Where is my machete?

I made some big progress around the yard today:

Before:


After:


It gives me great joy to flip between those pictures. I weeded out the whole corner, dug bricks out of random parts of the peony bed by the driveway (that's another post entirely), shoveled the top layer of dirt (more like dust really) out of it...and then...I took one of those huge Ikea carry-alls and made about 10 trips between our old house (where the composter still was) and new house to fill compost in on top. When I put the plants in, the compost got mixed with the dirt and now I have some pretty healthy looking soil.

While at costco earlier today, I picked up a flat of Astilbe for only $12-- so that's the first row of plants. Then there's a sprinkling of marigold seeds. Above that are two geranium corms and two peruvian daffodil bulbs (one of each of which has just begun sprouting). The big thing in the middle is last year's tiger lilies. I'd been hoping to spread them out, but they overwintered in their pot and I just let them come back up, so they're pretty tangled. On each side of the tiger lilies is a pair of bedding dahlias that were in pots on the deck before. Above that are nasturtium, poppy, and chinese lantern seeds.

I know I got a late start on a lot of this, but moving 6/1 is definitely not ideal.

I also wanted to put my tigridia bulbs in there, but even though they'd been treated just the same as the tiger lilies (which sprang up just wonderfully in April), they were rotten in their pot...

When AVR got home from work, she finished clearing a spot for the composter (I'd started but it was a tangent, I hadn't finished with the corner garden yet).



Then she installed the rain barrel:

It's the same one we had over at 134-- I was worried about how it would last the winter, but couldn't get to it because of the rubble from the house fire. When I went over this morning, it was totally full and the area around it was bone dry. No leaks! I'd like to eventually make a second one and couple them together as it overflowed a lot last summer...and it only cost us under $30 to make, so it wouldn't be a big hardship to do it.

While I was wrapping up work on the corner garden, she was doing some grape vine demoltion.

Before:


A little while later:

There's still work to be done, though.

She also continued to clear branches from over where I'm planning to put the veggie garden.




And then I pruned the peonies and made an arrangement in the house:


I just love love love them.

A little progress, a little snow.

So my greenhouse is busting with little lives and I just seeded my next set-- so I thought I'd post a few pictures.


From the outside!

We found a grow light in the basement just as I was going to buy one - which was nice. A few weeks ago I put in tomatoes, brussels sprouts, onions, and broccoli as well as pansies. I also had to resuscitate my rosemary which was doing fine until about 3 weeks ago.

At first I was a bad plant mom and the grow light would be on for days and off for days-- but I got a timer from home depot this week and so the kids are getting 12 hours of light every day from 6am to 6pm. I plan to up the time soon.

Today I seeded in eggplant, cucumbers, balloon flowers, and marigolds. I put geraniums and dahlia tubers in pots. I also put garlic, daffodils, and spinach outside...oh and a clematis vine. I wasn't going to buy a clematis but there was a whole shelf of them and they were in this little phalanx and one right in the middle had sprouted this feisty little vine. It won me over.

I don't have any pics of the outside plants - but here's a little tour of the greenhouse:



In the front are marigolds that I just put in today. I think I might pot the spares and put them out as decorations for the bridal shower if they're big enough...6 weeks? That should give them time to be a little bushy. To the left are the brussels sprouts. The big tin pot is the sad rosemary. In the back are the tomatoes-- I really want to grow them upside down. I registered for the tomato upside down hanging things and I have my fingers crossed that those arrive at the bridal shower. The two little 4-tops in the middle are the cukes and eggplant. Just in today.



That's still the tomatoes at the back, marigolds in the front and you can see the cucumber 4-top. The set of 6 beside it has more pansies in as does the 4-top to the right behind it. The other two 4-packs are basil and broccoli. The random singles in there are miracle fruit seedlings that haven't done a whole lot yet.



2nd shelf-- my baby lime tree is at the back. I need to repot it this week. In the middle is my supermarket rose bush that lived in the garage all winter and is starting to bud. There are sprouted onions at the back and balloon flowers up front.



