Archive for March, 2010

The Last Bunch

It was time to shake up the greens garden. I decided to put our cucumbers in the raised beds, so the lettuce had to go. I am amazed that we were able to keep this stuff alive, with all the hard frosts we endured. Amazing what old cotton sheets and the warmth of the soil can do. Next year, I plan on creating plastic row covers using David LaFerney’s design.

Tomato Time

I am really pleased with how well my tomatoes responded to the CFLs. A few extra hours of light a day, really made up for the 2 weeks I lost by not planting them when I should have. The longer winter did not help either. As you can see, it is time to get them in the ground. Happy Happy Joy Joy… The new area we tilled is back to being hard as a rock. I am trying to get as much organic material into it as I can, but this is going to be a “work in progress” for a while.

Mustard Plants Flowering

Spring is coming but try telling that to Jack Frost, I imagine we have not seen the last of him. But the good news, my mustard greens are flowering. Kind of a timing test. I use mustard seeds in the mix of my “Bread n Butter” pickles. I am not happy at the price they charge at the grocers so I decided to put a few into my garden. And now they are bouncing… This makes up for us having to drag our rear ends out on those long COLD nights with cotton sheets to cover them up. Looks like next fall I need to put out a few hundred or so to meet our needs.

A few tomatoes and chile plants under lights

Well… Most of our tomatoes seem to be responding to the CFLs. I need much more lumens (give me light!) and could sure use more space. We are moving the air a bit, and it does seem to help. On the nice days we bring them outside. My chile plants are laughing at us. The heat will come soon enough.

I guess I need to start looking at green house plans and what part of the farm I plan on building / putting them. I see a few places, but I need to be able to dig deep or anchor one in, plumbing from our well, and running AC/DC for the lights. We also happen to live where the wind can screw things up, very FAST. And that is not a good thing.