We are getting some beautiful sunny weather. It just does not come in long enough intervals to dry the ground. On Monday the temperature in the potato bag was 56 degrees. On Tuesday the first little potato leaves popped out of the dirt. The volunteer potatoes are already over 2 feet tall. They have been mounded to over a foot. I can’t scrape much more dirt, they will have to be mulched with leaves now.
Everything green is still being very productive. There are even a few radishes to throw in the salads now. The greenhouse plants are doing ok as well. The heat pads were turned off Monday night and turned back on Tuesday night. They are off now. Benches will still be needed outside of the greenhouse for the hardening off process.
There was a good garden plan in place this fall, but it seems that changes are needed now. There will be a lot more plants to put into the garden, so a way needs to be found to accommodate them all. A lot of them will probably wind up in flower beds in the front yard. The “frontscape” plan is being re-evaluated as well.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Monday, April 11, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Young & Tender and All Mine
That describes the first harvest of the spring mixed greens (turnips and mustard). They are totally delicious. The kale is almost ready to pick as well. The Russian red kale from last fall is growing like crazy. The onions are doing well also. The radishes are almost ready to pick and the mesclun is really enjoying the weather. The arugula bolted and had to be pulled off. It was replaced with a follow up planting of pak choy, broccoli and onions. The spinach is still rocking and rolling with the largest spinach leaves ever.
The bottom heat pads in the greenhouse were turned off yesterday as a precursor to hardening off the plants for transplanting to the garden. Most of them look like they are too small to take away from their mama, but they should grow some in two weeks.
There was a major thunderstorm and very high winds last night. Trees are down all over town. Hopefully there will be a windfall (no pun intended) of firewood in the aftermath of the cleanup. At any rate the water will help the planted part of the garden. The part that still has not been tilled will have to wait a while.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
The bottom heat pads in the greenhouse were turned off yesterday as a precursor to hardening off the plants for transplanting to the garden. Most of them look like they are too small to take away from their mama, but they should grow some in two weeks.
There was a major thunderstorm and very high winds last night. Trees are down all over town. Hopefully there will be a windfall (no pun intended) of firewood in the aftermath of the cleanup. At any rate the water will help the planted part of the garden. The part that still has not been tilled will have to wait a while.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Monday, April 4, 2011
April Fools
Some of us do not need a special day to do foolish things. Gardeners are the ultimate optimists. The day is cool but sunny. Maybe we should all go out and plant tomatoes. There are a lot of tomato plants in the greenhouse, maybe at least one or two should go into the ground.
The winter spinach crop is the best we have ever had. The leaves are huge. Ana is making a spinach quiche for dinner tonight. It will have spinach and onions from the garden. It will be complemented with a fresh mesclun salad, also from the garden. The eggs, cheese and pie shell will have to come from the store.
There was another front yard garden article in a magazine I read this morning. The article stressed that front yard gardening is not just a matter of moving the garden from the back to the front. The visual effect of the plants need to be considered.
Russian red kale was getting ready to disappear from the vegetable garden anyway, for not being productive enough. Once that decision was made, the kale took off like a rocket and is producing a lot. It is a very pretty plant. It may wind up in the fall front yard garden. Parsley, beets and basil will go into the front yard this weekend. When the summer garden goes in on the 22nd of April, mammoth dill will be in the front yard planting. Asparagus are also a possibility. The front yard is really more appropriate for permanent plantings anyway. This is not an April fool’s joke.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
The winter spinach crop is the best we have ever had. The leaves are huge. Ana is making a spinach quiche for dinner tonight. It will have spinach and onions from the garden. It will be complemented with a fresh mesclun salad, also from the garden. The eggs, cheese and pie shell will have to come from the store.
There was another front yard garden article in a magazine I read this morning. The article stressed that front yard gardening is not just a matter of moving the garden from the back to the front. The visual effect of the plants need to be considered.
Russian red kale was getting ready to disappear from the vegetable garden anyway, for not being productive enough. Once that decision was made, the kale took off like a rocket and is producing a lot. It is a very pretty plant. It may wind up in the fall front yard garden. Parsley, beets and basil will go into the front yard this weekend. When the summer garden goes in on the 22nd of April, mammoth dill will be in the front yard planting. Asparagus are also a possibility. The front yard is really more appropriate for permanent plantings anyway. This is not an April fool’s joke.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The Smell of Wet Wool
Well, if March came in like a pussycat instead of a lion, it is going out like a very wet little lamb. It is raining, raining, raining. Everyone’s beautiful lawn is up to their knees. The gardens and flowering trees are soaking it up too. The wet weather has confined me to the greenhouse, which isn’t all bad.
The repotting and transplanting are almost completed. There is no more room to add more pots. It seems that almost every seed germinated and almost all of the plants survived, so as the plants are repotted they wind up in 2, 3 or even 4 pots instead of one. The greenhouse was being watered every night. The wet weather has caused this to be cut back to every other night for the time being.
