Jayne's Urban Paradise

[GoDawgs]

IMG_2751.jpeg

Dragons indeed! ROFL!

[JayneR13]

Another day, another bite out of the elephant! The food pantry garden is tilled and ready to plant on Tuesday. I also put some marigolds in a large pot, along with seeds for hyssop, aster, and convolvulus. Come pollinators! Come hither! There are yums for you!

IMG_2759.jpeg

IMG_2758.jpeg

The two beds I’m going to plant this year are turned and the hose is laid! I found an old, round 50’ soaker while cleaning out the garage, and it’s still good! I’ll have to water the scallions by hand but that’s no big deal. Sharp eyes will also see that the fencing on the wooden bed isn’t complete. Since I’m planning Brussels sprouts in that bed, it’ll get closed! I just need to dig a bit more chicken wire out of my basement.

IMG_2760.jpeg

IMG_2763.jpeg

The hostas are settling in and a few scallions are up! Yay!

IMG_2761.jpeg

IMG_2764.jpeg

The rabbits ate my tulips! Those rotten little devils! I guess I won’t be planting those anymore! I’m glad I fenced the new strawberry patch though. Hopefully a hungry hawk will come by and reduce the population a bit! There is no curse strong enough in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men!

IMG_2762.jpeg

Tomorrow: the deck. Set up the rain barrel, top off the containers, perhaps plant the flowers. Night temperatures will be in the upper 40s over the weekend so I might even plant those tomatoes. I’m still hardening out the other 80 seedlings but these were bought ready.

Happy gardening! Filthy rabbits!

[GoDawgs]

Wow! A beautiful blank canvas full of promise for things to come and just waiting to be painted with plants! Spring has arrived and all of a sudden it's "go time".

Your fight with the rabbits stirred up an old memory. When I was little I remember my father battling rabbits over the tulips and hyacinths. Then he decided to pot up bulbs of both in the fall, bury the pots in the back yard and top it all off with a layer of leaves. In the spring he'd grab up a pot as soon as he spied greenery emerging and would bring it into the house to finish. Some aluminum foil would hide the stains on the old clay pots and we'd have blooms in the house for Easter. To this day the scent of hyacinths never fails to remind me of those days.

[JayneR13]

Another day, another bite out of the ever-growing elephant! I swear that every time I take one bite, two more grow in its place! But it's GO time, and no time to worry about elephants.


All four of the new raised beds for the pantry garden have been assembled! Now they just have to be filled. I've been informed that volunteers from the other church will be tending to these. We'll see how it actually works out.

IMG_2765.jpeg

More onions have sprouted and they're getting bigger! The garlic stems are a bit more yellow than I think they should be and they're not bulbing, but we have a good six weeks before normal harvest time. I have no idea what variety these are as I purchased them from the farmer's market. But at least they are.

IMG_2766.jpeg

My large wooden bed planted with Brussels sprouts, beets, and bunching onions. Some of the onions are from the EKTKS swap, some are bulbils saved from last year. And the fence has been completed. It'll be fun weeding in here but at least the rabbits are excluded. I hope!

IMG_2768.jpeg

First potatoes are up on the bag on the deck! I had a few sprouted in the kitchen so I tossed them in soil. With my garden so much smaller this year, every bit I can plant matters more than usual.

IMG_2767.jpeg

Tulips! A couple have made it, possibly due to last night's storms. So I've immortalized them in a picture because I'm sure the hungry rabbits will be out again soon.

IMG_2769.jpeg

IMG_2770.jpeg

And my lilac tree is blooming! That's good because my yard looks like a hay field and if I wait much longer I won't be able to get the mower through it.

IMG_2771.jpeg

We're supposed to get more storms tonight but not as bad as last night's were. I'll likely leave the seedling trays out so they can get some good rain water. My deck is sheltered on two sides and judging by the weather this year so far, they'd better get used to it! We've had many days with wind gusts above 40 mph! I've noticed over the years that plants love rain water so much more than city water. It'll give them one good drink before Tuesday, when we plant the pantry garden. After that I can finish planting my deck and the garden is IN! Yay!

