What did you do in the garden today?

[Acre4Me]

We had 40-50 mph winds today.... I heard a loud bang on the house. Prayed that a tree didn't come down on the roof or a vehicle. Luckily, it was just the dumpster. Wind picked it up and threw it against the house. No damage though. Tomorrow will be just as bad (wind- & cold-wise) and then several more inches of rain on Thursday. The real sucky weather comes this weekend.....highs around 20, lows in single digits. Yuck. Going to move my rosemary inside. On Saturday before the cold hits, I'll move Peter (our Nigerian Dwarf buck) into an empty stall in the barn. It will be far too cold to leave him solo in his pen without the girls to help keep him warm. I'll probably move Pepe (our ND wether) in with him for company. Peter is actually Pepe's daddy. I hope they get along okay together.... Oh yeah, in positive news, DH bought me some new coveralls just in time for the crappy cold weather.

And to help combat the winter gardening doldrums, I think I'm going to jump on Excel and plan out my garden layout this evening.....

Our ND girls will be inside the insulated workshop at night, but in their own pen during the day during the cold snap. It’s going to be so cold, and they can’t stay warm through the night when it’s that low. We discussed building a small enclosure /wind block with a secured heat lamp for them…but spouse decided it’s easier to just put a tarp down in the shop and have them bunk there the few nights a year it’s too cold for them.

 

[Molpet]

Thanks!
It is so pretty when it lays against the trees and bushes.
Beautiful dog! What does he think of the snow?

I had a Lab that hated it. He was a couch potato. My Golden Retriever would run around crazy and roll in it. He would have icicles in his fur.
We don't get snow very often. Then it's gone the next day.

Annie zooms around until she gets snow balls between her toes. She's a rescue from Texas. I got her in April 2021 from a nearby byc member who was fostering her.

 

[WthrLady]

I need to inch into the city today and get more cold weather diesel. More snow is coming tomorrow night, and I'm down to half a tank with none in reserve. I'll then spend the day widening our road. I had it full wide, but subsequent plowings didn't push it far enough out, so it got smaller and smaller. If you don't push is high and wide the first go, you're ....well, you know.

 

[castillo_de_luz]

I have officially been... "influenced"! It seems like everyone around me has been getting their seed starting apparatus ready to go, and meanwhile I'm staring at my seed binder and empty garden, longingly dreaming of tiny sproutlings...

Well, FINE. I up and bought a small indoor greenhouse (um, more like a rack with a plastic jacket, primarily to keep the kitten away from things) and a set of grow light trays, peat pellets, some larger peat pots, and appropriate soil.

Now I just need to pop my seeds in the freezer (apparently lavender, onion, and rosemary like and need this? news to me), assemble the whole contraption, and wait 'til the first week or so of February to get things going.

I'd appreciate any tips! Despite gardening for most of my life, I've always done direct-sowing and never started indoors. New adventures!

 

[Tahai]

I'd appreciate any tips! Despite gardening for most of my life, I've always done direct-sowing and never started indoors. New adventures!

Be sure to use soil free seed starting mix, especially for your tomatoes. It totally sucks to lose all your babies to a soil born fungus (speaking from experience).

When you pot up, if you choose to use a soil based medium, then top the soil with vermiculite or perlite to keep the soil from splashing up on the stems and leaves of your babies. By the time you hit your final pot up or plant-out, they should be rugged enough to repel soil-born fungus and pathogens, but as I'm sure you know, a good mulch is still a good idea.

Don't jump the gun and start things too early - you'll end up with leggy wimpy plants. (again, experience)

Don't worry if your tomatoes are leggy - they will send out adventitious roots, so just pinch off the lower leaves and pot them deeper every time you pot up. When you put them out in the garden, pinch off the bottom leaves and suckers and sink them down deep. This will give you robust plants that take right off.

I vaguely recall reading that onions don't transplant well. You might be better off planting the seeds in a planter and just moving the planter outside at the right time.

Marigolds are a great thing to seed start. I use them abundantly in my gardens, and they are so easy to grow. I hate it when I have to spend $20 for a flat of them when I could have grown 3x as many for half as much!

Oh! another thought - if you line the inside of your green house wiht aluminum foil, it will help bounce the light around. No sense letting that light escape out of the plastic and go to waste. Maybe just wrap the foil around the top bar and let the roll fall to the floor? I don't know what your set up looks like, but might be worth a try.

Good luck and fun wishes!
Tahai
*edited for spelling errors 1/11/24*

 

[CNJ]

My Prairie Fire cherry tomatoes from Baker's Creek look skinny and wimpy compared to the other varieties. They are kind of delicate and needs to be babied. I hope I get to taste some fruit, this my first time growing them. It supposed to be very sweet.

Based on my last grow out, most of Brad's cherry tomatoes seem to have intermittent resistance to the TYLC virus in my yard, so I have a shot.

 

[CNJ]

I started putting a 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese in a mound on 4 corners of my pizza close to the edge. I used to spread it evenly around my pizza, until recently. I found that the pieces without cheese taste just as good as with cheese. The mound of cheese will melt and blend together in the middle, leaving a few empty sauce patches along the way.

I used to work at a local Pizza Hut when I was a teen, and we were allowed to make our own pizza the way we wanted and could eat as much as we wanted during our meal break. Everyone in there, always pile the cheese on when they first start and then they realize more doesn't make it taste better. It is also messy and harder to eat, it flops all over the place.

 

[akroberts1085]

No outside of any kind. Winds blowing and the temperature has dropped significantly. Yesterday was okay and today is just like brrrrr.

 

[akroberts1085]

The picture of the goats and the picture of the dog in the snow are absolutely adorable

 

[WthrLady]

Just finished plowing the piles 6 feet deeper into the grassy areas so we have a place to put the 8 inches we are getting tomorrow night. UGH.
We need the water, but I'm frozen now.