The Seeding Process

Each year I seem to plant more and more outgrowing my space and giving myself more to care for than I can handle. I suppose there are far worse addictions than gardening. 

It's that time of year to get my seeds started. I'm about one month behind on quite a bit of it. I made a seed order that was lost in the mail and had to be sent a second time. I should just order in December to avoid problems. 

Today I'll share my current set-up. At the end of summer I filled the barrel on the left with what soil I had left. A pick-up full runs $75. I stock pile it on a tarp in the yard. I should have hauled another load before snowfall as I am going to run out this Spring. 

The barrels are old military storage drums and are a little larger than a 55-gallon drum. 

 I mix the soil with perlite...

and peat moss. No real formula. Just whatever makes me happy.

Now I have my seeding soil.

 This is my new planting station this year. My husband ran water lines to the plant room and I have both hot and cold. Love being able to water with warm water. Previously I watered from a milk jug carried from the kitchen. Thirty minutes of watering took 1.5 hours!

I wet the soil and I must say it took a few trials to get the right consistency for my new gadgets.

Last year my husband got me soil block makers as a gift. If the soil is just right they work great. Too wet it sticks, too dry they fall apart. The idea is to make soil blocks to allow the roots more freedom than a small plastic 6-pack allows.

The roots will grow out and then stop at the air barrier between blocks. In a plastic container they begin circling around becoming bound up.

Next I have my pelleted wave or double petunia seeds in a portion cup using tweezers to place them in each dimple in the soil block.

I only have a handful of plastic greenhouse tops so the remaining are covered in plastic wrap.

Here are the first orchid mist seeds leftover from last season making an appearance. 

I am planting a ridiculous amount of petunia seeds this season. I'm halfway through 3500 seeds. Olivia is always such a great helper when gardening so the idea is to let her have a little plant sale this Spring. I have no doubts that she'll sell out. My only concern is room. I didn't think that through and am wondering where I am going to put all this plants until June? 

Thawing Dirt and Sprouts

All my seeds have arrived. I've done some planting, but really I'm 1-2 weeks behind with much of it. It's so time consuming mixing dirt, filling 6-packs, seeding, watering when I have so many other obligations (and kids). Hoping to crank out quite a few flats today and get caught up.

These are pelleted wave petunia seeds. They are expensive and I made a mistake in ordering. When I changed my mind about the color of the ditch bed (110-feet long) I forgot to delete the original order. Now I will have 125 Hot Pink Tidal Wave Petunias without a place. That will also take up much of the grow room and later the greenhouse that I did not plan for.

Awhile back Nick brought in some of the frozen dirt and yesterday Emily got me more. 

It thaws by the wood stove that I keep going to keep the grow room warm. I think I had things a little too hot last night and we were chased out of there!

There are quite a few thing sprouting. These are geraniums that already have 3-4 leaves now. The peppers are up as well as some petunias. It will all keep me very busy for the next few months, but it's a busy I love.

Yes, the plant room is still a mess. I'm running out of places for flats so today I will have to do some cleaning.

Very Little Progress

My Harris Seeds order arrived. I've been using them for several years for my Wave Petunia seeds. While still expensive they are far more reasonable than other places. Those particular seeds are $18 for 100 and I get about 500 of them. 

Progress for Monday was minimal and Tuesday was non-existent. Today I have to get cracking. I'm already behind. I got 36 California Bell Peppers planted. I'm thinking I should have done one more flat and may still do that.

8 6-packs of Dwarf Carnations. Last year I did a bed of carnations for the first time. The plants grew wonderfully, but flowers were limited. They just started to bloom as summer came to an end. This year I am going to put some in pots that can spend some extra time in the greenhouse hopefully helping.

18 Jalapeno Peppers. I thought I had a packet of another variety of pepper, but can't find it. I confuse myself a lot like this.

20 Mixed Geraniums.

I have no idea what I am going to do with these jars. With my big kitchen yet-to-be-built and my "temporary" kitchen full they all went here. We have a heated slab so I can't put them on the floor. I'm just dreading this....

....and mostly this mess. All winter long my shelves become a catch-all for tote lids, newspapers, tools, even my chainsaw. This week has been a nightmare of broken-down cars and my husband working out-of-town that I've been dragging my feet on getting in here and getting it done. Last year I swore to not let this happen again. So much for good intentions.

My dirt is still under two feet of snow. The son I asked for help "forgot". I hear that we are getting a couple more inches of snow this weekend. Blah. I want summer and this is reality.

