John's Latest Project

We've purchased a storeroom for out back of the house.  We just need more storage space and John wants to move the freezer out there.  I've actually convinced him we need a bigger freezer, so we'll be getting one soon.  This is the shell after it was delivered and set up.

Happy man, he has a new project!

John has added two windows since it's arrived, and we spent one morning painting it. Don't you hate that darn blue tape - it never works like they promise it will.  The paint is the same green as the house, with white trim and a red door.

All the green is done, the red door is done, and now it's just trim to finish up.

Today John worked on getting electricity to the building, adding a light inside, plugs and outlets.  He cut out space for an a/c unit.  He's going to work on insulation and sheet rock inside in the next few weeks. 

I secretly think he's making a man cave, I'll let you know if I'm right in the future! ha!

Garden Log --- March 28, 2018

On Sunday, I finished up Bed #C2:

1. Dark Star Zucchini - FB Garden Group
2. White Scallop Squash - Tradewind Fruits

Then I began Bed #C3:

1. Black Mountain Pink Tomato (2) - FB Garden Group
2. Lemon Basil - Ferry Morse Seed Co.
3. Haba Nada Peppers - FB Garden Group
4. Hog Heart Tomato - FB Garden Group
5. Large Barred Boar Tomato - FB Garden Group

Then Tuesday, I finished planting the rest of #C3 bed:

1. Red Russian Kale - Seedsnow.com
2. Tronchuda (cabbage) Kale - Pinetree Garden Seeds
3. Burpee Golden Beets - Seed Savers Exchange
4. Palco Spinach - FB Garden Group
5. America Spinach - Seed Savers Exchange
6. Atomic Red Carrots - Bountiful Gardens
7. European Soldier Pole Beans - FB Garden Group
8. Pink Flamingo Pole Beans - FB Garden Group
9. Brad's Atomic Grape Tomato - FB Garden Group
10. Rumi Banjan Tomato - FB Garden Group

 Hog Heart Tomato

Rumi Banjan Tomato

Can you see the little European Soldier on this bean? Funny!

And then planted the little blue swimming pool with:

1. Australian Butter Squash - FB Garden Group
2. Sweet Dumpling Squash - FB Garden Group 

Just to ruin some of the work I did during the day, last night we had 3.5 inches of rain which washed thru the newest beds and disturbed the kale! Drat! I'll have to re-cover those seeds as best as possible (the napkins held the seeds in place pretty well -- happy about that!) 

Torrential rain disaster (But I can fix it!)

In between, I finally got the two Truly Tiny banana trees out of the greenhouse.  They really looked dead, but low and behold, they're coming back from the base! So they got a good cleaning up, new soil, and fertilizer.  They're in their summer spot in the pergola.

Now I'll spend some time cleaning up all the dead plants in pots and replant those with various seeds and plants in the potting garden and some for the pavilion.  

We have blooms on the snow peas, finally - pods to follow shortly! These little flowers are so pretty. 

The cabbage bed is outgrowing the netting that I put on it when I transplanted them -- I'm going to have to figure out how to lift it some to give these plants some head space.  I'm thinking I need to get another piece of this netting and sew them together...we'll see.

 I brought in a few leaves of the Chirimen Hakusai cabbage to include in a meal this week.  A pretty Chinese type cabbage. My first harvest this spring (0.4 ounces!)

The Voyage Reistomate tomato plant is starting to bloom, too! 

 Isn't this Silbertanne tomato the frilliest thing you've ever seen? Very different -- I'm 

excited to see what this tomato will look like.

 Lettuce Leaf Basil - getting bigger!

 This is what's left from the greenhouse. I need to find homes for all of these plants. I CAN DO it!!

Mouse was my garden companion today. Love this old girl!

Garden Log --- March 24, 2018

Gosh, the first day of Spring came and went! Happy Spring, everyone! It's been feeling very spring like here for a while....

Signs of Spring - Tangerine Cross Vine - these vines are covered right now!

Yesterday John golfed most of the day, so I worked out in the garden and got quite a bit done.  I finished up bed #C1 and made a start on Bed #C2:

1. Karos Tomato (2) - FB Garden Group (this is the 3rd and final tomato that I'm growing out for the group. This appears to be a cherry type, another from Germany.) 
2. Beit Alpha Cucumber - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
3. Miniature White Cucumber - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
4. Zapallo Del Tronco Summer Squash - Bountiful Gardens
5. Zephyr Summer Squash - Pinetree Garden Seeds
6. Chinese Giant Sweet Pepper - Ferry-Morse

No gardening today, but here are a few pictures of how the garden is progressing.  I love seeing things start to pop out of the soil!