Monday the warmer weather is supposed to return. That will be the time to start hardening off the plants that will go to the garden. Putting them on the ground will invite the rabbits to a feast. The table that is used for hardening off will never hold all of the plants, so a temporary bench will have to be set up.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
The repotting and transplanting are almost completed. There is no more room to add more pots. It seems that almost every seed germinated and almost all of the plants survived, so as the plants are repotted they wind up in 2, 3 or even 4 pots instead of one. The greenhouse was being watered every night. The wet weather has caused this to be cut back to every other night for the time being.
Monday the warmer weather is supposed to return. That will be the time to start hardening off the plants that will go to the garden. Putting them on the ground will invite the rabbits to a feast. The table that is used for hardening off will never hold all of the plants, so a temporary bench will have to be set up.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
And the Rains Came (written 3/28)
The day before yesterday brought 1.4” of rain and confined me to the greenhouse. Yesterday (the 26th) the ground was too wet for most things. It was ideal weed pulling weather. The greenhouse did get some attention because repotting is so back breaking, it is better to do a little at a time. Today the rain is coming down big time. There are no more cups or potting soil and very little space on the heated mats.
The rain barrel is in overflow mode. The grass needs cutting. At least it was easy digging the post holes for the fence on the unfenced side of the garden. It is too wet to put the posts in though. Most of the sugar pea trellis was installed. Renfrow’s had some string net that looks like it will work really well. 30’ was not enough and they don’t open again until Tuesday.
All of the greens are doing great except for the arugula. It has gone to seed. At least it will be easy to pull off with the ground so wet. The onions that were started last month are already appearing in green salads and being chopped for garnish on soups and mashed potatoes and things like that.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
The rain barrel is in overflow mode. The grass needs cutting. At least it was easy digging the post holes for the fence on the unfenced side of the garden. It is too wet to put the posts in though. Most of the sugar pea trellis was installed. Renfrow’s had some string net that looks like it will work really well. 30’ was not enough and they don’t open again until Tuesday.
All of the greens are doing great except for the arugula. It has gone to seed. At least it will be easy to pull off with the ground so wet. The onions that were started last month are already appearing in green salads and being chopped for garnish on soups and mashed potatoes and things like that.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Master Gardener®
Yesterday was the end of training for the 2011 class of the Master Gardener® program. We were fed a really nice lunch and given gifts and assigned a sponsor to help us enter the world of Master Gardening® smoothly. At this point we are considered “interns”. When we have done our service work (40 hours) we will be Master Gardeners®.
The garden and greenhouse chores are becoming overwhelming now. Unless a fence is completed around the garden the deer will eat everything. The greenhouse plants need repotting, but my back will only co-operate for one or two flats at a time. Every flat turns into two or more as the repotting is done. There is only enough space on the heated mats for 3 more flats. The parts of the garden that are not in beds need to be tilled for the spring planting. There is some respite for a day or two on this chore because of last night’s rain.
The good part of the garden right now is the wonderful salads and greens that are being harvested. We have had salad almost every night. We had Russian Red Kale, Monday night and the turnip and mustard greens are ready to start harvesting.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
The garden and greenhouse chores are becoming overwhelming now. Unless a fence is completed around the garden the deer will eat everything. The greenhouse plants need repotting, but my back will only co-operate for one or two flats at a time. Every flat turns into two or more as the repotting is done. There is only enough space on the heated mats for 3 more flats. The parts of the garden that are not in beds need to be tilled for the spring planting. There is some respite for a day or two on this chore because of last night’s rain.
The good part of the garden right now is the wonderful salads and greens that are being harvested. We have had salad almost every night. We had Russian Red Kale, Monday night and the turnip and mustard greens are ready to start harvesting.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Working Moon
The first day of spring brought with it the biggest moon in almost 20 years. The night was cloudy so it was not visible from our house. This is the time in the garden where the hardest physical work comes in. There are a lot of compostable materials. The compost needs turning. The ground that is not in beds has to have the mulch cleared so it will dry out. That is hard on the biceps. The fence needs to be finished to keep the deer out. Chopping through roots and digging postholes is hard work too.
The really back-breaking work though is the greenhouse. Almost everything has to be re-planted in larger pots. The new method is really paying off so far. It seems that every seed has germinated and most have survived. Some of the little 5 ounce cups had as many as 12 basil plants and as many as 5 tomato plants. The basil was just separated into separate 5 oz cups. The Tomatoes had to be transferred to larger cups. The peppers go in large cups as well.
All the leaves are finally up, but there was not enough mulch to do all of the beds. The leaves in the garden were not mulched, so they will have to be sucked up with the vacuum-mulcher and used in the beds. There are still quite a few of the early plants that have not been planted into the garden. They are mostly parsley and cilantro, so they can be put into the flower beds.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
The really back-breaking work though is the greenhouse. Almost everything has to be re-planted in larger pots. The new method is really paying off so far. It seems that every seed has germinated and most have survived. Some of the little 5 ounce cups had as many as 12 basil plants and as many as 5 tomato plants. The basil was just separated into separate 5 oz cups. The Tomatoes had to be transferred to larger cups. The peppers go in large cups as well.
All the leaves are finally up, but there was not enough mulch to do all of the beds. The leaves in the garden were not mulched, so they will have to be sucked up with the vacuum-mulcher and used in the beds. There are still quite a few of the early plants that have not been planted into the garden. They are mostly parsley and cilantro, so they can be put into the flower beds.
David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/
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