Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[jvls1942]

I think the goose will steer clear of the donkey and goat,.
this morning I went and snagged 25 gallons of potting soil from Barby's stash,.
I mixed 1o gallons of soil with 5 gallons of rabbit manure,
53F makes it a lot nicer for working out there,

 

[Callender Girl]

Gee, Jim, how much potting soil does Barby have in that stash?

Let's hope Lisa's goose and her young ones steer clear of the donkey and goat. One of my Easter Eggers regularly gets herself into the goat pen, always forgetting that they despise her. Audrey runs the fence line, waiting for me to distract the goats with snacks so she -- who figured out how to get INTO the pen -- can run out through the now-opened gate. My pets train me well.

My neighbor has had corn in for a couple of weeks, too. It's looking good -- except where I stomped on it during the Great Coyote Chase.

Yesterday's weather was PERFECT -- warm, sunny and none of the almost-constant wind -- for most of the day. I got my tomato transplants lone sweet pepper and a row of potatoes in the ground. Later than I would have liked on the potatoes, but I needed to wait for the monsoons to end.

Rain resumed about 6 o'clock last night. The riding mower let me do most of the overgrown yard first. But, it tends to overheat and simply quit. After a short time-out, I got it running again and moved out of the way before the rain.

I used to just plop tomato plants into the ground. But, I subscribe to an online gardening newsletter and, for the first time, used its method for the tomatoes. I dug deep holes with a post hole digger, added worm castings, coffee grounds and pulverized egg shells before I laid the plants slightly horizontally against staked supports I had put in the garden last week. If this doesn't give me a bumper crop, I don't know what else to do!

 

[jvls1942]

I think Barby and friends started out with a 2o cu yd load of potting soil, they had hundreds of bucketfuls , there are plenty left, they are stacked so the bottom bucket doesn't have many weeds in it,.
I mixed six bucketfuls for the tomato plants,
then I got one of the raised beds onto it's spot for the summer, the second raised bed didn't go so well, so today I am going to plan B,
the hardest part is getting on and off of the tractor a few times for each loading,.
Barby is going to give me six jalepo pepper plants. I hope to pickle some.
they are good to eat with sloppy joes,

 

[jvls1942]

we had a good day yesterday, Plan B worked .
with Annie's help, I got two more raised beds moved to the sunny spot,. It got too hot to do the last one, so we came into the house,.
Annie found some pea and bean seeds,. she said they were 2 years old,. I am going to plant them anyway. should know in a short time if they are good, there is time to replant if I have to,.
I am going to put all of the tomatoes into their buckets,. going to gamble that there will not be any more frost.
Barby has 6 jalepeno plants for me and a couple of buttercup squash,.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You're brave Jim. Next new moon is on the 26th. If we are going to get more frost it generally is around the new moon. Perhaps it will be too late this year, and we are good to go.

 

[jvls1942]

If frost is forecasted, I can quickly load the six buckets of tomatoes into the tractor bucket and put them into the garage,,.
this morning I got the beans and peas planted in the raised beds,.
it looks like I am running short of planters,
might have to go steal some more dirt from Barby.

 

[jvls1942]

I am not too worried about a late frost,.
I can quickly load the tomatoes into the tractor bucket and put them into the garage.
the peas and beans might not even be up by new moon,. I can cover all the raised beds easily,.
I got the 5 tomatoes in 5 buckets yesterday,.
the soil was moist, but today I will hook up the hose and give everybody a drink.

 

[jvls1942]

Happy Mothers' Day to those of you that are moms
this afternoon we are going to a Mexican restaurant for chimichangas.
I have all the raised beds in place. I have peas, beans, 8 jalapenos, 4 green bell peppers, and 5 tomatoes . all I have left to plant are the buttercup squash,.
the last raised bed needs some repair.
I found an abandoned strawberry container. might clean it out and plant something in it. thinking onions.
i hooked up the hose and watered everything in the beds/pails,. apparently there was water in the nozzle and it froze. it will not shut off. I have other nozzles.
the water from my well is very cold, . thinking of filling a barrel with water and letting it warm up for watering the beds. I should put gutters on the garage and collect rain . I wonder if Annie would let me do that ?

 

[Callender Girl]

Congratulations on your raised beds, Jim! Let us know what Annie thinks of the garage-gutter rain collecting. My Jim salvaged some of the less-hail-damaged gutters off the house, and we intended to put them on the garage. They are still laying out by the barn.

Your garden sounds good. When I plant what I hope will be the last tomato today (an heirloom yellow pear), I will have four full-sized tomatoes, three cherry tomatoes, one sweet green pepper, yellow onion sets and three varieties of potato: Dark Red Norland, Yukon Gold and Red Pontiac. Although I am rarely successful growing from seeds, I also planted Cherry Belle radishes, some mixed lettuces, Bush Blue Lake green beans and Bloomsdale spinach. Most years, I get too ambitious, buy too many seeds and don't get them all in the ground. So I forced myself to plant at least one row of every seed packet I bought this year.

While it sounds like way too much for one person to eat, based on my success rate, I'm sure it won't be. Yesterday, I discovered something had already dug out onions that were planted the day before. I constructed hardware cloth row covers and garden stapled them into the ground. We'll see how that works when I go out to do chores this morning.

Lisa, are the peas thriving and did you get your tomatoes in? And, how are your adorable goslings doing?

Yesterday, I felt a bit guilty about skipping my morning exercise routine that centers on flexibility and mobility. But, I soon got a chance to be mobile. As did the coyote who keeps showing up. I'm thinking it's the same one (although I KNOW there are more out there, based on the concerts) because this one clearly has no desire for us to spend more time together after our recent marathons.

As soon as it spotted me, the coyote took off running right down the middle of the road. It had something in its mouth. If I still had a Rhode Island Red, I might have thought it was her. But, my best guess is that one of the wild rooster-pheasant's harem is missing. Of course, I "sprinted" off, chasing the coyote into the neighbor's wooded grove. I think I am going to have to concentrate a bit more on cardio training. Or, follow Lisa's advice and maybe just shoot AT it.

While I want to keep my critters safe, I can't blame a coyote for being what it is: a wild creature who, if I let my guard down, will gladly take an easy meal. It is probably raising pups right now and is trying to feed them. So, happy mother's day, you mangy mongrel -- but, please, feed your family elsewhere.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Lisa, are the peas thriving and did you get your tomatoes in? And, how are your adorable goslings doing?

My peas and lettuce are coming up. We filled the cozy kite water walls yesterday. Hopefully will plant the tomatoes under them very soon. Just hardening them off.

Just a picture with my kindle, goslings are doing well, and no longer my responsibility, mom and dad got them covered.