What we've got here.... is failure.... to communicate ...
The calendar says it's spring time. The weather IS warming up .... and down.... and wet ... and windy.... sunny and warm... cloudy and cold... (did I mention cold and freezing?) Every time that I think it's going to be nice enough to plant the weather changes again. And I know it's not just me. There are blizzard warnings for Colorado out for tonite and hail and tornado's from Nebraska down to Texas. We are all in this together!
Honestly, I just want to be able to get into the garden and get the rows ready to plant. Rain is moving in tonight though and will be sticking around for a day or so. More wet and soggy garden. Sinking in mud doesn't actually work out too well when hoeing up rows. I know I'm supposed to be patient. I know that our actual last frost date is April 15th. It just doesn't seem right is all. Living most of my life in and around Austin, Tx doesn't quite give me all the prospective I need to live in a state that has four actual seasons. I never knew how hard it was to have to wait to plant. It makes me realize I just might be "impatient"! Especially since everything was in the ground and starting to come up by this time last year.
Hey at least we were able to get some stuff in the ground. The area at the "bottom" of the hill is all in and planted. It doesn't seem to get as wet down there. I think it runs off pretty fast is why. The onions are looking good. Same for the different lettuces. I'm not sure what happened with my turnips though... not a single one came up. So I replanted them this weekend. A bit of spinach and swiss chard are finally starting to come up.
I don't know what the deal is but I seem to have trouble getting the chard and spinach started. I'm working on a learning curve here I suppose. Which reminds me.... if you are thinking about gardening as a means of survival if SHTF you might want to get a bit familiar with the whole process. Just tossing some seed in the dirt and hoping for rain isn't going to save your family. A seed vault of heirloom vegetable's aren't going to save your family if you have no idea what you are doing. Oh and don't forget that it takes a couple of months to actually eat anything from it. Anyway... I digress.
I picked up about half of our tomato plants over the weekend. They are some good looking plants but I still need to drive over to the farmers place down the road. He sells vegetable plants and I know he'll have some tomato's. Lets just hope I can afford them.
Things are starting to green up here and the grass is getting tallish so Mars broke out the lawnmower. Checked all the fluids, aired up the tires, worked on the battery and mowed all of about 15 minutes before it quit. Seems like the same spindle housing that broke off last year decided to do it again. <sigh> Part has been ordered and should be here by the end of the week. Just in time too! What is it about spring every single year that has us buying lawnmower parts?
Haha! I feel ya! I've spinach, broccli and lettuces in but that's about it. We went from the f40's to 80 this afternoon! What a roller coaster this years weather has been. DH went to start our mower yesterday and the belt broke....parts on order! Have patience with yourself, you'll get the seasons down.
ReplyDeleteSee! What's the deal with the dang lawnmower? As for patience, I'm just tired of being in the dang house!
DeleteWelcome to zone 6a in the Great Plains! Here's a thought, if it stays cool and wet all month we may be able to stave-off the town-flatting tornadoes until May.
ReplyDeletelol Judy... I'd like to stave them off all year long!
DeleteOh, I so hear what you're saying!! It was 81* here earlier today and is now 29*! A blue norther for sure! I just have lettuce in and I guess it's a good thing as most everything is going to freeze hard!
ReplyDeleteWe'll just have to hitch up our suspenders and wait for Spring to come to stay!
Blessings!
One good thing about lettuce.. it only takes about a week to start some more. I have my pants hitched and my gardening shoes on... my feet are still cold though! LOL!
Delete"Which reminds me.... if you are thinking about gardening as a means of survival if SHTF you might want to get a bit familiar with the whole process. Just tossing some seed in the dirt and hoping for rain isn't going to save your family."
ReplyDeleteThat cracked me up. Mostly b/c Mississippi weather has been so horrible this year. Last year began crazy warm and I was behind. So this year we had three weeks of warm in January-- so I planted lettuce. I didn't want to be behind again. It's April. and my poor little lettuces are just now respectable. But it's April. I should be planting tomatoes.
But the overnight low is going to be in the 40s.
Marica, it's always something isn't it? I'm just about tired of the cold though. lol You cracked me up too.... cause "I didn't want to be behind again" That sounds so much like I feel right about now. I know it's not probably as late as my head is telling me it is either. Shoot, it's not the 15th yet even.
Delete(BTW- my lettuce is just now coming up)
SCI,
ReplyDeleteGood morning to you! I hate this weather, it's so unpredictable. We went from extreme humidity, a dry line, circular rotating clouds, to high winds, the dry line moved, rain, thunder, lightning, hail and temperatures at 28 degrees at 3AM.
I've not been able to get any of my vegetables in the ground. My strawberries are still in pots, doing good though. My onions are sitting in water and looking pathetic. My celery, looks amazing sitting in water, parsnips growing like crazy in cans and the rest of my vegetables are sitting in envelopes :-(
We pulled out lawn mower out because like you the grass is growing. Darn thing won't start. We need to do some more maintenance. One of our friends swung by before all the weather started changing and cut most of the property for us, which was extremely nice of him to do.
I don't know if you're interested but there is a reliance expo going on the end of this month down in Arlington, Texas at the convention center. I believe it's April 26 - 28 figured I would give you a heads up.
