SUGA 2017

SQWIB 3/20/2017, 1:48 pm

Some folks asked about my Gardening adventures and it was suggested I start a thread and put it in the in the Regional Forums but I figured it was more suited here as it is not SFG.

This is a Copy/Paste from my website, my apologies if there are any formatting issues.

This is a chronological post and hopefully I can update it often.

What is SUGA 2017? SQWIBS Urban Garden Adventure 2017. I LOVE ACRONYMS!
Welcome back for another year of gardening.

So welcome to,

"SQWIBS Urban Garden Adventure 2017"

January 14th, 2017

During the winter I try to get caught up on the work that can be done inside. Here is what I have been up to,

After the basement was finished I done a little remodel to the bar, the bar is far from done.

January 15th, 2017

I refinished the work benches in the workshop.

I cleaned up the workshop and got the grow light area cleaned and setup.

Secured the Leaning fence to the Hugel Bed and straightened the fence a bit.

December 31st, 2016

Built Mom and Dad their very own Hugelkultur Raised bed, more on that found at "Mom and Dads Hugelkultur Raised Bed", just scroll down to the title. Well this wasn't actually 2017, this was knocked out New Years Eve.

Before

After (I still need to cap the top, I'll post that pic when done)

OK, I know its early, too early to even start seedlings, but....
....It's not too early to build another raised bed!

Built a 24"D x 20'L X 20"H Hugelkultur Raised Bed.

January 28th, 2016

Removing my Dead Red Maple. This was a sad day indeed, but knowing the tree will add much needed nutrients to the soil for my veggie plants in my new raised bed was a bit comforting.

February 5th, 2017

I will be using a vertical support system again this year, but I decided not to use the EMT pipe this year, I figured with the additional length to the raised beds and the amount of pipe required to run the full length, that it would look shabby.

This is last years vertical support system

Here is what I came up with instead.

Holes are drilled in the uprights, slightly larger than the eye bolts so they can move freely. Cable is looped and secured at one end around the eyebolt using the cable connectors. The cable is run to the other end and adjusted to the proper length and looped and secured with the cable connectors. Yes, Home Depot screwed up and gave me two different size cable connectors, but it was 25°F outside and I just wanted to get this done. I may change out the 3/16" with the 3/32" some day if I'm bored.

The cable is 36' long. I'm happy with the support for the upcoming year, but more importantly, my wife is very happy with the streamlined support system, when she's happy I'm Happy! If this fares well this season, I will be doing the same type of support system on the back hill.

February 6th, 2017

Since my brain is in garden mode the last few weeks, and that is all I can think about. I have been thinking about the support system, I was looking for a way to tighten the cable without tools, at first I was going to use a winch type adjustment but decided it was overkill and I do have a tendency to over engineer stuff. I want it simple enough where I can say to one of the kids, "Hey go outside and tighten the cable a bit", yes I do have a kid named "Hey". Here is what I came up with.

If you look closely you can see the needle bearing sandwiched between the washer.

The locking nut isn't really needed but I figured I would just toss it on.

February 12th, 2017.

The grow area is setup and reorganized as well as my seed starting tool box. I noticed that my one year old 1020 trays were split at the bottom, I decided to order sturdier ones for this season.

Rosemary seeds are started, I started another 10 seeds a few days later after reading up on the Rosemary germination percentages..

February 16th, 2017.

These are Permanest Tray and domes that just came in from Indoor Garden Supplies.

Tray# GS2211 and the dome is a V2211.

So far I am very impressed with these trays and domes, they are extremely durable.

February 17th, 2017

Finished Mom & Dads Hugelkultur bed, topped with some compost, potting soil, peat moss and manure, planted some Radishes, Beets, Romaine, Spinach and Black Seeded Simpson. In the very back they have a small bed they use for Cucumbers, I tossed in some Sugar Snap peas. Falls project will be to make that corner a raised bed.

February 18th, 2017

The weather forecast is calling for a high of 60°F today and even higher tomorrow, so I figured I would get some of my gardening done this weekend.

The back pond is looking a little dirty, so I fired up the pumps and filters.

Finished the uprights on the new Hugelkultur bed, cleaned out the fire pit and spread the ashes and bits of wood on the beds.
Also put on the last few cap pieces, the one to the far left where the stained bed meets the new bed, I cut a piece that tapers wide in the back to narrow in the front to set the vertical tower on.

Stained the Asparagus bed and added some composted manure. I lost a lot of the day working on the stump out front.

February 19th, 2017

I had the family help out today, It got to near 70°F today and was just a beautiful day to spend outside with the family, all my plants are coming up already.

