What did you do in the garden today?

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. I planted the onion sets yesterday. The usable ones all fit in the small circular raised bed. I don't plan on buying more so I decided to plant two short rows of bush beans and some radishes in with the eggplant (of course when it's time to plant them). I grabbed the plastic sheet to cover up the bed where I'll be direct seeding the kale, chard and carrots. That's a quick task. The plan is to get the last post hole dug tomorrow then set all the posts. I'm hoping to get a little pruning done on the peach tree today then spray tomorrow morning. We'll have only 2 days without some sort of rain, but the winds have subsided a bit so this is the best I can do before they start blooming. So much to do but we're forecasted to have a lot of rainy days ahead. It is April after all. This morning was the last morning with below freezing temps (it was 26F when I got up this morning). Fingers crossed, no more snow or frost. Need to warm the soil.

 

[Swiss]

All of the tomato seeds I used this year were old, and did decently well germinating (the two "empty cups" are hot peppers, and the starter cells are asparagus)! I thinned them out today, and will add more soil to the cups tomorrow. I have one asparagus that popped through the soil, and I hope the rest come up because I'm not sure if the ones I brought here in pots survived this winter.

I do so hate the throw out perfectly good seedlings, so all the extra tomato plants are sitting in water for now. I definitely don't have the room in my main garden for them, but maybe I'll plant them in a "decoy" garden for the critters to have.... I need to get my butt moving on the garden fence.

I do have a question:
I planned on doing a no-till garden. In late August, I laid down cardboard, compost, and then straw. The straw hasn't really broken down (from what I can tell), should I rake off a layer or 3 and use those top layers as mulch after I plant stuff out? Maybe the warmer and wetter Spring weather will help jumpstart the decomposition?

 

[Sueby]

don't you make liver pate? or just fry it.

Yea, no. Def not. LOL The dog is loving it though!

My average last frost is mid May, and first is the end of September. We've had last frost on Memorial Day weekend, first frost mid October. I keep an eye on over night lows, and frost sheets handy. It's a day-by-day thing for me!

A lot of you zone 5ers! Thats a tough short season. Props to you guys.

I got the she shed cleaned up (it's really coop storage shed).

I decided I wanted to start new herbs in the aero garden so I stuck all the thyme, parsley & dill outside. LOL - do or die herbs! I know this isn't how gardening works, ha. The root systems on them were crazy so I feel like they may have a chance.

I took the hoop covering off the lettuce, it's coming up nicely. I moved some garlic, not sure it that's a thing or not. But I needed some room for 1 more tomato plant so now everything will fit when the time comes.

Put out the grass seed & covered with straw where I dug up the stupid hosta garden that sat directly in front of the front door. It was a hazard to the poor trick or treaters.

Got 2 double batches of soup made & frozen for DH. On the 2nd run of the beef bone broth bones, should be done tomorrow & I will can what's left & the birds will have a good snack.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good morning gardeners. I’ve been slow watering all weekend, but today is the first I’ve managed to get some things done. Pulled the weeds in the xeriscape garden and moved the logs I had along the path to areas around plants. They help slow runoff when I water even on a slow trickle because of the slope. The mulch has helped a lot but it needs more help. I also started rebuilding the compost pile, burying the nasty eggs so the dogs don’t get them. Hubs is shredding the bougainvillea trimmings and I need to water the compost pile. It’s looking really good and it smells great! I think it’ll be ready to spread by fall into the xeriscape area and in plants we don’t eat. Once hubs is done with the shredder I’m going to see how the compost looks in the little bin and probably give it a stir and some water. I’m amazed by all the creatures in our yard these days. There are tons of lizards all over the place. I saw a hummingbird at the aloe flowers and we had a couple of butterflies. The bug population has exploded too based on what I saw when I moved the logs. Today I’ll plant some sunflowers along the path near the aloe to block the view of the wall. I also let the chicks out of the coop today. It only took about ten minutes for them to decide it was ok to come out, but it was pretty obvious they were feeling cooped up. I have at least one rooster, possibly two but I’m still observing. The one I’m positive about, it’s supposed to be a Speckled Sussex, I’ve named Icarus. Anyway, my break is over so back to work I go. Have a great day all!

 

[igorsMistress]

All of the tomato seeds I used this year were old, and did decently well germinating (the two "empty cups" are hot peppers, and the starter cells are asparagus)! I thinned them out today, and will add more soil to the cups tomorrow. I have one asparagus that popped through the soil, and I hope the rest come up because I'm not sure if the ones I brought here in pots survived this winter.View attachment 3048177
I do so hate the throw out perfectly good seedlings, so all the extra tomato plants are sitting in water for now. I definitely don't have the room in my main garden for them, but maybe I'll plant them in a "decoy" garden for the critters to have.... I need to get my butt moving on the garden fence.

I do have a question:
I planned on doing a no-till garden. In late August, I laid down cardboard, compost, and then straw. The straw hasn't really broken down (from what I can tell), should I rake off a layer or 3 and use those top layers as mulch after I plant stuff out? Maybe the warmer and wetter Spring weather will help jumpstart the decomposition?

That’s what I did. It took quite a while for cardboard to break down for me, so when I pulled it I added it to my compost bin and put the straw back. You want a decent layer of straw, maybe two inches, but not much more than that. If it breaks down quickly you can always add more.

 

[Sueby]

I planned on doing a no-till garden. In late August, I laid down cardboard, compost, and then straw. The straw hasn't really broken down (from what I can tell), should I rake off a layer or 3 and use those top layers as mulch after I plant stuff out? Maybe the warmer and wetter Spring weather will help jumpstart the decomposition?

I mulch my beds with straw & it takes a good year for it to break down anyway. I use a good 5 inch layer tho. I doubt that helps you at all.

 

[Iluveggers]

Transplanting the greens! The roost were peeking out of the bottom! Hopefully they can go out in a few weeks, if the snow ever stops. When I put them out I’ll direct seed the same plants so I get a second round a few weeks later!

 

[SheaLoner]

I put my few surviving onion starts out in the cold frame yesterday. . . . . . Today its snowing. Again. Might be best to try direct sow atthis point.

 

[Sueby]

I put my few surviving onion starts out in the cold frame yesterday. . . . . . Today its snowing. Again. Might be best to try direct sow atthis point.

I have had onions survive snow. I put mine out a couple weeks ago & we had temps down in the low teens - they are all fine. I did cover them with straw, but onions are pretty tolerant wich always surprises me. & snow is an insulator so maybe they will be ok!

 

[SheaLoner]

I have had onions survive snow. I put mine out a couple weeks ago & we had temps down in the low teens - they are all fine. I did cover them with straw, but onions are pretty tolerant wich always surprises me. & snow is an insulator so maybe they will be ok!

My seedlings have been dying off for the last week. Not overwatered, intermitent fan. Window and a small light. Decided if Im killing them in the house might as well try them outside. Last year it was the cat laying on them. No luck with onion by seed. Might try direct sowing inthe fall.