Getting the Garden Ready !!!

Sunday, April 29 - Even though we have another frost warning, my vegetable garden is ready to plant.

vegetable garden - April 29, 2012

Yesterday, I raked out the uneven areas and placed lines for planting. The 10 day forecast looks great beginning tomorrow and I plan to plant either Monday or Tuesday evening after work.

strawberries - April 29, 2012

This morning, I sprayed Miracid on my rhododendron, hydrangea, azalea and blueberry bushes. These acid loving plants love this fertilizer which I begin using in the spring and continue every two weeks throughout the summer.

vegetable garden with planting lines

I am hoping this year, after using Miracid earlier in the spring, that my hydrangeas will bloom earlier and last longer.

strawberries

I have included some pictures of my vegetable garden as well as a few strawberry plants. If you look closely, you can see the berries which have already begin forming !!!!

lettuce - April 29, 2012

I also made hummingbird nectar and added this liquid to my feeders hoping the anticipated warm weather this week will bring these birds back to my garden.

Enjoy your Sunday and also this beautiful weather.

Frost hit us hard last night

Saturday, April 26 - What a surprise waking up this morning and seeing the heavy frost we got earlier this morning. Even though frost was predicted between 4 and 8am, I did not think we would be hit this hard.

I got home last evening around 1am as I chaperoned a school function. I could not believe how cold it was and found out this morning after checking the weather, the temperature dipped down to 26 degrees.

Looking out my bedroom window around 6:30am, I could see the frost on the garage roof. As I took our dogs outside I walked to look at my garden, hoping there was no damage to the strawberries. Walking to the vegetable garden, I noticed the bird baths had a thin layer of ice.

The lettuce and spinach had frozen water on their leaves. The strawberries also had frozen water on its leaves however the blooms and the formed berries appeared to be ok. Again, there is a concern that with the early warm weather and now the cold nights we have been having; this drastic change, may have an effect on the strawberry crop this May.

Today my wife and I visited two local nurseries. One nursery in particular was hit by the frost. Some of their annuals were hit even though the owner had covered all of her plants.

Even with this cold weather we had early this morning, the good news, is the return of the warm weather beginning Monday. After checking the 10 day forecast, no low temperature is predicted to drop below 45 degrees. With this forecast, I am anticipating planting my vegetables this Monday or Tuesday!!

Tomorrow I hope to post pictures of my vegetable garden and to show its weekly growth. Until then, stay warm and bring on summer !!!!

Arbor Day

Tbursday, April 26 - Tomorrow we celebrate Arbor Day. A day to help remind us of the importance of protecting our planet and ways to preserve our earth.

As we all the know, the tradition on this day is to plant a tree. I can remember my elementary school days having assemblies as we would all go outside and be involved in planting a tree to help preserve our environment.

I realize that we all cannot continue with this tradition, but it is again a day for all of us to think of ways as well as continue practices to help live a greener lifestyle.

Waiting Patiently to Plant

Wednesday, April 25 - It seems I have spending much of my time checking the weather channel to see when I will begin planting my vegetables. This season, I have wanted to plant my vegetables more than ever and I am hoping the weather will cooperate so I may begin soon.

We are having typical Spring weather here in South Jersey. Days have been averaging highs in the 60's and the low's have been in the high 30's. In fact, last evening a colleague and I were talking to see if we received the anticipated frost and luckily we had not.

After work today I weeded my cool crops. I am planning to spend time this weekend stringing out my garden to see where I will be planting. I have already decided how to rotate my crops and I am interested to see with this years setup, if this will help eliminate the tomato blight I had last year. Also, we are ready to begin picking the red and green leaf lettuce we planted a few weeks ago. I am looking forward to having fresh greens from the garden over the next few weeks.

I did walk over to see one of my neighbors this evening. I always enjoy our visits and particularly enjoy discussing their garden, especially since they enlarged their plot for this year.

I am asking all my friends to "think warm evenings" so the frost will stay away. Hopefully if this occurs we will be able to plant soon.

