First Seeds

I thought Saturday was going to be a rainy day, so I didn't plan on doing anything in the garden, but then I woke up and it was clear, so I decided it was time to start trying to get some things going. My first task was to plant some of the Marglobe tomato seeds I had saved from last season. What Irvin Brown told me was that heirloom tomatoes can keep bearing genetically pure fruit, whereas hybrids can only be grown the first season. So, this is an attempt to see how self-sufficient I can be.



I planted seeds in 24 peat pots with regular planting soil I purchased from Lowes last fall. The only thing that was unexpected was that the soil didn't immediately start absorbing water. So I got a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon to mix the water and potting soil together until water had been absorbed. I planted two seeds per pot just because I haven't a clue about germination. I separated the seeds so that in case two grew in one pot, I could easily dispense with the second. I put the peat pots on a baking pan. (I stopped at 24 because that is how many fit on the pan). I put some extra water in the pan, with the idea that maybe the peat and potting soil would absorb it. I looked today and there wasn't any water sitting in the bottom, so it appeared that it worked that way. I am keeping the pots in the greenhouse but with the vent open. The temperatures inside during the day are getting into the high 70s.

Last year, I had 16 Marglobe plants, so this will up that by 50%. I may get ambitious tomorrow and start a few more Marglobe )so I can double my planting) and do some German Johnsons, too.

While I was at it, I decided to prepare the potato seeds as well. I did what I've done in the past; I cut the seed potatoes so that, to the extent possible, each slip has one good eye developing. Then I turn the slips upside down to form a crust. I think by Monday evening, I should be ready to plant. I haven't prepared any ground yet, so that is a task I will need to do before hand. The weather the next few days should be mild, so it appears to be a good time to get the potatoes in the ground.

I will keep my strategy for planting potatoes this year. I plan to plant them 48 per bed with one bed dedicated to Yukon Gold and one dedicated to Pontiac Red. In the past I have left them in the house to form their crust. I like doing it in the greenhouse this year, just because it hasn't messed up the dining room and the temperature seemed to be right to accomplish the task. I will have a few extra of these to give to Jonathan and Jacob Hammond.

Finally!

Finally, a day above 60f. The snow melted under the trees. The bees in the hive in my yard started venturing out. The bees in Clarence Brown's yard have been active much earlier because that hive gets direct sun. I was worried about the hive in my yard because it is so sheltered and is probably 15f degrees cooler. It means that unless there is a really warm day, they won't break cluster. I only saw a few from the hive, but they were out. I took some rosemary leaves Sunday to make dinner and noticed that it is still in bloom and there were a few bees visiting there then, but I'm not sure they were from the hive in my yard. Anyway, winter may be over and the hives will come alive again and I am grateful both colonies made it through.

Doug Shaw gave me back the hive body and super that had been infested with moths. He also gave me a box with frames from which he had extracted honey from his dead hive as well as a pan that had some honey drippings from the extraction on it. I put the pan in my yard and the empty box in Clarence's yard yesterday at noon. By the time I got home from work, bees had pretty clearly found the box, but the pan seemed untouched. So I moved it from the hive to the driveway. I'm sure they will find it.

Finally!

Onion Sets

It wasn't as warm today as I had hoped, but it was at least warmer than it has been and it was warm enough for me to feel good getting outside.

Today was a good day to plant onion sets. Last week I turned the soil, added some 10-10-10 and then let the bed sit. It snowed again during the week. It melted in most places, but stayed a bit longer in Oak Ridge. I think it is because our elevation here is a bit higher than Greensboro. But, by Thursday, the snow was all gone in the areas that had sunlight. (It is still on the ground in the shaded area by the beehive.)

My strategy this year was to plant the yellow onions on the north side of the bed and the red onions on the south. The east end of the bed was totally free, but there were still a few onions I had started from seed on the west end, so I just planted around them.

