The Dawg Patch

[GoDawgs]

Not much has been happening during the past week except getting ready for Christmas. The predicted four straight mornings with lows in the low 20's has been changed to two days, a 23 tomorrow and 28 the day after so there are just a few items I want to cover today. And it won't be as windy as they had thought so that job will be easier.

I yanked the Beit Alpha cuke seedlings out of the germ test container and put in ten Choppee okra seeds. Why didn't I think about doing germ tests this way earlier? The okra will take a bit longer to come up.

The problem about finding safe and affordable spring potting soil for the tomatoes and eggplants has been solved. After delivering Christmas cookies to my former work place yesterday (a 15 year tradition), I chatted with the head honcho and will be able to get a pickup load of their nursery potting mix. Adding some of my own compost to it will help with water retention. Boy, am I relieved that the potting soil problem has been solved!

An update on the indoor micro tomatoes. I have four Red Robins all started about 3-4 weeks apart. Red Robin #1 is loaded and the first two tomatoes are starting to turn. #2 is now setting little green BB's all over it. So far so good.



The Tangerine Dream pepper is also doing well. There are more peppers on the other side of it and also in the interior. It's the first time I've tried growing one indoors and the peppers are about the size they were when growing it outdoors. We'll see how long it takes for them to turn orange. Meanwhile I can still snatch a green one if needed for a salad.



Two days until Winter Solstice. It will be nice seeing the days getting longer bit by bit!

[PlainJane]

Great news about the potting soil.

[GoDawgs]

Great news about the potting soil.

You are so right about that! And after tomato season I can add all of that back to the compost pile for rejuvenation.

Now I can start expanding my grow list beyond the few "must haves" and retrys. There were a few new-to-me tomatoes that sure didn't get a fair shake in last year's first growing, tomatoes like Rosedale, Bill Bean, Punta Banda and four dwarfs. And then there are ALL of those MMMM seeds that need to be tried. I need another life or two.

[GoDawgs]

The Garden Stretcher is at work. Ten days after staking out the corners of that new bed I want to make I finally got started this morning. Well, there's been Christmas prep going on and a dozen other excuses that are just that... excuses! Gotta get in the right frame of mind for things like this. All of a sudden this morning it was like, "I think I'll start on that new bed", and so I did.

First step was placing the string along the border and edging along it with a flat shovel.



Next the process of skimming off the sod with a mattock. After starting at one end and finding sod piling up around my feet I decided to just skim down the long sides, rake it all up and set to the side with a pitchfork and repeat. That works a lot more efficiently.



Then came the thought about disposal of all the skimmings. I realized that there was a lot of soil clinging to the grass clods so I need to bring down the garden cart, fork the stuff into it, bang the soil off the clods, toss the now-soil free clods to the side and then dump the rescued soil back into the bed. A good stopping point to go get lunch. I think that this afternoon I will process what I've already skimmed off and then start another round or two of skimming. Rinse and repeat.

Meanwhile the first small clump of the little wild daffies by the big oak tree are popping up. I want to say they're about a month early but that's not always so. By no means are they an indicator of spring coming early!

[PlainJane]

Hope you are having our nice weather while you work outside - gentle sun, light breeze, mid to high 60s.

[GoDawgs]

I got half the bed done today. I did bring the wagon and soil screen to the bed and got the soil out of everything I dug. That was a good thing as there was a LOT of soil to put back into the bed. It slowed skimming progress but it all had to be done anyway.

Tomorrow is supposed to be really nice and in the 60's so I'll be able to finish up.

[GoDawgs]

It's been a few days since I posted. Lots of football to watch, rainy days and New Year's snacks to make. I'm half way through skimming sod off the new bed but now have to wait for it to dry out some so I can shake the soil off the clods. But the indoor micro tomatoes and the Tangerine Dream pepper keep growing, so I thought I'd close out 2023 with a few pics of what's going on now.

Here's the Tangerine Dream pepper. The largest one is 3.5" long. There's an orange colored thing projecting from the point of it. The smaller peppers have a white one. I've never noticed these before and wonder if orange means the pepper is about to start changing color.



This is the oldest of the three Red Robin micro tomatoes. Almost ready!



Red Robin #2 is starting to load up little greenies. #3 is starting to flower.



I have a dwarf 'Premus' going and it has maxed out at 2' tall. It now has five greenies on it. Interesting shape. The tomato is 1.5" across so far. It's supposed to make 2" tomatoes.



I got my seed orders placed yesterday. It's kind of become tradition for me to get them in on Dec 30th or 31st. I've already gotten most of the 2024 garden planned but now have to find room for a few extra things that got added to the seed list. It always happens! Gotta have a few toys. I guess I'd better get that new bed ready.

And so I guess the 2023 garden is officially done with the exception of a few late fall holdovers. As usual there have been some ups and downs and other than the herbicided tomato disaster there were more ups than downs, something to be thankful for.

I wish all of you a peaceful 2024 with super successful gardens and few trials and tribulations!

