February 2012 in the North East USA

Well, it may have felt like April out there today, But it;s still February. Even my bees knew it was still winter, very few of them came out to do their business. I couldn't wait, I sowed leeks yesterday.
A way to Garden : February Garden Chores.

Six more Fridays until the first day of Spring!

Planting by the moon calendar

Thank you for the link to the Farmer's Almanac Moon Planting guide! I've been planting this way for a few years now. It's a lot of fun. Thank you for sharing.

~~Laurie

FIVE MORE FRIDAYS
UNTIL THE FIRST DAY OF
Holy Smokes! It's February 10, and outside 45 degrees F and the bees are flying. I found a lady that has llamas and the gardens are getting dressings of free poo! The only things I have growing are the onions and leeks (indoors). I may try getting my growing station together this weekend as it is going to snow and the temperature plunge to the single digits.

I'm in Maine with a new 5b zone this year and rec'd my seed orders from Johnny's and Comstock this week so I'm all set to start seeds. I know its too early, but I'm itching to get started. I think being located less than a mile from a huge lake may help.

According to my last year's journal, our last frost nite was pretty early in the spring so I'm going to start some early cool crops inside sooner than usual, hoping for the same good weather this year. If it doesn't work, I'll only be out a few seeds so I'm willing to try. With plastic and row cover I might have some good luck with my earlier start.

Thanks for the Moon Calendar site. I think I might try that this year as well.

Today is February 15, 2012, it is 5:00pm and the sun is still above the horizon, it's 42F and snow is coming. I can deal with snow at this point, because it is temporary.

FOUR MORE FRIDAYS UNTIL THE FIRST DAY OF
My last frost date is in 86 days. on average. Boy, have I got a ways to go.

Doh! Same here
and more snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow

Hi guys! Had my head other places this winter (including hive prep!) and now, look at the time - indoor seeding!

Last year was my first year and I was a little late and my grow station wasn't adequate. This year I got my 4' fluor. light setup (shop, not grow, we'll see if it works) and my seeds are just about here. Still have to organize all my plant plans and figure out which ones to start seeding when.

Have the cedar to add one 4x8 box and I think I'll connect another 4x4 to it to maximize space. That totals to five 4x4's, one 2x8, and one 4x8. So far. Ha.

Planning an entire box of sparkle strawberries this year (plus some extras), which arrive I believe in April.

Outside of the SFG, ordered the seeds for a wildflower patch, and hope to make a large sheet mulched asparagus bed.

Hope to get a Japanese beetle trap this summer as they laced my green beans last year (the chickens will love the beetle supply). Am rotating all the veggies. Have to double check with companion planting. Get the soil ingreds for the new beds. Finish the indoor grow setup, make and place the new boxes, wondering what to do about my expanded potato plans - should I put a 2nd box on top to make more of a tower, or is a single box height adequate. (same for carrot expansion) Already chipped the outside areas of the boxes in the fall but will re-chip in the spring, as last year weeds outside the boxes were a huge problem. Gotta put nylon fencing back up, and expanded.

So much to do! But every year it should get a little easier. Last year was The Big Experiment, and I'm hoping the theme for this summer is Increased Productivity.

Hi NHG!!!! Oooooh, Frame building? Super painting? are you having fun? when do the girls arrive? I'm so excited for you!!!

Hi camprn! Tell me about it. Thursday night the club is having a building session and that's where I'll be - ha. Starting w/2 hives and the Italians should be arriving in April. The whole process has been a little intimidating but plodding one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, plus I have a great bee buddy. I've heard the bees are eating thru a lot of resources this warm winter, being more active. Will be anxious to hear how your girls made out over the winter!

NHGardener wrote:Hi camprn! Tell me about it. Thursday night the club is having a building session and that's where I'll be - ha. Starting w/2 hives and the Italians should be arriving in April. The whole process has been a little intimidating but plodding one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, plus I have a great bee buddy. I've heard the bees are eating thru a lot of resources this warm winter, being more active. Will be anxious to hear how your girls made out over the winter!

I checked on the girls yesterday and there were still a whole lot of them. They had eaten through a whole winter patty, so I placed another winter patty and a grease patty in there. We are almost in the home stretch now, fingers crossed! Visit as many apiaries as you can this spring ( club members), you will learn a lot. But most of all, have fun!

If none of your hives died over winter (assuming you have more than one) then that's a great encouragement.

I'm glad to hear your bees have done so well through the winter. Not having as much snow as usual must have helped.

camprn wrote:THREE MORE FRIDAYS UNTIL THE FIRST DAY OF

Even in New Hampshire?

LOL I'm strictly looking at the Equinox.

So, the time for sowing seeds in New England is rapidly approaching. For some reason I decided to strip the wallpaper and paint the room where I grow my seedlings. Tedium is setting in...
I should be done with this project, hopefully next week, and then... gardening may commence.

I started more seed blocks yesterday, 2/25. I knocked my earlier ones from 2/20 off the shelf and lost almost all of them, saving only 1 cabbage and a few arugula (I think). Labels were tossed as well so I can't be sure. Anyway, yesterday I started Broccoli: Apollo, Packman, and Munchkin; Cabbage: Red Acre and Golden Acres; Arugula; and I'm trying some Lettuces, both Crisphead and Burpee's Iceberg A. I'm putting a desk lamp over the end with the lettuce under the dome since they need light. I want to see if that works.





This is what I found when I got up in the morning, 4.5 more inches of it. But the sky was lovely. Its stuff like this that keeps me out of my garden.

I'm glad we're talking about seed starting. I figure I have about 30 hrs. worth of bee box building, so my seedlings are going to be fighting for time slots.

You don't want to miss the Magic Window for seedling starting tho.

Anyone enlarging their gardens this year, rotating things around, and needing to draw out new plant plans?

Hoop houses?

of a solarium filled with flowers and vegetables, heated and powered by solar energy.

I'm with you on that idea, tomperrin. If you have any ideas, please share them.

I've actually been thinking about greenhouse options. But first I should probably start with a hoop house, which I haven't tried yet.

I have all the ingredients for one hoop house. Havn't built it yet. I really don't like going outside when it's cold, yet I grew up accustomed to below zero weather for a good part of the year. Anyway, my garlic is doing just fine underneath a loose cover of painter's plastic sheeting.

When my current gazebo falls apart, as all things made in China inevitably will, I will build a large pergola in its place. It has occured to me that double plastic sheeting or plexiglass properly arranged within the pergola might perform well as a passive greenhouse.

Add a couple of solar panels which charge a few deep cycle batteries during daylight hours. Hook up the batteries to an inverter, and plug in to an oil filled radiator like Delonghi makes. Will this work in 30 below weather? Probably not. More engineering would be required.

But if this gave me a few hours every sunny day to work in full sun and be warm, it would be a great mood enhancer.

Tom

Lots can be done with solar panels and the components, I hear, are getting cheaper.