Happy gardening!

[JayneR13]

The pantry garden is planted! The weather wasn’t the greatest for frost sensitive plants but it wasn’t terrible either, plus I had help. It took us four hours, but we got it done! We were out of there just as the rain started.

Sixty-eight plants! Tomatoes, tomatillos, zucchini, and cucumbers. And onion sets.

IMG_2776.jpeg

The garden is laid out! Measure twice, dig once. The white boards mark the pathways.

IMG_2777.jpeg

And it’s done! The stakes for the Florida weave need to be pounded in a bit better but we need a taller, stronger guy for that. And the rain was starting. Good enough for now!

IMG_2778.jpeg

Once the stakes are better set I can start the weave. PA has ordered some wood chips to make everything pretty and I have replacement plants if needed! If not needed they’ll be distributed since I have plenty for my garden. Next step: finish planting my own! Yay!

Happy gardening!

[GoDawgs]

Looks good! That's one elephant put to rest.

[JayneR13]

Looks good! That's one elephant put to rest.

Not to worry! Elephants breed, as you well know. We no sooner put one to rest than two more arise! It's rather like buying books. I once took four on a trip. I came home with eight! A very cool indie bookstore might have been involved. It's been my experience that elephants breed quicker than cucurbits!

[JayneR13]

So I crossed a thing off of my bucket list today! I visited Heritage Hill State Park, a 56 acre museum that preserves the history of European settlement in this area. It’s pretty cool! There are several buildings showing how our great-grandparents lived and naturally, that includes gardens. One of the placards said that our forebears got 80% of their food from their gardens. Very different from today!


This is the Belgian homestead kitchen garden. Really, aside from some soaker hose this isn’t much different from modern gardens. I didn’t see any tomatoes in yet, nor does the seed package in the gift shop include them. Mostly beans, Swiss chard, parsnips, beets, turnips, melon, and some herbs. Some of these are very old varieties so it’ll be interesting to see if they grow well here.

IMG_2786.jpeg

Hopefully no one is surprised that I bought seeds. It was seeds or a tote.

IMG_2819.jpeg

This is a 19th century herb garden. The sign said this garden is maintained by the NEW Master Gardeners. Again, not that different from today’s methods.

IMG_2806.jpeg

IMG_2807.jpeg

This garden was in the Red Coat encampment. I didn’t get a good picture of the wattle fence but that’s something we don’t see every day! Main crops were squash, beans, and rice. Pretty boring diet but better than being hungry, right?

IMG_2815.jpeg

All in all, a very cool day! There are several ecosystems there, including a native prairie, a tamarack bog, and a natural stream. The Redcoats demonstrated firing a flintlock, which was very heavy to hold but cool to see fired. There were a couple of medical exhibits and let’s just say this: don’t get sick! We’ve come an incredibly long way from arsenic and leeches! Honey, mint, and witch hazel are still used today though.


Please enjoy!

[CtGrower]

Looks like you have been busy! New metal beds, old beds planted, home beds/plants moved! and you still have time for a nice day out! AND time to buy seeds I've been away for a while planning and building stuff....It's ready, but... still too cold here! cross fingers that it will warm up soon!

[GoDawgs]

Hmmm, seeds or tote..... of course your decision was a no brainer.

That was a very nice day you had. It sounds like a place I'd love to visit. See any methods you'd like to try?

I looked at your seed packet list. I'm trying the Crosby Egyptian beets for the first time in my longstanding (and until now, fruitless) quest to grow beets. But by golly, I have five plants that are actually growing! Should have been more in that 6' strip but I'll take what I can get.

Also growing the purple top turnips and have been for ages. They're really prolific and I'm really glad I finally made myself stagger the planting into two 9' sowings. That's still an avalanche so next year three 6' sowings.

