For those of you in the Southern Part of the U.S., Sunday is probably a good day to plant your root crops, as it aligns with the "lunar cycle." At least, that's the theory people believe in...I'm not sure if it's actually been proven to work.
So this weekend, I'll be planting a lot of crops, probably doing some tilling (with a family members tiller! ), and hopefully enjoying a nice, warm Saturday.
I am also creating a spreadsheet to help those of you interested in the Square Foot Garden's money savings (or losses). I'll track the costs of all the vegetables, compare them with store-bought prices, yields, etc. I'm still unsure on whether or not to count the building materials associated with building the raised beds. I guess ya'll can let me know if that is worth mentioning.
Looks like we will have one more snow, on Monday, for this Winter. I cannot remember a time when we've h ad so much snow, nor can I remember this many days it has snowed, in North Texas. It's pretty awesome, but I'm ready for Spring :)
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snow. Show all posts
Friday, February 26, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Counting down now...
It's February 21st, and the "last frost" is typically around March 15th. I can't believe it's less than a month away.
This evening I cut the seed potatoes, and put them in a box to "harden off." The cut (open flesh) side of the seed potato needs to form a protective casing (hardening), so disease will not easily attack the potato.
In addition, I now have 11 lettuce plants that have sprouted, out of 12 planted. I thought for sure they were all dead, and was getting ready to plant some more, when I noticed them yesterday. Not only is that a dang good percentage (I hope the 12th one comes in soon...), but it reinforces my trust in the SFG, or Square Foot Garden, technique. Bravo, Mr. Bartholomew.
So, with the lettuce sprouts, I now become like a parent to a helpless child. With cold temperatures in the forecast, along with more snow (yes, believe it or not), I've created some mini-greenhouses to keep them warm. At least, that's the plan.
After thinking about it for a while, (and I know I should really keep it simple...) I'm going to plant "The Three Sisters" in Bed #3. I figure, I already have corn there, I might as well channel my Native American ancestors and see how it works out. So, I'll plant beans (which I already have) and squash. I am not a fan of squash, but my mom will like it.
On an unrelated note (I really tried to transition...it's just not possible), I went fishing today for the first time since last year. I can't wait to get the boat running and get back out on the lake. Warm weather and relaxing on the water - you just can't beat that.
This evening I cut the seed potatoes, and put them in a box to "harden off." The cut (open flesh) side of the seed potato needs to form a protective casing (hardening), so disease will not easily attack the potato.
In addition, I now have 11 lettuce plants that have sprouted, out of 12 planted. I thought for sure they were all dead, and was getting ready to plant some more, when I noticed them yesterday. Not only is that a dang good percentage (I hope the 12th one comes in soon...), but it reinforces my trust in the SFG, or Square Foot Garden, technique. Bravo, Mr. Bartholomew.
So, with the lettuce sprouts, I now become like a parent to a helpless child. With cold temperatures in the forecast, along with more snow (yes, believe it or not), I've created some mini-greenhouses to keep them warm. At least, that's the plan.
After thinking about it for a while, (and I know I should really keep it simple...) I'm going to plant "The Three Sisters" in Bed #3. I figure, I already have corn there, I might as well channel my Native American ancestors and see how it works out. So, I'll plant beans (which I already have) and squash. I am not a fan of squash, but my mom will like it.
On an unrelated note (I really tried to transition...it's just not possible), I went fishing today for the first time since last year. I can't wait to get the boat running and get back out on the lake. Warm weather and relaxing on the water - you just can't beat that.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Finally, a post!
First things first
I have been crazy sick - finally I'm well enough to move around again and get to doing some work.
North Texas. Snow. Craziness.
We received about 1 foot of snow at our house. I really have no words for the insanity that ensued. Snowmen galore, all schools closed, a crazy adventure losing my phone for 4 days. We are just not used to this. We ended up breaking the all time 24-hour period snowfall record (in N. Texas) and the most snowfall in one day record. 12.4" and 11.5" respectively.
Bell Pepper Transplant.
