Our routine is pretty much the same, day after day. We get up. I shower while Will builds up the fire in the living room stove. When I’m dried off, I go out to do morning chores while Will has his morning coffee in his easy chair, listening to rock with his headphones. Then we hit the seed orders. I start filling some while he’s still chilling. Then, after I’ve done several, he gets in there and fills orders while I pack them to mail out. But this was changed when my son, Bill, asked if we were going to be home Monday. Of course, we said “yes.” And he explained the family was going down to the Wisconsin Dells, to their favorite water park for a mini vacation over the kids’ spring break from school. It’s a yearly thing, which COVID interrupted. We baby-sit their Lab, Buddy, who is Hondo’s best friend. Spencer is getting too old to play but Buddy is Hondo’s age and the two of them wrestle for hours outside.
So, instead of packing and mailing seeds, we got to visit the family for the day. How nice that was. Grandson, Mason, is in a robotics club at school and they just competed a big competition in Duluth, where folks from all over attended, bringing their robots. Now, these robots are BIG! I imagined they were little toy-like critters. But, no, they’re big and teams played a kind of basketball with them! We were amazed. And while tech-whiz, Mason, was here I got him to turn on the sound for my text messages and Will had him fix a couple of glitches on his phone which is smarter than he is. (Don’t tell him I said that!) Ava is continuing with her riding lessons and is very happy with them. She can’t wait for the next one, each week.
We talked about gardens and what they wanted to plant this year. Bill plants a big patch of potatoes at Kelly’s dad’s place and I asked him if he would plant some Hopi Pale Grey squash there, too, as it’s a very large spot. He agreed, so we now have another “garden,” although not at our place.
I can’t tell you how beautiful the amaryllis I bought at Christmas, as just a bulb, is looking. It’s starting to bloom, with a huge, very dark red blossom that stops folks in their tracks. It sure gives you inspiration for spring planting, which is coming on pretty soon, now.
I’ll be starting peppers in just about two weeks and we’re real excited about that. Will was out in the greenhouse, with no heat, on a sunny day that was only 20 degrees, and it was in the 70’s inside! Some folks have sent us some of their family heirloom seeds and we’re excitedly waiting to plant them. There are peppers, tomatoes, beans, and squash, along with a very old Seneca flour corn I grew years and years ago, in New Mexico. Come on, spring!
— Jackie
Yep, ProMix can’t be beat. Never use Miracle Gro or Jiffy Mix! I have and the results were a disaster.
No, never start your cabbage family seeds that early. Where peppers should be started about 10 weeks before the projected last spring frost and tomatoes, 8 weeks before it, Cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, melons and squash should only be started 4 weeks, at most, before the last spring frost. If started too early, the plants get too root bound and will never recover from the stress.
Heat and light are important keys to growing great seedlings. To germinate, seeds should have at least 70 degrees F and high humidity. We start ours behind our wood stove and keep the containers inside loosely enclosed plastic shopping bags.
Perfect. Thank you. I have totally emptied half my living room so I can set up shelves by the wood stove to germinate the seeds. The only thing I have over there is a chicken who got frostbite that I’m trying to nurse back to health.
Wonderful. Thank you! I will get some dirt in the coming weeks and plan out all my seeds and start setting them! I am excited. My husband and I are working on the ways to redo some of the greenhouse to make it more user friendly!
After the awful tornadoes in Iowa Saturday–some of those 13 storms were rated F4–which killed seven people, we need fresh Hope and Cheer. Then we saw a half dozen robins; Spring is coming!
I sure hope you were safe!! Yes, spring is coming. How nice you saw the robins!!!
Beverly, many years ago I learned to plant in depressions from my old and dear but departed garden mentor. It really helps hold the moisture where it’s needed here in the South where we go through hot dry spells. Hold your hand in a claw-like position and starting in the middle, move your hand through the soil in ever-widening circles and you’ll have a perfect depression for planting.
Starting tomato seeds today. Yay! Strong Saturday storms and a Sunday morning freeze warning mean we’ll be covering up newly popped up things like potatoes, radishes and peas on Saturday afternoon. Boo!
Spring is here with Bradford pears, redbuds, daffodils in full bloom.
