Earth Boxes
I’m still in Spring Fever mode. My sister’s ex-sister-in-law swears by the Earth Box. She may live 1500 feet lower than me, but I’m willing to give anything a shot. In “Combat Gardening,” I am a complete mercenary. I ordered just the boxes, not the soil. Last week I went to our local Disneyland of nurseries, Tagawa Garden Center, in Parker, Colorado. I bought two 3 cubic foot bags of Roots Organics by Aurora Formula 707. I filled up my Earth Boxes and rubbed my paws together in anticipation! Salivating, really.
Today, I went back to that “Cave of Wonders,” Tagawa. They are already selling a truly spectacular variety of tomato plants. I couldn’t help myself. I only went in for compost, I swear, but I felt the irresistible pull of the green.. and I found too many varieties to recall. I was star-struck. Tomatoes which I had only read about appeared before my eyes. I spent an hour reading tags, and purchased a Black Crim and a Champion II to plant in my experimental Earth Box, as well as a four pack (with a fifth plant) of Lady Bell pepper plants. Shame… I feel better now, though. I got a jump on spring. Take that, wind.
Spring fever
Sunday, April Fools’ Day, after a week of really spectacular weather for this altitude, 70 plus degrees each day, I planted. I felt that enough time had passed, and I had ants in my pants to plants. Hee-hee…
My grandson and I decided square foot gardening was the way to go (mainly because his idea of rows is rather loose). The Minion and I had tilled the soil in all four raised beds two weeks ago with new compost and let them rest. So my five-year-old assistant and I chose the bed which last year had hosted pole beans and spaghetti squash, and we spread Baby Carrots, Chantenay carrots, Breakfast radishes, Scarlet globe radishes, lettuce, and spinach in each roughly square section. The bed is roughly 8 by 4, so you do the math…. Hey, he’s five. We will plant the other half in a couple of weeks. Then we watered, which is his favorite part, although I had to remind him fifty times that turning the sprayer to “blast” would annihilate the seeds and mean no vegetables. “Spray gently!!!!!” Finally, we put the cold frame tent over the seeds and said “Good luck.” The next day, 30 degrees. The next, next day, 20 inches of snow. Today, Thursday, the snow has mostly melted, and I really should go water, since the cold frame prevented the snow from reaching the seeds.
We also planted peas in the bed that last year hosted tomatoes. We put in three rows of peas, which at first I felt bad that I hadn’t soaked. The next day, as it started to snow, I felt less guilty. After a foot and a half of snow, I didn’t worry at all. They will sprout soon, since it was 68 degrees today! Gotta love Colorado.
Between the Rains
All winter, we wished for snow. Those wishes have been granted in spades. It has rained nearly every day of May. My highly-scientific-wheelbarrow rain gauge says we’ve gotten about 5 inches of rain: Great for the wildflowers and the grass, but it hinders planting plans. I am writing this now because I’ve been run indoors by a thunder and lightning storm, the third round today. Daytime temperatures have rarely reached 65 degrees, which is the requisite temperature for germination of pretty much anything. Nighttime temperatures are also still in the 30s, so it’s definitely too cold to plant warm season seeds. Spring seems a bit late. The trees are only thinking about leafing out; the chokecherries just opened up this week.
The Minion and I have taken turns carrying the tomato seedlings back and forth from the greenhouse. They needed light! I am too cheap to propane heat the greenhouse, so the tomatoes had to come back into the basement at night. They had sunshine several days for the last two weeks, but the overcast really didn’t lend itself to phenomenal growth. These are some pathetic seedlings. My seedlings are pretty stunted because they’ve been living in the cold dark basement. The recent snowy weather really took a toll. Anyway, last week I broke down and bought two 14 dollar grow lights to assist with the growing process. I’m not sure how much good it did, but now I have them for next year.
May (snow)showers
Well, the Colorado Front Range is experiencing the worst drought since 2001. My pasture crackles, not a good sign in May. This should be an Irish-green month. The hummingbirds were a week late. We usually set our calendars by their May 1st return, but they only showed up on Mother’s Day. I was worried. You know, the whole end-of-the-world thing. If anyone would know, the hummingbirds would.
Today, so far, we have received around 6 inches of snow, and it is still coming down!!! 2 to 6 inches are forecast. Thank goodness I didn’t plant my tomatoes outside like I was itching to do!
My greenhouse is currently populated by the random, assorted containers of potting mix, and all of the pansies and petunias I didn’t give up on. I have been taking my containers (big plastic storage containers) of tomatoes back and forth from the basement to the greenhouse during the day. Since I am too cheap to pay for propane heat for the greenhouse, I bring the plants in at night. Labor intensive, I know, but I don’t want them to freeze. I will start over outside on Friday, after the snow goes away.
Tomato trouble
For the last couple of days, I’ve been worried about my Brandywine seedlings. I noticed them turning purple. Worried that the 61 degree basement might be harming my babies, I turned to the web. Research turned up that they may be NORMAL, since some heavy anthocyanide varieties do this. Most tomato seedings like temps between 55 and 70 degrees. When the tips of the leaves turned brown and shriveled, I panicked. I moved the seedlings into the mini-”greenhouse” plastic tent, displacing the ornamental annuals residing there. I watered them well, hoped they’d warm up and kept watch.
A day later, I researched some more and discovered that over-watering mimics under-waterining. I searched for a remedy, like fertilizer. I took them out of the “greenhouse” and put them on the heat mat, instead. Now they dry out faster. The four inch peat pots that I saturated last night are light and dry today. I am considering repotting them, using the mix I found on my new favorite site, Selected Plants. http://www.selectedplants.com/index.html
Dirt Cake
My preoccupation with all things dirt led me to offer that for my niece’s 3rd birthday party treat. I’ve done this in various ways over the years, but this incarnation I actually (ashamed to admit it, though) owe to Martha Stewart. Some unknown benefactor gifted me with a subscription to Martha Stewart Living, either as a joke or a strong suggestion. Anyway, everybody loved the results.
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- Dirt Cake
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- Dirt Cakes
Instant pudding
Milk
Chocolate cookies run through the food processor
Gummy worms
Mint sprigs
Wooden spoons
Put it all into small plastic flower pots. Et voila! Very tasty.