This is the somewhat boring shelf- the two little pots are dwarf bedding dahlias and the big pot is the geranium. We'll see how these go.

This is my boring back yard:



There's snow in this picture-- we had a random flurry today. It's hard to see.

The landlady says that the gardeners "don't speak much English" and "whip through there with the mower" so to be careful about that. I plan on making clearly marked guerilla garden installations. So far I have hidden spare dahlia tubers in what I hope to be a safe place. I have clearly marked the clematis vine below the porch railing (not shown). I also plan on putting some titan sunflowers along the garage. I have to get a few more seeds, there are only 5 left in my packet from last year and I can't find the ones I saved. Square one.

Back on the Wagon

So, the end of my season last year...I wished I'd planned more for succession. Most of what we put into the raised bed out back got some weird white rust and died...so it was just big sunflowers and the herbs...nothing really worth taking photos of, although I don't think I documented the sunflowers that well. I think there will be some volunteers there this year. The Moonflower never bloomed. The broccoli never did anything...but we had tasty beets, tomatoes, and carrots.

Then in November the house burned down. I had to leave my compost (although I'd like to go back and get it) and my rain barrel. We have a new place, and I think with some changes I can have a pretty spectacular garden again this year.

I'm really excited for the challenge, some bigger trellis projects (another melon and some cukes), and a bunch of new veggies to taste.

I just bought a ton of seeds...and along with others I saved from seed from last year, I have a garden plan!


Going to give moonflower a second chance--start them inside and put them in better sun.

Tom Thumb Peas - excitingly not viney.

Ladybird Poppies - one of few flowers I'll put in. I love the look of poppies.


Nigra Hollyhock. The black Nasturtiums came up red-brown, apparently I had the soil wrong. Let's see what these babies do.


Empress of India Nasturtium


Chioggia Beet - in addition to seeds left from last year's packet of beets.


Long Island Improved Brussels Sprouts - I am developing a taste for these, and I like things better that I've grown.


Dragon Carrots - adventure! In carrot form!


Rosa Bianca eggplant - a petite and interesting fruit.


Jenny Lind melons - these come from Philadelphia (me too!). After small successes with watermelon, I'm hoping these go well too.


Ailsa Craig Onion


Rainbow Chard. I'm liking colorful food. I also want to grow more greens.


Amish Paste Tomatoes (which I'm hoping to grow upside down)


Monnopa Spinach is very low in acid and so you absorb the nutrients better.


German Butterball potatoes. These are going to be grown in a bag.


Mexican Sour Gherkins claim to be good on trellisses, we'll see.


I saved Grandpa Ott from seed last year. I'm not sure what they'll come up like, but that's part of the adventure.


Romanesco broccoli didn't do anything last year, sadly, just leaves and eventually flowers, but no fruit. I'm going to try again.


These were healthy and the seeds were plentiful - starfire signet marigolds.


Danvers carrots. Tasty and normal.

I also have a clematis tuber and Iris and Lily bulbs from last year. They're in their pots in the garage. When the snow clears in March, I'll pull those out. I want to find garlic locally too, apparently I should have ordered it by November and I was too busy to remember that.

I'm also getting this greenhouse thing. I'm using it indoors until the weather gets nicer and then I can put it out to start the hardening off process. Although, having two would probably be helpful since some stuff should stay in longer than others. I registered for a pop-up greenhouse and a coldframe, but I don't know if I'll get either (at all or in time).

I also really want a lime tree...

Photos from 7/27

Celestial Mix Up Close


Fully-opened sunflower.


Baby Watermelon.


Heavenly Blue, finally open.


White Cypress also finally open.


Tomato!

Wildflowers from Out Back

Photos from 7/22

First (and still only) open sunflower. One of the other ones is taller than I am-- it's at least 5'5"


Celestial Mix Morning Glory. I don't think I'm going to be planting this one again.


The broccoli is doing something.


Watermelon flower.


Marigolds finally going. The flowers are tiny!


Morning Glory Seeds


Calendula Seeds-- not sure if these are ripe, actually.


Update on out-back garden.


Pumpkin buds.