Garden Report v2.6 - Spring!

Forsythia

The forsythia is blooming!  Which, as near as I can tell according to the folklore, means either that spring is here, or we have three more snows yet.  In western New York, that's probably the same thing.  From what I understand, the essence of those beliefs comes from the fact that the forsythia start blooming due to a general increase in the overall soil temperature.  That's a good sign for me, since the seeds I planted a couple weeks ago don't seem to be doing much.  Only the mesclun mix has really come up.  Hopefully the increase in soil temperature will allow the other seeds to get going.  Read across the fold for the garden update, inside and out, and more pictures.

Garden Report v2.5 - Fall Wrap Up

So, the fall snows have started, and things in the garden are just about...

What?  Follow over the jump to see what I'm talking about.

Garden Report v2.3 - Peeking Out

[Originally posted 2 April 2011 on a different platform.  Now I'm caught up.]


Not to much to report visually this week, so no photos. Mostly just planted some more seeds. Each type of seed, understandably, has different instructions to follow if you hope for good results. For example, some like to be planted directly outside after the last frost or if the soil temp is high enough, some can be started inside. For the inside varieties, you can't just plant everything at once, and let it all grow together. Since they all grow at different rates, the seeds have to be staggered so that they are of just the right size when the danger of frost has past, and they can be transplanted outdoors. Too small and they won't have enough time in the season to produce; too big and the transplant shock might prevent a decent harvest anyway. And it's likely they don't have enough room in the little pots you started them in.

The way I deal with it, and probably many other people do as well, is to write in my probable last frost date on a calendar. Then I count back and label each week with the number of how many weeks it is to last frost date. Seed packets, and garden books and guides usually tell you how many weeks before frost specific seeds should be started. Mid-winter I establish what I want to plant for the year, and then map out on graph paper where everything will go, paying attention to how much space I need between plants. Once I have a list of plants, it's pretty easy to fill in on the calendar what needs to happen each week. So, each week, I look at the calendar and plant what it tells me to plant.
More detail, and a bonus pic after the jump.