Collapsible Cloches

As I was researching how to grow my seedlings better, I stumbled upon this contraption in a video on Mother Earth News' website! What a great idea! A cloche that is collapsible, lightweight and easy to set up and store! Unfortunately they aren't cheap. The smaller one of the two pictured above is $11.50 for three and the larger is $18.50 for three, but I guess that's still not too terrible considering they are reusable! I think I may invest in a few of these and see how they do! :)

No Sprouts

Do my parsley, chives, coleus and one pot of Edamame Beer Friend did not sprout after all this time! I've put more chive seeds in. If that doesn't grow then I'm tossing the packet. The rest I have replaced with lemon cucumber, German chamomile, lemon balm, summer savory &

Signs of a Harsh Winter

It's been a harsh winter. My garlic is now a good 5" tall now, but some of them appears to not have made it. I thought I planted more than this, but I guess not! 

Native plant: Anemone is in bloom!

More evidence that this winter was really harsh....even with inches of mulch over this hellebore, it is not quite as big as it was last year, however, it is blooming!

The Daffodils and Forsythia are also blooming today! Tuesday it is supposed to get really cold again :\ The pear tree has broken dormancy and sprouted some leaves already! We're ready for spring, but winter isn't giving up the ghost yet!!!

My hot peppers that I have overwintered aren't doing so hot :(

Sugar Ann Snap Peas

As fanatical as I am about planting garlic each year, I am also fanatical about planting these snap peas! They are SOOO good! Because the seeds were several years old, I wasn't sure they would all sprout and because I wanted A LOT of peas this year, I just threw handfuls down into holes this year at the base of my tomato cage! Look who has made their entrance today! YIPEE!!! Hopefully the wonky weather we have been having won't make them bolt early. They are worth the extra effort to plant early! 

New Sprouts Today

Watermelon

Acorn squash

Zucchini

Edamame

Pumpkin

Kabocha

Butternut squash

Seed Sprouting

First seed from second tray has sprouted! Sunflower - American Giant!

Master Gardener Fruit Tree Pruning with Eric Oesterling

Eric demonstrating how to prune grape vines. 

Eric pruning a blueberry bush.

An unpruned blueberry bush.

Eric demonstrating how the branches of an apple tree should be trained.


Pruned apple trees on Eric's property.

Eric demonstrating on how to prune an apple tree. The left side of the tree is pruned and the right is unpruned.

Eric talking about peach trees.

Pear tree

Apple tree with rootstock suckers.

NOTES: 

Grapes fruit on 1 year old wood. Keep moderate sized branches and cut big ones. Shredded bark branches are 2+ yo. Leave 5 nodes on smaller branches. 6-12 nodes on main branches. Keep pencil thin branches.

Apple fruits on 2-3 year old branches. Wider at bottom than top. More horizontal branches = more fruit. Cut all vertical growth or downwards growth and root suckers. 

Blueberries: prune off old less productive branches at base. Likes consistent moisture, does not tolerate fluctuations. New plantings, cut weak shoots & strip flowers for first 5 years

Peaches fruit on year old branches. -12 degrees kills fruit buds. 

Pears fruit on 2-3 yo wood. Grows like apple, but with more branches. 

Swiss Chard

So today was the big planting day for Swiss Chard. I didn't realize how big the seeds were! Had I known how few seeds there were in the packet I would've taken an extra! The kale and collard green seeds sprouted quickly, but they have now also become really leggy and I am not sure how to go about that. They are still too thin for me to touch and they are now all tangled :\ My peppers, tomatoes, and such are doing well. The tomatoes are starting to get real leaves and I got impatient so I pulled out the fish fertilizer tonight and gave them some! I am sure hubby will be complaining about how the house smells like rotten fish now ;) I'm supposed to start tomatoes in seven days...guess I will start the others then! I don't see how any of these will be big enough to play by May sticking to this schedule? Oh well....they're not for me anyway!

Seed sprouting

Last night, Carolina Reaper #3 popped up!

My first time ever starting kale and collard greens! These were sown for a Phipps initiative to get more fresh veggies into lower income areas where they don't have access to it. Phipps is providing everything! Raised beds, plants, tools, etc! Anyhow, these are incredibly easy to start of you have never tried them from seed. These started for me in two days on a heat mat! Can't wait to start the other seeds!

Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion Sprouts!

The first Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion has sprouted! Unfortunately my excitement was quickly tempered when I saw that the last of my Black Krim tomato seedlings got smashed by the lid :/ I still have plenty, but it still sucks!

Seed Starting Update

All of the Black Krim and Patio Tomato seedlings have sprouted! One of the Asplecias has as well as the sweet peppers for a few days now. I see my first Jalapeño sprout today. Still no signs of the basil or the hot peppers!

