Your 2014 Garden Plans

Four years ago I was planting carrots, Radishes, and direct seeding Brussels Sprouts about this time. This year there is a good 6 inches of ice locking everything up. I did get some seeds started inside today though.

Keith, he is talking about the asparagus, you don't need to trench it any longer.

I'm planning on taking the extra soil when I reduce the width of the bed and covering my asparagus with it. I may even dress it with more chicken manure/compost and leaves before adding the soil since I won't be harvesting any asparagus this year.

I might take some of the clear plastic that the mattresses came in and cover my raised beds after most of the snow melts to help speed up their thaw. I probably have enough plastic for 2 or 3 beds plus I have some greenhouse plastic for the hoop houses.

The plastic cover sounds like a great idea.

I am curious why the change in how you plant asparagus. I'll have to see what I can find out.

I've seen that a few different places, I don't have any other reference sources for you though.

WHOO HOOO!!

I have tiny little seedlings!!! That's another sign of spring!!

Congratulations!!! I'm green with envy. I can't wait for it to warm up and melt all this snow.

I am trying Winter sowing some seeds. I have no where in the house and not enough lighting to do it inside. I've started tomatoes, peppers, cabbage & pumpkins. I also have 4 sweet potato halves in cups of water to hopefully get some slips. I'm going to get some more potting soil and try starting my potatoes in tires.
I've planned a bigger garden this year because I want to try to put up enough to help our daughter and her family. They don't have a yard at all and there are a few things she likes that I could put up for them.

We are still trying to get organized around here.  I have decided to use the backyard fences to plant tomatoes and beans.  It'll work.  Then I need to move my old container barrels to a more suitable location. 

I am also trying to get some of my small fruit areas ready enough to begin planting.  I have my elderberries in, but I want to get in my currants and some other things this year too.

I need to repot my tomatoes & peppers tomorrow. Then I need to reseed my cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, and a few other things. I might reseed them in milk jugs as in the Winter sown method then put them in my hoop house until they are ready to transplant.

We are supposed to get really cold here next week again so winter sown might just be the way to go with the cool season crops.

W/how long it stayed cold, and now all the rain we've had, I just haven't had a chance to really work outside yet. Hopefully this weekend will be different.

It's supposed to get up to 72°F on Saturday and only 42°F high on Monday. No wonder I'm sick   and can't get better.

It's going to be nice here for the next several days. Then, they're calling for rain on Tuesday and lower temps. I don't even have a fire going right now.

Same for us.  We have another hard freeze predicted for next week.

This weather is absolutely crazy! Thankfully none of my fruit trees have even broken bud yet. My garlic that is in my hoop house is about 9" tall already though.

Maybe we are getting close to the end of it.  We just now have trees starting to flower.

well I have onions coming up, fruit and nut trees are budding out, the new seedlings are doing well. Cool and wet here too, but definitely warming up over all.

My onions and garlic in the hoop house are doing really well. I transplanted 8 leek seedlings into that hoop house today. I also planted 3/4 of a bag of onion bulbs into the edges of 2 raised beds. The peas we planted last weekend haven't come up yet.

I transplanted my tomato and pepper seedlings from the egg cartons into 4 cell plastic pots today as well. The next step for those will be into paper pot made with the pot maker I got from Rohn last year. I have to get my cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, celery and Brussels sprouts restarted tomorrow morning.

I may start my zucchini, pumpkins, watermelon and cucumbers at the end of next week.

Pumpkins I will direct sow in late June...The best time to sell them is October, and the fresher they are the longer they keep. From late September until Halloween I plan to have them on display for sale.

Here's my restarted seedlings, Two tomato types, cukes, cabbages, broccoli, brussels sprouts, butternut squash, spaghetti squash...the only thing not coming up yet are some luffa seeds that Sonshine sent me last year.

Boy you all are really getting things done. 

How do you all handle squash borers in you area?  They are a horrible problem here.

hmm I thought I put a picture in that last post...




To be perfectly honest, I just don't have squash borers. I have room to rotate what I grow and move things by 100's of yards, if a problem comes up. As the ground improves I might have to watch for more and more pests. We also have a large bird population that may keep such pests in check.

I don't have a problem with them either. I also have a large bird population here as well.

I plan to grow the pie pumpkins but maybe I'll wait until June to get them going. Last year I only got 3 very small ones.

I've heard that if you wait until after July 4th, squash vine borers aren't problem. I plan to have mine all started, then plant them after that.

I have seen some pheromone traps advertised.  I thought I would try that this year.  Ours are so bad that I can barely grow zucchini some years.   I will have to try the 4th of July trick too - anything that will help.

I have the tomatoes that are planted so far almost completely mulched.      It feels like a success.  Of course I only have about half of my tomatoes planted. <deep sigh>

Hey FF you are further ahead of me,mine re planted but not mulched yet.