I have kept to the 9 per square foot pattern. I went through my gardening books to see if I needed to adjust the pH level, but only two books mentioned it (the original Square Foot Gardening book and Dick Raymond's Joy of Gardening). I know from past measures that my soil is a little acidic (between 6 and 6.5) and it seemed that this range was fine for onions, so I just left the soil alone.

The one piece of advice I picked up was the need to side dress the onions periodically through the growing season. I've had smallish onions in the past. I plan to try this out this year.

A Small Tourist

A week ago, Annie Hammond told me her son Jacob was obsessed with growing things. He is only about 4 or 5, very small, but very energetic. I gave her some general advice about how to start a real garden. Today, Jonathan (Hammond) called and asked to come and see my raised beds. It served as a wake up call.

Before they came, I started dismantling some of the broken cold frame ribs. It needed to be done, but I figured this was the prompt I needed to get going. So, I took wood off of two of the beds and broke it up into small pieces before Jonathan and Jacob arrived.

The tour was brief, just sufficient to explain how to build a bed, get soil to put in it, the need for compost. Jacob truly was interested. He saw some onions that made it through the winter and wondered what they were. He noticed the spinach. I pointed out the turnips.

Even though it was brief, it got me going. I went to the Feed and Seed and bought 3 lbs of yellow and 3 lbs of red onion sets, and 5 lbs of Yukon Gold and 6 lbs of Pontiac Red potato seeds. I think I may have bought more onion sets than last year, but I didn't fill up my space last year and I will be giving some to Jonathan and Jacob.

I went ahead and prepared the bed for the onions, turned the soil and put some 10-10-10 fertilizer in. I didn't add any compost. When I was showing the Hammonds, I went by the compost piles. They seemed pretty much frozen.

I took the opportunity to put new batteries in the indoor/outdoor thermometers. I figured once I had it off its post, I might as well put the outdoor unit in the greenhouse to see how warm it will get in the day and how warm it will stay at night. It is 45F outside right now, but it got up to 90 in the greenhouse. I think the real test will be to see how it works over night.

Getting a Few Things Done

One of the roof panels on the greenhouse blew out during the wintry blast we had a few weeks ago. The wind must have really kicked up because I couldn't find the panel anywhere. When I've lost one in the past, they were usually just a few feet away, but there was just no sign of this one.

I called and ordered a replacement. Actually, I ordered two. If I have to do this again, I only want to have to pay for shipping once. The replacement panel cost $8 each. The shipping was $16.

They came in the other day, but it has been cold and wet again, so I postponed doing the repair. Yesterday was actually a gorgeous day, but I fell asleep after church with a very nice nap. I got up this morning, knowing that rain was in the forecast, but feeling a bit of pressure to get this done. It only took about five minutes. The job isn't quite complete. I have difficulty getting the strips that snap the panels into place to seat correctly. I got the one on the left in just fine. The one on the right is partly in. As soon as I was finished, it started raining and it looks like it will hold until I can get out there with some additional help.

The past few weeks, I have been a bit worried about the bees in the hive in our yard. I was able to feed the bees in Clarence Brown's yard about a month ago. They are in full sun with the woods the hive backs up to on the north and the hive itself facing south. So I get regular reports from Clarence that the bees are out and about. There aren't any leaves sprouting from trees yet, so they are just orienting, I am pretty sure.

The hive in my yard, on the other hand, faces north and the pines that it backs up to are thick enough that the snow hasn't melted. I'm pretty sure the snow keeps the temperature inside the hive a bit lower. Without direct sun, they are in a poor situation during the winter. James Bennett advised me to just let them stay there, so I've complied. I went out Saturday and again on Sunday and didn't sense any life whatsoever. Kathy went out today and got the same impression. Because it never warmed up enough, I didn't feed them.

Doug Shaw lost his last hive earlier. He's been a bit more protective than me and I think he said he had fed his, although his description seemed to indicate they didn't get to the food and starved.

