What's Up for April in 5b?

I want to get this topic started for you and I hope you will all chime in and be specific.

This is a beautiful April 1. Most unusual warm weather for northeastern Ohio. Temp is almost 80 degrees. Today we bought wood to make a 2x4 Table Top for our 91 year old neighbor who is no longer able to work his row garden. I get the row garden, but will put SFG boxes in it! It's huge. I'll just start with one box.

I have lots of seedlings started in my kitchen but I've never been very successful with starting early. They're a bit leggy. I don't have the right kind of lights. But the real leaves are starting to appear. I have mostly flowers started but have some broccoli, too. Would you believe that I "cooked" a couple of my broccoli seedlings by putting the light too close! I don't have anything planted outside yet. Do you?


Some of my broccoli seedlings. I have the peat pots sitting in vermiculite and I water from below. I'll let you know how this worked.

Let's help the local newcomers know where we are with our gardens.

Have fun. Post updates regularly. Thanks.

i just planted some more swiss chard seeds outside. (bright lights! - it was impulse purchase today from garden store - i went to buy chicken manure and left with colored swiss chard and SNAKE gourd seeds - my boys were all over those snakes, *grin*.

we've been harvesting from our garden for the last month spinach - who woulda thunk it, but spinach is happy under several feet of snow! soooooooooo sweet!

i have kale happily growing more leaves than we can eat daily

i have swiss chard (regular kind) about 1 inch tall, maybe 2 inches tall - need to have my oldest kid measure 'for school'.

have brussel sprouts in ground - one plant i think is now dead - my baby pinched it today. but i have another one still thriving. if one plant dies, i'll just plant another seed. it'll all work out.

my first crop of peas are about 6" tall (planted 2 march) and i put trellis' up yesterday for them. second crop of peas just starting to emerge - we're seeing if they really like crowding - we dumped the ENTIRE 20 cent seed packet into one square last week sometime.

we also have arugula, spinach, and carrots about inch tall.

garlic has long stalks sticking out.

that's about it for now.

oh yeah, we have a 72 cell greenhouse thingy full of different kinds of lettuce/brassicas/spinach. should be fun to transplant those soon. they're sleeping outside tonight, along with the cherry tomato plants.

we LOVE <3 sfg! it's the best way to garden, esp with young kids! it's so very manageable!

we are rebels though. we use a watering can instead of a cup for watering plants. the kids are too exuberant with the cups of water and i fear they'll wash the baby plants away. . .

BettyAnn, you give me such inspiration! Our weather is just a little behind yours but I haven't started very many veggie seeds, just broccoli. I didn't even know what Brassica was. I had to look it up on the web! Well, I guess I'm planting brassica and didn't even know it .

I can't wait to put seeds out and watch them sprout! I'm saving gallon milk bottles to make little greenhouse... ala BettyAnn .

Thanks for your post.

mckr - i just read so much! and have been learning a lot about the different classifications of plants that it makes sense in my head now to use those terms.

we're building a 'real' greenhouse in the backyard this weekend. will have the posts and concrete poured by bedtime today - after church we'll finish that step.

i also hope to mix up some mel's mix because i NEED to get my strawberries in dirt!

and in between that, of course do several more loads of laundry and feed kids. . .*grin*

well gotta scoot for church.

Hi,
I am from Niles Michigan ( I guess I am 5b, right?) and I am doing my very first vegetable garden this year. I have already planted some seeds indoors 2 weeks ago and they are doing pretty well.
I was planning on doing a 10 by 12 feet garden, but since there are chances of us moving as soon as my husband gets a job, now I am going to do a small garden where the flower beds used to be, that is a rectangle 4 by 11 feet and a 5 feet in diameter circle. Both of them are on the east side of the house, and the rectangle is right next to the house wall. There are some perennial flowers growing there at the moment, but I guess I'll wait a little more, cut them once they are ready and then try to get every bulb I find.
I am going to prepare the soil today maybe, if I am brave enough, I'll even put some seeds outdoors (spinach, beet, radish and peas)
I am very excited but somewhat also nervous of messing it up.

