Today was another beautiful day - a bit windy, but even so, just a wonderful day to be outside working in the garden!
Although I ran out of little pots yesterday, I did have two big "9-pack" trays that my mom gave me last summer, so I decided to go ahead and put the last of the pepper seedlings in that tray. Since I only had seven little Poblano peppers, that left room for two of the cherry tomato plants that were in my Charles Dowding CD-60 tray.
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| Poblano peppers and cherry tomatoes. |
After those were potted up, I decided to just go ahead and transplant everything from two of the CD-60 module trays. The Swiss Chard went in the little raised bed that I built last year in the garden.
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| Swiss Chard plants. It's kind of hard to see them because they're so small! |
I had to put cages around the little plants because I learned the hard way that rabbits can (and do) easily jump into that raised bed. I'm not sure a cage made of 2" x 4" welded wire will work, because rabbits can get through those openings. So if I start to see signs of rabbit damage, I'll replace those cages with something else.
The rest of the plants went in the new raised bed on the east side of the cellar. So far, I've not seen any indication that rabbits are able to get up into that bed, so I think that might be the best place for me to grow my little spring salad crops from now on.
Today I set out the radishes, even though they didn't yet have their second set of leaves. I think the variety is "Sparkler," but I'll have to get out my seed packet to make sure of that.
I also set out the onions. I put them in rows at the far side of the bed because they're something I won't need to mess with until time to harvest. The variety is Texas Early Grano 502 from migardener.com. I grew some of these last year (seeds purchased from Eden Brothers, if I remember right), but I got them started way too late, so they didn't make very big bulbs. I don't consider that a loss though. I did get a few to use in the kitchen, but the rest of those small bulbs from last year were planted out in the east garden, where I hope they'll bloom and make seeds for me to save!
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| Raised bed on the east side of the cellar. |
For now, everything in that raised bed is just planted in garden soil that I put there when I was digging out the walking row by the raised bed. I plan to top that off with compost this fall, and probably plant a cover crop of something in there over winter. But I think that soil is pretty good, so I hope the plants will do Ok there.
With those two things done, I looked around to see what else I might do, and although the temperature of the second compost bay was still around 100° F, I decided to go ahead and turn it in anticipation of the rain later on in the week. I think this will probably be the last time I turn that one. It's looking pretty good overall. There is still some very raw manure in it, and still some hay that hasn't rotted down, but I broke all of those clumps up as I turned it. I figure once it heats up and cools down from this turn, it should be in pretty good shape and can just be left to cure.
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| Compost bay #2, turned and ready to get composting again. |
And since I have to go back to work tomorrow, and it may rain again this week, I decided that this might be the only chance I would have to check the Spicebush plants down by the creek. Besides...Mo really, really wanted to go walking!
It took about 45 minutes to walk down there, and then I couldn't find the Spicebush! I knew where it was supposed to be, and I finally saw some of its little yellow blooms down in the dirt. It was laid over, buried under a bunch of debris from when the creek flooded and roared down through the woods!
I carefully dug all of the dirt and logs and leaves off of it and stood it back up. I'm pretty sure that plant is a male. Unfortunately, it looks like the other one - the one I found last fall that's just a bit south of the first one - is also a male. I'll need to go back to the woods below my sister's house this summer to try to find a female plant and take some cuttings (and hopefully bag up some berries!).
While I was there, I decided to have another look for the Desert False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa). Again, I thought I knew right where it was, but when I was searching for it last fall, I couldn't find it anywhere.
Turns out, it was (surprise, surprise) being smothered by Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and Saw Greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox). When I was searching last fall, the honeysuckle was still green, but the vine had lost its leaves over winter and was just now starting to leaf back out. Now I'm not positive that what I found is the plant I was looking for, but it seems to be where I remembered, and it looked like I thought the plant should look. I say "should" because I've never seen it except when it had leaves on it.
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| Desert False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa), observed on April 22, 2017. |
So this is another one I'll follow up on this summer. I'll try to collect some seeds from it, and also try to root some cuttings. I'm not sure why I want one...I just do. There's nothing edible (for humans or livestock) on this plant, but it is the host plant for several species of butterflies. Plus, it's a nitrogen fixer, so it's good for the soil. And it just looks cool!
I've seen this plant featured in videos where it was just primarily as a "chop and drop" plant. One of the things listed in the description is that it can be "weedy" because it multiplies by root suckers. If I do manage to get one started, I'll need to put some thought into where it can live, because I don't want it to turn into something that causes trouble.
Before Mo and I started back home, I tried to find the Eastern Leatherwood (Dirca palustris). It should have been easy to spot, because it should be in full bloom by now.
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| Eastern Leatherwood (Dirca palustris), observed on March 18, 2020. |
I couldn't find it. I don't know if it has died, or if I was just not looking in the right place. Or maybe it's just not blooming yet. I'll have another look later this month.
Mo and I finally made it back home after about three and a half hours. I was a bit sore, but still managed to dig up some of the Common Fleabane that is growing in the garden. But poor Mo...he was just plumb tuckered out.
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| My overweight worn out little dog. |