This evening, just about dusk, I decided I better go answer my question. The thermometer said it was 50f -- about as low as I want it to go. But, then, if the hive was dead, it wouldn't matter. Much to my pleasant surprise, there were still live bees. I didn't pop the inner cover, but I could see them moving around. So I went and took a top feeder and mashed up some old sugar (mixing in just a little water -- I hope not too much). I popped the inner cover and could see that they were still nicely clustered. My goal was to work quickly and it was getting dark, so the top feeder went on and I closed it up. I hope it doesn't get too cold and that they actually find the food quickly.

I haven't done much through the winter. These tasks are just the beginning. I have a lot to do in the coming weeks.

Moths Aplenty

I've tried swatting at them and putting all our food in sealed containers, but the moths persist. However, I noticed the other day that there was a bug trap in the top of the pantry. It was very old, but it looked like it had done a decent job at catching things, so I ordered some new ones through Amazon.com. The traps (Xlure R.T.U.) come in six packs and aren't necessarily cheap.

The lures come in a resealable package, a necessity because it they operate by releasing pheromones that attract moths who think they are going to get free sex. I thought I would have just a few moths that would immediately swarm to the lure, and that would be that. What happened instead was that I had about 20 moths immediately start swarming, but none went to the lure; they just came out in the open. So, the first thing I learned here was that I had a lot bigger moth problem than I imagined and that I would probably need to let the lure just sit there for a while. My presumption was that the pheromones were so strong that they actually disoriented the moths and that they couldn't follow the scent. I figured that was still OK because being disoriented may have meant that they weren't going to jump at each other and reproduce.

So, I waited a few days before I looked inside the trap again. (The trap is a box that has four interior sides that are coated with sticky areas to hold the moths who venture inside.) There were moths stuck to the bottom interior surface; maybe 20. So I rotated the lure so that what had been the ceiling now became the floor and waited a few more days. Again, about 20 moths were stuck to the bottom surface. Next, I put one of the sides on the bottom and after a few days rotated it one more time.

Each lure is supposed to work for about eight weeks. After looking at it, however, I decided to just get rid of this one and start a new one. So, as you can see in the photo, I caught between 60 and 80 moths. (Each little blip on the surface is a moth.) I hope this is getting rid of them faster than they can reproduce. It is certainly getting rid of them faster than my swatting.

Finally, a Warm Saturday

It seems like it has been a long cold month. I was finally able to get a 60F degree Saturday. I spent the afternoon raking leaves and pulling them down to the compost boxes. Jeff helped. Kathy did a little, but she is in no physical shape to do this sort of thing. I shredded two tarps and filled one compost box. Then I filled another tarp and just left it in front of the place where I shred for when I get ambitious again.

Doug Shaw told me one of his bee colonies died. He's not sure if they froze or starved. So I was anxious to look at the hive I still have in my yard. With warm temperatures, bees were coming out. I sensed they were doing a little orienting flights as well as cleaning out the hive to get rid of their dead sisters. There was a small pile of the dead in front of the hive. But, the fact that they are flying around is good news. I haven't checked the hive that is in Clarence Brown's yard recently. He told me they had been out some a week or so ago. If we have a warm day tomorrow, I will take a top feeder and load it with dry sugar. A couple of weeks ago when we checked, it seemed light.

The period between the time just before Christmas until now has been a bit depressing. I didn't recover easily from the collapse of my cold frames. So, my thoughts drifted. Much of the time was actually spent well with my wife and children (in addition to Jeff and Jenna, James and Angie came to visit as did Maya and Patrick). I couldn't do much outside. James and I planted about 20 tulip poplar seedlings. But other than that, I spent time reading -- Outliers by Gladwell (interesting but very light scientifically), Superfreakonomics by Leavitt and Dubner, Sharpe's Prey by Cornwell, and I'm mostly through Predictably Irrational by Ariely.

I am looking forward to getting back to the outdoors, if even only on Saturdays.