Sandy,
DeleteWe sure got a bunch MORE rain here overnight and into this morning. Had to be at least another inch. I'll be waiting for the ground to dry till freaking MAY! LOL
Like you, I've got pots and cans and planters of things wanting a new home. I wish I could help them move into some new digs but it's going to be a few more days before that can happen around here.
See, I'm not the only one who has lawnmower issues! That was awfully nice of your friend to cut your grass. I hope you made sure he was well "hydrated" for his hard work.
Thanks for the heads up on the expo. I doubt if I'll be going though. I hate to admit I didn't even make it to the one held in Tulsa, Of course it was raining that day too!
Thank you for posting the little aside that said, "BTW, if the SHTF, you might want to get familiar with gardening, instead of throwing some seeds in the soil and hoping for rain." I have been thinking a lot about this mindset. It seems to me that there are lots of people who feel a little nervous about the future and their answer is to just buy some product, throw it in the garage, and forget about it. They never incorporate that product into their lives. They never learn to use (whatever they bought for that rainy day). Heck, maybe they can't even FIND that rainy day item.
ReplyDeletePerhaps most of the people reading your blog will be like "preachin' to the choir," so to speak, but maybe someone will hear you saying that to get prepared means to actually change your habits, to incorporate some strategies into your life.
I have only been gardening for 3 years. Every year has presented its own challenges. This year, it's been cold and dry (for Mobile, Al.). And the seeds I saved from previous years... well, many of them didn't germinate at all. What if I had waited until the SHTF to find out that my seeds didn't germinate? Oy, Vay!
Cristy, It seems sometimes I tend to wander away from what I used to preach almost daily. PREP PREP PREP cause honestly.... these days... your life could literally depend on it. So thank you for reminding me that it doesn't matter if we DO preach to the choir, there's still something every one of us can learn to do better.
DeleteI've thought about the whole seed vault things a lot. I personally don't see that they are all that good an idea unless you are using them the same as you would in your food storage. That means they need to be rotated out and replaced. And you are so right.... I've had several packs of seeds that I've had trouble germinating. Some with no results at all. So what WOULD you do in a SHTF situation if your beans didn't come up? Or if they did come up and bugs got them? Or heat... or... you know what I mean. Practical use of skills will be extremely important if things go Tango Up
Absolutely. I am SO on the same page with you on this. I have seen the ads almost everywhere online for those seed vaults. I feel like, ARGH. That would be useless unless you were using it regularly. I guess it makes people feel better to own something that could help in an emergency. The real help is from Practical Use of Skills and learning new skills (and using them.) Creative thinking is often the best thing to have (You know, you can think of something else to try if the first, second, third goes belly up.)
DeleteAnyway, I was glad to read your words about it. It is nice that someone else thinks the way I do.
BTW, in an earlier post you said that you originally started prepping to stay ahead of food prices. If this is the case, you might want to read The Complete Tightwad Gazette. It is not really a prepping book, but it offers many ideas for saving money. It has helped me learn many new skills and save a good bit of money on food, as well as many other things. You might be able to check it out from the library. (I own a very dogeared and marked up from use.)
Sci,
ReplyDeleteI work w/a guy that thinks he's all prepared. He has guns, bullets, LDS cannery items, freeze dried MREs, gallons of water, etc. & also a #10 can of heirloom seeds. He doesn't cook at home so he hasn't tried using any of the dried foods & he has never even bought a parsley plant to take care of. My guess is that once he runs out of MREs, he'll be in the same boat as the rest of the ill prepared people.
Hope you warm up soon!
Those guys are gonna be the ones to watch AFTER the zombie attacks!
DeleteThose guys are gonna be the ones to watch AFTER the zombie attacks!
DeleteI feel your winter blues pain ... we went from snow on the ground then a week and a half later it is now 83 degrees outside .. which is great for tomatoes ... but it's not tomato season yet
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike! Hey... we are all in this together~
DeleteI live in Wyoming, our last frost date is supposed to be May 15. I don't really leave my tomatoes unprotected until about the first week in June. If you really want early spinach plant it in the fall early enough that you can pick it for a little while. Then when the weather gets cold the plants will die down for the winter. In the spring the plants will begin to grow earlier than seed does. The plants will produce leaves for awhile then they will go to seed. If you are growing a variety like Bloomsdale you can save the seed and never have to buy seed again. I also plant seed in the spring so that I have two crops of spinach at different times.
ReplyDeleteWell I'll be danged! Spinach will overwinter way up there? Shoot, if you can do it, then I should be able to as well. I learn something new every day! Gonna have to give this a shot for sure since I could eat spinach in some form almost daily. (if only it would grow)
DeleteYou might be interested in some of the books by Eliot Coleman. He is a market gardener who lives in zone 5 in Maine. With the varieties he uses, the timing of his plantings, and hoop houses he can have produce to sell all year long. Many of his ideas have helped me extend my growing season a great deal. I would think that your library could get some of his books for you.
ReplyDeleteI also plant stiff neck garlic in the fall and it is already 5-6 inches tall. Some of the leaves could be snipped off to add some flavor to salads.