Returning home to a thriving garden

pelenaka - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

It sure was good to see my wife's family over the holidays, but i'm glad to be back home....I worried about the garden, of course - but everything made it just fine, it seems. The broccoli plants being grown in self watering planters are doing great, but I did lose one from wind damage. It's shallow roots were snapped right off, but thankfully there are still 8 that don't have any problems. Heads are forming already, and I guess the largest one is the size of a golfball right now. Here's a picture:

Also, the lettuce and spinach went crazy in my absence, and will be given away to friends. Here's some pictures of the salad greens:

In other news, the little tomato seedlings in the cat litter bucket propagation system are still growing, and i've gotta figure out what can be done with them before long. They've already outgrown the confinements of the bucket - mainly because the pots they're in are pretty tall. Rooting suckers from them later would be ideal, but that would be pretty tricky to do this far away from planting time. Oh well, at least it's something to do....Here's a picture of one of the containers - you can tell that one is turning yellow from too much water. It seems that they shouldn't have been watered before leaving for Kentucky. Oops.

Lastly, here's the harvest of salad greens from the day. I may get tired of eating salads eventually, but not for some time yet.

In closing, I hope everyone had a great weekend, and allowed themselves to enjoy some type of outdoor activity. Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

A gorgeous weekend

Eric - welcome, and thanks for folowing the blog!

Although just a tad windy at times, it was a beautiful weekend for working outside. All of my efforts were spent on filling the compost bins with ingredients, and of course entertaining Jude during short breaks. In all, 60 bags of leaves were used to fill 4 bins, and the remaining 2 will be filled once the finished compost from last cycle is removed.
When opening bags of leaves that people put out by the curb, I can't help but wonder what might be inside sometimes. For the record, I haven't found a human head or body part yet, and it always worries me about the contents within. Lol. However, I did find a pretty nice-sized snake in one, but it was dead of course...Anyway, 2 days after filling the 4 bins, the internal temperature of the piles measured between 140 and 153 degrees. That's perfect!

Everything in the garden is doing great, and the fall lettuce will be harvested for the second time in a few days. One redneck salad has been had already, and man it was great! The little tomato seedlings growing in the cat litter bucket propagation unit are still doing excellent, and it's amazing what a single light bulb is capable of. For the small backyard gardener, it's just the thing for raising a few transplants from seed.

New outdoor projects will begin after the Thanksgiving holiday, and I guess the wheelchair access ramp for my parents will be first up. It'll be a whopper, and i'll really have to be careful not to injure my back again from all the concrete work required. The details haven't been thoroughly processed in my mind yet, but they'll come to mind very soon, i'm sure. I know how people enjoy my construction posts, but don't know if this one will be appealing to most. If so, let me know and it'll be posted on thoroughly.

The remaining time for the weekend was spent hauling music equipment back and forth for my stepson's weekly band practice (rock band), and I always enjoy watching them go through their current song list. They're all around 15 years of age, and play some pretty complex songs, surprisingly. It's amazing what kids can do when they apply themselves whole-heartedly....I may just have to post of video of them playing pretty soon....

Well, that's about it for now. Thanksgiving will be spent in Kentucky with the wife's family, and it'll be good to see them again. Hope everyone has a good one!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

Big Red and the bags of curbside leaves

Nickie - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

Man, it's good to have a big truck sometimes....My full-size ford that I call Big Red sure can haul a load, and with only 3 daily trips through a neighborhood close to work - I have enough leaves to last me until this time next year. Oh yeah, it'll haul about 30-35 bags of leaves at a time, and my final bag count is around 100...

Here's a photo of Big Red waiting to be unloaded. This load was acquired in about 40 minutes during my lunchbreak from work, and I was fortunate that nobody had put any grass clippings out to be picked up. There's enough of them on-hand already....

