Mystery Seedlings

[surviort_wwdnet]

Just when I said I would replant peppers, two little sprouts are trying to push their way through the soil....so I guess I'll wait a bit longer. Otherwise - rain finally! What a great change as it's been very dry here for the past couple of weeks. Temps will drop back to the low 70s for the next 2 days, and that should help the garden. My "worker bees" are supposed to be back tomorrow afternoon to finish weeding in the back yard, and then I can start emptying the containers for the big move to the other side of the yard😉 Then I can hook up the drip lines and get the bag/container garden back on a regular watering schedule.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Yeah, dry here as well. Been moving my sprinkler around daily....grass looks dead in some areas, but I know that when rain starts to come, grass will grow so fast I have to mow about every 5 days....had a couple more leaves pop up yesterday, will be checking garden in a little bit...hope to be seeing new plants every day for the next 7-10 days as I know peppers can take closer to 3 weeks to pop thru...had 2 corn yesterday....

[surviort_wwdnet]

Almost every starter pot that hadn't sprouted has sprouts above the soil line. Yesterday's rain really woke them all up!

The kids finished the weeding project and they did above and beyond. We purchased a dump cart for the Deere today, and it should be delivered tomorrow afternoon. Then I can start shoveling out the containers and get them moved. I will need a trellis for the squash and cukes in the next week, and I'm hoping to get one of the 6-ft containers moved to use for planting them before they are firmly embedded in the grow bags.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Good to hear...we never got any of the rain...was overcast some yesterday morning, but no rain at all. Looking at the weather forecast we have no rain for at least 10 days....

[surviort_wwdnet]

The dump cart is in the back yard and tomorrow afternoon I can start shoveling💪 The dump cart looks to hold at least one container's worth of soil, which should make this project much easier; move one container, fill it back up, empty another, rinse and repeat. Everything becomes more urgent since our VA renovation grant has been funded and as soon as permits are pulled, construction will begin. That means get the garden moved, move the irrigation system, pack up anything that's not "major" furniture.....yikes!! I'm just one person😂😂

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

thats great that you got the funding....take your time and do one at at time...one step at a time and within a few minutes you are a mile down the road. It is better to do the outside stuff now instead of in July...LOL....

[surviort_wwdnet]

thats great that you got the funding....take your time and do one at at time...one step at a time and within a few minutes you are a mile down the road. It is better to do the outside stuff now instead of in July...LOL....

Husband told me to call the two kids that did all the weeding and tearing out the flower beds, and see if they want to do some shoveling👍 That means rearranging the bag garden to make room for incoming containers and dirt, but that's easier than me rearranging the bag garden AND shoveling dirt. I'll take him up on that offer. I got half of my large bookcase packed up while I was thinking about dirt (ran out of boxes and will pick some up tomorrow).

VA contractor will confirm my husband's Agent Orange claim following today's intake; that trip only left me half a day anyway, so moving the dump cart to the fence so my husband can mow was the big outside project (besides watering all my bag plants). The weekend (with no appointments) beckons...

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

I have several more plants starting to pop up...got 6 of the 9 corn showing, all 7 tomatoes, 3 of 5 pole beans and several others...no peppers showing themselves yet though. I will give them 2 more weeks....

[surviort_wwdnet]

Peppers seem to be the slowest to sprout...at least mine were this year and last.

Harvested a big bag of parsnips and carrots, trimmed them, and put the bag on top of the dryer to take care of tomorrow. Some of them will be blanched and frozen, and some dehydrated. I probably have enough to can, but the weather forecast may keep me from heating up the kitchen any more than necessary. I'll decide tomorrow.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Mulberry tree is producing...I am getting about 50 a day to eat..well me and my grandson....LOL

I tried something yesterday...I plant usually two seeds per hole on things, and when both seeds sprouted I decided to see if I could pull the weaker one up and transplant instead of pitching them...So I did this to some tomatoes, watermelons and beans....just one more experiment....

Have 10 tomatoes (3 transplanted), and have now 7 of 9 corn, three seminole pumpkins (made for FL), four cukes, four sunflowers, and 5 watermelons, 4 sweet potatoes and 5 regular potatoes. Waiting on peppers, and I think some of the flowers are popping up. What has not shown itself is the lettuce and peas....yet....it is kinda of a small garden, but I wanted to focus on small and making it as productive as I can. I still have some areas that I need to get stuff in, but just have not had time (or made the time :rolleyes: )...

[surviort_wwdnet]

I often plant multiple seeds in one container, usually by accident and not purposefully, and I do pull out the "extras" and replant them. The majority of them survive.

