getting dirty: what's in the garden?

[ClifSpliffy]

the ground has been warmer than normal since last fall, so we bumped up planting by two weeks this season (the field brown turkey figs got moving weeks before usual), and the stuff shows it, but we're bringing the water early cuz the rain has not been co-operating. the pickling cukes, hand tomatoes of various colors (no cherries or grape ones this year), and cantelopes are running nicely, and we'll be dropping in the jalapenos today.
ganims in fairdale has a really good potting soil mix, full of lobster shells and such, that he makes up in maine. that stuff seemed to wake up some old seeds that i thought were done. it feels like that 'dirt' could be magic for flowers.
get those seeds started!

 

[Wilderness]

I planted spinach to overwinter a couple days ago. If all goes well we'll be eating it by early April. (in southern NH). Otherwise all that's not tilled in is kale and parsley.

We have fewer ticks for sure - and many turkeys about...although one cycle of antibiotics this year for an encircled bite - (no subsequent illness). I've not removed more that a dozen - all those dog ticks - and all earlier in the summer.

Overall great growing season because we have unlimited supply of well water. 20+ gallons of blueberries harvested with 16 in freezer to get us through the winter.

- Wilderness.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

I planted spinach to overwinter a couple days ago. If all goes well we'll be eating it by early April. (in southern NH). Otherwise all that's not tilled in is kale and parsley.

We have fewer ticks for sure - and many turkeys about...although one cycle of antibiotics this year for an encircled bite - (no subsequent illness). I've not removed more that a dozen - all those dog ticks - and all earlier in the summer.

Overall great growing season because we have unlimited supply of well water. 20+ gallons of blueberries harvested with 16 in freezer to get us through the winter.

- Wilderness.

i was in the super the other day, and bloobs were on sale at 2 bucks a pint. noticing that they were in different sized containers, i do what i often do, and often to the delight and amazement of my fellow shoppers.
i grabbed a few, and weighed them. im very approachable in public (sumtimes, mom sez 'i ain't going out with you. everybody always talks to you. trader joes? no way. i ain't watching those fairdale divorcees eat u up the minute u walk in. why do you have no sense of time?), and so folks often come up and say 'wait, whut? what's the point?'
those fried chicken containers, iceberg lettuce, and so on often vary widely in weight, so im weighing the berries, especially since they're in different containers.
3/4 pound for each and every 1 pint container, exactly. didn't know that
and so im done with weighing bloobs.
the tick thing is interesting. generally absent for years, it remains to be seen if their explosion here recently is just a bubble connected to the recent rains, or if it is a return. too soon to know.
the State has sent out an advisory on the 'explosion' of black bears entering homes, relative to historic data. they seem to think that a nut shortage is the reason (they need around 20,000 calories per day at this time of year - yikes!), but im not so sure that's the reason.
prolly more like they don't get cable in their caves and the bruins are on. or da bears. mebbe da cubs, tho its not baseball season. dopey bears, they don't read the sporting news.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

new year starts, hope springs eternal!
the sun is ripping up into the sky and it lingers in affect past 5 pm.
haven't u noticed? why not?
speaking of looking up, i am a certified shooting star expert, with nothing more in resume than looking up at them where i live, for a long time. not quite but almost daily they're there, weather dependent, and it seems to be more lately. planes, too. hey Chester! what is going on at the airport? we can all see, especially at night, that lately the airport is busy.
it's hot, like extra rain turning the dirt into late spring/early fall mud, and not like extra rain turning the frozen tundra into deathwalk top slippery icemud which should be winter.
north Europe and SE Asia are cooking. record stuff.
‘The most extreme heat wave ever seen in Europe’: Warm January topples records
last year, here, it proceeded along like this new normal, but hard reversed around late january early feb into an unpredicted chill spell, then later came the drought. were they related? idk, but if the temp unexpectedly heads down from new normal trend again later in the month, i'll be watching. and wondering.
good time to look at seed cat's, get a tool or such before the rush, mebbe build a simple coldframe out of, well anything really that can support a big piece of glass, or plexi, or fat plastic. i use lumber lying around, or cinderblocks, or sometimes i just mound up some dirt, and toss an old door with glass, or a patio one, on top.
there just may be folks around here chucking lettuce seeds and such into them within weeks. spring training starts in like 6 weeks, mebbe then.
the water is higher than in a long while, and the mud is real bad for this time of year. got a new cat 306 ex and a cat 289d3 skidsteer recently. (HO Penn, there is no other. they helped win the war, ww2, an all that. '23 is their hundredth anni). ha, 'skidsteer' i've been using skidsteers and bobcats a good while, since the time when they were'nt anything remotely close to these new machines. this one is almost 6 tons, with a 75 hp turbo diesel. freakin tank, if u ask me. i bet that we could send (mebbe we are?) these to the good guys in the war, and they'd come up with another 100 uses for it. anyway, all shiny and new, we've cut down on the test drives lately cuz we're making an unholy mess.
i say test drives becuz, unknown to me, apparently the whole world is on vacation. i mean, i called cl&p last friday, and their message was 'closed for the holiday.' what? 12/30 is now a holiday too? and yesterday? and today? their loss. i called becuz they put a new big combo lock on their gate on my dirt, and i wanted to learn the combo.
(r/o/w). we went and sawed that sucker off. i bet that lock cost them a hunster.
nice to see that lettuce came down a bit to under $4, but eggs still costing a real lot. world has food problems now, so grow some.
it's hot.

