When you least expect it...

We've all heard it. And we've all probably rolled our eyes at the phrase, "Things (love, job, etc) will happen when you least expect it." It's a simple way of saying that even though you are failing now, maybe you won't later? It is filled with good intentions but really doesn't do the person the phrase is intended for a lick of good.

I had my own "When you least expect it" moment this morning. Those of us in Michigan know its been a cruelly cold spring. A glimpse of warm weather will soon be dashed by looking out your window on a Friday night in late April only to see snow and sleet accumulating on the ground and leaving you with fear about what will happen to your lettuce seedlings in the ground. What? That last part is just me? Ok but either way you get the idea. It's been colder than expected for longer than hoped. As I may haved mentioned in my previous post, this has lead to a lack of sprouts from my pepper seeds, both the cayenne and the bell variety. As per my previous post, I know there are other solutions for this but I have opted for the cheap route and to let Mother Nature dictate things. I just didn't anticipate Mother Nature acting like kind of a dick.

So this morning, I was all set on replanting some new pepper seeds and rolling with version 2.0 and a little later start to the season. As I went to check them, what do you think I found but some wonderful sprouts of peppers, tomatoes and basil starting to poke their heads up. What's that phrase again... ;)

These sprouts are all of the bell pepper variety. None of my cayennes sprouted yet. I'll keep an eye on this since they might just be a few days behind or they might not be viable anymore since they are a little older than the brand new bell pepper seeds. I think I'll have a better answer after this warmer weekend coming up. If no hot peppers are to be seen I may need to buy an emergency packet.

On this past Sunday (the 21st of April) we had a warm-ish day so I took the opportunity to plant a lot more seeds. I put out seeds of beets (both the Chioggia and Golden variety), three different carrots including purple dragon and Paris market and I set out my broccoli and cauliflower transplants. I also put in more peas on a trellis made out of old real estate sign frames and twine. 

Lettuce survived the snow we had

Radish sprouts coming up

Carrot placement

Broccoli sprouts

Strategic placement of lettuce and cauliflower between peas.

Broccoli and Cauliflower in a side bed

More of the same

New and smaller pea trellis. 

I see two consecutive days past 70 degrees in the forecast. I anticipate lots of growth the next time I post. Until then, what has happened to you when you've least expected it?

Waiting Period in the Garden of Eatin'.

I've experienced a stretch of mild frustration the past week or so with my gardening. The first is the cold and rain. Now, I know that it is April and that is what is supposed to happen. But the last week or so we have had about 3 inches of rain or more during the prime planting periods in early spring. Makes it hard to get in the garden. What I will say is thank goodness for the trench I dug out and filled with sand near the back of my garden. That trench did it's job beautifully. It held all of the excess rain water instead of letting it pool and flood the garden bed. And it also drained fairly quickly thanks to the couple inches of sand put at the bottom of the trench.

As of right now, I'm still waiting on any of my pepper seeds to sprout. I know what part of the problem is. It is not warm enough. Pepper seeds need the soil to be 70+ degrees to even think about sprouting and with the cold weather we have had, the seeds are not having it. I know the solution would be to buy a heating mat and I ALMOST did that at the beginning of the season. But they can be a little pricey and I wanted to save money and try my luck. I'm sure they will come up with the warmer weather and sun being out longer instead of being behind clouds. But as of right now I am a bit antsy about it. I'm also keeping a close eye on my peas, spinach, radish, and lettuce seeds I planted out last week. No sprouts that I've seen yet. Soon though. I hope!

One last frustration is my son's mobility. Now before you take that the wrong way, understand that I LOVE Jacks new found confidence and walking ability in that wispy "Oh my child is getting so big/he's no longer a baby" type of way. But when it is a nice afternoon and I want to bring him out back with me so he can play and I can get some gardening done, he has promptly crushed those hopes and dreams with his ability to take off towards the front of the house and road. Not that he runs to the road or has made an attempt to go in the road. He just wants to play in the front of the house because that is where the sidewalk is and the sidewalk is where he can walk and know that it takes him places. He is a busy guy with places to go and that people mover sidewalk thing is the place to be! It just doesn't lend itself to carefree gardening. I've tried blocking off his route to the front. I've tried distracting him with trucks, tools, and dirt. Not having it, Dad. Just counting down the days til we can use a vehicle big enough to go get a gate from Home Depot or some other hardware store. 

I attempted to add some videos of Jack running around but I'm not what you would call "good with technology" so I'm not sure if they will load properly or not. If they don't load and you do want to see them, leave me a message letting me know and I'll try to post them on my Facebook page.

In the meantime, I've been doing what I can to occupy my waiting period. I have planted Italian Heirloom tomatoes and Black Cherry tomatoes inside. Italian basil and Lime basil have both been started. I have also started a flat of 3 different kind of marigolds to put in the garden. Here is a picture of what all of that looks like.

