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Seed Tray pt 2

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The seed tray has worked out very well for me. My attempts with using uncovered cups did not. I purchased another 25 spot tray, with a package of refills.

The beans and corn quickly grew to three times the height of the cover and I had to remove them. Also, I didn't keep careful record of it and now I don't know which beans are Cranberry and which are the Blackeyed.

I drew more detailed versions of each garden plot so now I have a better idea of how many seeds to plant. It appears that I might have some room for broccoli. Looking over the layout, I'm going to have a busy season.

Grape Vine

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While I was doing some yard work this weekend a good friend of mine called to inform me that he found a good sized grape vine growing in his garden.  Oddly enough I spent a good portion of that day preparing a place to put a grape vine if I were to get one. I rushed over to dig it out and I'm very pleased with it. It's about a half an inch thick at the base. Given what we know about where it was growing it's probably one to one and a half years old. We were able to save good portions of all four tap roots. The various branches are roughly 8 feet long.

When I got it home I dug a shallow hole the size of the root area. Then, inside, I dug three deeper holes with the post hole digger to extened the tap roots into. I filled back in with a mixture of top soil and dirt from the hole and water it all in. I threaded some of the branches through the lattice.

Tobacco Update

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Quick update on the tobacco. I few of the seeds have germinated and are showing leaves. It looks like I'll need to plant some more in order to have a full crop.

Growing up Gardening

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Ok, I haven't really grown up gardening but, I have continued to come back to it.

When I was about 5 years old my parents helped me grow a garden in the back yard. We purchased the book Kid's Gardening, and planted the seeds from that book. I don't think I did very much weeding there, my memories involve long and large patches of grass growing up along side watermelons and tomatoes. This garden was a row garden.  We moved during the winter after this and the new house didn't provide a good place to start another one.

kevinWhen I was 18 I worked for Morning Glory Farm. Morning Glory was run by a couple that lived in Union county. The farm was located on roughly 50 acres. The Raibles ran a strictly organic farm. I learned a lot from them and most of my opinions on gardening came from what they taught me while I working there. There were two sections of planted area, one in the front almost strictly of flowers and one in the back, fenced in, mostly of vegetables. Also near the vegetable plot they had a greenhouse and a bee hive. The greenhouse was of simple design, a long room with a semi-circle shape made from PVC pipe and covered with plastic sheeting. The bee hive served two purposes, first to pollinate the plants so that the vegetables could grow well and secondly, to get delicious honey. I worked there for about 2 years before school and an internship took up too much of my time.

Now, at 25 I own a home and am trying to garden again. You've seen the website where I try to keep an updated record of what's happening and obviously you are reading this where I'm keeping track of my progress.

I hope my future remains in farming. I would like to have a dozen or two acres with room for some grain crops along with a garden, some livestock and of course a beehive of my own.

Seed Tray

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I purchased a planting tray to start my seeds in. This tray has 72 cells for starting seeds in. The cells are open to the main tray in the bottom so that water can flow freely throughout. As you can see, when water is added the pods expand. I have seeded several plants. I am following the directions for the tray (which includes a clear plastic cover) and am placing it in a warm place, out of direct sunlight.

I labeled each column and row so that I can keep track of what is growing where. For instance:

A1, A2, B1  Bell Pepper
C1,C2, B2, D1  Cranberry Bean
B3-B6  Black-eye Peas
A3-A6  Black Mexican Corn
C3-C6  Lemon Balm
D2-D6  Greek Oregano
E1-E6  Celery
F1-F6  Chives
G1-G6  Spinach
H3-H6  Sugar Snaps
H1, H2, I1-I4  Old German Tomato
I5, I6, J6  Sweet Pepper
J1-J5, K6  Carrot
K1-K5  Tennessee Red Corn
L4-L6  Cayenne Pepper

Growing Redbuds from Cuttings

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Driving around my area lately I've seen many wild Redbud trees growing in nearby wooded areas. The bright pink flowers are a stark contrast to the the brown and green that usually surrounds them. I'm going to try and get one to grow in my yard. Obviously I could try to buy one, but they seem so plentiful it almost seems like a waste.