Visiting one of my favorite Supply Stores !!!!

Monday, April 23 - On my way home from work, I went to one of my favorite stores to purchase bird supplies and feed, and vegetable fertilizer.

Roork's Farm Supply, located in Elmer NJ, carries virtually anything you need for your yard. It handles all types of pesticides; both organic and regular, and anything you need to help you with your gardening. Also, I enjoy this store as the staff is very knowledgable. I have been going there for 4 years and the same people are there always greeting you and willing to help you with any questions you may have.

I chose to go today as there monthly special included the sale on Espoma products. Espoma products are made in Millville NJ and they are highly recommended for fertilizing as well as aiding your soil with the proper nutrients needed to grow flowers and vegetables.

Another reason I chose to purchase from Espoma is that all their products are organic.

This year is the first time I chose to purchase Espoma. After reading  reviews and also talking to various people at garden supply stores, I was told this was the product to use.

Today I bought Garden - tone, Tomato - tone and Tree - tone. After unloading my car I placed Tree - tone around the two new trees in my flower garden. I am hoping yesterdays rain and the predication of more rain to come this week, will help soak this substance into the ground.

Happy Earth Day

Sunday, April 22 -  Happy Earth Day!1!

Dogwood

Earth Day - Aprll 22, 2012 - A day to think about what we all can do to help make our planet a better place to live. Living in my home for the last 4 years, I have made many attempts to live a "greener" life as well as to take care of my property and my environment.  Looking at the above logo, and the words surrounding the earth, these 5 "R's" are powerful words which I hope to install and remember daily. I hope all of you can make a difference and impact in improving the planet where we live. Your local Home Depot and Lowes offer FREE programs for you and your family to take advantage of several projects which can improve our environment.

We have finally started to get the much needed rain we desperately needed. Last evening, we started getting rain at 9pm. Now, it is cloudy but more rain predicted for today with the chance of receiving 1 - 2 inches by Monday morning.

It has been a great week for my vegetable garden. Thursday, my wife picked baby spinach for the first time and today, I noticed white blossoms forming on the peas, meaning pea pods will begin to form within the next few weeks.  

If we do get the rain they are calling for today, I hope to spend sometime working on making rain barrels and preparing my tools for planting. To save time when planting I am going to mark the tool handles with tape with 12 and 18 inch markings. This will help space my plants when  planting.

 Enjoy today everyone and also take a moment to think about what you can do to make our planet a better place to live and help to restore the earth.

Preparing to plant !!

Saturday, April 21 - In our area, it is always been safe to plant your vegetables Mothers Day Weekend as RARELY is there a frost after that date. The last two years I have cheated, meaning I have planted the week prior to this weekend as the weather has been unusually warm and the nightly temperatures have not gone lower than the mid 40's.

I am hoping the same will be true this year. A very good friend of mine who has land which he farms always plants his first crops of tomatoes around this time. He decided to plant this weekend, hoping the rain that is coming tomorrow will give him the extra nourishment needed to get an early start for picking in July.

After speaking to him yesterday, again I have the urge to spend time in the vegetable garden. My flowers and vegetable areas are in good shape for this time of year. The lawn has been cut for the week, and sprinkler hoses has been placed in those gardens were rain water does not always hit those bushes and flowers.

This weekend I am preparing for my vegetable planting. It is my hope that I will be able to plant Saturday, May 5th. With that being said, I want to research what organic means I can use when planting those crops.

Tomorrow, being Earth Day, I hope to post the meaning behind this day as well as how our local merchants plan to celebrate this special day. Reflecting on this special day makes me think about the importance of this day and what we all can do to help preserve our planet.

Hooray, a Little Rain !!

Wednesday, April 18 - We finally received a little rain this afternoon, however not enough to really help our drought or provide any help to our flowers and vegetables. My cool crops are really doing well. Soon, I will be thinning out my lettuce and kale and today, I added extra lines to my peas so they can continue to climb.

It is a slow time for vegetable gardening as it is too early to plant the remainder of my crops. I have been spending time in the garden weeding. I also have been weeding other areas of my property, including removing grass and other weeds in my sidewalk and driveway.