I prepped the hugelkultur beds then planted two types of Spinach, Kale, Romaine Lettuce, Black Seeded Simpson, Broccoli, Bush Beans and Mammoth Melting Snow Peas.

Planted a row of Mammoth Melting Snow Peas by the trellis.

We pulled up all of the Tiger Lilies from around the butterfly house to make room for the Milkweed Plants Coming. I need to work this area a bit more, but I have a lot of flowers coming up right now so I'll probably wait another week or two.

We trimmed the Red Maple tree.

The Red Maple trimmings will all be cut up, some will go in a wood pile for the chiminea on the side patio, smaller pieces will be composted and or burned and some will be chopped up for the smoker.

Playing around with the herb garden to see how invasive my chocolate mint plant was, I stumbled across this little guy. For the mint plants, I may try making round borders using 5 gallon buckets with the bottoms cut out. I tried clay pots in the ground but the plants nearly died.

We dug out quite a bit of soil and transplanted the Tiger Lilies. It will look a lot nicer when it grows in, I swear!

I will be irrigating the stump all week because I will try pulling it out this weekend, I told my neighbor to come over and record the event as it may be, "youtube" worthy lol. The front of the house is such a mess right now, so I'm amped up to get this stump out and get everything cleaned up. Hopefully I can fix the irrigation line and get the Landscape lights working again.

I need to clear a path to get my truck in this weekend to try and pull the stump. GAWD! This is gonna be fun!

February 22nd, 2017

The weather has been very accommodating, last night I planted 16' of Swenson Swedish Snow Peas. The Parsley is still hanging in there. It's rained several times this week so keeping the soil moist has been easy.

February 24th, 2017

Got some time to work on my stump this weekend, this was a[size=32] fail![/size]

February 25th, 2017

Spent most of the day working on the irrigation. Last year I had a bunch of emitters for the air pots so I decided to just run a double loop drip line 40' and plug up all the holes in the main line with Goof Plugs, WRONG! Those goof plugs suck, they were leaking all over so I decided to cut out the line with all the holes and install a new piece of the 1/2" main hose. A bunch of the "T"s got busted during the winter so they had to be replaced. I fiddled with the inline filter for over an hour and eventually gave up and removed it. Installed my Timer and hose connections.

February 26th, 2017

This years Spring and Fall project will be this back hill. I started by taking out the Arborvitaes, and need to start pulling out the ivy.

My only concerns are digging out the two Bradford Pear stumps. Hopefully I can cut enough of the stump out to fit in the retaining wall behind the stumps, Gawd I hate these roots.

After the hill is cleaned up and the ivy is out, I will try digging out a bit, for the retaining wall. I have buckets and crates of rock that I will be taking to my brothers. I'll burn a lot of the red maple and arborvitae for the compost bin. Some will be partially burnt for Bio-Char. The thicker pieces of the Arborvitaes are cut for the chiminea as well as the larger cuts of the red maple. Some of the maple will be recycled into my Pots that I will be converting into Hugelkultur pots. I'm gonna trash all my 5 gallon buckets and stick with just the homer buckets, I'm sick and tired of mismatched buckets getting stuck together. I still have some hydroponic stuff to ditch and sort, a bunch of cap stones from the steps that were removed when building the upper hugelkultur beds, a bunch of lumber, PVC Pipe, firewood in recycle buckets for the smoker/pit, milk crates, a few 55 gallon drums and tarps that all need to be sorted out and/or trashed. I really need to de-clutter

The plan is to plant 6 or so Laurel Shrubs in the spring, start digging out to get ready for the retaining wall and build a retaining wall up on the hill in front of the existing retaining wall and plant some Laurel 30' wide as a back drop, the Arborvitaes were getting too sparse at the bottom and looked horrible. The space between the two retaining walls will be planted with Tiger Lilies

Got all of my pepper seeds planted, then realized I will be out of room once I start the Tomatoes and Eggplants. I promised Mom and my brother some plants and it looks like its gonna be tight. I broadcast seeded and will transplant and thin into solo cups, Ill probably double up on the pepper plants in the solo cups to save room. After I got all cleaned up and went upstairs to chill a bit, I was looking over my notes and realized, Shoot! I forgot to plant the Corno Di Toro Giallo Peppers.

California Wonder
Anaheim
Corno Di Toro Giallo
Jalapeno
Ruby King
Tabasco
Poblano
Ghost Chili
Datil

February 28th, 2017

I dug out all the Chocolate Mint and put in a three gallon pot to try and keep the mint at bay. I'll probably do the same with the spearmint.

Loaded up the truck with the stones from the back hill, I'll be taking these to my brothers house for his landscaping.