[Whwoz]

Love that museum @JayneR13. Fabulous to see old techniques and varieties preserved.

[JayneR13]

@CtGrower Thanks for the compliment but I haven't accomplished all of these things by myself! I've had assistance all along the way, most notably with planting and laying down wood chips at the pantry garden. There were 6 of us there this past Saturday laying down cardboard, new soil, and chips, and we didn't get it all done! We're scheduled to (hopefully) finish up on Thursday morning. And the raised beds are not my responsibility. Those are being taken care of by another volunteer. The day off wasn't an option, really. More of a need!

@GoDawgs I'm thinking I might try those beets myself, although planting two watermelons into that bed isn't a bad idea either. Really, as for new techniques to try, I don't see much that I'm not already doing. Raised beds, mulched paths, bean/pea towers are all things I do or have done. I do wonder if they're planning to mulch the beds once the seedlings are up however. They had to haul water back in those days, and I don't recall seeing a well nearby. The wattle fence at the redcoat encampment was interesting but I'm not sure that would fly with the city, and those appear to be a LOT of work to make! Chicken wire is cheap and easy. One modern innovation I totally approve of is soaker hose! And running water, of course. And congratulations on the beets that have sprouted! That's more than I can say at the moment.

@Whwoz Indeed, it's a lovely place! I was able to listen to spoken Walloon at that kitchen garden, and the historical interpreter was a fountain of knowledge! The museum has interpreters in several of the buildings on any given day and this lady was a descendant of the Walloons who came to this area. She informed me that there are only 50 or so Walloon speakers globally, so the language is dying out. That's a pity but change is the one biological constant, right?

Two very interesting exhibits were the fort hospital and the surgeon at the redcoat encampment. He knew the purpose of every tool and medicine in common use at that time and was very interesting to speak with! One of the placards at the fort hospital discussed the common diseases such as cholera, malaria, and dystentery and he knew them well! Dental care was an interesting topic; evidently the officers might brush every day but the enlisted men simply didn't so rotten teeth were common. No one flossed, and he informed me that the English sweetened their tea by rubbing sugar on to their back teeth! I'd have never thought of that.

Yup, very interesting history lesson! Today is planting out day for my own garden, although I'm not up for hauling soil just yet. The soil in my deck pots has compacted a bit and though I've aerated them, some need a bit more. I knew that though, so will plant what's easy and leave the last bit for tomorrow. And Thursday, finish up at the pantry garden. One thing's for sure there: weeding will be a very easy chore! But I'm sure the gardening gods will come up with something else. Don't they always?

[CtGrower]

@JayneR13 Good to have help for sure! I bet you did much of the planning.

A day off at an interesting, historical place is such a treat! We have something similar nearby in Massachusetts called Sturbridge Village. It is a recreated rural town from the 1830's with stores, farms and mills etc... One of the mills (I think it was the grist mill) was moved from our town in Ct to Sturbridge Village when power by water was no longer used. We also enjoy visiting Williamsburg, but it is much further away.

[GoDawgs]

Looks good! That's one elephant put to rest.

Not to worry! Elephants breed, as you well know. We no sooner put one to rest than two more arise!

Elephant.png

[JayneR13]

My home garden is IN! I need to run to the hardware store to finish the rain barrel, but the rest is DONE! Yay! Now we’re in maintenance mode.

The deck containers are in: 9 tomatoes, 3 flower pots, 1 golden squash, and 1 potato bag.

IMG_2821.jpeg

IMG_2820.jpeg

The final bed has been planted with 4 Costata Romanesco zucchini. These are tasty but they’re also the variety that taught me about mosaic virus. That’s why they’re alone in their own bed. The shallots are coming along nicely.

IMG_2824.jpeg

The garlic is also coming along. No scapes from the hard necks yet though! Those are always a sign that harvest is coming soon.