Today was vacuum sealing cauliflower florets processed yesterday, and today was peeling, slicing, blanching, and flash freezing a big pile of parsnips. Tomorrow I'll bag them up and start processing the carrots. When I get done with that, I need to start rearranging the bag garden to make room for the above ground containers. I was going to can the carrots but I think I'll freeze some and dehydrate the rest. We eat cooked carrots occasionally, but mostly I use them in soup and stew, hence dehydrating.

[surviort_wwdnet]

Morning was the usual: laundry, fix breakfast, fill the mower gas tank and assist my husband in and out of the garage (I can't wait for that garage door opener!). Then, I got the parsnips vacuum packed and into the freezer. As I worked through cleaning and peeling the carrots, I decided to dehydrate all of them (too much to do to babysit blanching), and I had 2 full trays plus half a tray of parsnips that wouldn't fit into any of the vacuum bags. I got the bag garden rearranged, moving all of the bags to the far side of the garden so we won't have to work around them to get the containers in. I think we'll have room for most of them, especially when the plastic-covered pile of dirt is in a container. Trimmed around the edges, picked up a bunch of leaves that made their way in from the neighbor's house, then headed to the shower - it was HOT out there! Made dinner and that's the end of the day for me.

Tomorrow dentist, bank, grocery store, then back home to do some more trimming. I've put it off as long as I can😂

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Looks like your hands are full for sure..remember to take care of the care giver....you going down won't help your husband...(not preaching to you, just what I use to tell families of patients I took care of when I worked in-hospital rehab)

Still have things popping up, one more corn was late to the party and a couple more beans. The tomatoes that I transplanted seem to be doing okay. Beans I transplanted are just okay looking. Have had zero rain here for a while now, so I am using sprinkler daily on my garden. Just wait and see and baby along everything that has shown up....

[surviort_wwdnet]

Today I ordered a Presto electric pressure canner, the only USDA approved electric pressure canner. It also does water bath canning. While it has a limited canning volume (8 pints or 5 quarts), this is actually a good size for our garden and means I won't have to babysit my Presto stovetop canner while it's under pressure. I should receive it next week and am going to can some baby carrots that were on sale at the grocery store as a test. Husband said for me to buy anything that will make my life easier, regardless of cost ❤️ This may not be for everyone, but it should serve us well and we always have the stovetop pressure and water bath canners as backup. In case of a power outage, there's always the camp stoves, the turkey fryer base, and the motorhome propane cooktop.

Today was a half-lost day due to running my husband to the dentist, going to the bank while he was buy getting tortured by the hygienist, and then back home to do laundry and various house "stuff", like packing up the rest of the books from my big bookcase (in preparation for construction). I blew more leaves off the landscape fabric in the bag garden, and now that dinner is over, I'm going out to water in a few minutes. I'm also going to fill my garden rain barrel (probably tomorrow) so I can use it for spot watering as needed. If it's not too hot in the morning, I'm going to finish the trimming in the yard. It was 92^o by the time we settled in from the dentist trip, and I wasn't about to start😂

After a bout of sinusitis and a trip to urgent care, I got enough rest over the weekend and am ready to plow through the rest of the stuff that needs done. The kids who tore out the flower beds and weeded for me are going to come to shovel dirt out of the containers so we can start moving them to the bag garden. We got a dump cart for the lawnmower, which should make life easier for everyone - just need to take the bagger off the mower since we don't use the bags anymore. Piece o' cake!

Speaking of beans, it's time to get mine started but I need the containers moved before I can set up a trellis for them. I have a few more things to get started but it's a long growing season...

In case anyone is interested: https://www.amazon.com/Presto-02144-.../dp/B089P2W2N6

[surviort_wwdnet]

My cukes and squash are already sending out tendrils in search of a trellis but, alas, there is no trellis. If I get an early start before the rain comes in tomorrow afternoon, I should be able to get a trellis built and secure all the vining plants. The tomatoes need cages now, not in 2 weeks when the containers get moved.

By the time I finished trimming the whole yard, spraying some persistent weeds in the old flower beds, and feeding the fire ants, it was 91^o and I luckily had some inside work to do. Our contractor called and said construction may start a few weeks earlier than he had originally thought (yikes!! I still have lots to do), but he also said I only need to pack up things that are breakable (like every canning jar and glass container in the pantries) and loose items in the closet (like shoes) before the new floors go in. I don't need to move things that are stored under the beds in containers, like bottled water, canned goods, extra electronics, etc. Once the rain moves in, I can start packing up loose items in the closets.