I am attaching pictures of my seedling. They are 4 kinds of lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, pepper, jalapeño pepper, tomato, kale, cauliflower, onions and green onions.

Have a great day,
Lucrecia

Glad to have you on board ! Are you going to plant your veggies directly in the old garden using new soil? Or are you going to build/create some kind of box or container so that you can take it with you if you move?

I couldn't see your pictures . It may be my computer or maybe you can try posting them again. There are directions in the HOW-TO Forum. I'd love to see them.

I'm also waiting for spring bulbs to bloom so I can dig them and use the space for SFG. I use a lot of pots too with Mel's Mix in them. They go like gangbusters! My hubby didn't believe it when we used the mix in his planters and his "garden" was better than ever.

Have you read Mel's book All New Square Foot Gardening? It's worth a read if you haven't. You can get it at the library, local bookstores, on-line or here at the Foundations Store. Click on SFG.COM above the choose Supplies. Keep us all posted on your progress. We love sharing here. We learn so much from each other.

And, yes you are probably in the right place (5b). And if not you can stay here anyhow . You may want to check the frost date sticky above. It will help you find your info by using your ZIP code.

Once again, WELCOME TO THE North and Central Midwest Regional Forum.

what are you up to
this week?

today we:

dug holes for our greenhouse and
concreted them (8feet x 8feetx 6feet at lowest point)

mixed up a
batch of mel's mix and planted:

20 strawberries,
3 siberian
iris'
20 gladiolus
2 bleeding hearts

and have two
containers ready to plant carrots in.

the kids are now 'bathing'
in the outdoor pool. *grin*

bettyann

ps so excited about
the greenhouse! we 're gonna put most of our tomatoes and melons and
peppers in there this year. . .

___________________________________
~~~~~~
BettyAnn
http://frugalisgreen.blogspot.com




today we:


mixed up more mel's
mix

put a 2x4 together and filled it with dirt.

filled
several planters and put them on the front porch steps

haven't
decided yet what we're putting in the planters on the steps.

the
2x4 is filled with 2 canteloupe and 2 watermelons (seeds - 3 seeds per
hole). we gave them 2 squares each plant.

should be fun.

it's
just so warm here i thought i'd risk the warm wx plants. if it does
frost, i'll put greenhouses over them.

we are definitely enjoying making small batches
of mel's mix at a time. less cumbersome. we're doing it simple, too.
one bag of each kind of compost source (we have 6 sources) and then
after that's mixed, adding a wheelbarrow full each of vermiculite and
peat moss (the six bags of compost were a full wheelbarrow full, *grin*)

our
neighbors are either thinking we're on the ball or are crazy. lol

all
i know is our peas are getting taller and taller - some are reaching
the trellis now!

oh yeah, we transplanted all our spinach, brassicas
and lettuces today to our squares. i also rearranged my swiss chard -
originally there was 1 per square. now i moved them all to one square
(so 3 in one square - need to get the seed packet and plant another seed
to replace the one plant the baby killed when she covered it with a
greenhouse cover and squashed the plant itself. )

would love to
see/know what others are planting this week.

this thread is being copied nto another thread.


___________________________________
~~~~~~
BettyAnn
http://frugalisgreen.blogspot.com

Dear mckr3441,
thanks for your replying my message I did read the book and I love it. I am using it to plan my garden and as a reference to when and how to plant each kind of vegetables. I am using the square foot method but I am not using a frame. I am just dividing it in 4 feet square block and putting a board between them so I can walk in between them.
Yesterday I worked on the 6 foot diameter circle, and I have divided the area already . I am not using store bough soil, just the one I have. I know I am going to get weeds, but since I don't know how long I will be staying here I don't want to spend the money. I did buy ahead the black plastic cover to put on gardens to avoid having weeds, hope it works

How about you? How big is your garden? What have you planted already?

PS. I was not able to post my pictures, I'll try again next time

Hello all!