This year I tried something different. In stead of purchasing a commercial product, I used the advice of my mother and used white vinegar. I added the vinegar to an empty dish detergent container and then sprayed the vinegar on those areas I wanted to remove.

This morning, mostly all of these weeds had turned yellow. I used a shovel to remove these weeds and now all these areas have been cleaned. Here is a link that also explains the use of white vinegar in other areas of the household. What a great way to clean up those tough areas which is inexpensive and is not harmful to our environment.

Planting Grafted Trees

Sunday, April 15 - Today, being my last day of a week vacation, I spent my morning and afternoon doing yard work. Early in the morning my wife and I went to Exley's Landscaping to pick out two trees to plant in our raised flower garden.

We chose two grafted trees; a Weeping Redbud and a Hydrangea Tree. The weeping redbud is a beautiful tree. It has small pink flowers and blooms in the early weeks of spring. In fact, it is now at the end of its blooming cycle.

The Hydrangea Tree, will produce white flowers very similar to a hyacinth. Right now it is beginning to form small green buds which will bloom during the early to mid August period. This will be a welcome addition to our garden as it should bloom during the same time as our 2 crepe myrtles trees.

The anticipated rain did not arrive as expected. We did have a small amount last evening and again this morning but watering was a big part of my day making sure the flower beds and vegetable garden were wetted down to survive the high temperatures we had today.

Overall, I had a great week off. I was able to get much yard work done as well as spend time with family and also go on two day trips.

I am not looking forward to the warm temperatures we are supposed to have this week. Temperatures will be hovering in the high 70's with some days hitting highs in the mid 80's.

Winter Crops Are Doing Well !

Saturday, April 14 - Before going outside to water my vegetables, I thought I would provide an update on how my winter or cool crops are doing.

Peas, lettuce, spinach, kale and broccoli are doing well. The first planting of peas are about 2 inches out of the ground and are beginning to latch on to the string supports. The second planting is not too far behind and in fact, are beginning to touch their supports.

Again, the warm weather here in our area is most welcome with temperatures today predicted to be in the mid 70's and tomorrow, high 70's and Monday the chance to be in the high 80's. Spring fever has definitely hit our area and in fact, many people are beginning to talk about trips to the shore.

However the bad news is again the lack of rain. The local news stated last night we are 5.53 " below normal for this time of year. We may receive a shower this evening and the possibility of a thunderstorm tomorrow morning, however with the dryness of our soil, this may not help as it just may run off our ground, not able to penetrate the roots of our flowers and vegetables. The good news - this would help reduce the red flag alerts in our area which is so needed so badly.

In our area we are enjoying the last few days of our spring blossoms on spring trees. As you can see by this dogwood tree in my backyard, the bright colors are welcomed this time of year.

A Great Day Doing Yard Work

Friday, April 13 - What a beautiful day today in South Jersey !!! Today the temperature was in the 70's and the sun was shinning all day. I spent the morning cutting my lawn and edging my property. I also ventured down to the creek found at the end of my property and cut down the tall grass and weeds which where bordering the sides.

The afternoon was spent with my wife at a local landscape store attempting to decide on a tree to plant in our raised flower garden. The local store asked me to return with pictures so they could help in providing samples of what we should consider.


 Before calling it a day, I watered my vegetable garden. I was pleased to see how well my strawberries plant are doing. Also, many of these plants are beginning to blossom. Even though this is a pleasant site, I am still concerned this is too early in the growing season sinc I know frost can occur until the middle of May.

Gardening - "This is Where Dreams are Made"

Wednesday, April 11 - Today I went out in my vegetable garden to weed my strawberries as well as water my cool weather crops. The lack of rain in our area has been a big concern. We are 5 inches under the norm in regards to rain water which I am sure this is due to  the small amount of snow we had this winter.

Also, with the low level of rain water, we have been warned we are in a "Red Alert", as the combination of high winds and no rain has caused the concern of forest fires to occur.

