... veggie garden preparations and some updates

Hello everybody,

So sorry for the recent hiatus from blogging but we have had some very serious illnesses in the family and that has taken all of our time and energy.

When we started to put in our veggie garden a few years ago we very quickly realized that our biggest challenge would be the perennial wildflowers (ahem, I mean weeds)!

They are unbelievable. You dig and dig and dig and back they still come. So, I decided to try to make less work for myself. We covered almost all of the veggie garden with newspaper, cardboard and tarps. The tarps have been on the garden for two years now. We recently had some killer winds here and the tarps were blowing all over the place. Hard as it is to believe, the weeds were growing underneath. Not strongly, but they are hanging on.

I have replaced all the tarps and have come to a decision that we will have to put in raised beds and cover the paths. That seems to be the only way to get the weeds under control. Here is a photo of the veggie garden and also one of the area that will become our strawberry patch this summer.

I know that there is a lot of expense involved in putting in the raised beds but I am planning to spread it out over a two year period. Some will go in this Spring, some this Fall and the rest next Spring. They will be filled with a mixture of good topsoil, compost and well rotted manure. The paths between will be covered with cardboard and then pea stone added on top.  A lot of work to be sure but I think in the long term it is less work than spending all of my time battling weeds. You can get so frustrated that you eventually just give in and the mess becomes worse and worse.

There is one small area of the garden that we have been working on for about four years now and it is somewhat weed free. We planted out garlic there last fall and they are now up and growing and look just great. I think you can just see the little green shoots in this photo.

And lastly, here is a shot of the little broccoli, kale and kohlrabi plants. They have now moved into cell packs where they will stay until they go into the garden. They are getting bigger and stronger every day. I place them outside for most of the day now so they are getting natural sunlight but still bring them inside at night as we are still below zero here.

Well, we are all caught up with news for now so I will say thank you for stopping by and have a great day. Cheers.

... seedlings

Greetings everyone,

The seeds that I started a short while ago have mostly germinated and have their seed leaves now. Here is a photo of the little broccoli plants. 

They will remain in their small soil blocks until they have their first set of true leaves and then I will plant them on into either larger soil blocks or into a Jiffy Cell pack to continue to grow until they are ready to plant out in the garden. 

Short post for today but will be back soon. Thanks for visiting. Have a wonderful day. Cheers.

... update on the log splitter

Hello everyone and a very Happy Easter to you if you celebrate this holiday!

We are having a wonderful sunny day today so Frank decided to try out the electric log splitter. He had his doubts about how well it would work as it is only a 5 ton machine. So he started to cut the logs into 16" lengths and then he put it to the test. Before I knew it he had quite a sizable pile of split wood. 

The final verdict is this. The machine works very well. It did get stuck twice on really big logs but was easy to pry apart. The one complaint is that it is too low on the ground so he is bent over too long. He actually started to kneel beside it as that was easier on the back but then had to stand to pick up the next log. The solution to this dilemma is quite simple. We will build a nice sturdy stand for it with a ramp so he can roll it up the ramp and then clamp it in place while it is being used. 

The other concern that we had was how much power it would use. Frank initially plugged it into a small generator but then decided to use the hydro from the panels. 

I stood and watched the monitor while Frank went out and used it. When it started up there was a huge power spike of 100 amps for about a nanosecond, then it dropped to 47 amps for another nanosecond and then it settled quite nicely at about 18 amps while running. That is an acceptable amount of power usage. Frank put a clamp on the "start" button so that the power spike is only once upon initial start up. Then it is just a matter of pushing down the lever that operates the ram that splits the wood. The power draw remains constant.

What is the bottom line? He likes it. Excellent value for the $338.00 including tax that it cost. 

Thanks so much for visiting today. Hope you have had a wonderful weekend. Cheers.

...starting seed in soil blocks

Greetings everybody,

Today I did a bit of seed starting. I planted broccoli, kohlrabi and kale. 

My method of choice for seed starting is using a soil blocker. I first saw this method many years ago on a television program called Gardening Naturally hosted by Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch. Personally, I think it is simply brilliant. 

Here is the soil blocker. I purchased mine from Lee Valley.

The choice of planting mix is very important if you want the plants to get off to a good start. I use a mix of peat moss, perlite, sifted garden compost and blood and bone meal.

You make up your soil mix, wet it thoroughly to the consistency of brownie mix and then push the soil blocker into it to fill up the little chambers. Then press down and out pop 20 cute little blocks of soil. They have a small indent on the top where you put a single seed. I use a dedicated pair of old tweezers to pick up the seeds. 

OK, I can already hear you saying "she picks up the seeds, ONE AT A TIME! ... WITH TWEEZERS !!!"  Yes I do and you would be surprised at how fast it actually goes. I had 40 broccoli seeds done in under one minute. 

The soil blocks are quite moist so you have a perfect environment for the little seeds to germinate. I actually give them a quick mist with warm water and then pop them into a plastic bag and put them into a warm place. 

Now you need to keep an eye on them. I check them at least twice, sometimes three times a day. As soon as they have started to germinate they need good light. They go into my south facing window and I turn them around 4 times a day so they do not grow on an angle and it keeps the stems strong. 

An ideal situation would be to put them under a grow light but we do not have any of them right now. Hopefully we will by next year as that would make things easier.

I will be back with another post about this as soon as some of the seeds have germinated.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day. Cheers.

... experiment update for March

Hello everyone,

An update on the veggie on the windowsill experiment. We have eaten some of those lovely micro greens. I made a salad of a good sized handful of them. They were so tender and delicate, utterly delicious. I used only 100 grams of the greens so I can make at least another 2-3 salads with what I have left.

Also, just have a look at these little beauties. The green beans have done wonderfully. We will be having them for dinner tonight and then I will rip them out and replant for another go before I start to plant our main crop into the actual garden. It is old seed so I do not mind if they go back into a pot. It will provide at least another meal or two long before the garden plants are ready to produce anything.

Thanks for visiting. Stop by again soon. Cheers.