I also took my Mini Red Purplette onion sprouts and planted them outside. Those were really challenging to transplant as they are so thin by design that they took extra work to secure in the ground without drooping over. Along with the transplants, I also seeded a whole bunch in a scattered pattern down the row that may need to be thinned later.

When it comes to onions, thinning them is the least painful because any part or stage of the onion can be used and is tasty! I also seeded another row of spinach in order to have a continual harvest. I'll be doing that with a lot of my early spring crops, including radish, lettuce, beets, carrots, and onions. I'm also looking to get my broccoli and cauliflower sprouts transplanted out in the next week. It's time. They are starting to out grow their containers and get a bit antsy. I can tell. Don't question it. My plants and I are in sync. Not to be confused with the early 2000's boy band N'sync. It's not like I'm going to be telling them Bye Bye Bye. They will just be right outside the house.

We also have a section of our yard that just got totally scorched from last years heat and drought. The grass was fried and never really fully recovered. So since it is already mostly dirt, Maggie and I have decided to just throw down a crap load of flower seeds and have a nice little flower garden out front. I even transplanted random bulbs that have started growing in the garden, out to line the walk way. I don't know what they are and I'm quite sure the relocation will fail epically so that I'll just have horrible brown plants laying on their sides in a testament to my failure to grow things along with my grass less lawn, despite my claim as an urban gardener. You know, so when people walk by all they see is a failed front yard and not the back yard with actual things growing. Anyway, the flower seeds I put down a few days ago are early flowers and other flower seeds will be added as the weather warms. The flowers currently on the ground and trying to grow include Snapdragons, Pansy's (Pansies?), a Flower Garden mix by American seed, and Alyssum which I grew last year rather prolifically. Here is a picture of the bare soil lawn before flowers sprouting (hopefully).

Until next time, happy growing and here is to hoping for some temps to stay in the 60's with minimal frost!

Fast and Furious

Wow. Today was quite a productive day as far as the garden is concerned. It has been a little while since I have made an entry here but that is simply because there hasn't been much going on other than the continual removal and turning in of leaves. Also, it has kind of been a slow cold spring thus far. But looking at the forecast for the next week, it looks to be fairly warm, getting to the mid to upper 50's each day and also there looks to be rain almost every day. As far as seed starting goes, an uptick in temps with constant moisture for germination is really ideal. Being that I have semi raised beds and a nice soil filled with organic matter, I'm not too worried about drainage and seed rot. Perhaps I am being optimistic but I feel relatively confident that my soil will drain enough to prevent rot.

Yesterday (April 6th), Jack and I went out and bought some pea inoculate and some composted manure. For those that may not know, pea inoculate is a type of bacteria that you add onto your seeds. This bacterial will help peas form nodes on their roots that will take atmospheric nitrogen and transfer it into your soil. I added the manure into some of my side beds that didn't get as much attention over the last year in order to help prep them for the growing season.

I added the manure while Jack was taking his afternoon nap. It is kind of tricky to get a lot of garden work done when he is awake. Our back yard is not fenced in completely (though we are in the process of fixing that) and now that he is mobile on his feet, he likes to head towards the front of the house and the road. Not exactly easy to concentrate on what needs to be done when I'm worrying about him taking up a mission to go play in the road. But I get done what I can, when I can.

Speaking of which, last night I attempted to put together my homemade pea trellis using bamboo poles and chicken wire. Inside. At 9pm. While a child was sleeping in the house. I probably don't have to tell you that it wasn't a good idea. I did manage to get one half finished before just getting pissed off and scraping it for another day. I do have to give credit here to my wife Maggie for talking me off a ledge. Sometimes I get a vision in my head and when I can't do it how or when I want to, I get a little ornery about it. We like to refer to it as Joe Pesci-ing out. Yes, that is a reference to the Snickers commercial.

But today was a new day and with the help of Maggie, we were able to get two pea trellis' built.

On the trellis closest to the fence I planted Mammoth Melting Snow Peas and on the trellis to the front I have Super Sugar Snap peas.

Along with those plantings, I transplanted out half of my Cos lettuce seedlings. I only did half because I didn't want to doom all of them if I am putting them out too early. But to be honest, some of them needed to be thinned out again and I figured instead of re-potting them and planting them in the ground all within 2-3 weeks, I'd take my chances with putting them in the ground right now and saving a step. I figure if/when it drops below freezing again, I'll just cover them for the time being.

Along with the transplants, I also planted some Cos seeds to help stagger the growth and harvest. Other seeds that went into the ground today include spinach, Easter Egg radishes, Black Simpson lettuce and Grand Rapids lettuce.

 These aren't the sexiest pictures in the world but it does give you an idea of what I have going and where. Not picture are the tomatoes, dill, and basil that I am going to start inside later tonight. But for now, dinner and family calls. There might even be a poopy diaper that needs to be changed.