It's planting time....again.

Set out my onion slips and sets today. I've been hardening off the first batch of broccoli starts and may decide to plant them today or tomorrow. I now have the main bed all dug up and ready for the potatoes which I will plant soon.

BRRRRR!!!!! Cold Snap

Its turned cold with the lows in the teen and the highs in the 30s. My lettuce and cauliflower seedlings have sprouted but look bad. I think the seed is past its prime. My second set of broccoli starts are doing fine. We had a nice bit of sun yesterday and I positioned them in the window to allow them to drink up. ZUM PROST! So I'll have to sow a new batch of starts. We really needed this cold to keep everything on schedule.

Where have the chickadees gone?

Temps H 50 deg. Well it's back to cool weather. I wonder if the birds have changed their mind about nesting so early. I really need to take all the bird boxes down and clean them out. One bird that hasn't been seen around here for several years is the Chickadee. There used to be a lot of trees growing wild here in the neighborhood until the new owner of the rent houses had much of them cut down or pruned. Also, we had that ice storm and killed a lot of trees. So there was a definite loss of habitat. The west Nile virus had also taken it's toll. Sure do miss the chickadees.

UPDATE:  as of 2015 there have not been any chickadees spotted yet.  Sure do miss them.

Gave the broccoli starts a sunbathing session

Nice clear day with the Temp in the lower 16s.

I decided to put my broccoli starts out in the cool garden to get a little sun. I had to water the place on the south side of the house where I sowed the bachelor buttons. The rain almost always comes from everywhere but the south. So, although the south side of the house is sunny and warm it usually needs to be watered even after a rain. This is especially true right next to the foundation.

The onions I sowed last week are all emerging.

Succession Planting

Sowed the second batch of broccoli and cauliflower today. I also sowed some bibb lettuce. I made the nifty little seed packet boxes several years ago. The one of the left has slots rabbited on the inside to allow dividers to be slid in. This helps keep them upright until the box is full. They are alphabetized in order to find them easier.

My Seedlings Progress

Here is my seedling's progess. I think the light may have made a big difference. Wish the temp in that room was cooler.....may be the reason they are so tall.

Damping Off or Heat Exhaustion

I'm not so sure if that little fellow is damping off or just grew too big for his britches.

Seed Serchin'

Cool Temp. 48 deg

Went to Warehouse Market and picked up 1 lb ea yellow and white onion sets @ .99$/lb. They didn't have any slips and usually get them too late. Since the hardiness date have been moved up the garden center have not responded. Cry Me! Went to the feed store in Turley and they had nothing but said they might have them in a week or so.

Went to the Ted & Debbie's Garden Center on Harvard and bought these seeds:

1. Cosmos - Candy Stripe
2. Bee Balm - Dotted Mint
3. Butterfly Weed
4. Cucumber - Japanese Soyu Burpless

One of my broccoli plants may have come down with the dropsey...damping off. The rest look quite healthy. Well, they always do right up to the day they keel over.

Finally...Rain

A nice slow healthy bit of rain. Temps in the 40s. That's more like Feb.

Still Springish

Iris, Rustler

Temp upper 60s. Another beautiful day. weeded the herb garden and seeded it with bachelor buttons near the gate. The surprise lilies, jonquils, and crocus are starting to emerge. I would like to move some Star of Bethlehem bulbs to the front iris garden. I planted the Rustler iris in the front iris bed near the lilac and some iris seed at the corner of the bed next to the shop.

Is it spring yet?

Got out in the garden and worked on the roses a little more. Linda Bob did most of the pruning but I just had to get my hands on them anyway. A pair of sparrows have already claimed dad's bird box. Turned the bed next to the shop and it's ready for sowing. I have a lot of debris piles in the garden and always have trouble deciding where to move the compost pile each spring. In a little cup I sowed some onion seed. If I have success it will be a first.

Still Warm

Hit 70 deg today. Worked outside in my T-Shirt. Finished removing the weeds from the beds and am ready to start diggin'. The birds have been fooled into thinking it's spring. I know better. ha. I did clean out the bird box that Dad made. The perch had fallen off so instead of glueing it back on I nailed it on using galvanized nails driven through pre-drilled holes. It back up and ready for them to move into.

Beautiful Day

Temps around 70 deg....wow! Weeded the front iris bed. The larkspurs have migrated to the north end of that bed...should be a nice show. My broccoli seedlings are about 2 inches high and looking good. Need to get another set of lights. :)

Venturing out into the garden

We had some more 60 deg weather in January. Linda and I went to Home Depot and bought some seeds. They didn't have much. We also purchased some at Wallmart...still very little selection.

I got the hoe out and removed the winter weed growth from the main bed. If it stays dry I'll turn it tomorrow or the next day. I usually double dig a small plot at a time each year covering 1/7 the beds each year....according to 7 yr cycle rotation.

The broccoli plant are starting their second set of leaves and look stout and quite green under the lamp. When the sun shine through the window I move the plants into the sunlight, then as evening approaches I put them back under the light.

Organized my seeds and cataloged them. It's time to throw out some of the older unused seed. I hate to waste seed but most of the unused seed is from saved seed of my own and there is plenty from last year to go around.

Installed my grow lamp. 42" duel tube flourescent. My broccoli seedlings a lookin' good.

Broccoli Has Sprouted

My broccoli starts have just sprouted today and I have placed them under a fluorescent lamp. Tomorrow I will have to put the shelves up in the south facing window of the clock shop. I need to make a fixture for the lamp to be placed above the starts. The weather is beginning to cool down a bit.....40s and 50s with night time temps in the 30s. I'm still waiting for the big freeze.

It's Plant'n Time

It is the later part of January and we have not seen Winter yet. Whenever we have unseasonably warm weather in January there is a price to pay later on...usually in the form of damaging ice storms or record heavy snow fall. But ya have ta plod ahead anyway and be ready to cheat Mother Nature if she decides to be mischievous.

It is time to start the broccoli plants which will be put out in early March. We have bumped up our frost-free date in response to the warming trend. We now use the frost-free dates for southern Oklahoma. I keep a set of standby starts in the cold frame just in case there is any loss.

Started De Cicco broccoli (15 ea) today.