 

[UCSouth]

new year starts, hope springs eternal!
the sun is ripping up into the sky and it lingers in affect past 5 pm.
haven't u noticed? why not?
speaking of looking up, i am a certified shooting star expert, with nothing more in resume than looking up at them where i live, for a long time. not quite but almost daily they're there, weather dependent, and it seems to be more lately. planes, too. hey Chester! what is going on at the airport? we can all see, especially at night, that lately the airport is busy.
it's hot, like extra rain turning the dirt into late spring/early fall mud, and not like extra rain turning the frozen tundra into deathwalk top slippery icemud which should be winter.
north Europe and SE Asia are cooking. record stuff.
‘The most extreme heat wave ever seen in Europe’: Warm January topples records
last year, here, it proceeded along like this new normal, but hard reversed around late january early feb into an unpredicted chill spell, then later came the drought. were they related? idk, but if the temp unexpectedly heads down from new normal trend again later in the month, i'll be watching. and wondering.
good time to look at seed cat's, get a tool or such before the rush, mebbe build a simple coldframe out of, well anything really that can support a big piece of glass, or plexi, or fat plastic. i use lumber lying around, or cinderblocks, or sometimes i just mound up some dirt, and toss an old door with glass, or a patio one, on top.
there just may be folks around here chucking lettuce seeds and such into them within weeks. spring training starts in like 6 weeks, mebbe then.
the water is higher than in a long while, and the mud is real bad for this time of year. got a new cat 306 ex and a cat 289d3 skidsteer recently. (HO Penn, there is no other. they helped win the war, ww2, an all that. '23 is their hundredth anni). ha, 'skidsteer' i've been using skidsteers and bobcats a good while, since the time when they were'nt anything remotely close to these new machines. this one is almost 6 tons, with a 75 hp turbo diesel. freakin tank, if u ask me. i bet that we could send (mebbe we are?) these to the good guys in the war, and they'd come up with another 100 uses for it. anyway, all shiny and new, we've cut down on the test drives lately cuz we're making an unholy mess.
i say test drives becuz, unknown to me, apparently the whole world is on vacation. i mean, i called cl&p last friday, and their message was 'closed for the holiday.' what? 12/30 is now a holiday too? and yesterday? and today? their loss. i called becuz they put a new big combo lock on their gate on my dirt, and i wanted to learn the combo.
(r/o/w). we went and sawed that sucker off. i bet that lock cost them a hunster.
nice to see that lettuce came down a bit to under $4, but eggs still costing a real lot. world has food problems now, so grow some.
it's hot.

I'm with you and your thinking about getting a head start. Just ordered a grow tent and everything that goes with it yesterday. I order the majority of my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Order $10 and get a free pack of seeds...their choice and always free shipping.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

ok, my bad on the 'more shooting stars' thing.
apparently, they've figured out that a big one happens almost monthly, and the old 'big ones in August and December' that i've been operating under is not correct, even tho i do see them year round.
Quadrantid meteor shower to cross Conn. skies: How to see it

 

[ClifSpliffy]

came home yesterday and noticed spiders. mebbe they were here earlier in the week, idk, but i don't remember ever seeing spiders as early as january 20. local ice fishing not looking likely this season.

 

[UCSouth]

Got the greenhouse up the other day. Should mean veggies year round, between that and the garden.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

it's time.
Home
Connecticut Flower and Garden show.
some of us have a different view of what 'seed' means at this time of year.
prolly around 50,000 likeminded folks this weekend is my guess, since they might be 'seedless.' lol.