As I started to weed part of my garden, I was reminded of a visit from a good friend who stopped by over the weekend. He asked if he could see my garden and as we approached this area, he smiled and said, "This is were Dreams are Made". I replied, "yes, this is my DisneyWorld". We both laughed and then began to discuss the various seedlings which have begun to pop thru the soil.

I thought more of his comment today, and have to agree, that yes, this is what I enjoy the most during the spring time. Working in the garden is so relaxing, therapeutic, and provides a great means for me just to think about what is going on in my day to day life. I often think about what the yields will be once I begin harvest my summer crops.

Over the weekend I plan to take some pictures and post how my cool weather crops are doing. Also, after dinner, my two friends returned, a male and female blue bird stopped by and sat on my sheppards hook while the other birds were eating.

What a great way to end my day seeing these two beautiful birds back for a visit.

Time to Buy My Vegetable Plants

Monday, April 9 - Today I spent the day in Lancaster County Pennsylvania visiting 3 of my favorite shopping areas.

My first stop was the Kitchen Kettle Village. Here you will find many small shops containing food, homemade ice cream, candles, jewelry and clothing. The main shop, known as Kitchen Kettle contains homemade jams and jellies as well as other salsa and various spreads. Samples are found throughout the store which is a great way to try their new and traditional spreads. Also, you can watch the amish making jams as you are shopping.

Here is a picture taken in the back parking lot of Kitchen Kettle.

This is one of many amish farms you will find as you travel the back roads in Lancaster County.

My next stop is one which has become a tradition for me, Ken's Garden. As long as I can remember, when my father was alive, we would make a yearly visit to this garden center to purchase our vegetable plants and annual flowers which were not available were we live.

My wife and I spent a few hours today, going thru  4 greenhouses admiring their annuals and perennials. Once done, we began to assemble the vegetables for our garden planting scheduled for May.

This year, we chose to purchase various heirloom tomatoes as well as other types of tomatoes which will produce at different times during the growing season. We also purchased green and yellow squash, eggplant, broccoli plants to go with the seeds which are growing in my garden, basil and lemon basil, chives and peppers.

Our last stop was directly across from Ken's known as Rohrer's Seeds. Here I purchased seeds our fall planting.

Once I plant my vegetables, I will provide a detail list of all my plants I will be planting.

I thought I would share with everyone a picture of my father. This was sent to me a few weeks ago from a friend and it was taken in 1962. It is funny, as I grow older and deal with the day to day issues of the day, I think of my father and what I had learned from him. Today, I dedicate this blog to him and thank him for all the guidance and wisdom he had provided me while he was alive.

Happy Easter - A day to relax and reflect

Sunday, April 8 - Happy Easter Everyone !!!

Today I woke up early, and began my normal weekend routine by taking our dogs outside and enjoying the brisk early morning. I enjoy this time of day, as it is so quiet and the only noises to be heard are the birds which are beginning to sing. 

With today being Easter Sunday, I began to think about this special time. For those who are believers, it  is the highest religious holiday of the year. The day we all live for; the celebration the risen savior.

I also thought about those who are no longer with us and have been called home. This day comforts me knowing that these loved ones have received the highest gift of all, that being eternal life.

Lastly, it is a time to think about those loved ones who are struggling. Not only physically but emotionally. It is my hope thru prayer and special thoughts these friends and relatives may be able to put those unsettled thoughts aside and work on healing. 

As I am writing this blog today, I have been looking outside, looking at the birds arriving for their morning meal. The male and female cardinals and the red headed woodpecker have started their early morning feast as the sun has begun to rise.
Today will be a day to relax, to spend time with family, and to think about those who are loved and will not be with us. Whether they are alive or not, it is a time to think about good memories and warm thoughts.
I will be taking a day off from gardening. It will be a day to refuel and to get ready for the week ahead. I have included today two pictures, two dogwood trees in my backyard taken yesterday. It is so nice to see them beginning to bloom and to welcome this time of year.
Enjoy this day everyone and take time today to remember those who are a special part of your life !!!!!

