The 2012 gardening blog
Sunday 13 May 2012
Rainy days and aphids
A real surprise to find that the basil and the peppers were housing a thriving little colony of aphids. Where the hell do they come from? I cleaned the office really well - at least I thought I had - and these things not only appear, but seemingly zero in on the plants that they like. Isa has this idea of taking the tray, wrapping it in large plastic bags, and spraying the plants with Ortho insect spray and putting some blasts of Purge for good effect. At least it will have the effect of isolating the plants.
And the rain continues. We had one of those bizarre Interior experiences on Thursday with snow on the ground in many places and a thunderstorm above with thunder booming. It hailed vigorously, too. I'd like to put plants in the greenhouse, but not right now. The high tunnel has water in the rows and supersaturated soil. Looks like a late planting this year.
I did put out the onions and the lettuce, however, under the windows in the beds by the road. Let's see how that works.
Sunday 29 April 2012
Melting snow early
A really nice example of what happens when you melt the snow off early. I went out into the garden on April 8, literally wading through the armpit-deep snow throwing dusty soil over the tiop of the snow. The temperatures didn't get above freezing for another two weeks, but the sun warmed the soil particles, melting the snow around it. You can see how well it did the job. The snow around the garden is still about two feet deep; the exposed darkened soil is busy grabbing sunlight and turning it into warmth.
The most impressive part of this is on the side of the high tunnel. That snow was almost six feet deep; there's still a little sill of snow left behind. However, spreading the soil on the snow has even melted that at a faster rate than the snow around it.
The soil inside the high tunnel is sadly still too waterlogged to plant out. I'm assuming that it has something to do with the snowmelt around the structure and the heat inside. In any case, I still can't plant out yet.
Saturday 28 April 2012
One failure after another
The high tunnel is thawing out, revealing the styrofoam row dividers. Last year I had read about this great idea - use 2-by-4s to separate out the rows of things like carrots and turnips. No weeding, easy to see, sounded cool. The problem? No 2-by-4s just laying around, especially out here, where wood is at a premium. So I decided to cut out 2-by-4 sized pieces of styrofoam, tape them together, and use that for row dividers. Not the best choice. They fell apart, got dirty fast, and in general had a hard time with the elements. I've been thinking about spliting small spruce logs.... when I get the time. Which means next to never.
The dog went crazy two nights ago in the starts. For some strange reason he decided to eat the tray with the eggplant starts, and the proceeded to puke it all up in a nasty green heap. I was quite bummed, considering the amount of time it takes to grow eggplant from seed, thinking about how to get it from Fairbanks and such, when I look at another tray about found that I had created two flats with Millionaire and Orient Express varities on April 6. Why? I don't know. But they're at least growing and should be big enough to put out in two or three weeks.
And the root cellar. The entrance to the root cellar has about six inches of water in it, none of which has infiltrated into the (lower) inside of the cellar, but the fix is in. I've got to repair it or else. Certainly any water in there now is creating a vicious kingdom of mildew and mold. We managed to get out what we had, but I've got to find a way to create about two feet of gravel on the floor, build new walls, and redo the roof before next winter. Aarrgh. I'm thinking of just digging the roof out, pouring the gravel into the shell, putting up a new wall inside the old one, and calling it a day. We'll have to walk up into it, but the water problem will be solved once and for all.
Saturday 21 April 2012
Getting ready to plant out
The high tunnel held out through the winter, with only two tiny quarter-sized tears at the very edge of the plastic, which can easily be repaired. The last real snowfall we had was in the middle of March, so the skies have been generally clear, allowing me to dust the snow with soil on April 8. Even though the temperatures were below freezing day and night, the snow had already shown significant dimpling the next day. (As of today there are large barren patches in the back of the high tunnel, which I'll take photos of today.) It is always a pleasant surprise to see the black soil surrounded by unmelted snow.
I also managed to get the greenhouse cleaned and ready to go. I rearranged the containers so I can get to the tomatoes from both sides. I've also arranged the containers so the cold air coming in through the door will be blocked by a wall of plants, which will hopefully prevent intrusion during the colder days. The upper beds are still covered with a ton of snow, which I can't get to since it is too deep. Hopefully today I can trudge through and coat it in dust.
Thursday 29 December 2011
Reflecting at -32 degrees
The greenhouse is holding up, despite the four feet of snow on the ground and a virtual avalanche of snow along the sides of the high tunnel. (That fence buried in the snow in this picture is four feet high.) There were many successes, and a few failures, along the way in 2011, and I'll be spending the next several months updating what I have here.
The first reflection is that it is difficult to come in at the end of the day in the late spring or summer and actually writing something down. The work is so intense, and it is enjoyable to be outside, so when I'm done it's already time to go to sleep. (However, the sun's still high in the sky, which makes me want to do more stuff outside, not sit at the computer.)
I'm a little embarressed by the sudden disappearance of the bees. I probably did something wrong, although the list of what I could have done is pretty long, so I'll just have to try it again next year. I'm also amazed at how long it took to put up that greenhouse - several weeks of consistent effort.
In the realm of stuff that worked well, the plastic bags over the eggplants in the greenhouse was a genius move. The plants were huge and luxurient. The lesson in the upcoming year is keeping the plastic bags on the eggplants right through the season. I took the coverings off the plants in July, as they were growing too big for the waste-can sized bags, and then the cool weather struck and the plants never produced more. Next year, I have trash-can sized bags at the ready. The peppers can't take the high humidity inside the bag, though. Didn't try it with the tomatoes.
Another great idea concerned the yellow sticky fly traps. I used the store-bought versions and spread out about a dozen throughout the greenhouse. The first infestation of aphids occurred in late July on a pepper plant near the door (and it does seem that proximity to the door means something with how the insects spread). I got rid of that and didn't have bugs for another month.
I think I picked up spider mites from the departing science teacher's pepper plants, and they popped up here and there throughout the summer. I need another way of dealing with these, as they are immune to yellow.
New flower of the year: bacopa. Very nice lobelia-liks displays with a lavendar flower that has a yellow center. The herbs (pictured here for the hilarity of the Pineappple Express crowd) also came out very, very well. The pesto is becoming a hit here in town. We're going to grow a bunch more in one of those flimsy greenhouses we got for cheap at Sam's Club.
Paul
