Thursday, March 8, 2012

I can't get going...

I just can't get myself going this season. I have gotten some garden work done, but not much. The "non-winter" we have been having this year has not kept me inside, especially since I've continued to run all winter. That inside time is what makes me long for outside time.

I've got broccoli planted. Twice actually. The first batch that I planted died. It took too long for me to get the shelves and lights upstairs, and they literally died.  The new stuff is happy, with second leaves, and is ready to be potted up. They've even been fertilized (I know, right?!). I'll need potting soil to pot them up though, and I haven't made so much as ONE newspaper pot yet, so where they're going, I don't know yet.

I've got all of my peppers and tomatoes planted. I took it down a notch this season. I doubled what I wanted for myself, just to be safe, and plan to give extras to my mom and my neighbor ladies, but otherwise this "nursery" did not take orders this year. That still means I have 40 some peppers and 60 some tomatoes that I will need tending.




We're still getting a steady supply of lettuce from my Aerogarden. Tender lettuce knocks the socks off of any store bought lettuce we get, so it is a nice treat.  I know not to plant any more "red" lettuce in it though, it starts out trying to be red, but then goes green and stays that way. I'm not sure if there is a nutrient deficiency from the liquid components that we use, but it's not something that concerns me enough to try to fix it.


Yesterday, it was 72 and beautiful (though very windy) and I got the first "Spring" glimpse of Eleanor! She was "out" before I stuck my phone in her face to send this picture to the hubby. She is never shy once she's out and about for a while, I very rarely see her shell close this much.  We've never let our turtles come out of hibernation naturally because I always want the compost that they are hibernating in. This year we moved the finished compost to the garden, and have done all of our composting on a pile in the garden, so we're going to let them do their own thing this year. Eleanor is from Pennsylvania, so we know she's used to a bit colder weather. I'm anxious to see when the others will emerge.
The only gardening I've done was to stir the compost in the garden, and move some of the finished compost we'd piled in so I could build a new trellis and plant my snow peas.  I haven't used a pitchfork or those muscles in months apparently, because I was SORE after even that little amount of work!  At least something is in the ground, even with my lack of planning. I have really good luck with peas in the location I've used in the past, and I know they SHOULD be rotated, but something keeps them doing really well there, so I'm not changing that up this year, but I did have to rebuild the trellis.

I'm a part of a group getting ready to start a community garden in my area, so some of that planning took place yesterday.  Night shift has really taken the life out of me I guess, but I'm hoping some motivation blows my way soon!

I'm glad to catch up on blog reading when I get the chance... Happy Gardening to all!

7 comments:

  1. Nice to hear from you! This odd winter has wreaked havoc with me as well, I didn't even clean up the fall garden, yet I had no time to read or sew either, now its getting ready to start again!

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    1. At least I'm not alone! I did actually clean up the fall garden this year. That part is pretty painful, though so I can see why it was avoided. Hopefully, you can get some reading and sewing in on top of planting!

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  2. Your red lettuce is green because it's too warm. The colder it is, the redder it gets! My indoor Red Sails is completely green, while the one leftover plant that got put outside is as red as can be. In fact, I planted my indoor lettuce outside today, it just wasn't doing all that well inside.

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    1. Granny, I am so grateful for your wisdom! I thought there may be some component to my dirt that I was missing inside. We don't keep our house all that warm, as we are cheap and can always put on more clothes. The warmth of this winter had definitely shown though, even in our normal house plants. They aren't showing their normal "stress"! Thanks again for the info!

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    2. My green lettuce has been out for three days now, and today it had turned red :-)

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  3. Your garden starts look so pretty! I have to admit that I haven't gotten my garden gumption going yet either. :)

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    1. Thanks! This is my favorite time of year to take pictures! I guess the motivation will come with time.

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