Today wasn't super eventful in my garden persay, but it was in my yard!

Hubby, father in law, and my dad worked ALL DAY to run piping from the sump pump that was just dumping into the middle of our back yard, all the way around the house and down to the road side. It was a HUGE job with lots of fun big equiptment. Hubby hit the phone/cable line with the ditch with, but it seems that MissDig MISS PLACED their flag, they were a full THREE feet off from the cable So he had to call the company, they came out no problem and fix it.

Father in law took his kobota and ripped out a ton of bushes that were so over grown that the amount of trimming needed would have killed it. So I have a nice area in which I am going to do a raised bed flower area!

I worked on rebuilding the railing for our deck. Tomorrow will be planting day.

Oh, yeah we moved into a "repo" house last year so lots of things were neglected by them, not us


As for the SFG, just got everything cleaned out of 3/5 boxes. Planted some lettuce in the table top one, and then my brassicas (cabbage, brusselsprouts, cauliflower) survived a horrid windstorm. I had a covered wagon on it but that basically was blown to pieces, no biggy, but I HAVE to figure out how I am going to protect the brassicas against cabbage worms.

I also talked to my sister in law about her SFG she wants to start this year. She is VERY ambitious and wants to do 4-6 I gave her the book for christmas and for mothers day/her birthday I am going to have her son and daughter paint a 4x4 box and give it to her, and then I will make some mels mix and give her some (and my mother in law) some seedlings I started

choc pop -

i think all gardening stuff is intermingled at this time of year. so much to do, so little time before it gets too insanely hot and humid to function.

i'm workingo n digging out top layer of sod/dirt in front yard to lower height. hard work. hope to finish 1/2 that project today after we get home from medical appts. rained hard last night so ground is hopefully softer.

Hi Lucrecia, Glad you have read the book. It is a wealth of information! I'm sure the black plastic you laid down will prevent a lot of the weeds.

My gardens are small. I have one 2x2, one 2x6 and we are building one 4x4. I don't have anything outside yet. Just some seedlings in the house, hoping they last until I can set them in the boxes.

Chocolatepop I'm happy to hear that you are going to put flowers in the new space. I had a box just for flowers last year and it grew like nothing I've seen! DH was delighted. I wish you lived closer, I would sure steal you men!

Happyfrog Don't hurt your back with that digging! I think Happyfrog is the most ambitious SFG on the site! and what's more is that she keeps us all posted on what she is doing. I LOVE IT! She's my inspiration -- but I can't keep up. I heard she may even have a workshop at her house -- to help her build the greenhouse! Now that is what I call resourceful .

yeah, we got pelted with the rain also. If the hubby weren't tired and hurting I could easily see him standing at the road side watching thr fruit of his success

I put my peppers outside yesterday for some real sun action an left them outside under the covered porch. So we'll see how they fair.

Today i plan on working on my "salad" box, as well as my plant my potato boxes and possibly replant/move the strawberry box. How well do strawberries take to transplanting?

Everything I planted last Sat is coming up!

Lucky you!!!
I planted radish, spinach and beets outside but it rained for two days... so I don't know if they'll sprout or not -haven't seen anything coming out of the soil yet

I'm finally getting outside to the garden boxes.

Yesterday I put in peas and onions. The squirrels and chipmonks just love Mel's Mix! So I've made small screen covers to place over each square that I anticipate will be attacked.



I used some leftover screening material and put duck tape around the edges. This way I can cover each square individually as needed. We had a gentle rain last night and things still look ok.

claire - GREAT idea! will ermember that one!

we bought a lot of wood today for our garden expansion - so exciting! we also bought more screws for aforementioned wood, *grin*

yesterday we bought a flat of stuff - 6 tomatoes, 9 (actually 10 - one plant has 2 plants potted in the slot - will try to save them both) green peppers, 9 marigolds, 6 geraniums and a stevia plant. omgosh that plant tastes so good! i had to threaten punishments on the kids to get them to STOP EATING the leaves, lol. poor thing looks so pathetic now. hope it recovers . . . it was a $4 plant so i really want it to survive. . .

