Tim's Square Foot Gardening Journal

New Garden Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 19:15:00 +0000

I have a new Square Foot Garden Blog. The new blog can be found at the following address: http://timssquarefootgarden.com/blog/

For those of you who have subscribed to this blog via e-mail, no action is required on your part to continue to receive e-mail updates from the new blog. However, for those who subscribe to this blog via other means (feed readers, etc.) you will have to resubscribe to the new feed, as the old one will be deleted soon. The new feed can be viewed here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TimsSquareFootGardenBlog

All of the information on this blog was successfully imported to the new blog. I think you will like the cleaner look of the new blog. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

End of the 2008 Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:08:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I think my garden is just about finished producing for the year. I harvested several carrots growing under the hoop about 5 days ago, to use in a vegetable soup. These carrots were a little smaller than the other plot. I think the pole lima beans were shading them. Despite their size, the carrots were still very sweet. I will be harvesting more of these over the next few weeks. Now is the time to start planning next year’s garden. I will be taking inventory of all of my seeds soon. I will be ordering all of my seeds in mid to late January.

Wishing all of you a very Prosperous and Productive New Year!!

2008 Garden Season Coming to an End

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:20:00 +0000

The 2008 gardening season is fast coming to an end. Since my last post of early November, there has been a few very hard freezes. In fact, there were a few days where the temperature did not even get above freezing. Most of the rest of the garden that was still growing has since died, like the broccoli and cauliflower. I even gave up on the brussels sprouts plants and pulled all of them up a few days ago. The only thing left in the garden now is one plot of carrots and one plot of lettuce. I harvested some lettuce under the plastic hoop about 5 days ago. This should just about be the last lettuce harvest of the year. Yesterday, I harvested one plot of carrots that was growing under a row cover (see pics below). I was pleased with the harvest from this small plot. If you have never grown carrots in the fall, you are missing out. They are much sweeter than spring-grown carrots. I still have one more carrot plot (approx. 4 ft x 3 ft) left, which is covered by a plastic hoop. I will wait to harvest them later. There is nothing better than going out into the garden and harvesting carrots in the snow!! Happy Winter Gardening!!

Fall Harvest Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:52:00 +0000

The weather has been relatively warm and very dry for about the last week. It has cooled off today, so I think the cold weather is here to stay. The last cold snap killed off all of the warm season crops, but the cool season crops are still doing fine. The cauliflower has now grown to harvestable size (see picture below). The lettuce has been growing nicely under the plastic hoop (see pictures below) and I was able to harvest a decent amount about 4 days ago. The late-planted carrots growing under the hoop are nearing harvestable size, so it won’t long before I start harvesting them. The celery was not damaged by the last freeze, due to them being covered by row covers. Overall, the fall garden has been a success, with the exception of the brussels sprouts. The brussels sprouts refuse to form sprouts this year. The variety I am growing this year is Long Island Improved, instead of Jade Cross. I will not be growing Long Island Improved again!! The seed company substituted this variety this year in place of Jade Cross. Oh well, I should have stuck with Jade Cross.

Fall Garden Going Strong

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:48:00 +0000

Sorry for the delay in writing this post. I have been having a few technical difficulties, which I think have now been solved. The fall garden is growing really well. The broccoli crop has probably been the best fall crop ever. The plants have produced many good-sized main heads and a fair amount of side shoots (side shoot production is usually very limited for me in the fall). The weather, overall, has been warmer than normal over the last month or so. It has cooled down the last week. This morning I had the first widespread moderate to heavy frost. Not to worry, I have most of the still producing plants covered either with row covers or plastic hoops. The fall cabbage has also grown well. Most of the cauliflower is still maturing, so I have those plant covered (although they are frost tolerant plants, they seem to like a little protection). The peppers and tomatoes are probably finished for the year after this morning. My late-planted green beans growing in the raised bed corn plot produced a very nice harvest before the frost. My celery is still growing and producing and I also have the plants covered with row covers. I will have to wait and see if it got too cold this morning for them. My carrots are growing nicely, but are still a bit small to harvest. I also have them covered. The late-planted lettuce is coming along, albeit a little slower now. I should be able to get a small lettuce harvest soon. Overall, the fall garden has produced very well this year. Here is the list of vegetables I have been harvesting from the garden over the last month: Tomatoes, peppers, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, radishes, green onions, green beans, lima beans.

