May 2015 - N&C Midwest

Well, here I am, late again.  But at least the date is still in single digits!  What are we all doing in May?  

This morning I got my carrots, beans, and beets planted.  The weather has been absolutely gorgeous for May in NE South Dakota, nothing below freezing for a few weeks.  However, with lows wildly ranging from 37F to 58F, I am still not going to risk putting the tomatoes and peppers out permanently.  I have accidentally left them on the deck for a few nights and they have survived, but I notice some purpling of the stems from the cold, so they are back inside to warm up and get the nutrients flowing again!

I have also scattered some flower seeds in the bed that the neighborhood cat has claimed as a litter box so it is no longer fit for foodstuffs.  Picking my battles, and so far this solution has worked out mutually satisfying.

My lettuce, onions, and spinach are at full tilt now... rushing to get my 'maters in this weekend.  They are ready, already.

Goosegirl wrote:I have also scattered some flower seeds in the bed that the neighborhood cat has claimed as a litter box so it is no longer fit for foodstuffs.  Picking my battles, and so far this solution has worked out mutually satisfying.

Maybe plant some cat grass or some cracknip?  If you give the kitty something it may eat, he may stop doodling there. As long as it doesn't bring him back next year to sample your people food.

Well I am trying to get my garden all in the same area of the yard. The last 5 yrs it has been put here, there, and everywhere!

Last year was no gardening due to the broken ankle. But this year is going full throttle!

The 8/5 yr old grandsons were put to picking maple seeds out of a couple of beds while Mom and I were busy! That didn't make them too happy lol!

My oldest helped me move a 4x4 bed from one end of the yard to behind the greenhouse. This will be my herb/flower bed.

From this:


To this:



It was quite a job! the bed is 12" board with 10" of MM!

Then I planted my squash bed....acorn, zuccini, butternut



And my pepper/broccoli/onion bed.....



It is supposed to be nasty thunderstorms tomorrow..so no seeds. Mostly what I have left to do. OH and was too darn tired to plant the herb bed Still have more Tomatoes to plant but that bed has to be weeded lol. Humm and onions to do..oh well..gardening never ends so on I will go lol.

CindiLou, Good to see you back!

sanderson wrote:CindiLou,  Good to see you back!  

Thank you! I missed talking to everyone.

But had a few health problems and then the broken ankle made me a little growly lol..

But getting back to normal!

First darn sunburn of the year! I forgot about how easy I burn and didn't use sunscreen! With hair up so back of neck is ouchy! But I did have a visor on so face not so bad lol.
Time to make some tea to soak in lol.

Great to see you back CindiLou!  

Kate - My salad box is only 1 inch tall.  I can't wait until it is bursting like yours!

First harvest!  Half a dozen 'French Breakfast' radishes plus a few leaves of 'Black Seeded Simpson' lettuce and 'Mizuna' mustard greens.

My beans are just starting to poke up!  By this weekend I may just start seeing some leaves!

Exciting, isn't it!

I've got everything in!  Trying a decent number of new tomatoes.  Have gotten a nice harvest of lettuce and spinach so far and a lot of delicious radishes.  In the 4th year of the asparagus patch it has really hit its stride as we've gotten a number of meals thus far.

I, uh, accidentally left my tray of tom & pepper seedlings out on the porch last night.  Current temp (I just brought them in) is 43F.  They will survive just fine, but the peppers will NOT be happy for a while!

It's probably good they got a little exposure to temp variations, it'll make them stronger.

My lettuce overfloweth!  Just harvested 7 gallon bags, 5 the week before, and another 5 the week before that.  Methinks I will plant slightly less next year, and more of something else, my goodness, I had no idea it would do this well!  I'm even more amazed at how much a 4'x4' space can produce.

And... still pondering irrigation ideas.  I decided not to plant anything else until I find a simple way to keep the plants watered.  I'm still debating whether to make another attempt at building a working PVC watering grid.  That last one was a lot of work and I'm starting to lose faith in that idea.  Meanwhile, I saw a guy on Hubpages who used weedstop on top of his raised beds instead of mulch, and waters just by flooding the weedstop.  Water goes down the holes right where it is needed most.  That seems pretty simple and effective, and nothing to store for the winter.

