Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[18angovem]

Well woke up this morning to everything is white!!!! There is a layer of snow on everything and it is a blizzard out there! Kids in the district still have school but that might be because they dont have a superintendent right now to call the shots.

 

[dheltzel]

I feel your pain...April is always an uncertain time/month...my seeds aren't that big..yet. It doesn't take long for squash to get out of hand...ahhaha, I have started watermelon/cantaloupe/pumpkins of all sizes, green & yellow squash, they are still small...we realistically should not be planting outdoors until mid-May...to be sure we are frost/freeze free...we have hot boxes to utilize..if the plants get too big to be inside...it will work out, Mother nature just has to get with the program..so, you go ahead and tell her...

...
we have planted in April before, just had to cover quite a bit...we are just at the point now now...we will wait, i have enough to do..don't need to worry about getting plants covered and un-covered every other day..it just becomes a real pain...someone told us once that a good time to plant here is when they open up swimming pools...when is that?..like Memorial Day..25th?.....
I think we will have the plants in no-later than the second weekend in May...I don't think I will have to cover too much by then...I better not have too..geesh

!!

Proper planting time really depends on the species. It's too late to get peas in and expect a great crop before the heat messes them up. But it's way too early for tomatoes and peppers. The garden centers love to get a jump on spring and if an early frost hits, well that's just repeat business for them!

Warm season crops (the ones that grow really well in July and August) do not like cold soil or cold nights, it will send them into a sort of dormancy and that can take a while for them to break out of. NEVER buy a purple tomato plant, that's a sure sign they were chilled and have gone dormant, in that state you are almost better off planting seeds. Once warm nights kick in, tomatoes, peppers, cucurbits (squash, cuckes, melon, pumpkins) and annual herbs (basil, but not parsley), take off rapidly. A healthy, very green, but small plant will outgrow a large stunted one very quickly.

 

[eeverett]

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[AnneInTheBurbs]

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Yeah, the guy at the local nursery said not to plant anything in the ground until at least may 1st.

I'm breaking all the rules! :yiipchick My tomatoes are in already! (But we are little warmer in this area and they are under the Wall o Waters). We haven't had a frost for probably two weeks. I do also have some cheap tomato plants from Home Depot. I won't be crushed if they don't make it.

Well woke up this morning to everything is white!!!! There is a layer of snow on everything and it is a blizzard out there! Kids in the district still have school but that might be because they dont have a superintendent right now to call the shots.

That's crazy!

Proper planting time really depends on the species. It's too late to get peas in and expect a great crop before the heat messes them up. But it's way too early for tomatoes and peppers. The garden centers love to get a jump on spring and if an early frost hits, well that's just repeat business for them! Warm season crops (the ones that grow really well in July and August) do not like cold soil or cold nights, it will send them into a sort of dormancy and that can take a while for them to break out of. NEVER buy a purple tomato plant, that's a sure sign they were chilled and have gone dormant, in that state you are almost better off planting seeds. Once warm nights kick in, tomatoes, peppers, cucurbits (squash, cuckes, melon, pumpkins) and annual herbs (basil, but not parsley), take off rapidly. A healthy, very green, but small plant will outgrow a large stunted one very quickly.

I put some basil out too, but I have seeds I can start also. Will have to try to both and see which does better. Dheltzel you are always such a wealth of information! Thanks!

 

[emorems0]

I'm breaking all the rules!

My tomatoes are in already! (But we are little warmer in this area and they are under the Wall o Waters). We haven't had a frost for probably two weeks. I do also have some cheap tomato plants from Home Depot. I won't be crushed if they don't make it.
That's crazy!
I put some basil out too, but I have seeds I can start also. Will have to try to both and see which does better. Dheltzel you are always such a wealth of information! Thanks!

Wall o waters is like a little green house so they should be fine... I have my seedlings outside to harden off, I really should have re-potted my tomatoes into bigger pots because they are surely getting root bound. I just haven't had the time and I won't put them outside until after my birthday (May 2 - I always use my birthday for my planting out date for warmer crops). My biggest obstacle right now is getting the new beds done in time! I have a big pile of lumber that needs to be turned into terraced garden beds. Flat land is a premium out here and my best spot for sun is on a fairly steep slope so it isn't as easy as just screwing 4 boards together. I had hoped to have it done ages ago so that I could mix some of the 'compost' from the chicken run into the new soil and give it time to age a little. I think it has composted pretty well since I broke it up and spread it out a bit with a rake last week and the chickens went nuts eating up all the little worms, but I was also under the impression that chicken waste isn't supposed to go straight into the garden. It's a mix of chicken waste, straw, grass clippings, leaves, and miscellaneous scraps that didn't get eaten by the chickens and it would get mixed with a lot of soil in the garden since the new beds will need a lot of fill... think it would be okay?

Oh, and I have to thank you all for talking about the weather last night. I had no idea it was supposed to get cold until I got online to catch up here. I put a cover and a blanket over my seedlings before I went to bed so they wouldn't get damaged by the frost! I have 5 different types of heirloom tomatoes started that I can not buy locally as plants so I need these seedlings to LIVE!

 

[wingstone]

I may need to go play in the dirt and plant something regardless of the weather....today is a nicotine fit day that is being a tough one, what better way to occupy the hands than in the dirt..
Guess I am planting more peas today.

 

[fisherlady]

Well woke up this morning to everything is white!!!! There is a layer of snow on everything and it is a blizzard out there! Kids in the district still have school but that might be because they dont have a superintendent right now to call the shots.