Cabbage Moth Explosion, Autumn Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:07:00 +0000

Welcome to the first day of Autumn. Wow, summer just flew by this year! My early fall garden is still producing. The cabbage moths are everywhere and I have been spraying "bt" on my broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower to keep them in check. This is the worst cabbage worm infestation I have ever seen!! Despite the cabbage worms, those plants are doing very well (see pics below). The one group planted in the raised bed is doing a bit better than the others that were planted in the regular plot. Small heads are starting to develop on most of the broccoli plants now, so it wont be long until fresh garden broccoli (Yum!!). My roma tomato plants have started to look a little better now. The same goes for my pole limas. I started harvesting green onions again over the last week. My late planted carrots are growing better now since we received some rain. Both the green and banana peppers are growing well and are producing a nice crop. The celery plants are still producing nice stalks, as long as I keep the plants watered well. The weather has been warmer than normal for the last week or so and the forecast is for more of the same for about the next week. I have started to water as the soil has begun to dry out again. I have just started to pick green beans again, with more to come. Happy Fall Gardening!!

Very Dry Late Summer Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:52:00 +0000

The weather has been very dry over the last 3 weeks or so. I really could use some rain. Oh well, I guess I have to water my garden artificially. Some parts of my garden are doing well, but others not so well. My pole lima beans have really struggled this year, probably due to the cool and rainy conditions we had earlier in the growing season. The vines are starting to get growing now and have set a few pods, but not many for this time of year. My roma tomatoes continue to look pretty bad, but they are still producing ripe tomatoes. My mid-season planted green beans did not produce very well, as they were descended upon by bean beetles in biblical proportions and then they developed some leaf rust and then they nearly dried up. despite all that, I did mange to harvest some beans. The beans I planted where the spring onions were growing are doing pretty good and should begin producing beans within 2 to 3 weeks. Hopefully the bean beetles have moved on!! The fall broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage planted the first week of August are doing pretty good. I have to make sure they are watered regularly, especially in the late summer heat. The ones planted in the raised bed are growing better than the ones in the ground. It looks like I should have a good fall crop. I harvested some Green Towers and Sierra lettuce a few days ago. The plants have really taken off. I planted new lettuce seeds about one week ago, and they have germinated in the seedling trays. I am hopeful to get these seedling planted out into the garden by the third week of September after the weather has cooled a bit. I have also planted some top setting onions for green onions about 3 weeks ago, and they have started to push on green shoots. Here is what I have been harvesting from the garden over the last month or so: Green and banana peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, celery, and green beans. Happy Gardening!!

Summer Harvest Continues - Tomatoes and Corn

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:54:00 +0000

Harvest continues in my square foot garden. The weather has been somewhat hot and dry up to a few days ago when I got some much needed rain. I harvested a pretty good number of roma tomatoes today and made some sauce using a Food Strainer & Sauce Maker. This makes quick work of a lot of tomatoes. The tomato plants are still smaller than they should be and will probably not produce as many tomatoes as a normal year. A quick update on my spring broccoli. In a previous entry I said that the side shoot production was not very good....well, the plants did produced many side shoots, they just took some time to get growing. I think it was the best year every for the spring broccoli. I planted some cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower seedlings in the potato raised bed on August 6th. I will be planting more cauliflower and broccoli seedlings into my spring broccoli/cabbage plot tomorrow. I will also be planting some lettuce seedlings and carrot seeds tomorrow. The corn is ready to pick and I will be having fresh corn tonight for dinner!! (see pic below of two ears of corn ready to be picked) This is a great time of year to plant many cool season vegetables, but you must keep them watered during the heat and dryness of late summer. You will be rewarded for your work later this fall. Also, now is a good time to plant a late crop of fast maturing green beans. Fall will be here before you know it!!

Mid-Summer Harvest Underway

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:35:00 +0000

The weather here has turned hot and a dry. I have starting watering some of the plants on a regular basis now. I pulled the onions and I have been curing them over fencing for about one week now. The onion crop was really good with many large sized onions. I suspect it was all spring rain and cooler than normal temperatures that made for a good crop this year. I have been harvesting the following since my last entry: Green Beans, Onions, Hot Banana Peppers, Celery (just started yesterday), Cucumbers, Lettuce, Potatoes, Cabbage.

