Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Sunny and Cold

Well, not really like 50's, but it is windy and so it's cold... LOL! But oh, does my laundry smell so fresh and clean. I love being able to hang it outside. Especially, since this now beings the outside season. I hit Meijer's today and got 192 new clothespins... They were on sale for $2.97 a pack ( I got 2). Over the winter I went back to using Gain for washing the clothes. The homemade stuff works ok.... But we felt that it just didn't work for the basement and winter. I will go back to making it once I use up the Gain.

I got outside yesterday and cleaned out the pots of mint. The dead from last year. I leave the growth to help protect from the winter. So far only the apple and the spearmint aren't showing any signs of life. The orange, pineapple, chocolate mint and the lemon balm are doing good. Plus, the catnip I thought I killed last year, is already up. I love pluses! I cleaned out the chives. I think this year I need to get another packet of seeds. They just don't want to fill out the planter.

More good news, my 5 type apple has real leaves on it and the 4 type pear (still in pot) is budding. The rhubarb is up and really red. I hope that I can get some this year. The last two years it went to seed on me. And by it doing that the stalks were nasty. Always room for hope!! Still waiting on the blueberries to show some sign of life. The strawberries are coming in nicely. Last year I think I got almost 2 quarts. I think I should get that much again. Every little bit is a little bit I don't have to buy.

I was going to re organize the garden this year.... But I just got one of those feelings. So I will leave it as it is for this year. I will probably be kicking myself next year for having waited. If we need to get the basement walls done (still in question) then I will have to rip it out anyways.

My tomatoe seedlings are doing really well. As are the pumpkin seedlings. Not sure what I am else I'm going to plant. Lettuce, spinach, chard, beans (teepee), maybe peas. No peppers or eggplant for this year though. They did really well for the last two years and I have more then enough frozen. Not doing potatoes or onions either. They do ok, but they take up a lot of space that I can use for other things. I will plant sunflowers again this year. And maybe the mice won't get them before I can get them to the birds. Damn garage mice!

Gotta Run,
Yart

2 comments:

dreaming in maine said...

Awesome! What zone are you in? I'm inbetween 4 and 5. My rhubarb isn't doing a thing! My strawberries have a few green leaves coming up. Blueberries not really showing any signs of life yet. My chives and most of my scallions made it alright thru the winter, but like you my chives are not filling out. I even had a small kale plant that made it thru the winter!

I planted potatoes in a large tote last year and they did alright (not great, but then the soil wasn't that great). I also grew zucchini (which did AWESOMELY!!) and a couple tomatoes in totes and they really did well. The ones in the container, in fact, did not get blight while several in the garden did!

Happy gardening!

Yart said...

I'm in zone 6a. It's like a micro climate here. We are also on a deposit of limestone which makes the soil sweet. That's why the blueberries are still in pots. LOL!