Mulching - a great day in the gardens !

Saturday, April 7 - It was a beautiful day here in South Jersey. The temperatures were in the 60's and as the day became older, the breeze became stronger.

I had a great day working outside, spreading mulch in my back flower gardens. As you can see by my pictures, it has added a beautiful touch to my flower bed.  Luckily I do have some mulch left over which I did not expect. I plan during the week to to spread this covering in my front flower bed.

The remainder of the night will be spent relaxing and caring for my aching back. Seriously, it was a day I looked forward to all spring and I am so glad the weather was sunny, warm and breezy.

Mulching and its Benefits

Friday, April 6 - Today I spent preparing my flower gardens for mulching, as you can see, the ground has been weeded and raked. Before raking, I also tilled the ground with a hoe to break up any hard ground. This helps to aerate the soil as well as disturbs any weeds which may have started  to germinate.

There are many benefits to mulching, besides adding aesthetic flavor to your gardens, this type of covering helps maintain moisture during the hot summer months as well as keeping the roots of all your plants and flowers cool. Also, during the winter, mulch insulate your plant roots which provides protection against frosts and freezing.

 As your mulch begins to break down, it provides nutrition to your ground. It serves as a "natural" compost which will continue to fertilize your soil throughout the years. Mulching helps deter weeds to grow and will cut down on weeds provided your prepare your soil properly before putting it down. As I mentioned earlier, the preparation sometimes takes longer than laying the mulch but this time will certainly pay off, especially during the summer growing season.

There are different types of mulch available depending on its preparation and color. No one color is better than the other and should be picked upon personal preference.

Preparation is usually 3 different ways, that being once, twice or triple shredded. The more your mulch is shredded, the easier it is to spread and  lay.

Today I had 5 yards of triple shredded black mulch delivered. This has been an annual event that I look forward to. Not only do I enjoy laying the mulch, but it also reminds me that flower planting is not too far away. Lastly, its fresh smell and the beauty it adds to the garden is a welcome addition to my flower gardens.

Tomorrow, I hope to post pictures of my finished product.

Keeping Deer Away

Wednesday, April 4 - As we had our first frost yesterday and with recent cool mornings we have been experiencing, the deer have been edging closer to our flower and vegetable gardens looking for food to eat. One morning a few weeks ago, I observed two deer trying to get bird seed out of one of our feeders at 4am!!!

I have been fortunate up to this point, that I have had minimal damage from deer. I usually walk my dogs around the perimeter of my garden 2 or 3 times a week. I also have placed cut human hair in nylons and placed this in the garden. Lastly, I have hung from a stake an aluminum pie plate hoping the noise on a windy day will scare the deer away. There are many deer deterrents you can purchase at your local garden center or home improvement centers, however I would recommend one of my suggestions before making a trip to your local center.

Remove Those Garden Weeds

Sunday, April 1 - Seeing that the weeks temperatures will be in the 60's, it appears Spring is around the corner. This week I will  daily check my strawberry and blueberry plants to make sure the cool nights do not affect the early blooms which are beginning to form. It is so important to check the low for each night as a frost or even unusually low temperatures could drastically effect what will be produced during the spring and summer months.

Do not be afraid to cover these plants if the temperatures are predicted to plummet. Using trash bags (or straw on strawberries) is an excellent way to maintain a shield to protect these plants under these conditions.

It is too early to remove the straw from your strawberry plants even if the plants are beginning to "pop out" from you winter cover.

Check your vegetable garden and monitor the growth of your peas. By now, they should have be visible and an early planting may be ready to climb your fencing. Do not be afraid to help the runners attach to the fencing so they can begin to climb your guides.

Make sure to remove any weeds found in your garden, especially around the cool weather crops you have planted. Besides draining nourishment from the soil, they will impede the growth of your crops.

Lastly, it will be a week where I will begin to remove all the weeds from my flower gardens. It is time to prepare for the annual mulch I will be putting down. With the unusually warm winter we had this year, the abundant amount of chickweed has taken over many areas.