seeds

seeds
Originally uploaded by Spinneretta

I was thrilled when the weather forecasters told us what the weather would be like this week. Sunday was about 60 degrees F (about 15 degrees C) which is warmer than it has been for AGES. An unusual cold winter for us- normally we see warm patches here and there, but not this year.
Today they say it will reach 74F (23C).
So it is not too surprising that I got out my seed packets and planted some seeds- in peat pellets inside :) Truth be told, most of these could probably go outside too, BUT my square foot beds are not quite ready- the snow covering them and the rain after just made this happen a lot later than normal!

The kids helped me plant the seeds- DD was especially excited because she is looking forward to eating them all ;)

A Day in Nature (Green Hour Assignment #8)

After what seems to be weeks of rain and cold and clouds, we finally get a break. It's not supposed to last very long, just a few days, but it is enough to send spring springing on its way!

So out the kids went. Back they came for binoculars. Out they went. Back they came again and again with things for their nature boxes and more things for the nature table. Out I went with my camera... and back again for the blog :)

Our Nature table (there are more things in the boxes ;)). It is inspired by the one linked in my sidebar over there---->
Ours is not quite so exciting... we have a dead hornet, not a dead wasp. I am supposed to be mailing it on though ;)

A peek inside Rebel's recently finished box. :)

Rebel's observations: "I saw my first dragonfly of the year!", "Look, how much would this lichen cost if I sold it?" (he wanted to sell it as a dyestuff). "These violets are beautiful!"

M'Lady: "Wook!" **waving a large old stick at me**

A pine 'flower'. These things produce copious amounts of pollen, which make the cars very yellow at this time of year. Later the centre part will turn into a pinecone.

Then there were the unspoken observations... does shaking the pine tree to make the pollen fall off all over them count? Or using their binoculars to find more lichen? :) It was an informal week for nature study, and if we can find the booklet, the 3 dragonflies and other things will be noted!

There is the robins nest we watched being built:
And as we watched later, a crow tore through it, looking futilely for eggs.

Or perhaps my rapidly growing peas:
Which don't quite make up for the loss of at least one of the giant pumpkins. I planted two more seeds in the hope that they will sprout, only this time I put them OUTSIDE in the ground.


Along with onions.

And carrots and radishes planted from seed.
The kids watched as I hilled over some sprouted potatoes. Not the small one you normally get, but ones I bought to eat which sprouted :)

There are the budding roses:
Getting ready to bloom next month. Or our beautiful lilacs, or the creeping phlox in our circle.


There is the fig tree which is leafing out.

I have hopes of seeing fruit this year. I suspect they are futile, but I hope anyway :D

And there are the insects, our favourite helper bugs are reflected in my daughter's chosen rainwear:
I'll have to show you her raincoat another time :) There were pollen-speckled periwinkles:
Which are quite dusty with pine pollen in their habitat around the mailbox. The local dogs fertilize them regularly for us (since urine is almost pure nitrogen, these plants often get quite a lot of it!).

Indeed, there was a lot to see in our garden today, and the kids loved it. Even if they were coated with pollen.

So our Green Hour for the week went. I make a note to buy a few magnifying glasses. OK they have only been on my list for a couple of months now, but perhaps I'll get them this time!

Enjoy your time in the garden this week :)

Planning and Planting My Garden

Gardening in Hardiness Zone 7a, Heat Zone 7, Sunset Zone 32.

I promised you a progress report on my garden this year. So far… so good!
The springtime weather pattern has started here. That is to say that the weather is fluctuating between warm and COLD.
I have noticed that March is nearly always like this… and who knows where the “In like a lion, out like a lamb” idea came from? It never seems to work here in Central Va!

But on to the garden stuff.

A few weeks back, I started with the first warm weekend, and joined each of the 2, 4’ x 4’ beds into one long bed. So now they are approximately 4’ x 9.5’!

You can see what it used to look like below!

I carefully added some peat moss and some bagged manure/compost mix, and forked over the bed.
Unfortunately, the builder who built the house added some clay-like topsoil to our normally sandy yard, and I noticed clumps of the clay appearing in my beds. Not to worry, the weather should take care of that, right? Sure… if you have the right weather! Yesterday’s storms were our very first instance of the right weather :o

I let the beds sit a couple of weeks (oh and I transplanted the two Swiss Chards next to each other. They survive the winter here).
Last Sunday, I planted a packet of seeds and about a dozen lettuce seeds right into the bed. I know it is early enough because I keep finding volunteer lettuces around the garden! I also planted about 8 spinach plants and a similar number of cilantro seeds. I hope they all come up!

I also added a fig tree (in a pot) and repotted my Chrysanthemum (which is coming to life too).

Inside, I have planted (about 2 weeks ago) 4 Brandywine Tomatoes, 4 Sungold Tomatoes, 4 Big Jim Chili Peppers and 4 California Wonder Sweet Bell Peppers. I also planted 2 Parsley and 2 Sensitive plants.
This weekend I added 4 Citrus basil and 6 Giant Leaved Basil. I love basil and never get enough of it ;)

The indoor seeds have been spending quite some time outside with the nice weather, and already most of my tomatoes have sprouted (they were up in a couple of days), and today I spotted basil, parsley and pepper plants!

Already blooming in the garden, are the Lobelia (Veronica sp.) and one of my phlox plants. My daffodil and several tulips are showing, and a few iris shoots are up too. All the maple trees are blooming, the neighbour’s Bradford pears, the neighbour across the street’s Magnolia virginiana and the weeds: speedwell, Pennsylvania bittercress, Henbit, Purple Deadnettle and Dandelions. The Chickweed is almost in bloom…

And that, is my garden for the first week of March 2008 :)

Birding... and Gardening

The birds have been attacking the feeder today... probably because it has been pouring with rain. I drew a quick sketch of a downy woodpecker, who had come to our suet block to feed. She was quite confrontational earlier, seeing off a cardinal on the black sunflower seed feeder. I was surprised, until now, I had only ever seen the downies on the suet!


In the meantime, I have been garden dreaming. I have plans for my garden this year...I want to provide myself with the vegetables I use. Unfortunately I have no idea HOW to do this ;) I eat most vegetables. So does DD, while DH and DS prefer beans and corn. And potatoes. I have the secret weapon though... John Jeavon's intensive garden plan. I have yet to use the double dig method, and I own that the thought of it terrifies me! But I really want to accomplish this!