IMG_2830.jpeg

This area got a good weeding so now I can see the calaminthas and my rose. Unfortunately, for reasons I don’t know, my established lavender didn’t come back. Bummer because neither did the other one.

IMG_2831.jpeg

I planted 20 crowns in here and fenced it off, and all I get is one sprouted strawberry?? Evidently I love them but they don’t love me!

IMG_2825.jpeg

I did however find a couple of the crowns I planted under the lilac tree. Maybe there’s hope!

IMG_2829.jpeg

[JayneR13]

A volunteer broccoli. I moved it into the bed with the other brassicas but it isn’t looking happy. Oh well.

IMG_2826.jpeg

This is another disappointing area. The blackberries have been growing for a couple of years, but this year they’ve sent stolons out in the wrong directions. Those have sprouted but my rose has vanished.

IMG_2827.jpeg

At least my new dewy pine is happy! It’s eating bugs. I love biological controls!

IMG_2822.jpeg

And Miss Yin has claimed the top of the recliner. She’s turning into quite the cuddler! The terrified cat hiding in my basement is long gone. Yay!

IMG_2823.jpeg

Tomorrow, a quick trip to the hardware store to finish the rain barrel. Thursday is finish the pantry garden, including replacing any plants that need it. Then it’s night pantry, so that will be a long day! Yes I get a shower & hopefully a nap in between, but still-a long day. But that’s how we make the best use of a short growing season, so Alley-Oop! It’s GO time!

Happy gardening!

[GoDawgs]

Congratulations on getting your garden in! That's always a sigh of relief around here.

Ah, the snoozing Miss Yin. I am so glad she's finally turned the corner and put the days of fear behind her. Trust is one of those items in life's garden that is slow to grow and takes a while to bloom.

[JayneR13]

So I ran to the hardware store to get what I needed to finish my rain barrel. I thought I’d just grab what I needed and go. There was some time before the next bus so I decided to hit the garden center. I’m done planting, I said. I don’t need to buy anything. I’ll just check out the sales. 3-4 packs of strawberries, 1-6 pack of lamia, and 1 cauliflower, none of which was on sale.

IMG_2832.jpeg

But now the new strawberry patch has something growing in it! I found a few of the crowns I’d planted, looking dried up and dead. I have no idea because I soaked them before planting and watered them in, plus the ground there holds moisture well. Go figure. So I’m trying again. Varieties are Honeoye, Allstar, and Quinault.

IMG_2833.jpeg

And yes, the rain barrel is finished! Just in time for the rain.

[JayneR13]

And the food pantry garden is IN! I went over today to replace plants that needed replacing, start the Florida weave, and of course weed. I'm doubtful that the garden will see any more mulch than this, but that's not the end of the world. At least the mud problem is technically solved. There were a number of plants that didn't appreciate the nights in the 40s and I had to completely resow the cucumbers! And we've got a couple of those over the next few days as well. Sigh.

IMG_2834.jpg

IMG_2835.jpg

On the up shot, my cauliflower and volunteer broccoli have decided to live. But will they produce? That is the question! I've yet to grow my first good head of cauliflower but I got close last year! The head was growing nicely, then started rotting and that was that. So, trying again.

IMG_2836 copy.jpg

Yay for maintenance phase! My skin is a lot darker than it was a mere two weeks ago and I can feel the burn here & there. We're supposed to get some storms that may be strong tomorrow so we'll see how the new downspout I made for my rain barrel works. And rest up a bit. Mother is saving me the trouble of watering but weeding is forever!

[CtGrower]

Your garden looks good! Too bad about the cucumbers. The cold weather has been a challenge this year. Not much does well with highs in the 40's! But it seems to be warming up for the most part. Your garlic looks nice.

We get wood chips from the tree trimming companies for free. They like to find places to dump the chips after trimming branches, we get chips for free that don't have a chance of having jumping worms. It's a win-win for us.