Here's the segregated bags of contents out back....Those white bags are pine needles (for mulching around the fruit trees) and the bags to the right of them are all leaves. Glorious, brown leaves.....ah.....I counted the bags of leaves best I could, and came up with at least 80 of them. That should be enough to completely fill all bins, and some more for reserve, hopefully.

I also managed to pick up a few pumpkins and ornamental squash along the way, and they'll be busted open - then added to the piles as a nitrogen source. Hope pumpkins don't start sprouting everywhere next year! lol

Since Saturday was a gorgeous day for working outside and I really didn't have other plans, the laborious task of assembling the piles took place. I always build mine in 4" layers - kinda like making lasagna or something. Leaves, grass clippings, then thoroughly watered - and of course the process is repeated. Once the piles have shrunk about 6", UCG's are added to the top part of the mix, then fluffed and watered again. Here's the first one finished.....

Since the finished compost from last cycle is occupying an entire bin, i'll go ahead and start transferring it into recycled dog food bags for storage. That'll allow me to really get this party started. Yeehaw!
This will be a pretty lazy composting cycle, and will be tended to about once per month on average. Of course if I get bored, they'll get tended to more than that - you know how I have to be doing something all the time....lol

Take care, and happy composting!

EG

Greenhouse update

Bucolic Bushwick, The Japanese Redneck, and nealf - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

Thanks to a rain event that stalled out over the area for a couple of days, the lettuce and broccoli growing outdoors hasn't required any watering for a while. That's quite welcomed around here, because it gives me more time to spend on other things. Of course everything being grown in the little greenhouse has to be watered every 3 to 4 days, but isn't alot of work at all. Speaking of the greenhouse, the carrots growing in planters are growing quite well, and here's a picture of them.....

Photo below - The broccoli is to the point that florets should begin to develop over the next week or so. I have a feeling that this crop will be a good one. The total of 9 plants will hopefully provide enough to eat fresh in salads, and also freeze.

Photo below - check this out - more grapes trying to mature before the dead of winter arrives. I had a handful of ripe ones the other day, and man they tasted great....Yeah, put around 12 in my mouth at one time...lol. It would have been bad if work had called my cellphone, because only mumbling would have came out.

Photo below - this time of year is great for finding potential problems with the grape vines - such as the girdling by this tendril below. These little fellas can choke the life right out of a vine, and you really have to stay on top of it. Of course, no pruning will take place until February though...

In other news, I went back to the doctor for my 3 week checkup for the fibromyalgia, and he said all of the tests came back with good results. No arthritis thankfully, and my only issue was the FM. The meds have helped tremendously, and I just have to keep taking them.
Since there are several Starbuck's locations in the Huntsville area and I was already there, I took an opportunity to stop at 5 of them on the way home. The bounty was over 100 lbs. of UCG's, and I now have at least 150 lbs. in storage for the upcoming composting cycle. Yeehaw!
I also ran across a great deal at "the freaky merchandise store" that is located in another town than I normally shop at, and walked out with 6 bags of Espoma GardenTone fertilizer for $5.99 each. That's like half price! Man I love that store....Next year's fertilizer is already on hand, and will be good for use in the swc's...

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

November 14th, 2010

First of all, i'd like to say that it has been fun trading seeds with everyone! All of the packages have been sent out except for 3, and those will go out on Monday or Tuesday of this week. The only ones left to mail are for Charles, Debbie, and Neal - and that'll be the official end of the seed trade.. The guy at the post office last week was like "man, this guy is sending stuff to everybody" hehe...Anyway, I enjoyed doing it.

Not much has went on around here lately - mostly just performing seasonal maintenance on the raised beds - like sealing off the corners where crabgrass was trying to enter, and also plucking a few weeds that had sprouted. The lettuce is coming in hard right now, and you can bet that quite a few "redneck salads" will come from it. Ya know....the kind that has a whole bottle of thousand island dressing on it? Here's the lettuce...