As you may remember, I have 6 seed pots on top of the fridge. Pots 1, 2, and 3 are Cherry Roma sprouts, and Pots 4, 5, and 6 are Bell Pepper sprouts. Unfortunately, Pot 4 never sprouted anything, while all the others sprouted multiple plants. So, I did a little "Gardening Surgery" and carefully removed one Bell Pepper plant from Pot 5, and moved it to Pot 4. I used a large spoon and dug extra deep, making sure I pulled ALL of the plant and did not split the root. Hopefully it will survive in Pot 4, and we'll be back on track. (Pot 4 is front and center)
Birthday
Well, last Thursday was my birthday, and my wonderful wife got me an awesome gift. I got a water-bath canning (jarring) set. I cannot wait to use it, but that will be several months away. Still, very cool.
The last bit of bed-work
Today I spent about 30 minutes tilling the soil (read, breaking my back). I needed to get a bed set up for corn, so I settled on an 8' x 5' rectangle that was in the sun. Below are pictures of the 4 separate beds:
Beds 1 & 2 - main vegetable beds
Bed 3 - Primarily for Corn (the one I tilled today)
Bed 4 - Primarily for Strawberries (though I'm tempted to grow lettuce there as well)
I think I'll end the post there - information overload, you know. More to come tomorrow...
I have been crazy sick - finally I'm well enough to move around again and get to doing some work.
North Texas. Snow. Craziness.
We received about 1 foot of snow at our house. I really have no words for the insanity that ensued. Snowmen galore, all schools closed, a crazy adventure losing my phone for 4 days. We are just not used to this. We ended up breaking the all time 24-hour period snowfall record (in N. Texas) and the most snowfall in one day record. 12.4" and 11.5" respectively.
Bell Pepper Transplant.
As you may remember, I have 6 seed pots on top of the fridge. Pots 1, 2, and 3 are Cherry Roma sprouts, and Pots 4, 5, and 6 are Bell Pepper sprouts. Unfortunately, Pot 4 never sprouted anything, while all the others sprouted multiple plants. So, I did a little "Gardening Surgery" and carefully removed one Bell Pepper plant from Pot 5, and moved it to Pot 4. I used a large spoon and dug extra deep, making sure I pulled ALL of the plant and did not split the root. Hopefully it will survive in Pot 4, and we'll be back on track. (Pot 4 is front and center)
Birthday
Well, last Thursday was my birthday, and my wonderful wife got me an awesome gift. I got a water-bath canning (jarring) set. I cannot wait to use it, but that will be several months away. Still, very cool.
The last bit of bed-work
Today I spent about 30 minutes tilling the soil (read, breaking my back). I needed to get a bed set up for corn, so I settled on an 8' x 5' rectangle that was in the sun. Below are pictures of the 4 separate beds:
Beds 1 & 2 - main vegetable beds
Bed 3 - Primarily for Corn (the one I tilled today)
Bed 4 - Primarily for Strawberries (though I'm tempted to grow lettuce there as well)
I think I'll end the post there - information overload, you know. More to come tomorrow...
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
I didn't need to dream of a white Christmas...
Instead, I just went outside.
That's my house. You'll notice on the right, the truck is not in the driveway. I'll let you figure out why :)
Here's my wife and one of my sisters making snow angels at my Mom's house Christmas Eve.
I've also spent a good deal of time working on getting the garden ready. Here's our two 4x4 plots fenced in, with the compost bins in the middle. There will possibly be another 2x12 plot behind those, where I might try to grow corn. I'm still not sure how or if I'm going to do that.
The compost bins, and the compost-maker.
Last but not least, here's what started about 30 minutes ago.
 |
| From Blog Photos |
That's my house. You'll notice on the right, the truck is not in the driveway. I'll let you figure out why :)
Here's my wife and one of my sisters making snow angels at my Mom's house Christmas Eve.
 |
| From Blog Photos |
I've also spent a good deal of time working on getting the garden ready. Here's our two 4x4 plots fenced in, with the compost bins in the middle. There will possibly be another 2x12 plot behind those, where I might try to grow corn. I'm still not sure how or if I'm going to do that.
 |
| From Blog Photos |
The compost bins, and the compost-maker.
 |
| From Blog Photos |
 |
| From Blog Photos |
Last but not least, here's what started about 30 minutes ago.
 |
| From Blog Photos |
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