get into some warmer weather..
Wow at the 8" snowfall! I like how there was no snow on the rocks and pathway. I wonder if that's because it was blocked from falling there or the rocks retained heat and melted it faster.
I love those seed pots. Nice sizes! I cant figure out whats in the back there on this one...
Been cloudy ever since I took this pic at 7:30am. I hate clouds! This area is so miserable in Spring past 7yrs. Cold, Snow, Clouds, Rain. We have 1 month of warm, dry & sunny weather then Summer misery comes with the humidity and heat.
Anyway --- 1st yr doing Broccoli Rabe. I didn't think they would germinate outside in that container. I transplanted some into the raised bed. I think too far apart.
I will add that in the event that one of us is doing something (pre-virus) and the other doesn't want to cook, I always have a frozen pizza in the freezer. Now, it is a staple because we are so tired of being in the house we will go for a ride or start a project and if it is too late to cook, we will toss a pizza in. My usual brand was gone so I had grabbed another and all I could think of last night while eating it was that your pizza looked sooooooo good, how is it possible that this tasted like cardboard even after doctoring it up with basil, oregano and hot pepper.
2.57" of rain in the past 6 days. For anyone that needs sun its miserable around here in Spring. For anyone that thinks of landscape and gardens, its a blessing because the rains are good.
We had a frost here this morning. Dropped to 31°F 2 days ago and 33°F this morning. But it warmed up fast into the 50s.
Updates:::
1st.... Soil temps...
Another 1 degree colder and we're back to March levels.
Last yr on this day we were a full 10 degrees warmer and steadily in the 50s.
Yesterdays rain bumped it up 5 degrees. I noticed rain warms up the soil.
I decided to chop the top off some peppers...
5 days later I see new growth. So cool. I'll try to keep updating this to see how it does if I remember.
Tomatoes and a Fire to stay warm inside. Mid April and everyone has the heat on. I use a wood stove for heat. Tomatoes doing good.
Arugula first to sprout, rest of greens in the raised beds are coming alive.
In 2 weeks they are done with the Fluorescents. I will start hardening them off so will take them off the shelves and move the boxes in and out but not back under these lights anymore..
Blooms in this area are the earliest since before 2014.
2012 still remains a crazy anomaly.
I would say this year is at least 2 weeks ahead of 2018. 1 week ahead of last year
Cambium, I love, love, love your threads. You are amazing.
Just wanted to say that. And I loved the pizza picture, LOL!
Thanks, I appreciate that. I'm not a kitchen person so I really don't post much in the food department. I should maybe when our garden veggies are used.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nuts2uiam
I will add that in the event that one of us is doing something (pre-virus) and the other doesn't want to cook, I always have a frozen pizza in the freezer. Now, it is a staple because we are so tired of being in the house we will go for a ride or start a project and if it is too late to cook, we will toss a pizza in. My usual brand was gone so I had grabbed another and all I could think of last night while eating it was that your pizza looked sooooooo good, how is it possible that this tasted like cardboard even after doctoring it up with basil, oregano and hot pepper.
lol. Thanks. Can't go wrong with pizza but I guess sometimes it can. I should thank the virus for letting me learn something new. lol I never did it before with dough. I figured just go out and buy 2 slices for $7. Or frozen.
As always, appreciate the experience-based & experimental & 'work in progress' info/data presented in your threads!
Personally, since I've been 'working full time @ home', I've had the opportunity to work on some projects because ... well ... I'm home more.
Fr'instance, I've started some plantings from seed indoors, which haven't done since I was a kid! Liking it a lot & specifically appreciate your data re: soil temperatures.
I'm on Long Island, NY & there was ice in free standing water this morning here. Too cold for my indoor seedlings/plant becomings!
Also, the 2 mourning dove children returned to the nest on top of the ladder leaning against the house on my patio. They had left the nest but returned, thinking it was because of the cold temps.
Hey, Cam where did you get that soil? I looked on the Miracle Grow website after lookin gin HD and Loews online and neither of them have hit here. THE MD website did not show that one either. Thanks.
MG Organic Choice Potting soil with compost is what I looked for.
1 more I just took while being outside in the sun finally.
Fava Beans popping up.. And no matter how many years and how many times the soil is amended, the clay always wins. lol
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiGeekGuest
As always, appreciate the experience-based & experimental & 'work in progress' info/data presented in your threads!
Personally, since I've been 'working full time @ home', I've had the opportunity to work on some projects because ... well ... I'm home more.
Fr'instance, I've started some plantings from seed indoors, which haven't done since I was a kid! Liking it a lot & specifically appreciate your data re: soil temperatures.
I'm on Long Island, NY & there was ice in free standing water this morning here. Too cold for my indoor seedlings/plant becomings!
Also, the 2 mourning dove children returned to the nest on top of the ladder leaning against the house on my patio. They had left the nest but returned, thinking it was because of the cold temps.
Thanks! yeah, the stay at home thing is bringing out some good in us. Glad to hear you are doing it again. yeah, soil temps are not idea for the usual crops. Even the cool season crops are slow to grow out there. Heads up, another cold blast coming in 3 days
Quote:
Originally Posted by nuts2uiam
Hey, Cam where did you get that soil? I looked on the Miracle Grow website after lookin gin HD and Loews online and neither of them have hit here. THE MD website did not show that one either. Thanks.
MG Organic Choice Potting soil with compost is what I looked for.
Costco. It was like $7. Huge bag. I cant find any other place with that good of a deal. I went to get another bag today. I don't think you can order online either. I tried.
My Tomatoes are getting too tall. Even though I can "trench" them outside, that's in 3 weeks from now and they are out growing the shelf they are on. So......... I chopped the top off a couple of them. I want to see if:
1. It will thicken the stem
2. If it grows new shoots
So while I am picking which ones, I notice something..........
See anything?
How about now? Don't be mad.......... I chopped off those blossoms in hopes the plant will get thicker and be healthier. Too soon for flowers anyway. I wonder if the MG fert is the reason.
In this picture you can also clearly see the "hairs" of a tomato plant. ALL of them will turn into roots if they are in soil. This is why you can bury tomato plants as deep as you want.
Im always nervous doing it. Lets see what happens. Scared to go lower. Don't wanna chop more than 1/4 of it.
BTW...... I usually see squirrels in my oak tree eating acorns...not in spring eating the buds and twigs.
Thanks for the pruning
Early bird gets the worm. Cloudy morning. What else is new. Miserable but at least the birds are out.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
