Mystery Seedlings

[surviort_wwdnet]

6 hours of the day spent with VA phone conference and paperwork for our SAH loan, so not much else got done - ran to Chick-fil-A to get my husband something to eat 😂😂

Going out to water plants now...

Parsnip #3 has sprouted!

[surviort_wwdnet]

Finally got broccoli, cauliflower, and onion seed starters replanted (last 4 pictures); the rest is the container garden and the bag garden.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

nice...just able to get back, and back to regular life after spending time with friends....going to hit the garden today, but my 92 yoa Dad is in hospital so have to go there first....

[surviort_wwdnet]

Take care of your dad; parents are irreplaceable!

My latest seed starters are already sprouting. I'm happy😁 I have 2 broccoli sprouts that came up after just 2 days.

[surviort_wwdnet]

2 cauliflowers sprouting and more broccoli - it will soon be time to transplant! Well, in 2-3 weeks😂

[surviort_wwdnet]

Tiny cauliflower sprouts continue to poke through the soil - they'd better grow fast or they won't make it into the container garden before we get another frost! I'd like to see them get to be about 4" tall before I transplant; right now they're about 1/4". I'll leave them on the greenhouse rack as long as I can and if we get a cold spell, I'll just zip up the cover.

Otherwise, it's a great day for college football - Go Gators!

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

So cleaned everything out yesterday. Now I need to empty grow bag soil and place in a large contractor black garbage bag and seal and place in sun for a week or two. Then clean bags. Then we are going to lay out our proposed garden area for next spring and summer and start turning over the soil. I will add in some chicken manure from our neighbors and maybe even some fish poop water from their small tilapia farm they have going on. Going to make some raised bed planters from the blue plastic 50 gallon barrels I have and some 2x4 and 2x6 I have. I will place these in the area that flooded during Ian instead of having my in ground garden in the low area. I have three of those barrels, but may only use one or two and cut in half for two or four raised beds.

[surviort_wwdnet]

Sounds like you're getting a head start on spring planting! I still have "old" soil solarizing but need to uncover it and reuse it for some new plants. I dumped the potting soil from the unsprouted starters into the grow bags (they always can use a little extra), then washed out the starter pots, grabbed a fresh bag of potting soil, and then (of course) it started raining on and off all day. I'll replant tomorrow, then cover everything up to wait for Nicole🙄 If we are forecast to get winds over 30mph, I'll move the grow bags to a sheltered area in the garden and pull down the flag.

Otherwise, there's nothing exciting going on here. The sprouted plants continue to grow bigger, and my patience to get them transplanted wears thinner. I think we have a tech coming to install some grab bars tomorrow, and then the rest of the week is quiet. I'll have plenty of time to replant some starters and get some grow bags set up.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

I am trying to be a forward thinker and plan not for just next spring, but for 5-10 years from now when I am older and less mobile. Now I pride myself of being in shape for "my age", but I want to be in shape for someone 20 years younger then me so I am kicking my workouts to another level. I am looking at the raised beds for that reason, and trying to simplify the "systems" I have in place now and going forward. Life can throw you a curveball, and having systems kinda dialed in now will help you later is what I am hoping for. Kinda like when I play basketball, play smarter not harder....I cannot jump as high, run as fast or be as accurate as I once was, but...I can anticipate better, block better, and throw an occasional elbow if needed...:cool:

[surviort_wwdnet]

Good for you! You're being very smart about all of this. Being forward thinking will give you a lot of advantages in the years ahead. When I went to raised bed gardening, it was a nod to my three back surgeries and what I could handle in the future. Now, four back surgeries in the books and many decades old, I'm so glad I took this path along with the bag garden. While the setup was often painful, it's been worth the effort: less weeds to pull and easier to space out the plants. The weeds between the containers can be controlled with herbicide, and I use it liberally because my weeds are super prolific no matter how many times I've uprooted them😂 One day I'll get them all killed off and cover all the ground between the containers with landscape fabric. I need to get the irrigation for the container garden realigned so it waters all the containers, but my neighbor will help me with that. Yesterday I finished securing the wall shelf in my office using my Dremel and some small screws, and made room in my husband's file cabinet for all his VA paperwork so I could get it off the coffee table. I'm doing my best to stay busy and productive.

I got the replanting done this afternoon (cauliflower, parsnips, carrots, and onions), watered all the seed starters, and put on the greenhouse cover due to the winds blowing like crazy already. There's a Nicole outer band aimed right at me! All the sprouted seed starters look healthy and green. All-in-all, I can't complain.

Flipped over the deck chairs and tables, took down the flag again (to keep my flagpole upright), and propped a board (with a paver 'foot') against the smaller gate. It was creaking and groaning against the force of the wind. There's little left outside that needs to be moved. Then I put up a new OTA antenna for the living room TV, since the old one kept dropping local channels.

I brought in the iTarget from the screenporch as things were getting blown off the table and onto the floor. BTW, in spite of his handicapped hands, my husband is a REALLY accurate shot! I was impressed - and then I impressed him with my nice tight grouping. If we have a break-in, I think we're good. I used his pistol to shoot, since mine requires a re-rack after every laser shot. Fun stuff 😁

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Well, I still have to secure my double gate in backyard, like I did with Ian. I take a couple 2x4s and screw them into the gate doors across the opening to help keep gates closed and intact. I also take and put some big pavers against the bottom on both side to help stabilize it as well. Still have a few chairs to secure, and charging up solar system batteries with my Duke Energy as it is overcast and I want batteries topped off for just in case. Once sun comes out in a couple days I will switch it back to solar panel charging....Anticipating some minor flooding but not as much as Ian....local news is saying "less than a foot" in most areas.....thats covering their a$$ I guess. Wish I could be wrong as much as these guys are and not be sued in my profession....LOL Not really as that would be a detriment to my patients...

[surviort_wwdnet]

You've got some time left, so get 'er done👍 I will not be gardening today, just staying in and getting some house things done.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

did okay in storm...lost power at 3:35am, but have everything I need running with my solar generator and small solar system. Hope to get some sun this afternoon to charge things back up....

[surviort_wwdnet]

We had high winds this afternoon that knocked over a lot of planter pots, among other things. I rescued the plants and what I could of the potting soil, and still have a pile of potting soil on the ground. In comparison to the past few tropical storms or hurricanes that have come through here, this one was the worst in years because of the winds. The plants in the container garden, on the other hand, are still waving in the breeze👍 They are semi-protected by the back wall of the house.

We lost power so I ran out to fire up the generator and get the house powered again. Half an hour after I switched over to gen power, the utility power was restored. I think we are going to get a whole house generator (like a Generac) due to my husband's condition. Navigating around the band saw to get to the gen controls while trying to keep shining a flashlight on everything was clumsy.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Yeah, whole house may be best for you. I was able to see where exactly I need to run my electric lines for my solar. I was thinking 6 lines, but I really only need to run 2-3 lines, which will be less work for me under the house. I was thinking of running lines to all rooms, but if we have other people staying with us in a grid down, all they would need is a plug for fan at night in summer. Coming to that realization, I can always run extension cord from plug in kitchen as I will not be running a microwave or coffeepot at night.....only thing in kitchen that will be plugged in will be fridge so it will get its own line/circuit. To charge things like flashlight batteries I can charge during day when sun is up....

Garden...I moved my pepper plants out of direct wind, so they are doing okay. Left tomatoes as they are almost done anyway.