Thursday, April 14, 2011

Keeping an Eye on the Weather

It's almost April 15th and I'm getting really antsy about getting outside.  Depending on the weather today, I may rake rather than go to the gym!




The weather is looking good until Saturday night/Sunday.  The maple festival is this weekend!  That means CRAFT FAIR and lots of ideas and good food!  We attend every year.
I always look for jewelry and food at these things. 

Well, my seedlings are looking stunted since they exploded the other day.  I have 2 cucumbers growing in one pod but there are plenty of pods that didn't grow anything.  I am really struggling with my herbs!  I think that's what I'll study this summer. 
Things to Do this Spring:
1. Find out when to mulch my blueberry bushes and what type to get. (Will cut grass/leaves suffice?)
2. Get the rota til guy from my church to come and do the garden.
3. Get fertilizer from Jay's parents (they own horses).
4. Rake the stones off the yard before the flowers start popping up.
5. Plant the garden at the end of April.


OOOO!!! I'm so excited!!!  :)

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Seedling Explosion



My seedlings worked really hard this weekend!  The zucchinis and pumpkin got HUGE and the cucumbers are right behind.  Those mushrooms are still causing trouble, but I've been keeping them under control and I've contacted UVM extension to see what their suggestions are for treatment.  I have almost all my peppers popping up and the tomatoes are coming along slowly as they did last year.  Maybe I will look into fertilzer or some sort of stimulant for them.  I have a book that my Gpa gave me called:  The Ten Week Garden by Cary Scher.  It has beautiful sketches of veggies and a very pretty notebook feel to it.  It's like reading the author's note book! Very fun and chalked full of information about gardening in Vermont.  The author is from VT, which is great because he knows the variability of VT weather.  It seems to be hard to find this book because it is from the 70's but it's an excellent resource!  :) 




I'm getting so excited!!!!   ha ha ha!  Spring is here! The crocuses are up, the birds are out, and mud season has come! I love spring!  :)

Monday, April 4, 2011

Grow, Grow, Snow???

There is a reason why in Vermont they say you shouldn't take your snow tires off until April 15th; it snowed today.  Luckily, it doesn't seem to have stuck!
Some things I have been thinking about are:
1. Testing the soil this year to see if I should add more horse manuer this year or if that would make it too acidic;
2. Fertilizing my garlic;
3. How to get rid of the mushrooms that have appeared in my poo pods!  Apparently the soil had some sort of agent in it and now I have mushrooms-Orange Peel Fungi (I think?)-they aren't poisonous, but I didn't want them.


But here are some of the pictures so far:
Some onions in the front and zucchini and pumpkins on the side are coming up fast!
My zucchini are looking really good! I think they look so pretty when they are seedlings.

 
The snow from a few weeks ago and my original set up, which had to change due to the dog chewing on my poo pods!  Some evidence of that is shown below:




 
And finally the start of the nasturtiums and marigolds to ward off predators this year!
And that's about it!
Cheers!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Check This!

I think gardeners must be some of the most creative people on the planet! I love this idea! It's so simple, beautiful and functional.  I think it would be great for a small kitchen to brighten it up with flowers or fresh herbs.  If I had enough money, I would totally get this!

Kickstarter Urbio

Right now, it seems to be in the starter stages of life; they need funding or something.  I've never heard of this kickstarter website but I really like this idea!

Cheers! I will post images of my seedlings soon!