March 1st, 2017

I dropped off the rock at my brothers house and was checking out his hugelkultur bed that he put in late summer, after seeing mine he decided that the raised hugelkultur beds would look nicer than a fence between the two properties. When he moved here a few years back the fence was in bad shape and he decided to remove it. The beds give a good property line but keep the area open. He wants to see how well the bed does before committing to any more beds along the property line, I said, "just go for it"!

I have been slacking with my seedlings, checked them after dinner and the Rosemary had sprouted and were very leggy, I quickly got them under light, light timer is set for 18 hours. The fan is not set up on auto yet, I am still waiting for a timer from Amazon.

March 2nd, 2017

Well it was inevitable and expected, the temp is dropping down to 15°F this weekend, I'll be disconnecting the irrigation line, draining and bring in the timer. Can you believe it was 70°F yesterday. This weekend I'll be planting some seeds and cleaning the back hill a bit so it won't be a total loss. It's really gonna piss me off if I loose my Rosemary after it lasted this long!

The Datil, Jalapeno and Ruby King peppers had begun sprouting, I'm impressed, it has only been 4 days. I'll give them another day or two before I move them out of the germination tray.

March 3rd, 2017

The Tiger Lilies seem to like their new spot, there are a few stragglers in various parts of the front yard, I'll be digging them up and transplanting them with these guys. I may tear out the Azalea plant.

March 4th 2017

My timer came in so I hooked up the oscillating fan to the timer, the timer is set to turn on for twenty minutes, three times a day. OK now onto more pressing problems, the temperature is supposed to go down in the low teens and I needed to come up with a way to keep my Rosemary alive. I figured I would try this fluorescent light, it puts out a little bit of heat. We will see what happens. I cover the Rosemary at night and uncover during the day.

March 5th, 2017

I guess the warm snap we had in February got these guys going, this is my first year with Asparagus (first Harvest year), and I'm a bit worried about then coming up too soon, this weekend was down to about 15°F and next week it's supposed to get in the teens again.

All the peppers pretty much sprouted with the exception of the Ghost Chili. The Corno Di Torro Giallo, California Wonder and the Poblano took a full week to germinate. The Datil, Tobasco, Jalapeno, Anaheim and Ruby King were 4-5 days to germinate. These guys were removed from the Heated, domed germination tray and placed in a tray closer to the light. The light is set to 18 hours and the fan is set to go on for twenty minutes, three times a day.

Anaheim

Ruby King

Jalapeno

Datil

Tabasco

Planted , Amandas Unknown Farm Eggplant, Basil, Black Beauty Eggplant, Black Vernissage Tomato, Brandywine Red Tomato, Celebrity Tomato, Cherokee Purple Tomato, Fengyuan Eggplant, Indigo Blue Berries Tomato, Matts Wild Cherry Tomato, Parsley, Patio Princess Tomato Determinate, Rosemary and Sprite Tomato Determinate. A mix of potting soil and perlite is used for the potting mix. The potting mix is packed in the planters then tamped down lightly and watered until water comes out of the bottom. Seeds are planted 3 to a cell, then topped with a thin layer of potting soil and misted with a spray bottle. Heat mat is set to 80°F, and the dome installed. These will be watered from the bottom.

The broccoli started to come up, hopefully the low temps wont kill the seedlings.

March 7th, 2017

Still working on clearing out the back for the new fence, I need to dig in 6 posts and every other hole location is where an Arborvitae was planted, so Ill be busting my stones digging out more roots. I plan on saving a lot of the top soil for when I build the retaining wall in front, the soil looks pretty healthy!

What a mess!!

March 8th, 2017 am

I cant believe the Marigolds came up already, these were planted Sunday night, its been less than three days. I'll probably be dividing them this weekend.

Clearing out my Spam folder this morning I noticed an e-mail from Spring Hill Nurseries confirming that my Japanese Stewartia will be delivered March 9th-11th, that means that I will be working on the stump the rest of the week and the back hill will have to wait.

March 8th, 2017

Well when I got home today, the tree was here, I think they shipped too soon, Looks like I will be doing the front yard tomorrow.

March 9th, 2017

With the early arrival of the tree, I had to knock this out ASAP, thank goodness the weather was nice. I didn't get the whole stump out but got a good bit of it out to plant the new tree. I actualy would have kept going if I didn't have a slight mishap with the Sawzall, after I got hurt I said bull pucky, if the tree dies it dies, at this point I was beyond frustrated!

SUGA 2017 33234106811_f27ce54f5a_b

Got a little work done on the fence too, got some of the stumps out and put in 4 posts.

This weekend is shot due to the weather and the next two weekends will be shot due to Birthdays, Parties and a weekend canoe trip. I can at least finish removing the stuff from the hill and maybe burn the rest of the arborvitaes and red maple tree if the 100MPH winds would ever stop.

