Monday, April 11, 2011

Garden Nursery


Our growing area is set up and starting to fill up with wonderful plants and seed trays. The table is set up between two sets of windows, L-shaped, that get a SSE exposure. The fan is a whole house fan that we dedicated one of the windows to. We couldn't put in an attic fan since our attic really is useful space with furniture and storage. This fan blows out, pulling in the air from the other windows so the plants will have nice circulation around them.

We have selected heirloom variety tomatoes: Cherokee Purple, Hot, Roma and Old German. Peppers are Garden Salsa, Super Chili, Hot and Sweet Green. We have Ozark Beauty strawberries , Tansey, Valerian and cilantro. I also started seeds of watermelon, giant pumpkin, small pumpkin, basil, cherry tomotoes, thyme and cucumbers. They are accompanied by a lilly that my sister-in-law gave me and the St Pat's plant from my daughter.

Tomorrow I'll plant the tobacco, a beautiful plant that grows as tall as I am with orchid like flowers spraying from the top. We will also be planting some seeds that have to be planted directly into the ground such as zucchini, beans and some flowers that will be in the retaining wall area such as zinnas, marigolds and bachelor buttons. These fill in the perinnial areas as they begin to fade.

There is a little patch of garden at our place but we share a larger one with the neighbors on our side yard (??). Actually, it's carved out of the woods and we just ran the water lines to it this last weekend. It will be so nice to have water on demand rather than cart water over on the fourwheeler. It's a good size, about a quarter acre and very primitive with raised beds made from cut or fallen trees. The neighbors are also starting some seeds, some will be planted in their own patch and some in the shared garden.

Our last frost date is supposed to be April 15, but they lie. Never plant before May 1 or you will be scrambling to cover everything at least one more time. The forecast is calling for a potential frost warning this weekend- April 16-18!

Hopefully we will have a bountiful harvest for lots of canning and drying!

6 comments:

TLW said...

I haven't planted seeds except for sunflowers for years, but when I did, I always planted in March, never had a problem, but perhaps because my garden is in full sun. It heats up quick out there.

Manny said...

Your seedlings look great. You must have a large gasrden. My mother was saying she wanted to start hers but I talked her out of it. She doesn't start them indoors but outdoors and it still can be cold. What do you do with the tabacco? Smoke it?

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

No, I don't smoke the tobacco, just grow it and then throw it away. My brother-in-law wants to try it but you need to hang it out of the weather for months or years. It depends on how "smooth" you want it. They used to grow it here so we planted the same variety. We figure if all else fails, whoever owns the whiskey and tobacco is the king- we can trade for anything (if we only had a still!) LOL

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

March! That's early. Maybe sunflowers can take the cold? We did have some collard greens come up by themselves so far. Tom cooks it with spices, I think wine, and either hocks or some other hammy meat that you don't typically order at a restaurant north of the Mason Dixon line.

Kathy Felsted Usher said...

Some of the plants were purchased to get a jump start on the season, but still heirlooms. We didn't quite get the growing area ready in time. We usually have to hide them in our bathroom so the cats didn't eat the seedlings but now we're indoor cat free I can set these up where it's convenient.

Mary Christine said...

The last vegetable garden I had froze on June 15 and then again on Sept. 15. I got nothing that year. Colorado is very tricky.