In other news, i've got 2 more volunteer Brandywine tomato seedlings growing in the little cat litter bucket propagation system, and they're doing fantastic! The key to growing tomato transplants in a small enclosure is pretty cold nightly temperatures, and that's why mine are grown in the shed. Here's a picture of the little things....

Also, the big leaf-drop should occur just after Thanksgiving, and you can bet that i'm ready for it. I'm really gonna stock up this time, because I ran out this past summer. Shoot...I can be pretty greedy sometimes, and may get around 100 bags, if I can. But, this whole thing of just piling them up at curbside and letting the vacuum trucks suck them up is really hindering things for me....Maybe i'll make a vacuum attachment for my truck. Ha!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

The little 4'x4' greenhouse in service

Sarah and meemsnyc - welcome, and thanks for following my blog!

Since the nightly temps were about to plummet into the mid to low 20's for the weekend, I spent last Thursday evening frantically applying the 6 mil clear construction grade plastic sheeting to the little greenhouse with the little pvc clamps that were purchased earlier in the year. It wasn't the easiest thing to do by myself (especially with Jude wanting to play), but I finally managed to skin the frame, and move the entire thing out to the garden. The bottom part of the pvc frame is anchored to the raised bed itself, and should be able to withstand anything that Mother Nature wants to throw at it. Anyway, here it is....

Ha! It sure does look weird! However, this thing is really rigid, and rain or snow should easily be shed off of the roof. The bottom part of the frame is anchored to the woodwork of the raised bed with 4 deck screws - meaning wind shouldn't be a concern either. Soil was used to backfill around the bottom to keep cold air out, and this thing is pretty airtight.

Photo below - until the automatic opener is finished, i'll continue to prop the door open with a piece of wood each morning before leaving for work. The only problem is....keeping Jude from getting it. It's just another stick to her, and I have already had to get it away from the little stinker a couple of times. Ha!

The little japanese maple trees are tucked inside, and also some carrots, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce growing in containers.

Photo below - Some scrap pieces of plywood were added on top of the little pvc stand put together a while back, making this little greenhouse packed full of stuff.

With all of that being said, I guess i'm officially a wintertime gardener now. It's highly unlikely that my efforts will even compare to Thomas's winter gardenening success, but it should still be kinda fun to play with during the cold months. It'll get quite a workout next spring hardening off tomato transplants - although some type of shelf system might have to be incorporated into it.
Anyway, that's my little 4'x4' greenhouse in place.

In other news, a couple more volunteer tomato seedlings were placed into the propagation system made from a cat litter bucket, and the results are much better since nightly temps have dropped drastically. The light bulb was reduced from 100 watts to 40 watts too, and results in a 15 degree differential from the temperature inside the shed at night. That's pretty good, but I might just have to incorporate a dimmer switch into the 100 watt setup - then tinker with it for best performance.

Several packets of seeds will go out to friends today and tomorrow - so be ready for them!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

First frost of the fall season

We had our first frost of the season on Friday night, and boy it was a good one! With temps falling to 23 degrees, it wasn't a surprise at all. Foliage on the trees sure showed damage the next day, and will hopefully make them decide to finally drop already. I really want leaves! Anyway, here's some pictures of the frost, and also how some of the plants in the garden responded.

Photos below - the broccoli and lettuce looked pretty rough the following morning, but usually handle temps like this with ease. The boards on top of the swp's are to prop the plants up - especially since the high winds last week blew them all onto their side.

By midday, all of the plants looked like nothing had ever happened, which always amazes me with these types of crops. While inspecting everything, I even noticed 3 little pears on one of the trees. That was certainly a surprise! Jude took care of them in quick order, though. Ha!

In other news, the greenhouse is doing a great job so far, and i'll post pics in a day or two. I kinda wish there was a cheap way to add some heat for it, though. Maybe i'll come up with an idea over the winter months...

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG

'Tis the season for sharing - seeds that is....

