Trell Isn't, Trell Is!

Over the weekend I picked up a 2' x 8' trellis (they didn't have any 4' x4'), cut it in half, and now we have a trellis for the peas to attach to and climb.  We still may have to put something in front later on.  Last year I cut a conical tomato cage and spread it open to do this and we may have to use it again this year.

The garlic is looking well.  Some of the bases are pretty thick which should mean big bulbs.  I guess that's the difference between planting it in the Spring versus the previous Fall.

In the east garden, the strawberry plants are getting blooms all over the place.  The plants that Kate transplanted into the upper right are surviving, I just hope that corner doesn't get baked again this year or we may have to find a more sun-friendly vegetable or plant to put up there with the strawberries.

Edit:  Last night we did get some frost here, it doesn't seem to have hurt anything, thankfully.

Strawberry Transplant

Kate transplanted some strawberry plants from the edges to the bare area in the upper right, below in the east garden.  It is strange, but that corner seems to get too much sun.  Last summer was a hot one, though.  Hopefully these will help it fill out some.  We had a frost warning for the last 3 nights and we covered the strawberry plants each night, but I don't think we got frost here.  It was patchy at best in the area, thankfully.  The pea plants and garlic in the west garden are doing very well.  Rain is forecast for every day the next five days or so, then sometime soon we will have more planting to do.

Again With The Frost, Kinda

We had a freeze warning for last night, and we have one for tonight.  Like last post, I'm not really convinced we got any frost here, and I get up pretty early.  It was cold, even just below freezing according to the morning news each time, and probably will be again tomorrow morning, before warming up a bit later in the week.  We covered the strawberry plants last night, I removed the sheet after work, and we will cover them again before dark.  Just in case.  No pics, it looks like the last post.

Fretting The Frost

There is a frost warning tonight, so as a first for this blog we will have a nighttime post!  We went out just a bit ago to cover the strawberry plants, the garlic and pea sprouts (visible in the west garden, top in this pic) should be okay, my wife says they are hardier plants.  Same with all the hostas, irises, day lillies (lilys?) and lily of the valley early growth and sprouts.  But the lilac has bunches of buds that are days from opening, I hope they weather the cold night.

On a side note, you may have noticed the look of this site has changed.  It needed updating to a wider format, and though this is one of Blogger's canned templates, it does not mess up the old posts too much and will do nicely for now.  Also, a friend of mine from work has started a site for his garden and pond.  I urged him in this direction and I think he will enjoy it as much or more than I like doing my sites.  He already has some great pics up, give him a visit here, or on the link in the right column.

Untitled

Two posts in two days, it's getting busy around here...
Kate cleaned up and prepared the gardens today before planting the peas at the top of the west garden.

















We got the bulk of the hay out of the strawberries, it will have to be enough.

First Spring Post, 2012

Happy St. Patrick's day 2012!  In the green state of mind on my green garden blog let's take a first look at the green in the garden!

Well, there's not much green yet, just some small strawberry plants and some garlic coming up that Kate planted last fall.  Below the garlic is a thyme plant that is expected to come back.  With the early Spring and great weather things may come together sooner than later, however.  We didn't use as much hay to cover the strawberries this year, in fact we may not have needed to use any at all with such a mild winter.  Other people have told me that they don't cover their strawberry plants and have no problems, but we still have about half the bag left so we will probably continue to use it.

Below is the whole thing, pockmarked by the damn squirrels digging around.  They don't like the garlic but that doesn't stop them.

Final Post 2011

I've been meaning to post a final garden post before winter for about a month now, but the first snowfall early yesterday (and 40 degree melting today) prompted me to finally shut the book on 2011 for the garden.  Not much has changed in the past month and a half except for the leaves that have gathered and been left in the lower part of each garden, and the holey texture due to curious squirrels poking their noses into everything.  They have gotten into the garlic rows planted for next Spring but hopefully haven't messed them up too much.  They don't really like garlic, they're just too damn nosy, is all.

Preparing The Gardens For Winter

Today was a productive day in the garden.  We got the bags of dirt required, planted the garlic and have the gardens ready for winter.  I say we, but you don't see me in any of these pics.  Kate is awfully protective of me and my problems, she put in a lot of hard work and had the sore muscles to prove it.  Friday she harvested all the usable peppers from the plants she removed today.

Above is the (hopefully) finished product for winter.  She cut down the strawberry plants as much as she could and mulched it with hay, removed the pepper plants, added four bags of dirt and manure, and planted the garlic at the bottom of the west garden (top) and added hay over that as well.  Hopefully the squirrels will leave it all alone now...

More pics after the break:

A Bit Cleaned Up

Well, over on my regular blog I think I said something about a post here on the garden blog soon, so I guess I should follow through.  Truth is, my regular hardware store was out of dirt so I have to make a trip this week to one of the 'big box' places to get some composted manure and garden soil.  Therefore, there is not much to update, but I took some pics yesterday so I may as well document it.

The west garden is all cleaned up and ready for dirt and garlic bulbs.  Only the pepper plants and the thyme, lower right, remain.

The east garden strawberry bed will be trimmed soon and covered with hay for the winter.  In the top right of this pic you can see the potted chives on the left and the newly potted sage on the right.

Mid-October Lateness

Not only have I not been posting as much on my regular page, it seems I've lost track of here as well.  I try to post here bi-monthly at the least and I missed it this time.  Oops.  Now, on with it then, eh?

The gardens are pretty much exactly as they were a month ago, except that I removed the cucumber plants soon after the last post.  We have harvested more peppers and still have some to go.  The sweet pepper plant, front left in above pic, has been droopy for the last few days however.  Kate still will pot the sage plant, middle top, and soon plant the garlic for next spring, where is still to be determined.

West garden, traditional view.  You can really see how the pepper plant on the right is wilted compared to the jalapeno plant on the left.

The east garden strawberry bed is still there.  A little thin on the topside, but I expect it to fill out again in Spring.  We may help it by moving some plants up or else we may find some compatable plant that likes the sun a lot to put up there.  Last year we winterized in the first week of December, if I remember right.  Hopefully we won't see snow for at least two more months yet.