The bean beetles have arrived and I had to spray the beans with a little bit of sevin today. The roma tomatoes are not doing very well right now, as their growth seems a bit stunted. I guess it is probably due to the crazy weather we have had. I did water them a bit a few days ago, but they still seem small and somewhat wilted during the heat of the day. The potatoes were harvested a few days ago. Between the raised bed and the potato bag, the estimated harvest was between 15 to 20 pounds (see pic below of bag full of harvested Yukon Gold potatoes). My brother's corn is doing well, but unfortunately it does not appear to be the NK199 variety that it was supposed to be. I guess the seed packet was not marked correctly. Now is the time to start planning the fall garden. It won't be long now until the first fall seedlings get planted into the garden.

Mid-Season Report

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 12:01:00 +0000

Since it is now about mid-way through the growing season, I thought I would give you a report on how the garden, so far, is doing this year.

The garden is generally doing pretty good this year. My spring broccoli was successful. The main heads have all been harvested and they were mostly of good size, but the side shoot production has been a little off from previous years, probably due to the weather. I have not harvested the spring cabbage as of yet, but the heads appear to be smaller than normal. The spring lettuce crop was good. I have since pulled up all of the spring lettuce plants and have replanted with new lettuce seedlings. The onions appear to be growing well and most of them are of good size. The tops have started to fall over now, so it won't be too much longer before harvest. The spring green onion crop was really good this year. The spring planted peas were a big disappointment. I planted "Sugar Ann" snap pea and the plants were slow to grow and did not produce well. I think I will go back to growing "Mr Big" pea next year. The potato vines in the Potato Bag have almost all turned brown and are now ready to harvest. I will report back on the results. The other potato raised bed plot is doing well and those vines have also started to brown, so harvest will not be far behind on those either.

The warm season crops are doing pretty good right now with the onset of warmer weather. The Roma tomatoes are just starting to push on fruit. The green beans are ready to harvest today(Yum!!). The pole lima beans are starting to run and fill out the trellises. The banana peppers have been producing for about two weeks now, which seems a little earlier than normal. The "Diva" cucumbers are growing like mad and I have just started to see little cukes developing on the vines. My brother's corn is doing good and, after a slow start, seems to be growing really well right now.

I planted my fall seeds of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and lettuce yesterday in cell packs. I am hopeful to be able to get these seedlings transplanted out into the garden by early August (I can't believe I am already talking about my fall garden).

The weather has been cooler than normal, on average. It was a little dry up to two days ago. We received 1.75 inches of rain over the last two days. Before the rain, I had to use my soaker hoses for the first time this year to water my beans and cabbage. The other plots I have been hand watering. That is it for now.......Happy Gardening!!

Rain, Rain, and More Rain!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:19:00 +0000

Wow, has the rain really been falling or what!!! If you have been following the news, Indiana has had major flooding over the last week or so. The major flooding has been just to my south and east. I feel for all of the people who lost everything. The water came up so fast that most of the evacuated people only left with the clothes on their back. Please keep all of them in your prayers.

My garden is doing pretty good despite all of the rain. The onions are growing really well. I am still harvesting the spring planted lettuce. I have more lettuce seedlings to plant, but I am waiting for my soil to dry out a bit. I harvested my first head of broccoli yesterday, with more to come. The cabbage worms have started to become a problem, so I started spraying with bt for control. I will be harvesting the last of my green onions today. In between all of the heavy rain storms, the weather has warmed up, so my tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and beans have really started to grow. The potatoes continue to grow well in the potato bag and the plants seem close to flowering now.

Where is Summer?

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:40:00 +0000

I am still waiting for summer like temperatures to get here. The weather has been anything but normal around here. We might have one day close to the normal high and then 3 or 4 below normal temperature days. Today we made it to around 77 degrees, which is below normal, but felt warm when compared to the other days. I had to cover the corn bed after the corn germinated to keep the birds out of it. So far so good. The corn is behind, but so are the farmer's field corn. Most of the corn I have been seeing in the fields around Indiana is only about 2 inches tall. In most years the corn is nearly a foot tall by now.

Some of the veggies that like cooler temperature are growing relatively well like the lettuce (see first pic below), broccoli, cabbage, etc. The potatoes in my Potato Bag are growing really well (see second pic below). I did have to water it really well after I took that picture as the vines were wilting a bit. I suspect that this bag will need to be watered a little more than the other beds. I tried growing radishes for the first time this year. I directly sowed "Champion" radish seeds using seed tape (because the seeds are small and I am too lazy to do much thinning). They turned out pretty good and I have been harvesting them. Not too hot and still crunchy, but not pithy. I like the fact that they are ready to harvest in about 3o days.