Thanks to my good buddy Dan and his Tutorial on saving seeds, I was able to save quite a good bit of tomato seeds this year, and have a wide range of varieties to share with my followers - if interested. Due to demands for some varieties, packages of 6 seeds will be offered from the following: (first come, first serve - while supplies last)

TOMATOES
1. Cherokee Purple - I've got plenty of these to go around, and if you haven't tried it before, you're missing out....
2. Brandywine - this was perhaps my favorite this year, because they were big, juicy, and plentiful.
3. Neves Azorean Red - Big tomatoes, but I wasn't overly impressed with the taste.
4. Kellogg's Breakfast - I've got a few of these
5. Black Cherry - Really good cherry tomato
6. Roman Candle - This is a bright yellow paste tomato that is really pretty
7. Paul Robeson - A black tomato, and really good
8. Giant Oxheart - a big pink tomato
9. Rutgers - storebought, 1 year old
10. Better Boy - storebought, 1 year old

PEPPERS

1. Green Bell pepper - storebought, 2 years old
2. Banana Pepper - storebought, 2 years old
3. Cayenne - (I think) storebought, 2 years old

VEGGIES

1. Okra, Clemson Spineless - plenty
2. Okra, Burgundy - limited amount
3. Spaghetti Squash - storebought, 2 years old
4. Buttercup Squash - storebought, 2 years old


I've also got some clear plastic containers available to share, you know - The ones I use to germinate seeds with. Only 2 per person - while supplies last of course...

Things i'd like to have:

Large open-pollinated tomatoes not on my list (Green Zebra, Giant Belgium, etc.)
Sungold cherry tomato
Moon and stars watermelon
Desert King watermelon
Beans - Dragon's tongue, Rattlesnake, Kentucky Wonder, Red Cranberry, Trail of tears

Just drop me a line at engineeredgarden@att.net , and we can exchange physical addresses and other particulars....Remember, this offer is only available to followers of the blog, sorry.

Take care, and happy sharing!

EG

Yikes! 23 degrees this weekend.....

No frost here yet, but that's about to change in a really big way! Of course extended forecasts are subject to change, but for right now my weather is predicted to be in the 23-24 degree range on Friday and Saturday nights - and that is a reason for concern in the garden. The 23 degrees is about 2-3 degrees above the threshold for doing some serious damge to the broccoli growing in swp's. As long as it doesn't get any lower, it should be ok though. So, ready or not - the little greenhouse is gonna get skinned Thursday evening. No automatic door opener will be utilized, because well - the controls aren't finished. That's ok though...i'll just crack the door open each morning, and close it up during nighttime hours for now...

Not much has been going on around here, but I do have some updates to tell you about. The grass clippings are really in abundance right now, and I have enough on hand to supply a great source of nitrogen for the entire upcoming compost cycle. Around 6 really big bags of them amount to alot, and scattering them on the lawn to dry out before use is what I like to do, if possible. Now, if the dadburned leaves will cooperate and fall to the ground already....As you can tell, i'm getting impatient. Hehe...

My little tomato seedlings in the bucket propagation system lasted all of 2 days before drying up to nothing. Reason? Because the temperature inside the shed easily rose to around 90 degrees one sunny day last week, and confining seedlings like that need pretty cool ambient temps to keep them from baking. Oh well....i'll try again in a few weeks. (when it's much cooler) Just for kicks, i'll probably start a few varieties of tomatoes and peppers.

Oh! I made muscadine grape jelly the other night, and it turned out perfect! Only 2 pint jars came from it, but it has the most beautiful color to it and man is it good! Me likey.. :-)

With temperatures really beginning to drop now, it's almost time to start some of the outdoor projects planned earlier. I guess the ramp for my parents' electric wheelchair will be first, and i'll probably utilize the scrap 6x6's to form it up with. With some rebar, plywood, gravel and conrete, it should be finished before christmas.

****If you have seeds ready for trading, i'll be doing a post that will explain what I have to offer - I can't wait!

Take care, and happy gardening!

EG