And....We Have SPROUTS!

Seeds Started!

Left to right (back row): Jalapeños, Bright Wings Asclepias, 'Carmen' sweet bell pepper, 'Flavor Burst' sweet bell pepper, Genovese basil, Peach Bhut Jolokia, Black Krim tomato

Left to right (front row): Patio tomato, Jay's Preach Ghost Scorpion

Sources for Seeds from Martha Stewart Living Jan/Feb 2014

theodorepayne.org
nativeseeds.org
rareseeds.com
seedlibrary.org
johnnyseeds.com
wildboarfarms.com
kitazawaseed.com
growitalian.com
monticelloshop.org
reneesgarde.com
selectseeds.com
fragrantpathseeds.com

My Dream Garden

I finally found the look of how I would like my garden to look like in an issue of Gardening How-To magazine in the January/February 2014 issue. On page 31, the garden of Scott Endres is exactly how I would like my garden to look like, LUSH! Although I like his theme, I'd like mine to contain lots of fragrant stuff! Unfortunately, I don't think my hubby and I see eye to eye on how our landscape should look like. He likes the orderly chemical filled landscape that has been chopped into round or square shapes, whereas I like the more organic, natural blended look. Dilemma? I'd say so!

This same issues also brought other inspiration in new cultivars! The Golden Duchess Eastern hemlock from Monrovia is a pretty, small, and weeping lime colored evergreen! I think it would make for good structure in a garden. Also, Lotus Moon pearlbush, from Bailey Nurseries, looks like a good alternative to the typical forsythia, azalea, etc.! I hate planting things everyone else has so this plant fits the bill!

Falling Into Winter

Last Sunday I was finally able to see the forsythia mess up by the street. It turns out there are really only three bushes, but the one closest to the house has been left unchecked to grow wild. There were branches all the way to the sidewalk! Even though you are not supposed to prune more than 1/3 off, I figured this thing has grown enough over the years to have enough energy stored so I hacked away! I even got the chainsaw out! Inside that mess was a wild grape vine that was as big as my wrist! Anyhow, it has not been cleaned up well, but it is tamed at least! 

All the plants I couldn't figure out where to put since I didn't really have time to figure out the garden were dug in for the winter until hubby decided he HAD to do certain projects outside and had to move them. If I can't find any of my plants next spring, we'll know why! Now some of them are uncovered and winter is arriving this weekend! I need to get a new bag of mulch. This was the last thing I wanted to do when winter hit! *sigh* 

As for winter, my first seed catalog came in the mail today! Time to dream! What shall I plant next year????

Penn Hills Lawn & Garden Center

We stumbled onto a new place today! Penn Hills Lawn & Garden Center! We were looking for firewood after our regular place told us they were closing up shop the next week and had this measly pile for $90! We said no thanks and ended up at this wonderful store in Penn Hills instead! They're open year round, have lots of indoor gardener's stuff, and some great plants! I couldn't help but buy two sedums from them since they were half price!

I also got an orchid for half off. They even gave me the other one for free, however, it turned out to be covered in scale and was pretty far gone and not worth saving once I got it home. However, I got a nice big free pot out of it! :) I repotted the orchid and it seems to be pretty happy or maybe it thinks it is going to die and is sending out new shoots at the moment. Otherwise, it was going to die in the cold nights outdoors at the nursery!

Garlic is IN!

So the garlic is IN! Hopefully my hubby won't dig them up or squash them accidentally!

Music is planted right next to the grape vine!

Bogatyr is planted to the right of that rock line! 

Falling Into Autumn

I think I have to find a way to incorporate some of these into the garden! 

This weekend is the start of fall so I was feeling festive and picked up a few things! Love these warty pumpkins! I will have to save some seeds!

I added the orange themed pansies to the two urns since my Nasturtiums never really grew. They look nice and festive with the black Petunias! I put the pumpkins by the front doors, but I think I may have to cave to those darn Mums! It just NEEDS something, ya know?! 

An Epiphyllum is in bud! I hope I get to see it bloom! 

Buried my Ostrich fern and one of my Hellebores under the garage staircase. Need to dig a much bigger hole for the other one! 

Peonies, Irises and a Bletilla are buried by the fence, ready for winter as soon as I mulch it!

Tomato Horn Worm

Today I found a tomato horn worm on one of my tomato plants. I have never had these before! It wasn't very big, but big enough to eat some tomatoes! It was probably around 2-2.5" long and about pencil thin. Right after I took this pic, I beheaded the little vermin for eating my tomatoes! GRR!!!