C-Kate -- so your lettuce overflows!
That's a-lot-a-lettuce lol. 
It took me awhile to figure out that for 2 of us I plant half a box of lettuce at a time.  By the time we add to our plates the tomatoes, cukes, cheese, etc, we don't need giant mounds of lettuce.  Then after awhile I plant the other half of the box with more lettuce to keep the supply going.  I keep a critter cover on the box and drape it with light burlap too. Love how fresh lettuce is so richly colored and mildly sweet too. Yum.


And WELCOME BACK CINDILOU !

I have a salad box now, thanks to the generosity of my boss!  He had a patch of volunteer lettuce - a romaine type, which looks to me like green deer's tongue - that sprouted from one singular plant that went to seed last year.  When I got there with my shovel and cardboard box, he had already thinned out and replanted what he would use for his garden.  I did not even take all that was left, and I had enough to spread out and fill one of my 4x3 boxes.  

AND, being the beggar that I am, when I saw a patch of Creeping Charlie off to the side of his garden in a patch that looked like it was not wanted, I asked if he would mind sparing a shovelful.  He gave me SEVERAL shovelsful, and I now have enough Creeping Charlie plugs to start filling in around my new hydrangeas (planted Saturday) and hopefully spreading out into the shady side of my lawn.  

He also offered some volunteer sunflowers which he had ready in boxes for whomsoever would like, so I took a box of them as well, to fill in the side of my sunflower bed that the neighborhood cat has turned into a litterbox and has managed to keep any volunteers from staying in place past sprouting.  

Saturday I also continued the clean-up of the area which used to have 2 trees and my eyesore of a compost bin.  It is now fairly level, with a new 2x8 bed made from mini-pallets, planted with Buttercup Squash, Zucchini, and Sugar Pie Pumpkins.  The bed is about 18 inches high, bottom filled with the non-composted or partially composted remains of the old piles, then topped with the last of the completely composted stuff.  The trailing pumpkins and squash will have plenty of room to crawl over the side of the new bed and spread out into the area that used to be the junk pile!

If it ever starts raining, and we get some sunshine / heat, our gardens here in KS will start to take off. Spent the last two weeks working on rain water collection -- 14 barrels (sets of 5 and set of 9 interconnected for a total of about 700 gallons...and they filled up within an hour.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5Te3HPQjoLyZ3dJc2QwelFXTTN3S2dLVmF4U2Z2MGdiTDNN/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5Te3HPQjoLyWW1jcXBUNjlJVjJqcHpuM3dUUWl4b1czb3p3/view?usp=sharing

Goosegirl wrote:AND, being the beggar that I am, when I saw a patch of Creeping Charlie off to the side of his garden in a patch that looked like it was not wanted, I asked if he would mind sparing a shovelful.  He gave me SEVERAL shovelsful, and I now have enough Creeping Charlie plugs to start filling in around my new hydrangeas (planted Saturday) and hopefully spreading out into the shady side of my lawn.

Creeping Charlie!  I haven't heard of that since the hippie times!  Everyone grew them as houseplants.   (We need a 'Peace" emoticon)

sanderson wrote:

Goosegirl wrote:AND, being the beggar that I am, when I saw a patch of Creeping Charlie off to the side of his garden in a patch that looked like it was not wanted, I asked if he would mind sparing a shovelful.  He gave me SEVERAL shovelsful, and I now have enough Creeping Charlie plugs to start filling in around my new hydrangeas (planted Saturday) and hopefully spreading out into the shady side of my lawn.

Creeping Charlie!  I haven't heard of that since the hippie times!  Everyone grew them as houseplants.   (We need a 'Peace" emoticon)

I don't remember Creeping Charlie, but I do remember Wandering Jew.

yolos wrote:

sanderson wrote:

Goosegirl wrote:AND, being the beggar that I am, when I saw a patch of Creeping Charlie off to the side of his garden in a patch that looked like it was not wanted, I asked if he would mind sparing a shovelful.  He gave me SEVERAL shovelsful, and I now have enough Creeping Charlie plugs to start filling in around my new hydrangeas (planted Saturday) and hopefully spreading out into the shady side of my lawn.

Creeping Charlie!  I haven't heard of that since the hippie times!  Everyone grew them as houseplants.   (We need a 'Peace" emoticon)

I don't remember Creeping Charlie, but I do remember Wandering Jew.

I had them both!  However, the Creeping Charlie in the lawn is not the same as the houseplant.  The leaves are similar shape, but the lawn one is a mint relative and smells divine when mowed!!!

Creeping Charlie and Wandering Jew. Peace.

Now I just need a live redwood burl and a macrame hanger - oh, I already  still have the hangers!