We got the 80 pavers yesterday at Home Depot as they were having a sale on them, 4/$1.00. It was $20 well spent. Some will be used when we reset the tomato growing area. We've been growing half of the tomatoes in buckets on pallets (some kind of tomato wilt in the natural soil) and the other half on pallets by the house. This year they'll all be done by the house which means adding a second row of pallets. The pavers will go under the corners of each pallets to keep them off the ground. It also seems to deter fire ants from getting into the buckets.

This is the pallet line from last year and as always the pallets need yearly replacing. We've already rounded up enough for this line and will check today to see if more are available. I get them free from where I used to work. A thick layer of cardboard goes under them to keep the grass down. I can get all I need from a local grocery store. They're glad to get rid of cartons from incoming shipments.



We unloaded 48 of the pavers by the tomato site and stacked the rest elsewhere for future projects.



The row cover came off the potatoes as soon as the dew dried off. The potatoes are happy. These are the Kennebecs:



And finally, these are flowers from a bolting Georgia collard. I'm letting it go to seed for collection.

Rockporter wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 6:56 pm Have you thought about making your raised beds about 32" high so that when it does rain it wouldn't cause an issue for what you have planted there? It might also hold some extra water for the heat of summer and water thirsty crops. Just a thought!!!

Good thought but nope. It would cost a fortune to make beds that big and fill them. That trellis with the peas is in the open area below the beds and we were talking about just making a narrow raised bed just for that trellis since it's now a permanent fixture. We don't want any more beds in that open area as it's used for corn, sunflowers, etc.

This is a shot of the area on Jan 25th of this year and is something that happens every Jan-Feb, some years more than others. The snap pea trellis is on the far side and was just above the water line then. With all the Feb rain the area hadn't dried out enough and so this time the water reached the trellis.



The area as a whole would need at least 6-8" of soil to level it. The last time I had a load of soil brought in to make raised beds the nematodes came in with it so never again. We'll just deal with it. When I planted the peas I thought we were done with the February flooding. I guess not! I was thinking about some hugelkultur beds but then that's more beds and I need that area to stay open. I just need to remind myself to NOT schedule planting anything in that area until at least mid April!

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 7:28 am

Rockporter wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 6:56 pm Have you thought about making your raised beds about 32" high so that when it does rain it wouldn't cause an issue for what you have planted there? It might also hold some extra water for the heat of summer and water thirsty crops. Just a thought!!!

Good thought but nope. It would cost a fortune to make beds that big and fill them. That trellis with the peas is in the open area below the beds and we were talking about just making a narrow raised bed just for that trellis since it's now a permanent fixture. We don't want any more beds in that open area as it's used for corn, sunflowers, etc.

This is a shot of the area on Jan 25th of this year and is something that happens every Jan-Feb, some years more than others. The snap pea trellis is on the far side and was just above the water line then. With all the Feb rain the area hadn't dried out enough and so this time the water reached the trellis.



The area as a whole would need at least 6-8" of soil to level it. The last time I had a load of soil brought in to make raised beds the nematodes came in with it so never again. We'll just deal with it. When I planted the peas I thought we were done with the February flooding. I guess not! I was thinking about some hugelkultur beds but then that's more beds and I need that area to stay open. I just need to remind myself to NOT schedule planting anything in that area until at least mid April!

Wow, what a bummer about the nematodes. I wish you the best of luck.

It's a misty morning here in Masters Golf land for Day 2 of practice rounds before tomorrow's Par 3 competition. Mild temperatures, no wind, little chance of rain but cloudy. Golfers and patrons alike should be happy. And NO pollen clouds! It came early and has been washed away by all the rain. I'm eager to see what the azaleas at Amen Corner look like because they too started early and might be a bit past peak. Still, I'm glad I'm 30 miles away from all the hubbub.

The garden is loving the mild weather and all the rain we've had. Lots of good growth and plants are getting pretty. I love the different shades of colors and plant forms.

This is 'Blauer Spec' kohlrabi in a gray-green dress with magenta lines:



Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage is gracefully wrapping to form a pretty pointed head.



The Wando peas are starting to climb faster and so far there's no sign of funk.



And finally, what are supposed to be pheasant eye daffodils are blooming but I've never seen the characteristic red fringe around the edge of the corona. No telling what they really are. They're always later than the rest.



I got a future bean bed weeded this morning but it's still too wet deeper down to fork it up yet. There are still two weeks before I'd like to plant beans. More rain this weekend so I need to cover that bed with plastic right before the rain to keep it from getting any wetter. We'll see.