[GoDawgs]

The Tangerine Dreams are turning!



One of the things I ordered in the fall and started was Kalibos cabbage. It was supposed to be very upright, tightly spiraled and a gorgeous red. That's not what's growing from the seed I got. I've e-mailed the vendor to see if they've had any other reports of this.





Southern Exposure and Jung seed orders arrived yesterday. Yay! I got them filed away and added to the seed box inventory list. Today I will be starting two kinds of kohlrabi seeds Blauer Spec and Kolibri. I'll also be starting some arugula. The plants growing in the window box on the porch have been adding to salads all winter but the leaves have gotten small as they are starting to bolt.

[AKgardener]

Look amazing!!

[GoDawgs]

I've been out of town up north for four days and got back Monday. It's GOOD to be home!

So... we have this arctic blast coming through. Forecast: "Frigid temperatures expected early this morning with actual lows between 20-24° and wind chills between 0°-18°. "

Yesterday Pickles and I covered what counted; two carrot rows, the younger turnip row, the garlic and scallions, daikon radishes. Pulled a couple small cabbages that were ready and some carrots before they were covered.



I was rethinking the covering on short plants as with a plastic covered tunnel it would probably be as cold inside it as it would be outside of it. Maybe make small tunnels of welded wire we use for short pea fencing. I've done this before with short lengths here and there and put the cover over them, not under.





Since the rolls are 18' long (as are the beds) I would kinda bend them into a half circle, lay row cover right on the plants and then cover that with the wire "tunnel" to hold it in place. I was thinking that the rumpled row cover would have air pockets that might insulate a bit better than just laying a folded strip over them. Bricks on top to hold the whole thing in place since we're to have wind. If you look closely you can see Lester at the very top, supervising. Again, an exercise in making it up as you go along.



It's time to buy a new roll of this stuff. What I'm using is about 20 years old at least but still in OK shape and the six rolls of pea fence are kept in the shed but having been used over time for this and that project, they're all that's left of the original roll.

We used the newly created "pup tent" design for the garlic, employing old folded bed sheets and a stretch of baling twine. It will have to do. The last time I left the garlic uncovered at 20 degrees it got really burned and set back a bit. Better to be safe than sorry.



So we're ready, I guess. It will warm for a few days and then more cold comes in so we'll just leave everything in place through the weekend. Anyway, it's GOOD to be home and wave at you guys again!

[PlainJane]

Yep, it’s officially yo-yo season.

[GoDawgs]

While I was gone up north Pickles added a fourth compartment to Compost Row.



Right now the working pile is second from the left and it has settled down from the last turning. I'll not be adding any more to it but I have started a new one in Bin #3, the one to the right of the working pile. The plan is that the next time I turn the working pile it will go into Bin #1 (far left) and the new one will get turned into #2.

Right now Bin #4 contains some excess material that's getting added to the pile being built but we've noticed that something is sleeping in it at night. There are definite body shaped dents in it.


Pickles set up the game cam Thursday night to see what it 's sleeping there (deer or possums?) but unfortunately the flash didn't work because all the night pics were black. Day pics were OK. She changed the batteries in it last night and it seemed to be working so she set it up by the compost bin again.

Yesterday I started the first round of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Swiss chard, four of each. In the background are a six-pack of arugula and a 4-pack each of two kinds of kohlrabi that were started on the 9th. Next week more cabbage with longer finish times and the collards will be started. Off we go into a new season!



It's 25 out there this morning pre-dawn. The weather forecast is for lows in the upper teens tomorrow and Monday mornings. We'll see.

[PlainJane]

You sure do get good use out of things!

[GoDawgs]

You sure do get good use out of things!

I hate to see good useful stuff go to waste, especially if I can use it and it's FREE! I've got a piece of old leaky garden hose that I keep around for making handle covers for 5 gallon buckets. A 4" piece of hose slit down one side fits right over the bucket handle making it comfortable to carry, especially when the cheap plastic piece over the wire handle disintegrates.

Last month when we hauled the trash to the county landfill I spied a perfectly good lightweight, bamboo handled, fine meshed butterfly net laying on top of the roll off into which we were tossing the trash bags. So I rescued it and will use it to scoop up any cabbage moths I find flitting around in the garden this spring. Better to catch the moths than have to deal with their plant-munching caterpillar offspring!

[GoDawgs]

Warmer weather is back so the game cam goes back out tonight. Yesterday after I took the covers off stuff in the garden I smoothed the top of the leaf bin and this morning there were several small depressions in it. We'll see. Maybe.

I just finished forking the first bed of the season. It's one of the two at the top of the garden where the brassicas will go. First ones go out Feb 10, weather permitting. But don't you know both of those beds are ones infested with grape and crape roots. Got two 7 gallon buckets of roots out of that one bed. Man, that's a pain in the patoot and hard work but it's gotta be done both spring and fall to keep the bed useful. I need those beds in the rotation or else I'd plant something perennial in there and say the heck with it!

