4/23-24/22 Magnolia blooming. Cold frame greens doing well except for New Zealand Spinach

4/23/22 Unbelievable nice day today! Started out in the 40s and sunny but ended up at 78F. South 20mph wind. We went for a long bike ride. Got a free wood chips from city yard. Holding off on free compost just in case it contains jumping worms. Moved unsprouted warm weather pepper plants to greenhouse which got up to 80-90F even with door open. At the end of the day it looked like Salsa pepper plants maybe starting to sprout. Guess they needed that extra heat. The warmest room in our house only gets to 70F. Put overwintered pepper plants outside in shade after rinsing off with hose. Opened up all the windows to warm and air out our house. Floors felt damp so turned on overhead fans to dry them up. Brought warm weather plants back in house at dusk since overnight temperatures were going to be in 40s.

Replanted San Marzano tomatoes and Purple Tomatillos into individual pots. 

Thyme and Sweet Marjoram sprouted so moved them to their new home in greenhouse

Pumpkin microgreens sprouted so moved to new home in kitchen under grow lights.

Cold frame plants (especially the Claytonia) are doing well and recovering from Thursday's harvest. Not sure if the New Zealand spinach will recover from the cold weather or not. It's very tan.

Late in the evening I planted the strawberries that Terry gave me. Very nice plants.

4/24/22 Yesterday my husband moved patio pots away from clothesline and in a line off the edge of patio garden. We also decorated garden just for fun with kitschy art that people were throwing away. 61F outside, 67F in greenhouse. Rained last night. Supposed to rain today. Great room is warmer than normal at almost 70F. I put all the warm weather plants under grow lights in that room so they are easier to move in and out of the house.

Dandelions are growing very well so been picking about a bucket almost everyday. Right now just putting in compost bin to make more compost faster. Right side of compost in bin is ready so may spread on asparagus garden which is still not up. Clover appears to be growing well in the lawn too. Little blue starshaped flowers are up. Magnolia is starting to bloom. Roses are budding.

4/23/22 Clover sprouting. Greenhouse plants growing slowly.

Started out at 46F and sunny with 10mph west wind. By late afternoon was up to 65F, sunny, and 20mph west wind.

Greenhouse plants growing slowly as temperatures have been mostly in low 30s at night. Greenhouse was 46F in the morning but got up to 78F by the end of the day. Moved the sprouted warm weather plants, tomatoes, peppers, etc., out of our cold house for a day trip in the greenhouse.

Clover is sprouting.

Made some more tags from empty, plastic, vinegar bottle.

Changed near NW garden bed 2 plastic to tent. Previously had just laid plastic flat on soil. So far nothing sprouting in garden bed 2.

Planted near SW garden bed 3 and tented with plastic to protect from birds and weather. Sunflower stalks make nice poles.

Sweet Cherry tomato sprouting. Moved from warm room to great room.

4/17-4/20/22 New patio garden beds! Cold frame greens growing slowly but well

 4/17/22 My husband made me 2 garden beds with free scrap wood about 3x10' from in-ground garden off patio.

I moved some sorrel, walking onion out of the east bed into west bed and cold frame. Then I covered west bed with plastic to protect from snow starting later tonight. 

In the east bed I loosened the soil with a pitchfork, removed rocks, added last year's sunflower heads, root balls, and sticks blown down into the yard, then alternated straw and dirt. Hope to get free woodchips from WeEnergies next weekend to top it off. Moved the clover into the lawn area.

Planted some herbs and flowers indoors

4/18/22 Snow came. Pretty wet and heavy but started to melt in afternoon. Should be mostly melted tomorrow. Bird bug control came to check out beds. Greenhouse staying just above freezing.

4/19/22 Snow mostly gone. Cloudy and in 40s. Raspberries starting to bud. Transplanted some peppers and tomatoes to individual pots. Asparagus not up yet but found a receipt from end of May last year so they probably got planted end of May beginning of June.

4/20/22 Picked about 1/2 container, about 2-3 cups greens from cold frame. Claytonia is really growing well in cold frame. I like growing a variety of greens because they are easy to grow. Also dug up dandelions to put on bare soil circles where dead trees were removed. Some dandelions were purple cause they got frosted but others were green.

I think the shiny leaf plant may be a turnip. Time will tell.

4/16/21 Garden update

Peas, market mustard, and turnips are sprouting in far NW bed planted last week despite frost 3 times last week and temperatures mainly in the 40s. It was a nice day to be outside in the afternoon, 40F, moderate wind, and mostly sunny. Greenhouse got up to 80F. Coldframe was just below 70F.

Planted near NW bed, watered, then covered to protect from birds and frost.

Moved Easter Egg radish seedlings from greenhouse to cold frame.

Planted Daikon radish and pumpkin microgreens

Planted peppers, tomatoes, ground cherries, and tomatillos. Bojangle peppers coming up but not Arbole, Ancho, or Jalapeno. I really want some ancho and arbole peppers to make pozole. I think those peppers impart the right flavor. Also planting "salsa" pepper blend. We may end up with a lot of peppers.