Earth Day in the garden
14.1 years ago cilantro, cold season crops, garlic bulbs, onions, peppers, tomato
I decided to take the day off to catch up on some things at home and as I ended up outside of course I went right to the garden.
We have seen a few warm days here in the Northwest and in my area we haven’t dipped under 40 degrees at night so seemed like a good time to plant a few of my tomatoes spending their time this winter in the grow box.
Above are a New Yorker and Persey both of which are new for me this year. They have been growing great even with my neglect during their youth. I also have some Green Zebras, Husky Cherry, Sweetie Cherry, and Yellow Cherry. I did attempt Red Brandywine but the seeds I got appear to be duds.
Given it is always good to have a Plan B so I have twins of these tomato plants still in puts which I can bring if a cold snap comes and kills off the plants I ambitiously planted in the ground.
Elsewhere in the garden I have some herbs: Parsley and Oregano, with Basil being an unfortunately casualty which I will plan on buying from the store and try again next year.
Next I checked out my larger garden bed to see my peas, cilantro, onions, carrots, lettuce, strawberries and garlic
Lastly I checked out the peppers in the grow box which they will stay until we have some warmer nights (at least 50 degrees) otherwise can cause significant stunting of growth. So until then they will remain happy in the grow box and given they are still pretty small, still plenty of room to grow…
Tags: cheap, cilantro, garden seeds, garlic bulbs, growbox, herb garden, outdoor plants, pepper plants, strawberry plants, tomato plants, vegetables
Life in the growbox
14.1 years ago indoor growbox, peppers, tomato
Right about now the temperatures outside should be increasing and I should be thinking about start hardening off my summer plants over the next few weeks.
Unfortunately we seeing hail the past few days along with some pretty cold nights. Looks like even though I was fairly pessimistic about my last frost date I may have another battle of tomatoes/peppers over taking the growbox or bring them out into the elements a little too early…
To make a little room I did move my herbs (oregano/parsley) out to the cold frame with the basil struggling to survive in the growbox I will give it a little time to bounce back.
Tags: cheap, growbox, herb garden, outdoor plants, pepper plants, tomato plants, vegetables
Successive Pea Planting
14.1 years ago outdoor seed starting, peas, spring
Last year by 5 year old learned she likes to pick and eat fresh pea pods and was very diligent on harvesting new peas as she found them. Unfortunately this meant less peas for me. This year I am using successive planting to ensure I get my fill this year but also do not get overwhelmed with one big harvest all at once.
I started the process about a month ago by soaking my sugar snap peas in water overnight…then forgetting about them and ended up planting them by flashlight in the rain the following day. I couple weeks later I did the same for my snow peas in a separate part of my garden.
If everything goes as planned I should get some early snap peas and followed by some snow peas 2-3 weeks later. Even if my plants do not cooperate and I get overwhelmed with too many peas I can always leave a few on the plants and harvest the pea seeds for next year.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, outdoor plants, vegetables
Attack of the garlic
14.1 years ago garlic bulbs, spinach
I either forgot to harvest a couple bulbs of garlic, or the mild winter we had in the Northwest may have allowed the garlic I planted last fall to slowly develop some bulbs. Thinking the first option is more likely, but did present me with a problem of some very tightly grouped garlic.
Fortunately the solution to this problem was very simple. I pulled up the garlic bunches and gently separated the individual garlic plants. Finally I carefully replanted at much better spacing and followed up with a little watering. The unfortunate side effect is now I have 75% of my cold weather plot growing garlic. On the positively side with proper preparation garlic stores well and I can definitely feel less guilty harvesting some of my garlic before they start developing bulbs.
Also provided that garlic does not require a lot of root space I should be able to plant some random veggies between them.
Tags: cheap, garlic bulbs, led, outdoor plants, vegetables
Cheap Homemade Cold Frame
14.2 years ago cheap, cold season crops, outdoor seed starting
When we bought our house we found a screen door in the garage. Not wanting to have or install the screen door we tried many times to get rid of it without success.
Finally I decided to use the parts to create a cold frame. I did consider using the whole door and hinges as a cold frame but decided I could make something that looked a little better by taking it apart.
The construction was very simple, by taking measurements of the windows I made the box out of cedar with similar dimensions. Wanting to try out my new circular saw I decided to make the cuts at 45 degrees for a more finished look. Last I simply screwed the sides into a length of 2” by 2” I placed at each corner
I have two squares of glass and a screen of the same size so I should be able to switch these in/out to make sure I am not frying the plants when it is time to harden them from the nice warm garage.
Later I plan on making a more secure (from the wind) hinged top but wanted to see what I could create with a small budget and I could not resist the 3 pack of seedling trays which took a decent chunk of my budget from this project which was sponsored by my Lowes Gift card winning from Rob’s World.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, outdoor plants, vegetables
Cheap Light Bar for Seedlings
14.2 years ago cheap, indoor seed starting
A couple months ago we replaced a couple of bathroom light fixtures and it didn’t take too long for me to find the old ones a new home. An old extension code couple electrical connectors and I have a completely non-code light bar. I used the smaller fixture and replaced my light bulbs hanging from sockets using zip ties.
When I have some more time I will plan on making a reflector to redirect more light on the plants but for now the little peppers/tomatoes look very happy.
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, outdoor plants, pepper plants, tomato plants, vegetables