Thank you for the help. BEV
Because we have a serious lack of water issue, we have thought about planting our it Hopi pale grey squash in in a shallow depression to hold the water instead of a mounds.we are doing two groups of corn/ beans (three sisters) and three groups of squash, in the following order – sguash-corn/bean – squash – corn/beans – squash. You know your seeds, their needs and you Are familiar with the three sisters idea. We live outside Los Angeles, water suddenly a huge problem. They have shut off the water to the farmers in at least parts of northern California. Suggestions welcomed. Thanks
The Hopi plant their gardens in areas called waffle gardens, a series of depressions in a waffle-like pattern. In them, go the squash, corn and beans, as they help retain any moisture available. To make this work even better, be sure to mulch around the plants after they get 6″ high. Not only will it help retain more moisture, but it’ll shade the roots some and keep down weeds. Then, in the fall, it will rot and help enrich the soil, making it even better next year.
Jackie – thank you so much for the help – we have decided to plant butternut squash with the three sisters and the Hopi squash in another area where it will have more room to spread. Also closer to the house – we are really worried about theft, a terrible problem here. You guys are so lucky to live away from here!! Blessings Bev
That Amaryllis is gorgeous! I was gifted one last year that had 4 blooms that beautiful red color! I put it in the cupboard and forgot about it til last week. I brought it out and it is starting to grow. It may be too late for a bloom. Oops.
What a treat to get to spend time with family.
Just to let you know, every one of your seeds that I have planted so far have germinated! Yaay! Now I just have to take care so they can produce for me.
Take care, and thank you so much for the pictures and stories.
You’re very welcome. And thank you for sharing your success with germinating your seeds. We feel like they’re our little children, going out in the world to do good! :)
What a fun day with family. Routine is so very comforting, but a change now and then is just what we need. It is snowing here today in northeast MO. It has been snowing since about 630 am. Not a lot of accumulation yet. Enjoy the break:)
We’re getting snow, wind and cold again. But next week, it’s supposed to hit the 40’s ABOVE zero. Yea!!!
Routine is comforting and pleasant interruption is a nice surprise. It adds the spice that’s needed. I hope Will is continuing to recover easily. The temperature in your greenhouse is surprisingly warm. My peppers just emerged (from seed I saved). Watching seeds sprout and grow always fascinated me. When you start to use the greenhouse? Spring can’t come soon enough for me.
Yes, Will continues to do well. He’s doing cardiac rehab twice a week but is kind of bored with it as it doesn’t push him much. After all, he’s pretty active as it is. Our greenhouse only stayed that warm when the wind wasn’t blowing and the sun was out. Today, with a strong wind and cloudy overhead, I doubt it’s over twenty in there. We won’t start using it until May, when the temperatures outside are a lot more moderate as we still have a lot to do to weatherize it. There are still a lot of cracks around the doors and windows, etc.
All work and no play… and nasty snow days don’t count as play days IMHO.
You’re not far off in your thinking small robots – they were when the clubs (and some were just a few kids and a good teacher) first started. Technology isn’t going away but one also needs what I call life skills too. While I don’t have issue with gifted classes, I do with gifted kids being separated from other kids. Life isn’t like that. You’ll be around folks of all stripes and flavors. Or as I call it, able to play nice in the sandbox.
WI Dells – in my experience, people like the Dells or they don’t. If one is not much for water or crowds, not a lot of lure.
Flower is gorgeous. Nice to see some color and this week we’ve had robins in the yard. We do have cover and water source. However I don’t usually see them much around the bird feeders like the cardinals, blue jays, etc.
I’m not a theme park person but to each their own. If Bill and his family love the getaway, it’s fine with us. Wouldn’t life be boring if everyone liked exactly the same thing and lived like we do???
Mason is a tech kid and loves the challenge of helping design and build robots. Ava is a farm girl, loving her chickens and riding lessons. We think it’s cool they can each participate in things they love.
Be sure to plant those amaryllis bulbs out in the garden for next year! They get better and better each year.
I will. I’ve got a second year, WalMart amaryllis bulb coming up right now. That’s a great way to save money and enjoy winter beauty.
What a wonderful break in the usual! Seeing family is always a wonderful and welcome change.
I am trying to prepare for my seed starting, and get my tiny greenhouse cleaned out and insulated to support my plants! We put it on the deck several years ago, but I never could get the temperature right in it. Hopefully this spring I can adjust how I’ve done things to make it work! I know in past blogs you e said you mix your own starting medium, but what is the better store bought one? You said ProMix in one from a while ago, but I just wanted to get your opinion again.
Do you start cauliflower and broccoli early like tomatoes and peppers? I Haven’t been able to grow them successfully from a seed, and I’ve since learned they got too “leggy” from not enough photosynthetic light.
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