Yesterday and today the seeds started in 4-packs three days ago have all popped up. Tomorrow I will start different cabbages and a couple of collards. And so it goes!

[GoDawgs]

Some "firsts" for the year.... the first wild daffodil.



AND the first dandelion!



Yesterday I forked up the first bed of the season, one of two invaded by roots from nearby grapes. You can see the grapevines on the fence in the background. Behind the forked bed is the second one I need to do after relocating those perennial bunching onions around the place. That bed will be harder because it's closer to the grapes!



Here are some of the roots that got pulled out of that bed and another full bucket of them behind.



An easier task was starting more brassicas this morning, the last of the January starts. The first shelf is filling up.



We've talked about ripping out the grapes. They've been there about 20 years. In recent years we've not gotten any due to deer and squirrels stealing them all and I'm not about to build a fortress around 50' of grapes! So why keep them when they cause so much hassle with the nearby beds. I am soooo tempted.

[GoDawgs]

These few days of mild temps mean the house plants can go out on the porch for a nice rinse and thorough watering. Note Lester on the lower level drinking water from a plant saucer. He prefers puddles to nice clean water in his bowl. "But Mom, the puddles taste so much better!"



Meanwhile I finished skimming the sod off the new bed location. Next step will be buying and installing the side and end boards (2x8's) and a good tilling with the Mantis.

Until I get those, the shrubs along the front of the house have gone nuts and need a severe haircut. If it doesn't rain today I'll start that job. First up will be the Chinese Fringe which is now totally blocking the computer room windows. Sigh. One plant at a time.

[GoDawgs]

It's Bush Boogie time. The shrubs in front of the house have gone nuts and need big haircuts. One Chinese Fringe had gotten to the point of covering up the front bedroom windows. That one got butchered yesterday. It's ugly now but the thing grows so fast it won't be ugly long. And you can't kill the darned thing anyway!

Having been in the hort industry a long time I know that pruning evergreens in the winter is supposed to be a no-no. It supposedly stimulates new tender growth that will be burned by frosts and freezes. Well, let 'em! Personally, I think evergreens don't decide to flush immediately this time of year. They haven't before. Day length sensitive? We'll see.

Meanwhile I need to start another round of brassicas plus lettuce in a couple of days. Other than that there hasn't been much garden-related stuff going on here. It's the Winter Waiting Game, something we're all playing right about now. It will get busy soon enough so enjoy your time off!

[GoDawgs]

Well, I've been rather slack in posting but there's not been much to post about. There's been cold wind and some rain guaranteed to make one just want to stay inside and hibernate a bit more. That's about to change. Pea planting is eight days away and the weather has turned nice so it's time to get out there and start prepping for peas and general garden cleanup. We made good start on it yesterday.

I got that new de-sodded bed forked and as expected it was full of roots due to the crape myrtle lurking beyond the far end of the bed. The ground was also hard due to years of driving over it with the mower and cart. Oh well, the bed is needed and although it will probably be another annual headache to fork, the bed is needed.



So Phase Two of making the bed is done. Next week is the final Phase Three when I'll buy and add the sideboards. I'm taking today off and there's supposed to be rain tomorrow and Monday.

Pickles did more crape myrtle pruning. 'Tis the season. Around here February is time for crape pruning and rose planting.



All of this generates stuff to haul off to Mt. Brushmore which Pickles also did. The big plastic bag contains all the old cardboard that was laid down in last year's watermelon area. Potatoes will be going in there this spring and planting tie is near for those too.



I also got a few beds weeded and some old brassicas pulled. I'm leaving two Packman broccoli plants to go to flower for seed collection. It's an F1 hybrid but I still want to see what the seed produces.

Today I'll be starting the last sets of brassicas in a seemingly never ending process in the effort to stagger harvest. After today's starts, it will be time to move on to actually planting stuff in the ground. Peas, snap peas, potatoes and turnips plus starting the two eggplants from seed. I want good sized plants and eggplants are slow.

The spring garden is right on the doorstep!

[GoDawgs]

The winter garden always looks so bleak and barren by now. But the first plants of the new season go in this morning... all six kohlrabi. LOL! Oh well, it's a start.



Yesterday Pickles worked on tilling up the potato area. Here she's about 2/3 done. So now that's done and unless a bunch of rain makes waiting necessary, the potatoes should go in at the end of the month.



There's always a supervisor of sorts hanging around. This young lady is about one year old now and belongs to the neighbor. Snowball has been really skittish but yesterday she nibbled the first piece of carrot out of my hand before dancing away.



The wild daffs are starting to bloom.



These are the Heshiko bunching onions about ready to bloom and go to seed. I grew them for transplanting around the property. Never run out of some kind of onion!



We have rain coming in this morning and lasting through tomorrow. There's a possibility of some rough stuff tomorrow. I sure hope not but it was 60 degrees out there first thing this morning and that's never good this time of year!