March 11th-12th, 2017

Well, this weekend was shot so I played in my workshop.

SUGA 2017 33288422521_a3668d920a_b

The plants are all doing well, I had more rosemary pop, a Fengyuan Eggplant sprout, the parsley came up and a couple more ghost chili's The only thing I have been having trouble with are my California wonder seeds, nothing has germinated yet. Nothing from the Gerbera Daisy yet either.

SUGA 2017 33288492901_83e6ced3b8_b

I expanded my growing space a bit. By topping off the solo cups I can get 18 per tray comfortably so I went from 60 to 72 on the grow table.

SUGA 2017 33416709615_1bea7258fa_b

Then looking around the workshop I found another spot to expand to another 36. Armed with a plan, it was off to Home Depot.

I need to stay out of Home Depot or more specifically the seed area, I stopped over HD to pick up a few timers for my expanded grow area and picked up a packet of Box Car Willie Tomato Seeds and Abe Lincoln Tomato Seeds.

When I got home, I hooked these shop lights up to a timer, set for 18 hours and put a fan on the work bench that is set to go on for twenty minutes three times a day. I grabbed a board I had laying around, put in some eye bolts, popped 4 anchors in the ceiling and popped in some eye bolts and used Heavy Gauge copper wire for the supports, I'll change these out with light duty chain when I get a chance, but for now it was what I had and I wasn't going back out again.

These are 6000k LED light that I originally bought for the grow table but due to the type of bulb, I couldn't use them on the grow table, electrical stuff I wont go into right now.

This works out great, it is just the right height to work under it without bumping my head, it does block a little light from the work shop table but not too much.

Right now I have a few Jalapeno, Poblano and Marigold plants up there as a control, I will be checking them every day to see if the lights and area are adequate.

This brings me from 60 plants to 108 plants.

SUGA 2017 33416709755_645ca31955_b

March 16th, 2017

Still not able to get outside, everything is under 6" of snow and ice!
It has been 5 days and the 36+ plants are doing well under the new grow area, so I think it is safe to say that the heat, air flow and and lighting under these lights are adequate.

March 17th-19th, 2017

This week was a bust and I'm pretty sure I lost all my seedlings in the Hugel Beds, I may replant this week.

I'm still trying to save my Rosemary plant, I started this from seed last year.

And if the weather wasn't enough for me to worry about, now I have this to worry about!

This is my Koi Pond he is checking out.

Started thinning and dividing the plants.

The plants in the Blue Solo Cups will go to a fellow garden enthusiast, the Yellow solo cups go to my brother and the rest are mine. 50% or less will be used in my garden, some will go in my parents garden and the remainder will either find a new home, find a nook in my yard or be tossed.

I started fertilizing the plants this week and they seem to be doing OK. I still have some Abe Lincoln Tomato seedlings and Boxcar Willie Tomato Seedlings that need to be re-potted next week, they wee a tad too small to be messing with.

The fan and lighting seem to be adequate. I have been keeping the garage at about 78°F.

I usually don't recycle my potting mix but was running low so I sterilized some potting mix for my Marigold plants.

I have been putting these Marigolds everywhere, here are a few on a morning sun windowsill in the basement bathroom, hopefully it will be enough light and not too drafty. Now I just have to figure out how to keep the wife from dropping and closing the blinds!

Today was a melancholy day, I retired my old faithful Remington saw and replaced with a new Makita, the Remington has been a great saw and don't owe me anything after 10 years of service, I feel like I lost an old friend!

SQWIB 3/21/2017, 8:35 am

March 21st, 2017

How do you know you have a gardening problem? When your running late for work and decide to do some gardening!
The snow and ice is almost gone so I checked my beds, all the peas that sprouted have rotted, same with the broccoli, no sign of the spinach, bush beans and lettuces. I replanted the peas and the broccoli. This weekend is shot, I will be on a canoe camping trip on the Delaware river, we will be heading out very early Friday morning but I will be home fairly early Sunday so I may be able to do some planting then.

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**donnainzone5** 3/21/2017, 12:30 pm

What an incredible amount of work and creativity! I'm impressed!

I love the green trellis in the bottom picture. Did you make it, or purchase it?

SQWIB 3/21/2017, 1:11 pm

donnainzone5 wrote:What an incredible amount of work and creativity! I'm impressed!

I love the green trellis in the bottom picture. Did you make it, or purchase it?

Thank you
That is a Decorative Fence Panel from Lowes, it was in the fence area.

**donnainzone5** 3/21/2017, 2:00 pm

I was hoping it would be taller, as well as green, rather than black. Oh, well....

Thanks for your response. I wish I had even 1% of your energy and creativity.

