13 Labs Garden
Favourite Gardening Blogs & feeds (40)
Country & Rural Garden News (13)Newspapers (6)Other Gardening News (A-J) (29)Other Gardening News (K-Z) (30)A chronicle of the microcosm that is our backyard. 20 May 04 Wild apples I wonder how I should prune these columnar apple trees in the autumn. It seems like they're a bit rangy. Pictures I've seen in catalogs show them to be narrower, without so many branches.... 18 May 04 Cucumber I transplanted the cucumber seedlings into some nice plastic pots and they seem to be doing very well.... 17 May 04 Infinite rye Okay, I still haven't pulled out all of the winter rye yet but, on the bright side, they now have lovely seed heads.... 15 May 04 Strawberries Though I probably packed them in too tightly, I planted the strawberries in the little permanent bed. They seem to be doing pretty well, no casualties so far. Now I have to get going on putting the rest in the strawberry pot... 14 May 04 Dwarf blueberry The "Sunshine Blue" blueberry bush had lots of flowers on it when I planted it last year. I dutifully pinched them off so they would not fruit the first year, ensuring better crops of fruit in subsequent years... 13 May 04 Readying the beds On Monday, Johnny and I went to the nice nursery on Elston Ave. just past Irving Park Rd. and bought a few bags of mushroom compost. I added some to the little permanent bed on my side of the garden and Johnny has been tidying up his beds to add some there... 12 May 04 Recycling Last year, my experiments with reusing old water bottles as mini cloches and water wells did not succeed very well. The cloches filled with water (with or without caps on) drowning their charges, and the water wells spilled their resevoirs immediately, parching theirs... 1 May 04 Ginger I transplanted the ginger from the shade garden--where it had been pummeled by the gutter and trampled the neighbor--over to the icon garden last fall. It seems very happy.... 30 Apr 04 Winter rye Maybe I should have tilled the winter rye under when it was a little less, er, vigorous?... 29 Apr 04 Arborvitae We have been to Costco and found some new arborvitae to replace the ones that died (in the background) over the winter. The three new ones cost as much as one of the old ones which we bought at Gethsemane Garden Center... 28 Apr 04 Peas and carrots Over the weekend I was able to move around the pea trellis, plant some carrots underneath it and some peas to grow up it. I covered everything up because the birds, they like the seeds.... 27 Apr 04 Pepper seedlings These pepper seedlings are doing very well in the greenhouse. I am regretting that I didn't start tomato plants earlier; I have ordered the seeds but I think they will be a little while longer before they get here... 24 Apr 04 Strawberries I placed an order for a few things from Johnny's Seeds including some trays, markers, and pots for the greenhouse. I considered buying some asparagus to plant in the permanent bed but, after the troubles I had with asparagus last year and the fact that it would not be edible for a few years, I decided some strawberry plants would be more fun after all... 20 Apr 04 Greenhouse The greenhouse is still standing after the weekend storms, though it took a bit of a beating. One of the seams tore through so there is now an extra flap on the tent-like covering. I think I can mend it with some clear duct tape... 18 Apr 04 To-do list It has been quite difficult to find time to work on the things on month's to do list for the garden, made with a little help from the Organic Gardening newsletter, but I think I can check a few more things off the list in the next two weeks...
|