My little mix of bat quano, worm castings, and azomite rock dust, along with the sand and manure compost does work wonders. 

 The various cow peas are starting to peek out.  There are a few stubborn slow-pokes, but I think they'll eventually show up.

 More various vegetables...

 The tomatoes are really getting big!

 Snow peas - look at that mess of tendrils!

 The squash house in late March.

Bed #C1

 A yellow tomatillo and a Purple Coban tomatillo

 We have spinach!

 See that little green spot in the middle? That's my first ever Broad Fava Bean. Excited!! A garden blogger I follow tells me that I'll need to stake these as they get top heavy. I'm learning something new every day!

 The Siber Frill Kale is starting to get a little frilly!

 The Dwarf Orinoco banana tree

Dwarf Cavendish banana tree

The Gala apple tree is blooming....

...at the same time as the Pink Lady apple tree. First time ever in 6 years that we've had these two trees.  Does that mean maybe an apple or two this year?  I sure hope so!

Sunday I'll be back in the garden! More then!

Garden Log --- March 22, 2018

I finished Bed #C1 today.  After the Flathead Monster Orange tomatoes and the jalapenos, we have:

1. Regiment Spinach - Territorial Seed Company
2. Viroflay Spinach - Pinetree Garden Seeds
3. Stuttgarter Onions - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
4. Cardinal Swiss Chard - Pinetree Garden Seeds
5. Hong Tae Pak Choy - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
6. Extra Dwarf Pak Choy - (saved seeds)
7. Winter Density Lettuce - Seedsnow.com
8. Black Nebula Carrots - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
9. Sweetheart Beets - Seed Savers Exchange
10. Roxa Beans - FB Garden Group (looks like a lima bean, couldn't find any information on this one online.)

My little Stuttgarter Onions

I finished fertilizing the big banana trees and put new soil in their containers and moved them to their summer spots.  They got a good dose of fish fertilizer.  The same for the Brown Turkey Fig which is now situated in front of the pergola in the potted garden.  I brought out several other plants from the greenhouse, and will be doing the same for them tomorrow. I ran out of steam! ha!

The pecan trees are starting to leaf out...

and my Dad's bearded iris are just beautiful right now. I wish these would flower longer - it seems like we get a big flush of these in early spring and then that's it.  They just don't last long, so I'm enjoying them while I can.

More garden news tomorrow!

Garden Log --- March 21, 2018

Very slow start to Bed #C1. I got the tomatoes in and two Jalapeno Pepper plants, but that's about all I got done on that side of the garden yesterday.

Bed #C1:
Flathead Monster Orange Tomatoes (2) - FB Garden Group
Jalapeno LaBomba (2) - purchased plants

Then I planted some pole (dry) beans on the Squash House (all of these seeds came from my FB Garden Group):
Side 1:
Good Mother Stallard Beans (34 seeds)
Black Valentine Beans (8 seeds)
Side 2:
Alabama Black Butter Beans (7 seeds)
True Red Cranberry Beans (4 seeds)
Monachelle di Trivio Beans (6 seeds)
Missouri Wonder Beans (6 seeds)

 Some of these bean seeds are just beautiful!

I planted the Thunbergia (mixed colors) plants and some gourds (Swan, Birdhouse, Crown of Thorns, Bule, Dinosaur and some mixed small gourds) and that I started in the greenhouse along the potted garden fence - hopefully they'll all live and cover that fence with greenery! I've had mixed results with gourds, I think there are just some years that are better then others and we humans really have no control of it.) ha!

  

 The Tangerine Cross Vine is starting to pop!

Taking some of the big plants out of the greenhouse now - the avocado tree really took off during the winter - it's branching out now.  I gave it a good spraying, fertilizer and some new soil and put it back in it's summer spot. It looks happy!

I'll be working on the banana trees this week.  They all seemed to have survived!
😋

St. Patty's Day Fun

We had such a great visit on Saturday with friends and family, and all of our grandkids! Yea!  Mari and John Hoyt brought their two grands, too, so there were kids running everywhere. So much fun!

 Baby chicks, turkies, and a big pile of sand were a big hit!

 They played in the little house and the big green swing -- everyone took a turn!

 Max fed the chickens...

 ...and the turkey!

 Joss with a bunny pop!

 Hi Addie!

 Everyone got an Easter duck! Little stuffed ducks everywhere!

Addie and Joss

KT and Joss!