April 18, 2015

April 18, 2015

The state of my (garden) affairs:

The garden is all cleaned up and ready for summer.

I have wire wrapped all of the things that I possible can... the raspberry bush is now a squirrel proof fortress.

I have sown seeds for kale, radish, parsnip, carrot, onion and beets directly outside.

The kale and radish are sprouting.

The raspberry bush is getting greener and taller every minute.

I have started tomatoes and herbs inside.

I have used eggshells for the things I'm starting indoors again. I liked the results last year.

I have planted a small amount of flowers outside.

Maybe I will start my flower seeds indoors today...

Humming humming hummingbird

One of the things I never talked about last year was that we bought a hummingbird feeder. I've rarely ever seen birds in my backyard. I don't know why I should think we could start with a hummingbird. But we bought one. Mostly it hung there. Sometimes I'd remember the change the water. But mostly... it hung there.

For something that we impulsively bought and then ignored, it sure does come up in conversation more than it ought to. So maybe that means... I should try. Put a little effort in.

Supposedly the hummingbirds are migrating north and have been spotted in our neighboring states. I have cleaned the feeder and today I added some enticement.

Flowers.

This 70 degree weather has me optimistic, I'm sure, but it sure is nice putting some color back there. I tried to stick with the red the birds are drawn to. But who am I kidding? We have wayyy too many one legged cats in this neighborhood for hummingbirds.

I also bought a little alyssum to plant between the veggie pots.

I'm so very ready for summer.

Clean Up

It's 67 degrees and I'm feeling fine. Sunny and perfect to stay outside. We got our hands dirty today and cleaned up the yard and readied the pots. We also squirrel proofed, lettuce bed'ed and pinterest'ed the shit out of some plant markers. This is what we did today:

 
My stick labels. Pinterest made me do it. We direct sowed some of our root vegetables outside today. Parsnip. Carrot. Radish. Onion.

Squirrel proofing... or at least trying to....

This is going to be our lettuce table. New this year. It's a world premiere of sorts.

Pretty little maids all in a row... who knows what goodies they will hold...

All cleaned up.

lazy gardener

Last fall I might not have cleaned EVERYTHING up. A few things I just threw into the garage at the first snow fall. Thinking I would deal with them later.

Months past and these two kale plants refused to kick the bucket. On occasion I would throw some snow on them after I pulled my car in. Mostly, I ignored them and waited for them to die. They never did. So they are back outside! But I don't think you can eat kale the second year? Regardless, this is what they look like today after surviving the harsh Minnesota winter:

PS I bought a tiny, awesome and new camera! Upgrading from the camera phone, downgrading from the 9 lbs digital SLR. Expect the best.

Hello Garden 2015

The thing about apartment gardening is when you are researching "apartment gardening" and come up with a million hits on "best vegetables to grow in pots", they never tell you the HOW part or the YES, BUT part. Pinterest will tell you you can grow a miniature Meyer Lemon tree in a pot in your kitchen year round! You get all excited at the prospect - but quickly realize your apartment doesn't have the south facing sunroom cloaked in sunshiney warmth that that Meyer Lemon tree needs to survive. Let's not even mention the dry, cold, drafting housing conditions of a Minnesota apartment winter. Needless to say, I wasn't duped by this Meyer Lemon business. There was one that got me last year though:

The raspberry bush. 

They tell you it can grow in a pot. True. It can stay alive and even grow some. But what they don't tell you is that raspberries are two year growers. The first year it grows the vines and the second year those vines become woody branches with the strength to support fruit. What this means for the apartment gardener that just spent $16 on one plant is two things:

1 - when you first buy that plant it will look like a cut back branch or two. It will look like that because that is precisely what it is. That stubby, thorny 6 inch wood shaft is THE ONLY branch that will support fruit that first summer. Which means a wicked yield of a mere handful of berries. 

2 - then you have this plant in this big pot that you need to over-winter. No one really talks about this part. Come fall 2014 I realized I had a crazy heavy pot and a temperature problem. Raspberry bushes need the temperature to get cold enough to force them into dormancy, but not so cold that it kills the plant. I couldn't bring it into my basement (too warm) and I couldn't leave it sitting out (too cold). I searched for advice long and hard on what to do to prep for winter. I didn't want this $16 plant that I only ate 4 berries from to die before I got a decent crop! I tossed around the ideas of putting in the detached garage or wrapping it in burlap and straw cover. Talking it over with my local garden store, they told me that a plant in a pot would surely die in our winters since the wind & cold will cut right through the container. In ground plants mostly survive the weather due to thermal mass of the earth. Our brains clicked at the same moment and we decided I should try burying the pot. Which is what I did.

As the snow has cleared I have been debating whether I'm looking at a dead plant or a dormant plant. After much uncertainty, I'm proud to announce - It worked! Today I unearthed my pot. And am happy to say I have the first green buds of life.

My summer garden has officially begun.