Everything is looking so good although you’ve had more than your share of wet weather.
Reminds me of spring in New England.

I finished up entering March weather data into my record and then compared first quarter and just March rain totals with all the other same periods going back the 24 years I've kept this data. During the first quarter of this year we've had 19.05" of rain, the most of any other year's first quarter going back to 1999. It beat second place 2017 by 2.8"! This March itself we got 6.4", only beaten by 2005's 6.7" so yeah... we've been WET!

Now I know where our rain went. We have had 3.73” for the entire first quarter of the year. Normally, it’s closer to 10”.

The tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are growing fast. There aren't many more links left on the chains used to raise the light fixtures. Well, at least for the regular sized tomatoes. I've made a list of the five varieties that are the tallest, thinking I maybe need to start them a week later than everybody else next year. Those are on the front row closest to the camera. For now, if they get much taller it will be time to transplant them into yogurt containers and set them out on the porch to meet real life. Soon.



The dwarf tomatoes plus one micro are much smaller. They'll be fine for a good while longer.



These are the peppers and two eggplants. The four Gypsys are the tallest and I cut out the apical bud two days ago so they should start bushing and not get taller until a new leader forms.



The Chinese String eggplant is going nuts! This one MUST get shifted up into a larger container and head to the porch. It wants to cover the neighboring peppers and invade their space. Sounds familiar... but I digress.



I need to contact the manager of a local supermarket and see if they'll let me have a lot of the collapsed cardboard boxes left after a semi delivers stuff and the contents are all stocked. They gladly gave me a lot last year. It's time to revamp the two rows of pallets the tomato buckets will sit on. The cardboard will go under the pallets for weed/grass prevention.

Spring is starting to move fast! Two weeks until bean and corn planting followed by tomatoes, weather permitting. The first week of May is time to plant the sweet potatoes, okra and watermelons if the soil's warm enough.

Here come the sweet potato slips! This works better for me than the potato in a jar of water method. Besides, I only need about 15 slips max and I'll get them. There were four little 5"x1" sweets planted which were just about all that was left from last year's harvest and they were already sprouting nicely when they were planted in the box. Those are the most recent batch of micro tomatoes behind the sweets. Three of the four are already blooming.



More whipsaw weather ahead! After a cool misty week it cleared yesterday and got up to 89. Whew! It was the first day the AC was turned on this year. 80's again today and then a cold front moves through this evening bringing rain and colder weather again:

"We will notice much cooler temperatures Saturday with wind chills in the 40s and 50s all day long. Rain chances are high early Saturday and should stay elevated through most of the day. Sustained winds 10-15 mph and gusts over 20 mph look likely during the day Saturday."

I think this afternoon before the rain comes in I will cover with plastic that bed I need to dig to keep more rain out of it! "April showers bring May flowers." Harumph!

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Thu Apr 06, 2023 6:41 am Here come the sweet potato slips! This works better for me than the potato in a jar of water method. Besides, I only need about 15 slips max and I'll get them. There were four little 5"x1" sweets planted which were just about all that was left from last year's harvest and they were already sprouting nicely when they were planted in the box. Those are the most recent batch of micro tomatoes behind the sweets. Three of the four are already blooming.



More whipsaw weather ahead! After a cool misty week it cleared yesterday and got up to 89. Whew! It was the first day the AC was turned on this year. 80's again today and then a cold front moves through this evening bringing rain and colder weather again:

"We will notice much cooler temperatures Saturday with wind chills in the 40s and 50s all day long. Rain chances are high early Saturday and should stay elevated through most of the day. Sustained winds 10-15 mph and gusts over 20 mph look likely during the day Saturday."

I think this afternoon before the rain comes in I will cover with plastic that bed I need to dig to keep more rain out of it! "April showers bring May flowers." Harumph!

Looking really good!

The cold front arrived this afternoon. We went from 86 out there at 3:30 to 51 in five hours. It's still dropping. Winds are gusting to 20mph. The rain will arrive sometime tonight and stay all day tomorrow, sometimes heavy. At least there's no threat of tornadoes.The red line is temp. Highs of 49 predicted for the next two days. The brassicas will be much happier.