All white here on our ridge also, but 15 miles away where I work there was no snow sticking, though it did snow heavily for a while there it didn't stick.... it seems like 2 distinctly different weather zones here with the elevation changes. I know the birds aren't happy about this!

I may need to go play in the dirt and plant something regardless of the weather....today is a nicotine fit day that is being a tough one, what better way to occupy the hands than in the dirt..
Guess I am planting more peas today.

I remember the 'nicotine fit' days... I quit cold turkey over 5 years ago, thankfully those days are long past, for whatever reason I guess I am one of the lucky ones.... I very, very rarely even think about it anymore.

and BTW wingstone .... Frannie is now parked on a bunch of BR eggs, hoping she has a good hatch rate on them. Her 'sister' Bess is setting on a clutch of Light Sussex and her other 'sister' Connie is splitting her time between the two of them, keeping them company. Connie just cuddles up close to one of them, they 'talk' back and forth for a while then just zone out together, then Connie gets up after a couple of hours and goes to the other one and repeats the process. I don't know why she just doesn't go broody herself but she seems happy to play nursemaid instead, so I figure what ever chicks hatch with have all 3 hens to watch out for them.... they are a strange group of hens, for sure!
One of the White Rock hens is setting on Silver Pencil eggs, and so is Janeway, our broody EE mix.... so should have at least a trio, or hopefully a quad of the SP Rocks for you also at the same time the BR are ready.

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

I may need to go play in the dirt and plant something regardless of the weather....today is a nicotine fit day that is being a tough one, what better way to occupy the hands than in the dirt..
Guess I am planting more peas today.

Sounds like a great alternative. Any news on the job front?

All white here on our ridge also, but 15 miles away where I work there was no snow sticking, though it did snow heavily for a while there it didn't stick.... it seems like 2 distinctly different weather zones here with the elevation changes. I know the birds aren't happy about this!

I remember the 'nicotine fit' days... I quit cold turkey over 5 years ago, thankfully those days are long past, for whatever reason I guess I am one of the lucky ones.... I very, very rarely even think about it anymore.

and BTW wingstone ....  Frannie is now parked on a bunch of BR eggs, hoping she has a good hatch rate on them.   Her 'sister' Bess is setting on a clutch of Light Sussex and her other 'sister' Connie is splitting her time between the two of them, keeping them company.  Connie just cuddles up close to one of them, they 'talk' back and forth for a while then just zone out together, then Connie gets up after a couple of hours and goes to the other one and repeats the process.  I don't know why she just doesn't go broody herself but she seems happy to play nursemaid instead, so I figure what ever chicks hatch with have all 3 hens to watch out for them.... they are a strange group of hens, for sure!  
One of the White Rock hens is setting on Silver Pencil eggs, and so is Janeway, our broody EE mix.... so should have at least a trio, or hopefully a quad of the SP Rocks for you also at the same time the BR are ready.

Wow! You always seem to have a lot of Broodys! What's your secret?

I'm so excited I'm going to get my chick fix soon! I have a friend who wants pullets, but doesn't have time for chicks. I want the chicks but can't have any more full sized hens. So I'm going to be a chicken nanny for a bit. DH likes this idea too. e. And of course @dheltzel is always hatching, so we have a supplier lined up too.

 

[fisherlady]

Sounds like a great alternative. Any news on the job front?
Wow! You always seem to have a lot of Broodys! What's your secret?

I'm so excited I'm going to get my chick fix soon! I have a friend who wants pullets, but doesn't have time for chicks. I want the chicks but can't have any more full sized hens. So I'm going to be a chicken nanny for a bit. DH likes this idea too.

. And of course @dheltzel is always hatching, so we have a supplier lined up too.

We do tend to have a lot of broodies, but I'm not sure why.... the coop just seems to have the group mentality that brooding is the way to go. Last year I think we had 31, we are on #8,9,10 &11 now. The surprising thing is that most of them are large fowl hens, I just got lucky that the breeding stock I chose came from lines of birds that the broodiness hasn't been bred out of, though I have also had a few hatchery birds now go broody also? I think it is contagious and once the flock sees it they all seem to like going along with it. Even the roosters are good with the little ones, so it has been fun watching them....
Only problem is that I now have 28 'teens' which need to go for sale soon, and of course no one really is interested in the boys, so most of them will need to stay and go into a grow out area until big enough to butcher. It is a shame, some of them are very friendly fellows and a couple of them are getting gorgeous colors, but it is the unfortunate reality, you only need one rooster for every 6-10 hens, so they loose out when you do the math.

 

[dheltzel]

I'm so excited I'm going to get my chick fix soon! I have a friend who wants pullets, but doesn't have time for chicks. I want the chicks but can't have any more full sized hens. So I'm going to be a chicken nanny for a bit. DH likes this idea too.

. And of course @dheltzel is always hatching, so we have a supplier lined up too.

Sounds like a potential new reality show "The Chicken Nanny" . . .

I have done this with some local families that can't have (or don't want) chickens outside, but have kids with a lot of energy for playing with chicks. It's educational and teach responsibility, and it's a pet that is designed to be temporary, no issues with mom or dad having to care for the pet after the kids have lost interest (not implying you'd lose interest, but kids sometimes do).

Of course sometimes the kids fall in love with "Belle" (the actual name of one that came back to us because "she" started crowing) and want to keep them forever.