Spring Planting

Well I got rid of the cage and tried the new tops which seem to be working. I also purchased a couple of live mouse traps. So far no mice. Guess they got smart and left. Anyway, the new plants and seeds that I have started in the greenhouse seem to be coming along OK. I will need to go out and start getting the pots ready for transplanting. This needs to be done as soon and the true leaves come out on the new seedlings. My tomatoes are just about at this point. The new squash seeds that I planted haven't broken ground yet, or at least the last time I checked them they hadn't. I am going the try to get more seeds started soon. I just don't want to go out in the nasty weather we have been having. The rain is non-stop and the wind this year has been unusually strong longer periods of time. I am thankful for one thing, the greenhouse seems to be holding up since we repaired it. I really need to get out this summer and finish caulking it. I tied the vents down when I got them reinstalled and it seems to be working. I will need to untie them when the weather starts warming up. They have automatic openers on them, which I really love, so untying them is imperative. I haven't been as aggressive this year in getting my seeds started, I just haven't had the spring fever bug. I guess it is all this rain and dark weather. Hopefully the weather will break and I can get started soon.
I did get a couple of my garden beds weeded and ready for planting during the time we did have sunshine. Which wasn't long enough. I still have a couple of beds to get ready, then we need to start spreading the compost that has been working all winter and is ready to use. What a wonderful thing the animals give us. Natural food for our gardens, and the plants love it. Don is so good about getting the compost done. I hope we have enough to go around. Up here on the mountain our soil has absolutely no nutrients in it and everything we can get doesn't seem to be enough, even though we have a mountain of compost. I will admit that since we have started making the compost and using it here, the soil has improved quite a bit. Still needs more though.
Well, it is still raining and I am thankful for the embroidery projects that I have, which keeps me busy. On to other things.

Mice...........

Well the cage that I built to keep the mice out of my seedlings didn't work. The zucchini squash was just breaking ground and guess what??? the mice had a wonderful meal. SOOOOO, out with the cage and in with something else. I have some clear plastic covers for the trays that I have the seed starting blocks in and am going to try them. When I used them before, they always got too hot and the new seedlings would rot off at the base of the plant. I am going to try them again, only this time I am going to punch some small holes in the top. I am going to use small holes because if the holes are even a hair to big the mice can get in.
I have the trays setting on some heating mats that have a thermostat on them to keep the temperature of the pots at 70 degrees. I have had great success with the heat mats and love them, especially this time of year when it is so cold. As long as the roots of the plant are warm and the tops are protected from the frost they will do good even if the temperature in the greenhouse is at 40 or 50 degrees. I don't have to worry about the grow lights being to low or to high and the plants grow well with the amount of light they get naturally.
I need to restart just about everything I had planted. The little critters really like the seeds and they dig them up once they realize that the seeds are in the starting mix soil. Hopefully this will work.
Wish me luck.

Ughhhhh

Well it is raining. It has been raining for the last week and a half and it is suppose to rain for the next week and maybe longer. While we had the TWO days of sunshine I was able to get out and get the two largest garden beds weeded and ready for gardens. My flower bulbs are growing beautifully and at least one of the crocus was blooming. I can't wait for the rest of the bulbs to start blooming. They are always such a welcome site this time of year because it usually is RAINING.
In case you haven't noticed, I am not happy with all this rain. I know we need the water but could use some sunshine breaks in between. I haven't been able to let the goats and chickens out either and they are not happy either. The horses are out but they stay in their stalls. It is fun to watch them because they get bored and they change stalls for a different view. One time Dancer will be in her stall and the next time I look out Flash is in her stall. I love to see them getting along so well.
I was able to get some seeds started in the greenhouse, after we put it back together again from the hurricane winds we had. I have some tomatoes already starting to break ground. I am using heating mats on top of the soil inside the garden bed in the greenhouse and put a cage around the seedlings in hopes of keeping the mice from eating the new starts. Last year they pretty much demolished my new seedlings and had to restart them several times. I need to get a live trap for the greenhouse to catch them. I don't want the rat bait in my greenhouse taking a chance of the bait getting into the garden beds in side and poisoning the soil.
I haven't had much of a chance to get outside so I went up to the attic and pulled out some of the embroidery stuff that I had gotten from my mother-in-laws estate. I found a table cloth that had been all but completed and a few other embroidery items that looked interesting so I decided to finish the table cloth. I will probably start working on some of the other projects as long as it is raining. Got to keep myself busy somehow. I am not one for sitting around doing nothing. I love hobbies.
Well I better get some stuff done so I can get out and get the chores done. Hope everyone has a great RAINY day.

Gardening Season is Anew

Time to get ready for the gardens. Lots planned for today, hope to get most of it accomplished. I tend to over extend myself when it comes to doing stuff outside. My poor house gets ignored so much. I will try to do better this year with allowing myself more time to do other things that I enjoy such as riding my new horse Dancer this year. I just turned 60 and I think it is time for me to start enjoying life and not working so much.
I really enjoy working in my gardens, but tend to over do sometimes. I hope to get my gardens to a point that all I have to do is water and weed and then enjoy the fruits of my bounty. We have plans for building more raised beds and putting a hot house cover on them to help with the short growing season and also help keep the deer out of my gardens. They really like my gardens.
We made some seed tapes this year for the first time. It is a project we heard about sometime ago and wanted to try it out. It is suppose to help with the planting. If you go to my garden site, it tells you how to make them. It looks like it might be something we will be doing on a regular basis, and it saves the waste of seeds. I don't know about you, but I would plant the whole packet of seed and then pull up about 2/3 of the plants. What a waste.
My strawberries are really growing nice, but I need to clean them up and maybe spread them out a bit. I have a net over them right now because the chickens use to get into them. Since we have the chickens fenced in the pasture now I am going to try to move the net, although the Blue Jays really like them too. I may just change it a bit.
Well I guess that is it for now. The morning is moving on and I need to get started with STUFF.
Have a great day all.