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 I want to make sure we do a better job this year with the garden and starting seedlings (got side-tracked with goat kids last year); so I’ve created our annual seed starting and planting schedule a little early (see below) to keep us on track. It helps me keep focused on buying seeds, starting transplants, getting supplies, and making sure the garden beds are prepared on time.
I start with my schedule from the previous year (see Making 2012′s Seed Starting & Planting Schedule), copy it to a new spreadsheet tab, consult my notes from last year’s garden, and then work up the new plan. I’ve [...]
Continue reading Making 2013′s Seed Starting & Planting Schedule (w/downloadable template)
 We’re running a little late this year on selecting vegetable seeds and getting them ordered; but now that I’ve created our annual seed starting and planting schedule (see below), I can keep us on track. It helps me keep focused on buying seeds, starting transplants, getting supplies, and making sure the garden beds are prepared on time.
I start with my schedule from the previous year (see Making 2011′s Seed Starting & Planting Schedule), copy it to a new spreadsheet tab, consult my notes from last year’s garden, and then work up the new plan. I’ve included a downloadable template (2012 Seed Starting & [...]
Continue reading Making 2012′s Seed Starting & Planting Schedule (w/downloadable template)
 Here in Ohio, it’s been a long winter, and we’re more than ready for some spring color. So, it’s a good time to start pruning spring-blooming trees and shrubs; and force the branches to bloom indoors. The benefits are color and scent inside, and the pruning gets done while plants are dormant and their form can clearly be seen. Anyone living where trees and shrubs go through a dormant winter chill can force indoor blooms.
Trees and Shrubs for Forcing
Almost anything that blooms in spring can be forced. Varieties to consider include crab apple, flowering cherry, flowering pear, eastern redbud, willow, pussy willow, cornelian [...]
Continue reading Forcing Spring Flowers
 We love using fresh rosemary in our cooking (see Herbed Eggs), and find that it’s a very easy herb to grow. But a little rosemary goes a long way, so we always buy just one plant from the garden center in spring. Rosemary’s also a tender perennial, and in colder areas of the country it needs to be brought indoors if you plan to overwinter it.
Plants should be moved indoors before a good freeze, so I repotted ours today. I used a soilless planting mix because rosemary requires well-drained soil and because it’s light - I plan to just move this plant in and out each fall and spring, thereby avoiding the cost of a plant each year. I snuck a [...]
Continue reading Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Previously, watermelon has not done particularly well in our garden – generally the growing season’s over before the watermelon are ripe. However, this year I used the old heirloom variety called Crimson Sweet, and we’ve been happily eating watermelon for several weeks.
Crimson Sweet is described as an AAS winner (1964) that’s crisp and sweet; has medium-red flesh and mild flavor; and is a very popular, old heirloom. The packet says the variety takes 85 days to mature. I started the seeds indoors; hardened the transplants off, and then planted them in the garden after all chance of frost was over.
They vines [...]
Continue reading Watermelon Success
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