BettyAnn, I love reading about how excited you get. Your gardens are going to be FANTASTIC this year. I hope I get a chance to come by again sometime this year.

Today I
screened compost from my tumbler (kitchen and garden scraps) and cleaned out a lot of pots from last year. I put some bottle greenhouses over my broccoli and sat them outside. Am not sure if I should bring them in tonite or just put the lids on the bottles and throw a cover over the cage.

We're still building the TT for our neighbor, a 2x4. Got the box together and have almost finished attaching the plywood to the top of an old desk.

I'm going to have to mix soil in the next couple of days. I love being outside in the gardens!


Claire

Hi,
How do you keep the bottle greenhouses on place?
Thanks

PS. My radishes, beet and spinach are sprouting outdoors!

lucrecia wrote:Hi,
How do you keep the bottle greenhouses on place?
Thanks

PS. My radishes, beet and spinach are sprouting outdoors!

yay on the sprouts!! such fun!!!!!

as for the greenhouses, i shh, don't tell mel, i smoosh them hard into the ground around the plant so the wind doesn't pull them up and send them down the street.

i already get weird looks from the neighbors, i would not enjoy getting trash comments from them as well. . .

(my garden is in front yard, lol)

More sprouts! The first pea and a couple of the French Breakfast radishes have sprouted.

lucrecia wrote:Hi,
How do you keep the bottle greenhouses on place?
Thanks

PS. My radishes, beet and spinach are sprouting outdoors!

I learned from Happyfrog! That's right, smoosh them down into the soil! I stuck my finger down into the milk bottle tonight before I put the lids back on and I was so surprised how warm it was in there. I still have them in the "nursery." The box I want to put them in isn't built yet so they are in a temporary pot. Hopefully I can get the box done over the weekend.

My "nursery" is a 4x4 chicken wire cage. I'll put up pictures later.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another really nice day so I'll be out there again lovin every minute . I hope you all are having as much fun as I am!

Claire

Thanks Happy Frog and mckr3441 for your answers. I did it and it is working fine . My garden is on my front yard too and I have already noticed some looks from my neighbors but I Love having it there, I can see it from my bedroom window and every time I gt in and out the house. This weekend I will be working on the bigger one,this on the back yard.
I have a question. I have done all my garden planning having in mind that the last danger of frost for 5b is May 15, but yesterday I found on a web site that it was April 15, so what is the correct date?
Thanks

lucrecia - i am same zone as you. i'm not putting my 'maters or peppers in the ground til after mid-may.

the peppers need to be babied or they'll set fruit late or have little fruit (per the garden folks at the nursery) so i'd rather keep them inside and coddled til they're truly ready to survive 'on their own' as i really think green peppers are yummy treats.

last year i didn't have my garden put together til end of may and i still had a ton of produce going on so i figure i'll stick with that again this year. i know many others around me are gearing up to put warm wx plants in ground soon d/t some of the frost dates coming up but i would rather not risk my overall yield for enthusiasm.

i'll just stem my exuberance by planting more green beans or something in the mean time.

bettyann

Hi Lucrecia,

My notes tell me that the last Spring frost for 5b can come anytime between April 21 and May 18.

My father's adage was, "start indoors on St. Patrick's Day; don't plant outdoors until Mother's Day." Mother's Day this year is May 9. Micro climates can differ in both directions -- some hotter, some colder.

If I can't hold off and plant too early, I'll try to put up a 'covered wagon' to keep things warm. This is my first year trying to plant from seeds.

Where did you find the April 15 information?

Claire

I am in Indy - the weatherman last night said our last frost date is April 20, which seems about right to me, certainly late April. I have seen April 23 other places. I the the Purdue Extension Service says April 23 for Indianapolis.

The year we moved here there was a spate of days in early May with killing frosts, there were no lilac blooms that year. Everything that was blooming was blackened. It was 1992 I think. I remember everyone (including me) moaning about it.

Sandy