It's That Time of Year

It's that time of year again. I was late putting in my seed orders (what's new?). I put in an order to Harris Seeds for the following:

**new plant

*new variety of previous grown plant

Tidal Wave Silver Petunia

Tidal Wave Hot Pink Petunia

Tidal Wave Collection (five colors)

Wave Super Save Seed Collection (five colors)

Wave Blue Petunia

Pirouette Rose Petunia*

Maverick Star Geranium*

Bonanza Deep Orange Marigold*

Swizzle Cherry + Ivory Zinnia*

Zahara Starlight Rose Zinnia*

Garden Collection Zinnia

Blue Danube Ageratum**

Figaro Dahlia*

Harlequin Mix Dahlia*

Dusty Miller Silver Dust**

Super Elfin XP Starburst Mix Impatiens*

Athena Red Flash Impatiens*

Magic Mix Mimulus*

Also, an order to Burpee for the following:

QIS Mix**

Bells of Ireland Pixie Bells*

Fireball Marigold*

Snowdrift Marigold*

California Watermelon Heaven Poppy**

Watermelon Coleus*

Philippine Cosmidium**

Harmony Mix Stocks*

Strawflower

Fresh Look Red Celosia*

I've also purchased a bunch of seeds from Fred Meyer that I'll list in another post. I can tell you... if I had unlimited money I would have purchased so much more. I want to grow one of everything! I've added a few new for this summer and if they do well will repeat. It's rather scary trying new plants as my growing season is so short. I start seeds in the plant room March-May and plant outside the beginning of June. Everything will be dead and gone by the middle of September. If too many seedlings don't make it I'll have empty beds. I would never be able to afford to purchase at the local greenhouses. 

My daughter Olivia, one of eight.... 5 of mine, 3 step kids.... is the only one really interested in gardening. She is so much like me it is scary. She bugged me all day to plant seeds, but my grow room is a disaster. All my quart jars of pickles are stored there because I have no where else to put them. My life story can be found at  my family blog.

Here she planted 3 begonia bulbs. My mother grew the most beautiful begonia hanging baskets, but I've never given them a try. I bought one package of 3 for $9 making them $3 a bulb at Fred Meyer.... I believe they are $5 a bulb at the local greenhouse. Too expensive so we just planted three bulbs to see if I can grow them before I purchase a lot. 

 Next up we planted one flat of Anaheim Chili Peppers. I don't need 18 plants, but you never know what will germinate. I also have seeds for several other varieties. We stopped here. I have to get things cleaned up and organized or it's just going to be frustrating. I also realized that I can't afford the potting soil. One bag was $15.99. I suspect it will fill 3 flats. I plant about 200!! I have a pile of soil on the hill under a tarp that is buried by two feet of snow and frozen solid. I am going to have to shovel it out, get the boys to pack the space heater across the yard up the hill and round up a few hundred feet of extension cord so I can thaw the pile. This was the foolish thing I did two years ago. Last year I filled 2 big drums in the plant room in the Fall and was ready to go. This last Fall I thought it was too much hassle and I'd just buy dirt. What a fool I was!!! This is going to be a lot of work that I'm dreading.

I cut up some sour cream containers for labels. Last year I thought I was clever using clear plastic cups I bought at Sam's Club. What a disaster! The ink faded in the sun and I got my petunias all mixed up. I've also learned that every single pot needs labelled. When seedlings die or don't germinate to begin with flats get combined. I end up mixing things up. Hopefully not this year. 

I'm also trying something new. Rather than toss the seeds and buying new, I will save them. I put them in portion cups, labelled and put a number on the bottom. I put that number on the seed package and will file those away so I have the planting instructions. I have to find ways to cut back costs. Just the two orders above (plus shipping) came to $249.00. Add to that what I buy at the store and I definitely need to save seeds!

Well, that's my update for today. I hope to do a better job keeping up with things this season. I'd like to meet some other gardeners through this blog. There's always so much to learn. 

To Till or Not To Till

Every Fall, weather permitting, I roto-till my garden beds in preparation for Spring. When the frost has taken its toll I clean out the plant material for the compost bins. In this case it is a bed of dahlias where I also dug up the bulbs and will attempt to store them. (My previous attempt was unsuccessful). 

The next step is to till the clumps and pick out anything I missed the first time.

Next I get a trailer full of compost and add about 3 inches to each bed until I run out.

The compost is tilled into the bed, smoothed out and the rocks are swept off. All ready for Spring planting!

I've been trying to do less work and a little more reading/research which isn't easy with so many children/chores/animals, and I've found some articles in support of doing the opposite.... do not till.

Obviously, I haven't bought into this method yet or I would have saved myself a lot of work. For me tilling my gardens is a bit like burning my lawn in the Spring... I can't NOT do it. I'm a bit like the old dog who can't learn new tricks.

I read two articles here and here and I'm not sure if I disagree or am just stubborn. Am I really damaging my soil? Do you till your gardens? I would love if you could share what you do.