I also took a picture of my brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage plot (see third pic below). I side dressed fertilizer on the broccoli about 6 days ago using Vegetables Alive! Fertilizer from Gardens Alive. The broccoli seems to be growing well, but I did have to spray them for the first time this year with Bt for control of the worms, which have started to appear. My first planting of green beans have germinated, but they are waiting for warmer weather to start growing like all the other warm season plants.

Missing My Garden, Cold and Wet May So Far

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Tue, 20 May 2008 00:39:00 +0000

I was out of town and away from my garden for 8 days and I could not wait to get back to see how it was growing. It is especially hard to be away this time of year with all of the plants growing now. The May weather, so far, has been colder than normal with a fair amount of rain. The lettuce is loving this weather and has really started to grow fast. I harvested a good bit of lettuce today, with lots more to come. The warm season crops are struggling right now due to the cool weather, but the forecast is for warmer and dry weather for "Race Weekend" (that is what we call Memorial Day weekend here in Indianapolis). My potatoes are growing really well in the Potato Bag and have reached the top of the bag within the last week. Not bad for only being in the bag about one month. I added more soil around the stems yesterday. The soil is now nearly to the top of the bag. So far I am impressed with how well the potatoes have grown in the bag. My newly planted beans have been slow to germinate in the cool wet soil. My brother had to replant the corn (it was also slow to germinate) when birds apparently snapped the most of the new corn seedlings off. This is what I have been harvesting in the garden: Lettuce, green onions, chives. I will submit pictures of the garden in my next blog entry.

Spring Garden Almost All Planted

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:55:00 +0000

My garden is now almost all planted. I planted my broccoli and cabbage seedlings on May 3rd and planted tomato (Roma), pepper (Hot Banana, Sweet Banana, Park Whopper Green Pepper, and Super Chili) brussels sprout, and cucumber (Diva) seedlings yesterday. Oh, I almost forgot about the radishes. I planted two small rows of "Champion" radish about 2 weeks ago. They are up and growing now. I will be planting King of the Garden pole limas today along with some green beans (Espada and Roma II). I took apart my cold frame yesterday and put it away for the year. I continue to harvest green onions and I anticipate harvesting my first lettuce tomorrow as it is starting to grow now. I took down the hoop over my lettuce plot yesterday. I started some more lettuce seeds a few days ago for later planting out into the garden. The potatoes in the potato bag have emerged from the soil. My brother planted Yukon Gold potatoes in the raised bed about 5 days ago. He also planted NK-199 corn in the other raised bed on May 3rd and installed the electric fence around the bed to keep out the squirrels.

The weather has been warm and little dry over the past few weeks. Precipitation in Indianapolis for the month of April was about 2 inches below normal. I hope this is not the beginning of another dry year (like last year). I think the last frost/freeze date is past. Currently it is sunny and 82 degrees F in my garden, with the weather forecast for at least some rain and cooler temperature toward the end of this week. Cooler temps would be welcomed as some of my newly planted broccoli and cabbage seedlings are wilting somewhat in the heat of the day, but they bounce right back by morning.

Potato Bag Planted, Lettuce Growing Nicely

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:11:00 +0000

In my last entry I told you about the potato bag that I was going to try out this year. Well, I planted 6 Yukon Gold seed potatoes in this new bag on last Wednesday, April 23. I filled it about 1/3 full and planted the seed potatoes near the bottom of the bag. I used about 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 top soil, and 1/3 composted cow manure. As the eyes sprout and begin to form leaves, I will cover them over with more of the mix. This will cause the sprouts to form more tubers/potatoes, which is want you want. See the picture below for a picture of this potato bag. I placed it right on top of the gravel drive behind my small plot of chives. You can get one of these Potato Bags from Gardener's Supply Company by clicking here: Potato Bag

My lettuce is finally starting to grow. The weather has been unusually warm for this time of year, so I removed my plastic cover on my hoop and replaced it with a row cover. This helped out some of the lettuce seedlings that were wilting due to the excess heat that was building up under the plastic. See the picture below for a look on how the lettuce is growing under the hoop today.

The weather forecast is for cooler than normal temperature for the next few days or so. A low of 32 degrees F is predicted for Tuesday morning. I am waiting to plant my broccoli and cabbage plants until after that. They should be in the ground already, but this is the type of spring we have had so far.

