Sunday, March 3, 2013

A Great Gardening Weekend !!!

Sunday, March 3 - It was a great weekend working in my vegetable garden Saturday. I decided to till my garden and then plant an early crop of cool weather vegetables.

I chose to plant 4 types of lettuce; Salad Bowl, Mesculin Mix, Black Seeded Simpson and Gourmet Mix. Also, I put in a small line of baby and olympia hybrid spinach, broccoli and kale.

It was great to get back in the garden but my planting did not stop outside. I did purchase a grow light system by Hydrofarm so I could begin some vegetables inside for planting around Mothers Day. With my inside planting, I started 6 type of tomatoes; golden nugget, sweetie, beefsteak, rutgers, roma and tomatillo.

Also I planted inside watermelon, cantaloupe, kale, purple basil and green and yellow squash.

This is the first time I have started seed inside with a grow light. I am excited to see how my plants will grow over the next few weeks.

Today, my wife and I went to the Philly Flower Show. This is the first time I have ever gone to this event and enjoyed this years theme England. The beautiful landscape display of flowers combined with the many vendors helped make this morning enjoyable.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

We Escaped the Winter Storm !



Sunday, February 10 - South Jersey was very fortunate as we escaped the much anticipated Nor'Easter this weekend. With only a thin coating of ice and snow we have in our thoughts those living in New England who are struggling from the brunt of this storm.

Before my wife and I went to the Philly Home Show Saturday, I spent the morning planning when and were I was going to plant my spring crops. I also took a few pictures of how beautiful the winter weather is around our home.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Time to Get Ready for Planting !!!!

Saturday, January 19, 2013 - Happy 2013 Everyone !!!! As we enter a New Year and work our way thru the winter months, I have already started preparing for my spring planting.

Last year, I was able to plant my cool weather crops early as we had a mild winter. Keeping my fingers crossed, we have not had many cold days and our snow fall has only been minimal. With that in mind, I spent time this afternoon working on my compost pile and tilling some of my garden.

We have had much rain this year which has left my compost pile soggy. Today I turned over what was in the pile and also spread the pile allowing the air to dry out much of the moist areas.

I also tilled the new part of my garden. In the fall I decided to add on to my growing area by adding another 3 feet. This area will be used to grow either watermelons, cantaloupe or zucchinis; making the final decision after I decide on how I am rotating my crops this year.

This evening, I finished ordering my seeds through mail order. It is a tradition for me to always order from Rohrer Seeds located in Lancaster County Pennsylvania.

This tradition started many years ago when my father had a vegetable garden. He always believed Rohrer's had the best seeds and always provided him excellent yields.

I will be checking in soon when I begin planting seeds outside sometime late February, mid March, depending on our winter.

Stay warm everyone and feel free to drop me a line with your spring garden plans.