I am going to try to grow one from a cutting a few different ways to see what will work. I cut a large branch from a wild tree. The cutting is about 4 feet long with the base trunk about 1 inch in diameter. I cut the end of the branch at an angle to increase the surface area. The branch is placed in a 5 gallon bucket with three gallons of water with a root stimulator mixed in at the prescribed ratio.

From this branch I have cut three smaller twigs, each cut in the 'mallet' style. Two will be placed in seed starter soil, one will be watered with water that has been mixed with the root stimulator and the other with just water. A third, a control, will be placed only in water.

Each of these methods I am keeping near a westernly facing window, upstairs. This will provide the indirect sunlight and the warmth. I will remove all of the flowers from all cuttings to save energy and encourage root growth.

From the little bit of reading that I've done it sounds like I will most likely get the best result from a cutting placed in the soil.

Synsepalum dulcificum

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I'm going to order a Synsepalum dulcificum, otherwise known as the miracle fruit. The fruit of this tree (bush?) has the distinction of binding to your taste buds after eating it and making sour foods taste sweet. The effect changes lemons into lemonaid without sugar and beer into malt.

It's not well suited to the climate I live in, but I understand if I bring it indoors during the winter it should do just fine. Obviously this isn't the most practical plant to have but the curiosity of it would make it a good addition to my home.

Weeds

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If I were to draw my property more close to reality I would speckle the whole thing with yellow spots to signify dandelions everywhere. The whole time I've lived at this house they've been a problem. Even when I seem to get them under control they sprout back up. A main cause is that my neighbors to one side don't do any weeding, so even if I can truly get everything out of my yard before too long seeds will land and start sprouting.

Toward the end of last week I spent one evening pulling up as many dandelions as I could find. The ground was wet from rain so I was able to get at some of the roots. I filled two grocery bags with weeds and had to stop. Except for one section on the side of my house (that borders the no-weeding neighbors) I think I at least pulled all the flowers off so that I won't get any seeds before I have a chance to mow and put out some weed-n-feed.

I hate that dandelions are so unsightly in my yard. I remember last year on Christmas Eve being out in the yard (mid 70's) and seeing honey bees going from flower to flower. This was most striking to be because I don't recall seeing any bees over the summer. I've read about a dwindling bee population worldwide, and since I've witnessed it I don't want to do anything else to hurt them. I've planted a few other flowering plants in my yard this year, and many of the crops I'm growing will flower as well.

The farm I worked at a couple years during college (I haven't mentioned that before have I?) had a bee hive. I thought then that I'd like to have one of my own. I'm not sure that I want one in a suburban  neighborhood, but someday would be nice.

This post started out about dandelions, I didn't really mean to end up with bees.

Wood Ashes

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A couple years ago I was given a fire pit with a screen. Although I haven't used it a lot I enjoy having it. A few evenings ago my wife and I sat outside on the porch around a fire. Even though spring has arrived it was still a little cool, nice weather for a fire.

Around new years I collected used Christmas trees to use for mulch; after removing the branches I had leftover truncks. I don't have a chain saw which makes cutting the trunks into small enough pieces very tiresome. As I get them cut I'll burn them and add the ashes to my compost pile.

While reading up on how to grow celery I read that I should add wood ashes to the soil to increase the potassium content. I took the results of my last fire and spread it around Garden #1. In the future letting it decompose some before adding it is probably a good idea.

Blueberry Bushes

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I snagged two more blueberry bushes from my friend Powell. I'm putting these two in the front yard. I'm going to put in a kind of natural area in the front yard. Along with these blueberry bushes I'll put a tree, maybe a fruit tree, and some other ornamental bushes and some flowers.

Does any of this sound like an attempt to reduce the amount of grass that I have to mow? Good, cause it kind of is.