I have been harvesting green onions (from my fall planted topsetting onions), and also chives.

Spring Lettuce Planted

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:43:00 +0000

The weather has finally turned warmer!!! I did plant some lettuce seedlings out into the garden on April 16th and a few more yesterday under the plastic hoop. Because of all of the cold March temperatures, this is about 2 weeks later than I normally like to get the lettuce in the ground. Here are the lettuce seedlings I have planted so far: Salad Bowl, Sierra, Nevada, and Grand Rapids. I am still waiting for the lettuce Green Towers seedlings to get a little bigger in order to plant out into the garden. The garden peas have started to poke up through the soil. I have harvested a few green onions already with many more to come. My brother will be planting Yukon Gold potatoes within the next week and I am going to also plant potatoes in my new Potato Bag (check back for updates on this). I am going to try to get my Pakman broccoli seedlings in the ground in about 7 to 10 days, with the cabbage and brussel sprouts not too far behind that. I figure I am probably about 3 weeks away from the average last frost (Knock on Wood).

All About Growing and Harvesting Lettuce

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:33:00 +0000

If you have been reading my blog and web site for any time, you know my fondness for lettuce. In the May 2008 issue of Organic Gardening Magazine there was a very good article about growing lettuce. It might be one of the best articles I have read about lettuce. It listed the different types of lettuce and their overall qualities. The types of lettuce are as follows: Looseleaf, Butterhead, Romaine, Batavian, Crisphead. Looseleaf types are general faster maturing, but are less heat tolerant. They are probably a better choice for the early spring garden. Butterhead types (also called Bibb or Boston) I have found are generally more heat tolerant and form small heads with dark green outer leaves. Romaine might be my favorite lettuce for taste and will hold up reasonably well to the heat of early summer in my Indiana garden. Batavian lettuce forms loose heads and seems to hold up at least as well as Romaine, in my opinion. Organic Gardening pointed to a university study which suggested that Batavian lettuce resisted bolting better than any other type (lettuce “bolts” by sending up a seed stalk, causing the lettuce to turn bitter). Lettuce bolts usually in response to increased daylight and temperature. Crisphead types, also known as iceburg, typically grow more slowly and, in my experience, do not perform as well in the heat. Crisphead varieties also seem to be the favorite of slugs.

I do not direct seed lettuce in the garden, but rather use transplants. This is a personal choice as I do not seem to waste as much seed and I do not have to thin them either. The article suggested using mulch around your lettuce plants to help keep the soil moist unless slugs become a problem, then you should avoid using mulch. I absolutely agree with that. I usually do not mulch very heavily in the spring when slug numbers seem to be the highest, but at other times of the year, mulch can be very beneficially. I usually mulch around the lettuce with dried grass clippings. I have generally found that trying to grow lettuce in middle of the summer here in Indiana can be somewhat tricky due to the heat. In fact, over the past few years I have stopped growing lettuce during the period from about mid July to mid August. This seems to have worked our fairly well for me. You still can grow lettuce during the hottest times of year if you give it some shade and keep it WELL WATERED. You can shade your lettuce using hoops and Garden Clips, Medium with shade cloth.

During the warmer times of the year, I find it best to harvest lettuce in the morning before the day gets too hot. This keeps the lettuce from getting bitter. I also recommend washing it in cold water and spinning it dry in a Zyliss Salad Spinner as soon as possible after harvesting. If this is not possible, store the unwashed lettuce in a plastic grocery bag in the refrigerator until later. After the lettuce has been washed and spin-dried, store it in the refrigerator crisper drawer in a Ziploc bag with a paper towel. The paper towel will help absorb any leftover moisture. The lettuce should keep for up to 3 weeks if stored in this manner.

Here are some of the best lettuce varieties for heat and cold according to Organic Gardening:

Looseleaf: New Read Fire, Salad Bowl (My Pick. Get the seed here: Salad Bowl Lettuce), Simpson Elite

Butterhead: Optima, Winter Density

Romaine: Green Towers (Probably My #1 Favorite Lettuce). Get the seed here: Lettuce Green Towers Park Seed

Batavian: Magenta, Nevada (My Pick)

Some of MY favorite lettuce varieties can be found on the following page: http://timssquarefootgarden.com/plantlist.htm

Now get out there and plant some lettuce. You won't regret it one bit!!