SQWIB 3/21/2017, 2:18 pm

donnainzone5 wrote:I was hoping it would be taller, as well as green, rather than black. Oh, well....

Thanks for your response. I wish I had even 1% of your energy and creativity.

they have green and black,
They do have trellises at 80" high

**donnainzone5** 3/21/2017, 3:22 pm

The ones I like best aren't available at or through my local store.

I really appreciate your help, though. I'm thinking about dressing up my front-yard SFG a bit.

**Scorpio Rising** 3/21/2017, 6:46 pm

You are making me feel like a slacker! LOL! Nice job, lots of work, man...you are gonna be eating well, my friend!

I put things out too early last year, and we had a weirdly cold and long cold snap in spring...bit me a little...so I am about 2 weeks off my pace from last year. I don't have anywhere near the number of plants however...

Nice! sunny

SQWIB 3/22/2017, 9:19 am

Scorpio Rising wrote:You are making me feel like a slacker! LOL! Nice job, lots of work, man...you are gonna be eating well, my friend!

I put things out too early last year, and we had a weirdly cold and long cold snap in spring...bit me a little...so I am about 2 weeks off my pace from last year. I don't have anywhere near the number of plants however...

Nice!

Same thing with me plus I got a little overzealous with quantity and planting too early. This year I started my seeds three weeks later than last year and think I may be good to go by planting time.

SQWIB 3/22/2017, 9:26 am

My new cups came in and I have been transplanting into the new cups. These cups are awesome, nice and sturdy and can be run through the dishwasher. The taller ones are 20 oz. cups and fit 18 to a tray and the smaller ones are 10 oz. cups and fit 21 to a tray, I am still debating on getting all 20 oz. cups. I like that they are taller and slightly narrower than the red solo cups.

If I get more 20 oz. cups, I'll probably use the 10 oz cups for my pepper starts then pot up to 20 oz.

SQWIB 3/29/2017, 1:09 pm

March 23rd, 2017

Replanted some Bush Beans,
,this morning before work,
SUGA 2017 32795608753_66372e70b2_t

no, no, not those Bush Beans.

After work I planted a row of the sugar snap peas in the Hugel bed.

March 24th - 26th, 2017

Canoeing the Delaware River, see ya in a couple days.

March 27th, 2016

I was re-potting some plants today and had a little mishap, I was adjusting the height of the shelf and spilled a whole tray of plants, there were some casualties but I managed to save most of them but time will tell. I really need to be more careful. The trays should be removed before adjusting, not sure what the hell I was thinking. I will be stopping at Home Depot tomorrow to pick up some supplies to install a more secure system.

March 28th, 2016

These tomato plants still have about three weeks to go before planting, they literally exploded in a week, I started my plants several weeks later this year but may need to start another week or two later.

The eggplants and some of the peppers are spot on for timing but I may plant them a week later as well.

A few of the tomato plants have what appears to be "sun scald", these plants were touching the light. I'll be hardening these off in a week or two so I turned off the heat in the garage so the garage is a bit cooler and I am going to cut back on the fertilizer and watering.

I setup a more secure adjustable/hanging system

**sanderson** 3/29/2017, 3:13 pm

All those seedlings! Shocked

If that new setup doesn't to the trick, nothing will. Razz

CapeCoddess 3/29/2017, 4:25 pm

LOL on the beans! Very good!

Your starts are gorgeous! So healthy! I didn't realized that PA was so far ahead of MA. We have to wait until Memorial Day before planting out tomatoes. I'll be starting mine this weekend.

CC

SQWIB 3/29/2017, 5:58 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:LOL on the beans! Very good!

Your starts are gorgeous! So healthy! I didn't realized that PA was so far ahead of MA. We have to wait until Memorial Day before planting out tomatoes. I'll be starting mine this weekend.

CC

Thankyou
Our last frost is April 15th and historically, IIRC it's about the 6th?
I try to hold out for the last weekend in April and will check the ten day forecast. Last year I jumped the gun and should have waited, oh well.

**Scorpio Rising** 3/29/2017, 7:52 pm

Looks vaguely like you are having a hog roast at your place! LOL

SUGA 2017 Imagejpeg

SQWIB 4/4/2017, 9:56 am

March 28th, 2017

Earlier in the week I picked up 10, twelve foot 5/4 decking planks.

March 30th, 2017

Today I picked up another 10, twelve foot 5/4 decking planks.

March 31st, 2017

I ordered my "5 for 10" mulch at Home Depot but it was raining too bad to even attempt picking up the bags of mulch, Friday it rained about 12 hours non stop

April 1st, 2017

It was too wet to really do anything so I got all of my tools ready and cleaned up the yard (swamp) a bit.