Composting

I am by no means an expert on composting, but I would like to share my methods in Zone 2 with the gardening world. These are my bins. An 8th bin has been added where you see the shovel plus two separate bins inside the chicken yard. We originally built with wood pallets, but when my husband was able to recycle these plastic pallets last summer we tore it apart and rebuilt. These are much lighter and more manageable. 

This is where they are located inside the sheep pen.

In the Fall my compost is not completely decomposed and ready, but I add it to my garden beds anyhow. Leaves and straw are still visible, but I find that in our short summer's it would take several years for it to completely break down. Personally, I think the material helps keep the soil from becoming so compact or at least that is my theory. 

It's proven to successfully enhance my soil and the only real issue was the introduction of chickweed into a couple of beds, but when mulched it isn't too much of a problem.

The material for the compost bins comes from the sheep yard where I spread out straw to catch all the "good stuff" and then rake up.

The chickens and their coop contribute to the bins.

 In the Fall I mow the grass one last time gathering the fallen leaves. During the summer some grass clippings are added, but they are mostly eaten by Daisy and the hens.

I also add all the plant material from the flower beds, vegetable beds and greenhouse. These are carnations and this is where a shredder would come in handy, but I can't justify the expense. During the winter I save the ash from the wood stove and that gets added in the Spring. Sometimes I add our kitchen scraps as well, but the truth is I go in cycles of saving it all to saving nothing as it really seems to be more effort than reward.

My "mulching" comes in the form of a tiller. I used to toss the pile once a summer with a pitch fork, but that is truly a lot of work. Now I use the tiller to pull it out, mix it up and then I shovel it back soaking layers with water. Then it's ignored until Fall when it goes into the beds. I'm not very scientific and I never test the compost or my soil, but my plants seem to thrive. One of these days I made add a testing to my routine to get even more out of what I have. Or maybe I shouldn't mess with a good thing.

Finally, three sides of the bins are held together with zip ties and the fronts are held in place by cute little bungee cords. Very easy to remove and enough to keep Daisy from eating it all. 

I would love to hear your experiences with composting especially if you live in a cooler climate, but I find all gardening interesting so please share.

Rhododendron Bed Over Haul

I have not been updating my gardening blog. It's not because I don't want to as the thought is always nagging in the back of my mind. I am just busy. I would really like to try and develop a routine to include this blog in my life which will entail making posts all winter from this past summer. We'll see how it goes.

We are at the tail end of Fall in our area with low's in the 30's and high's in the 50's. We had our first hard frosts quite some time ago. On most days I can be found frantically trying to get the gardens ready for snow as well as clean the yard of snow plowing surprises left by the children. Neither task is happening fast enough. Yesterday I worked on the Rhododendron bed. I was pleasantly surprised when these plants made it through the winter. They had some growth this summer although it was not as much as I would have liked. There are six bushes with a space for a seventh that died shortly after purchase. 

I began by blowing out the leaves, pulling all the grass and weeds and removing the top row of rock.

Next I added two inches of compost from one of my eight compost bins. This particular batch was from the chicken coop.

On top of that I put down some fabric. This summer I discovered that I am unable to keep up with the amount of beds that I have and they quickly become over-grown with weeds. Next Spring I will mulch with straw or wood chips and in the permanent beds I will put down fabric.

Then became the task of piling rock which I have 10 yards of and did not even put a dent in my pile.

I washed away the dirt and there you have it.... a low maintenance, neat and tidy bed of rhododendron along side my greenhouse.

Crazy Time!

I am frantically trying to get my gardening act together. I really do more than one person can handle while raising a bunch of kids. I get myself frustrated every year, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Sunday my husband put up shelves so I can move the flats out of my plant room into the natural light. They will do so much better now.
I cleaned out the right bed, tilled the dirt and planted tomatoes on the far end with jalapenos. There are cucumbers along the back and some garlic in the corner next to the blue barrel. I still need to figure out something for the middle front.

The left side is all tomatoes. The pots are the daylilies that will go around my upper pond.

The center bed has cantaloupe at the far end (we still need to put up a trellis) and some bell peppers. I have to figure out what to put in the rest of the bed.

Cucumbers and the rocks mark the garlic rows. My husband is bringing me some paint stir sticks to make labels. The dirt is holding at 60* and up to 66* today.

Here are nine jalapeno plants.

The cantaloupe on the end and 15 bell peppers. I have a lot more pepper plants, but can’t decide if I should plant them or grow something else. I think a guy only needs so many peppers.

I have flats full of flower starts that need transplanted plus 401 things that need taken care of around my home. I love gardening. I anticipate it all year long. April and May are my two stress-filled months getting it all going while school is winding down and sports are starting up. Throw in some drama with my kids and I'm usually taking two steps back rather than forward. Hopefully tomorrow will be a more productive day.