Onions and Peas Planted

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:18:00 +0000

I planted my onion plants yesterday, April 2nd. I planted approx. 140 plants for full mature onions and another 90 or so for green onion harvesting. This does not include the topsetting/walking onions that I have growing now in the garden that were set out last fall. For the spacing on the onions I am growing for a full mature onion, I give them a little more room than what Mel Bartholomew recommends (which is 3 inch spacing). I plant these onions 4 inches apart in short north-south rows 5 inches apart. This spacing, I feel, gives the onions a little bit more room to grow. The spacing between rows also makes it easier to side dress the Root Crops Alive! 100% All-Natural Fertilizer, which I will apply in a few weeks. I planted 4 long rows of onions for green onions, using the closer spacing of 3 inches. The onion varieties I planted were Onion Candy Hybrid Park Seed and Onion Stockton Sweet Red Park Seed . These are both good intermediate day onions that grow well for me here in Indiana. I planted more Candy onion than Stockton Red, as I think Candy grows a little bit better.

I planted Sugar Ann Snap Pea today. I planted these 4 inches apart under a galvanized wire Pea Fence . This is a new variety of snap pea that I am trying this year.

I have nearly all of my seedlings in my cold frame right now, just waiting for a few more lettuce seeds to germinate before they get moved out into the frame. The weather remains cold and wet, but the forecast is for warmer weather this coming weekend. Happy Spring Gardening!!

Cold and Wet Weather Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:24:00 +0000

The weather has continued cold and wetter than normal. The ground just started to dry a bit and then it rained again. Oh well, not much one can do about the weather. I have all my seedlings in the cold frame now with the exception of the Green Ice lettuce. One older packet of seeds said light was required for germination, and another did not. Well, light is required for germination, so I had to replant.

Gardening activity is starting to get going for me. I am going to try to plant some Sugar Ann snap peas today. This is a new pea variety for me this year. I am hopeful that the soil is warm enough for germination. I am also going to put up my bean trellis today. I should be receiving my onion plants in the mail early next week!!

I have had a few e-mails inquiring about the garden hoops that I use in the garden. These easy to use hoops are a very easy to use and are an excellent way to extend the garden season, both in the spring and the fall (see picture below of a hoop in use in my garden in April 2006).

If you purchase the garden clips, they will come with instructions for use. Essentially, the medium garden clips are for use with either 1/2 inch white PVC pipe or 1/2 inch black poly pipe. I recommend the 1/2 inch poly pipe because it is flexible and easier to bend. For a small hoop (3' x 5'), which is what I use, you will need 3, 5' lengths of poly pipe and a 4' x 8' piece of cover material (I use ordinary and cheap clear to slightly opaque drop cloth plastic which you can buy in rolls from any home improvement or hardware store). The great thing about these hoops is that once you are finished with them, you just pull them up and store them. The pipe just pushes into the existing soil about six inches or so. You can also use these hoops to hold shade netting, or a row cover. The poly pipe can be somewhat hard to find, but I found mine at a local Tractor Supply store.

Here are some useful links for hoop house materials:

Garden Clips, Medium
Garden Clips, Large
4x8 Hoop House

Floating Row Covers

Happy Spring Gardening!!

Waiting for Spring, Lots of Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:40:00 +0000

The Calendar says March 21st, but the weather has been more like February 21st. Received lots of rain the last few days, so the soil is really wet and cold right now. A sure sign of spring is the walking/topsetting onions are starting to get some visible green growth on them(see picture to the left). It looks like most of the topsets I planted last fall survived the winter. I did have to push some back into the ground as the freezing and thawing cycles have caused some to heave out of the ground. I should be receiving my candy and stockton red onion plants from Dixondale on or around March 31st.

My seed planting is well underway. Here is what I planted indoors since my last blog entry:

Cabbage - March 15

Brussels Sprouts - March 15

Park Seed Whopper Green Pepper - March 15

I must admit I have gotten a little lazy over the years and have stopped starting seeds for Roma tomatoes and hot peppers since I have been able to find the transplants at a local nursery. Besides, my cold frame has started to get very crowed over the last few springs, so room was an issue. Most of my earlier started lettuce seeds have germinated and are now in the cold frame. Also in the cold frame now is celery, broccoli, cabbage, and brussels sprouts. I put up a hoop up last weekend where the lettuce will be planted. I like to do this ahead of planting to help warm the soil and keep it drier. I am hoping that warmer and drier weather arrives soon!!