April 2nd, 2017

Woohoo, its finally dry enough to get moving on the fence.

I had the Stephen stack my mulch. Afterwards I realized that I got the wrong mulch, I don't care for the Viigoro its too red, I prefer the Earthgrow, however its not too big of a deal because the color fades out by the end of the season. The reason I get the colored mulches is they seem to turn a nice rich black color after about a year, more so than the other mulches. I have no clue as to why this is and maybe I'm crazy but hey, it works for me.

Dug in the last post and started leveling. I put eyebolts in the posts and secured to the fence once level using romex. I done all the posts but one, (More on that later).

Sam wanted to help so I had her dig around the arborvitae stumps as I worked on the supports.

Maggie decides that she wants to help Sam dig out the stump.

After all the posts were leveled and secured I noticed the one post set back about 10" further than the other ones, this is because my back yard butts up against two neighbors back yards and its not straight. I decided to leave it as is

Remember the ONE POST I DID NOT SECURE, well, I got all my supports in and noticed the one post I did not secure had shifted about 3 inches to the right on an angle, I decide to leave that as well and try to place the fence slats straight in an effort to make it less noticeable, we will see!

April 3rd, 2017

Today after work, I cut the remainder of the planks and installed all but 5 of the planks. You can see the post to the left how it shifted, when I start adding planks to the left, I'll try to run them straight instead of spacing evenly. Its bad but looks even worse than it is due to the camera angle.

Some of the plants just exploded, hopefully this weekend I can start hardening them off.

April 4th, 2017

Well its supposed to rain every day this week but Wednesday, I ordered 10 more decking planks and will cut and install them Wednesday after work hopefully.

SQWIB 4/5/2017, 10:05 am

April 4th, 2017

This morning I planted some Zucchini seeds.

After work. I picked up the decking wood and surprisingly, since the weather was nice, I cut the pieces, removed another arborvitae stump and finished another panel.

After work I was checking the plants and decided it was time for them to sink or swim, they will be put out in the morning.

April 5th, 2017

Sink or Swim dammit, these guys will get late afternoon sun.

The little guy didn't make it, but we do have a few new Gus's poking their heads through. Now I just have to keep the dogs out of Asparagus bed.

**sanderson** 4/6/2017, 1:26 am

It looks like you are sprucing up the yard in addition to building the garden. Your seedlings look so healthy.

SQWIB 4/6/2017, 8:16 am

sanderson wrote:It looks like you are sprucing up the yard in addition to building the garden. Your seedlings look so healthy.

Thank you, Seedlings are holding their own.

Yeah, it seems that whenever I do something it snowballs.
Putting in a new kitchen floor ended up like this.

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but its all worth it in the end.

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This is why I take so many pictures and document everything because 1) I appreciate the work even more seeing where I came from and 2) it's sort of a blueprint of my work, for instance I can review these pictures and get an idea of where my wiring is.

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SQWIB 1/10/2018, 2:27 pm

Wow I forgot all about this post. I'll toss in some updates.

SQWIB 1/10/2018, 2:30 pm

APRIL 6-12

I installed a new Pond filter and UV about 4 days ago, and it is now just starting to clear up, I ordered another filter that I will be installing this weekend. Now I need to do something with those wires and hose!

I started work on the Koi pond, cleaned the filters, skimmed the bottom, fired up the Wendy Filter, had to do a quick repair job on the upper veggie filter, as it was leaking pretty good. Got the other veggie filter going and put in the Terracotta pots for my peppers.

I am still digging out the back hill. I have been digging out this hill for the last few weeks and taking the dirt to my Brothers house, he has a low spot in his yard that pools pretty good after a heavy rain so we have been dumping it in the low spot.

After work I decided to stop by Home Depot and pick up some 6x6x10 footers, lets just say that I wont do that again!

[size=16]Woohoo! the fence is finished, now it's time to concentrate on the retaining wall.[/size]

SQWIB 1/10/2018, 2:32 pm

Planted most of my veggies. (L-R)

Matts Wild Cherry
Ruby King
Corno Di Toro Giallo
Anaheim
Poblano
Black Beauty

This year I planted the Eggplants and peppers on a slight angle and spread them out a bit more.

Left Bed (L-R)

California Wonder - California Wonder
Black Beauty Eggplant - Black Beauty Eggplant
Black Beauty Eggplant - Black Beauty Eggplant
Brandywine Red
Abe Lincoln

Right Bed (L-R)

6 plants across may be a bit tight, we will see!