Yesterday Pickles cleared off the old row of pallets that held last year's tomato buckets, accumulated leaves under them and the very little cardboard left from what had been lain underneath. New cardboard and pallets will be laid there as well as a new second pallet row to accommodate the ones moving up from the garden. That's an old pine stump next to the pallet area and there are a few junk bradford seedlings growing. They'll get cut and the stubs painted with pure RoundUp. They won't be back.



While Pickles was working on that I went to town to see if the supermarket manager would let me have more cardboard like he did last year. All I wanted! At that moment they were stocking shelves from a shipment that arrived that morning and so had a bunch ready to do away with. Just dropped the back seat and loaded up two buggy loads to start with as Pickles already has some stashed away in the shed from Amazon deliveries. I can always get more if needed.



This morning that wet bean bed was just dry enough to fork up so I did and then prepped it for a plastic cover to keep tomorrow's rain out. Those are stakes with old cheap tennis balls over the tops so the stakes don't poke holes in the plastic. Enough elevation to let the rain run off. Bricks to hold the plastic down. We covered it this evening around sunset during a brief lull in the wind. About two weeks to bean planting.



100% chance of rain tomorrow so I think I'll bake bread. It's a nice rainy day activity.

You are getting all my rain! At least the next few days are showing we might get some here and there.
What a crazy day for you yesterday.

It's a rainy, cold day and after a week of 80's we'll be around 47 for most of the day. I'm sure glad that bed got covered last night. I have bread rising and the Masters on so the day isn't a complete washout.

Some of the tomato overachievers were out on the porch as were the two eggplants that got put in larger containers yesterday. I brought them in to stay warm for the next two days.



Meanwhile the Gypsy peppers have gotten a lot larger than all of the others and so I'm going to have to shift them up to a slightly larger container and move them to the porch too once warmer weather comes back.



There's new growth on them where I cut out the apical bud. There will be a new leader on the scoreboard!



And the Gypsys are also starting to bush after the cut. They're going to be pretty plants.



Time to go knock down the regular bread dough and let it rise again. I'm also making English muffin bread for toasting. Time to start that. If I've timed it right, the EM bread will be ready to go into the oven right as the regular bread comes out. The house will smell so good in a while!

There is nothing like fresh baking bread smell to make you ravenous, especially on a chilly day.

PlainJane wrote: ↑Sat Apr 08, 2023 11:18 am There is nothing like fresh baking bread smell to make you ravenous, especially on a chilly day.

It's a perfect day for homemade soup. Lots of kinds were put up last year. And the bread will be a perfect go-with.

Saturday sure was a washout. Lots of northeast wind along with the rain. It was a miserable day. Sunday morning I discovered a limb had come down from the pecan tree near the garden. It was stuck about 6-8" into the ground. Glad I wasn't under it at the time!



The forecast last night was flirting with possible frost for this morning. I didn't believe it but won't take any chances with those two potato beds. They got covered.



The plants had outgrown the hoops on that back bed of Yukons so it was time to once again "make it up as you go along". Some stakes and baling twine provided the framework.



Old bed sheets and clothespins were the cover. Ends were open but that would be ok as it was just a frost cover.



And of course it only got down to 39 so this all wasn't necessary anyway. Time to let all the dew dry off the sheets since the trellises aren't being used right now.



I seriously need to take the weed whacker down between the beds. It's getting to be a jungle in some places. Oh, and yes I did make both English muffin bread and sandwich bread on Saturday.

Yum!

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 10:27 am Saturday sure was a washout. Lots of northeast wind along with the rain. It was a miserable day. Sunday morning I discovered a limb had come down from the pecan tree near the garden. It was stuck about 6-8" into the ground. Glad I wasn't under it at the time!

Wow, scary to see that. With it that deep into the ground maybe you could plant a vining flower under it, lol.

Great work! Enjoyed following along in your season. I didn’t know about cutting the apical bud in peppers, that’s something I’ll have to research. I only have one pepper seedling languishing in a 4” and it has kind of stunted, perhaps it needs a kick in the pants.

The peas (Wando) are doing really well for the most part. However there's a 5' stretch on the south end of both beds where the peas aren't as tall. Maybe nematodes at work? The peas in the first section of row of both sides (end to the first post) are about 6" shorter than the rest of the peas. Otherwise they look good and don't have any yellowing starting at the bottom.



The sweet potato slips are really coming on now. This was seven days ago:



This is today:



I've had to clip back a few that were getting too tall but they're just sending out new leaders. They didn't grow this fast last year so I backed up the start date this year by two weeks. Hmmm, I need to rethink that for next year. These won't be going into the ground until the first week of May.