Lettuce Seeds Started, More Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:15:00 +0000

Well, I should have known that right after I set up my cold frame that it would snow. Received about 4 inches of snow yesterday. It has been very cold for this time of year. I delayed seed planting until March 7th. I currently have all of my early lettuce seeds started. They are currently germinating under florescent lights on my converted bookshelf (see picture). I also have a seed warmer under the two half flats (you can order this seed warmer mat here: Electric Grow Mat Park Seed). This set up seems to work well for me. Once the seeds germinate, I move them to the cold frame. The lights keep the sprouts from getting too spindly after germination. I usually check the seeds twice a day, but sometimes they sprout before I get the chance to move them out into the cold frame.

I will be starting seeds of broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, celery, and fennel either today or tomorrow and seeds of warm weather plants in another week or so. The forecast is for warmer weather next week......HOORAY!!

Cold Frame is Up, Still Waiting for Warmer Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:25:00 +0000

The Juwel cold frame went up yesterday over a portion of one of my garden beds. The soil was still half frozen in the garden, which made it a little difficult to level. I highly recommend getting one, especially if you like starting your own seeds. Also a must is the automatic solar vent. If you use this cold frame, you must make sure that you securely pin it down into the soil, or the wind might carry it away to you neighbor's yard. You must also place a few small bricks or rocks over the top piece that is not attached to the solar vent, because the wind will have a tendency to lift it off. I line the bottom of the frame with two large black plastic trash bags and then place plastic milk jugs filled with water and wrapped with black duct tape around the interior walls of the cold frame for extra warmth.

You can purchase one of these cold frames here:
Cold Frame: Juwel 1000 Basic Unit

You can also purchase an automatic solar vent here:
Cold Frame: Automatic Opener Arm

I am still waiting for the weather to warm up. It has been cold here for the last two weeks. The weather forecast is for rain turning to snow......what else is new. I am hopeful to be able to start some lettuce seeds indoors maybe in four or five days.

Cold Frame Set-Up Delayed, Waiting For Warmer Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:35:00 +0000

Since my last post the weather has been all over the board!! It was much warmer with lots of rain and severe weather, then it turned much colder with snow, sleet, and freezing rain. As you can see from the picture to the left, there is about 2 inches of snow/sleet over my garden beds. I am hopeful that the weather will warm up a bit and I will be able to set up my cold frame by the end of this coming week. Every year I always try to get at least my first group of lettuce seedlings out into the cold frame by March 1. It looks like I will not have my cold frame up by then, but maybe a week later, if the weather warms up.

I have ordered all of my seeds for the 2008 gardening season and now I am just waiting on the weather. I do not want to put the seedlings out too early, because they might freeze in the cold frame. I will keep a close watch on the extended weather forecast and the temperatures. Until then, I will get all of my seed starting supplies together and wait.

Very Cold, Last of the 07 Garden Harvest

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 15:32:00 +0000

As you can see from my thermometer pictured to the left, it has been very cold here. I recorded a low of -1.1 degrees Fahrenheit about four days ago. About two weeks ago I harvested the rest of my garden carrots that were under a hoop. That is the last of the garden harvest for the 2007 growing season. Despite the cold, I know spring is not too far off. I will be ordering my seeds and supplies for the 2008 growing season within the next week. If the weather cooperates, I might try to get my cold frame put together in another 3 weeks or so. Also, I hope to be starting my first lettuce seeds indoors in about another 3 weeks. Happy Gardening!!

Grow More Food, Early Winter Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Tim B.) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:19:00 +0000

In the May/June 2007 issue of The American Gardener magazine, Roger Swain was asked in an interview in his role as a garden communicator and author what is the single most important thing you want to convey to your readers and audience? He answered: "To get to the true essence of gardening, we have to get back to growing food plants; they’re the reason gardens were invented in the first place. The absence of anything edible in so many American landscapes these days can only be viewed as people missing out on the total gardening experience." I could not agree more with Roger. I guess that is the reason why I garden and more specifically why I am a vegetable gardener. A garden without any edible plants would not be a real garden to me. If we do not eat from our own garden we lose that connection to our natural world. While a garden full of plants and blooms is nice, in my opinion, it is sterile and incomplete without food plants.

My early winter garden is nearly empty now. I harvested the last of the carrots in one of the beds, but still have one bed of carrots left. All the rest of the plots are empty except for the walking onions which I planted in November. Now is the time to start planning next year's garden. Planting time will be here before you know it. Happy New Year!!