Ruby King Red Pepper - Ruby King Red Pepper
Cherokee Purple
Cherokee Purple
Brandywine Red
Black Vernissage
Black Vernissage

Long Hugelkultur bed (L-R)

Indigo Blue Berries Tomato 24"
Abe Lincoln 24"
Abe Lincoln 24"
Corno Di Toro Giallo 18"
Corno Di Toro Giallo 18"
Cherokee purple 24"
California Wonder 18"
Anaheim 18"
Black Beauty 20"
Black Beauty 20"
Jalapeno 18"
Jalapeno 18"
Poblano 18"
Poblano 18"
Box Car Willie 24"
Box Car Willie 24"
Brandywine red 24"
Brandywine red 24"
Ruby King 18"
Ruby King 18"
- Oregano Cover crop
- Basil
- Parsley
- Marigold

Patio Princess

Sprite determinate. In front of the mulch is the old pond filter earmarked for the trash, I'm just waiting a week or two to make sure my new filter doesn't suck!

Jalapeno in the larger Vertical Tower (Top). I had strawberries in this vertical tower last year and was half hoping they would not winter over and I would plant other things in them, oh well, all the strawberries came back.

Tabasco in the smaller Vertical Tower (Top), gotta have Tabasco for my hot sauce!!! I'll be dumping miscellaneous herbs and pepper plants in here as well.

I just can't wait until, all the veggie plants are in, my wildflowers arrive and are planted, everything is mulched, the retaining wall and fence are done, the hill is cleaned up, all the digging and dirt hauling is done, the ponds are finished, the irrigation is installed, then I can put all my tools away, cleanup, and enjoy the gardening. I took on a lot this year but I'm hoping it all pays off and I don't burn out by July!!

My Peas are starting to come up.

Last year I transplanted some Phlox to a problem area that is next to the Koi Pond Patio and it has done really well. All this Phlox came from one small plant by the Koi Pond. It just blows my mind that one of the plants is white and they all came from the same plant.

Donor plant

SQWIB 1/10/2018, 2:36 pm

My artistic Daughter is making me some Rock Labels for my Herb Garden.

My one Raspberry plant is doing well and for some odd reason, my shepherd loves eating this plant. Note the Dumb Ass turtle to the left, God knows how long he's been stuck there. I still need to childproof the yard a little better.

This morning I got up early and put in some Marigolds, checked on the plants and pond and YES, done some more digging!!!

After work I picked up some supplies for the retaining wall, 4x4's for the supports, 4 foot rebar, stone (chipped marble), for the posts and 10" Timberlock screws. I laid the first three pieces of the retaining wall. I also got to use my new AWESOME chainsaw to cut the 6x6. The first row needs to be leveled but I will wait till Saturday after we pick up the remaining 6x6s, this way my brother can help me.

I got some more digging to do and I gave up on removing the Bradford Pear stumps, natures gonna have to take care of them.

April 13th-16th, 2017

Today the other pond filter came in and I got that installed, I just didn't plug in the UV so it's just a canister filter at the moment.

I ran a 1/2" irrigation line from the raised bed under the retaining wall. I plan on running a 30' emitter line to water the plants in front of the fence, I just need to order a few more parts. I dug the hose in a good bit and covered the hose with some pavers, just in case I'm digging around and forgot about the line being there, Yeah, I sometimes do that! And yes, I did some more digging.

I called my brother for assistance on the rest of the project, The game plan was to meet at Home Depot at 8 am, pick up the wood and install the retaining wall. We got the wood home safely and moved it into the back yard, boy was it heavy.

After the four posts were in, we tamped the stones down real good, secured to the 6x6's and removed the support that was kicking the wall back.

Laura was painting the playhouse, when she finished, she ran out and grabbed a few hoagies and we stopped for lunch.

I tweaked my Compost bin, It was a bit undersized, last years garden and house waste filled it up and then some.

I had Stephen bring back 10 bags of mulch and stack them on the wall, then I mulched the back and put in some plants.

SQWIB 1/10/2018, 2:39 pm

All the turtles are up and about.

I am having issues with the newest rescue, I keep separating them, he may have to go!

Finally a chance to relax.

April 18th-21st, 2017

This was my first years harvest for my asparagus (2nd season). I harvested very conservatively and I am letting the rest go to fern to strengthen the roots.

Today I added the top pieces on the retaining wall and finished back filling the other two posts with stone, dirt then mulch. The top pieces for the retaining wall and fence are not screwed in yet, just like the top pieces on the fence, they will season until the fall then both sides will be stained before securing, hopefully this will eliminate or at least reduce the wood twisting or curling out of whack. I also picked up 6 cages to try for some of my peppers and eggplant, I don't like cages but these seemed fairly heavy duty, so I will be giving them a shot.

My brother and Sister in Law picked up these plants to give everyone for Easter, I put mine in by the back pond.

April 22nd-27th, 2017

Saturday morning... I hop out of bed all excited to start off my day gardening. First thing on the list, I put up my "Tree of Life", I really love this thing.

2nd thing on my list... irrigation line, so I moved to the front yard, I started digging out the front for the irrigation and it started to rain, after my happy moment subsided, I realized I am gonna get wet today. It rained the rest of the day but I wanted to get my front irrigation line dug in.
I Removed the pavers then dug in the 1/2 inch line, each section has a tee and shutoff, there are three sections.

I still need to replace the leaky hose bib, (note the crack in the body), before I can tie everything in.

As I was working on the irrigation, my plants came in so I decided to get them in while it was raining, I also used the rain to my advantage and done a bit of weeding. I got to tell you, I am completely dissatisfied with American Meadows, it's a disgrace how they ship their plants. This is the second shipment that was destroyed.

This was my first shipment.

Yes that's a plant, my Common Milkweed.

The rest of the day was pretty much shot, so I cleaned the basement and the workshop and put away most of my garden supplies.
Anyhow, here is what I planted this weekend,

Swamp Milkweed Cinderella
Bee Balm
Gaillardia Goblin
Butterfly Milkweed
Basil
Sunflowers
More Marigolds
Leeks

Sunday was much nicer. I cleaned up the back hill, de-cluttered a bit more, planted some more Marigolds and Basil, planted most of my Leeks and finished the compost bin. It's not real pretty but I need this area for my wood and garden supplies.

I changed the watering tube on the vertical tower to a much smaller diameter and tied in to the irrigation line.

I had a few pepper plants left over so I tossed a couple by the back pond and a few up on both ends of the retaining wall. I then made a turtle step, this is where I access the hill and I was inadvertently compacting the soil every time I steppedoff the hill. One of the turtles hibernates in this corner, so I dug it up and tossed in some mulch and sawdust. I'll loosen it up again in the fall before the turtles start hibernating.

I separated and dug out an area in the front lower yard for the leeks, filled with composted manure potting soil and planted the Leeks.

SQWIB 1/10/2018, 2:43 pm

The Herb garden is coming along nicely, the Mints started to pick up, the Rosemary Survived the winter, The Horseradish is starting to flower, the Chives are budding and the Sage is looking lush.

Rosemary

Sage

Horseradish

SUGA 2017 33399160174_7645e0605c_b

Chocolate Mint

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Chocolate Mint a few days later.

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Chives

Spearmint

Later in the day I started working on the landscape lighting, but it's gonna be a major overhaul, most of the lights aren't working due to faulty connections.

Today I replaced the Hose Bib, of course it was not the same dimensions as the one being replaced, anyhow I got it together with no leaks, looks like $HIT but it works! My brother is gonna take a look at it and decide if we should redo it or put on a sleeve, to be honest, you won't see it once the hose holder is installed but its annoying just knowing it looks like that. I call crap like this "Easter Eggs", every time I build something, there is just one thing that peeves me and ask folks to find the hidden "Easter Egg".

It's been raining most of the week, so I've just been pulling weeds but not doing much anything else.

I did plant a bunch of Sunflower seedlings all over the place

The tiger lilies bounced back pretty good.

Japanese Stewartia

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Celebrity

Patio Princess

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Sprite

Zucchini

Raspberry

Aquaponic peppers

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Asparagus

Peppers, Tomatoes, Basil, Parsley, Snow Peas, Oregano, lettuce.

SUGA 2017 34188567271_a02364c3f7_b

Peppers, Tomatoes, Basil, Snow Peas, Oregano, lettuce, Chives, Parsley, Bush Beans, Broccoli, Eggplant, Marigolds, Strawberries.

SUGA 2017 33509550653_d326de124a_b

April, 28th-May, 6th 2017
I got a lot done this weekend but not much from my list.

Friday after work I installed the hose hanger out front.

Saturday we stopped at a few local nurseries to get some flowers, we picked up some herbs as well, planted some Dill, Stevia, Lavender, Daisies and Sun-patients. I also picked up a few Water Hyacinths for the Koi Pond.

We cleaned up the patio, removed the rug, scrubbed with 409, sprayed down the patio and tidied up a bit. The rug cleaned up nicely.

I ripped out the landscape lighting around the back pond, it needs a complete redo, so I figured I would tear it out and start from scratch.

Reworked the Planter on the deck and planted some Daisies, the daisies that were in there died because the planter was holding water and froze after they started coming back. I emptied out the planter, enlarged the drain holes and put everything back.

Installed some foam on the fence to keep the dog and turtles from Squeezing out.

Installed the new inline filter and ran a 30' drip line on the retaining wall. The red tape isn't pretty but it sure does hold well!

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