This week, Monday morning started out looking like this:

So much for working in the garden! The snow melted by Tuesday morning, but the rest of the week remained cold and damp.  I was finally able to get outside for a little bit on Friday. I put compost in a raised bed behind the house where lettuce and spinach will be planted. I also made some compost tea for my seedlings.

I started by dumping some compost on top of the raised bed.

Look how nice the compost is? That’s straight compost, with no dirt mixed in. Love it!

I dumped some on each side of this raised bed. Then raked it in. In this picture, you can see the creek that is actually about 6 feet below the bed.

Look how nice the bed looks after raking the compost in? I can hardly wait for all the fresh lettuce and spinach!

While I was working in the compost, I took about 2 cups and put it into a 2 quart pitcher. I then filled it up with water.

I let my tea steep for about 5 hours. You can let it steep for 24 hours if you want, the longer it steeps, the stronger it is. Since I used this on my seedlings, I didn’t want it too strong.

I took a plastic container and put cheesecloth over the top to strain the compost from the tea.

And then I used the tea to feed my little seedlings.

How are your seedlings doing? Have you ever made compost tea before? It’s so easy, you should try it. Your plants will love your for it.  🙂

 

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I had wanted to plant my peas, lettuce, and spinach on Monday. However, it has been too cold to be in the garden. According the the weather man, we are supposed to get about 1 inch of snow tomorrow, and one to three inches on Monday. I’m so over winter. lol

Since I wasn’t able to work in the garden, I’ve had to content myself with watching my seedlings grow. You know the old saying, “A watched pot never boils”? Well, a watched seed never grows. lol Here’s  a few of my precious seedlings. 🙂

My biggest seedlings are the Roma Tomatoes. Way over on the right of this picture you can see a small seedling.

Those are the Beefsteak Tomatoes pictured below. They were planted at the same time as the Roma’s, same soil, same water, same light, different growth pattern. Hopefully, they are putting down some strong roots and will be overflowing with tomatoes this summer.  🙂

Just ignore the model cars in the background of those pictures. lol They, along with the cabbage seedlings are on the workbench in the craftroom so they can be under the light.

Here are some of my herb seedlings. The Dill is very leggy. They are in a sunny window, and I rotate the tray daily. Maybe the Dill needs to go live with the Romas.

 

I finally have a couple of pepper plants coming up. I was despairing of them ever coming up. I think I have checked those five or six times everyday, anxiously awaiting any sign of green. I almost screamed when I found the first one. lol

This week, our cat, who doesn’t have a name except “Mama Kitty”, had kittens. These four sure are cute. A fifth one didn’t survive birth. They are in a box in the house for a few weeks. At night, mama is in the girls room with the kittens. During the day, we bring them out to the schoolroom. The girls don’t want their brothers in their room all day. lol

And just so he doesn’t feel left out, here is our Australian Shepherd, Shadow. I took this picture last week when the sun was actually shining.

We no longer have our goats, and we actually miss them. Well, except when it was 9 degrees outside. Then we didn’t miss going out and breaking up their water. We also miss the chickens. We will be getting more chickens pretty soon, and I’m so excited!

Now, back to gardening! The Old Farmer’s Almanac has a chart for last frost date. There is only one city for Kentucky on there. According to that chart, our last frost date is April 15th. So I do have a few more weeks to wait to plant most things. I’m just so ready to have our own produce again!

Have you been able to plant anything yet?

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I got brave this week and cleaned out the front bulb garden. I scrubbed thoroughly when I came in, so I’m hoping to avoid a bad case of poison ivy.  Where the line is between the dark hill and the light hill in the back is the road. We let the wild roses and honeysuckle grow up for privacy. The little pink “dot” on the rocks is really a pink duck. My youngest, who is now 12, but this duck out in the garden when he was probably 4 to 5ish. And every year we make sure to find “our duck” in the garden and put him back on the rocks. Just a fun little family tradition started by my “baby”.

The butterfly house in the garden has been there for about 5 or 6 years. And unless we have stealth butterflies, it’s never been used. Maybe this will be the year? We do have two Butterfly Bushes in close proximity to the house, so the butterflies have plenty to eat.

The mini Daffodils have been blooming for several weeks and still look great. The full size Daffodils in the back have buds on them now.

We harvested more carrots from the garden today. They aren’t big, but they sure are good! We still have some left in the garden. Good thing as these were gone right after the picture was taken.

 

This pallet may not look like much now, but very shortly it will be planted with strawberries. I can’t wait! Just as soon as that pesky last frost date has passed, I will be planting the strawberry seeds.

The Peppermint is growing in the herb garden behind the house. This is just one section. The Peppermint looks like it has spread a lot this year. I do believe I shall have plenty.

My grandmother, we lived not to far from where I live, always planted peas, lettuce and potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day. We’re not ready to plant potatoes tomorrow, but I will be planting peas and lettuce on Monday. It will be so nice to have our own fresh produce again!

What’s growing in your garden?

 

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This week, I had my oldest son move the compost pile for me. We, ok HE, moved the compost from one side to the other so we could start a new pile. Here’s my compost pile made from pallets.

I had him move what was left on the right hand side over to the left. As you can see, we’ve already started filling the right hand side. The compost on the left is ready to use!

I thought I’d share all my seedlings this week. Here’s what my dining room window looks like now. The two big plants on the left are a Passion Flower and a Mandevilla that are spending the winter in the house. In front of the window are two trays of tomatoes, one each of romas and beefsteaks, and a tray of broccoli seedlings. Each tray has twelve paper pots in it. As of now each pot has two or three seedlings, but those will be thinned out in another week or two. The tray on the table has bell peppers. To the right of the window you can see the pineapple plant we started from a fresh pineapple last year. They say it takes two years to get a pineapple from it, so maybe we’ll see one this year. In front of the pineapple are two chive plants that my husband brought home. Shhhh…..don’t tell him I already have some outside. lol

Into the schoolroom we go to see the trays of herb seeds. I only have one tiny, little chamomile seedling up. The chamomile is the reason I have the tray tilted up, it needs light to germinate.

I was in bed sick the other day, and no one even bothered to open the dining room blinds to let my little seedlings have some light. They were very sad little seedlings when I finally got up and around yesterday. So I moved them into the craft room under the light. I had to build up the workbench with a tool box and little crates to get the plants up close to the lights. lol It worked! lol Until my middle son wanted to use the workbench. But my little seedlings were much happier after several hours under the light.

When I went outside this morning to take the picture of the compost pile, I found this plant coming up in front of the house. I was given this plant a few years ago, and told it was a house leek. It’s actually a Sedum, though.

And I was very happy to find another plant coming up!

Just in case you felt sorry for my poor snow covered Daffodils last week, here they are in the bright sun this morning. The ones blooming are mini Daffodils and the green plants in the back are full size Daffodils. You can also see a Tulip coming up!

I have other bulbs planted in this garden. They may even be coming up right now under the mulch. One of these days when I get brave, I will clean out all the mulch to uncover them. You see, this lovely little bulb garden is also invaded with poison ivy. It wasn’t when I first planted it, but it has been for a few years now. And every year in the spring, I clean the garden out and I get a bad case of poison ivy. It really is a dilemma. If I try to kill the poison ivy, I will kill the bulbs, and if I try to move all the bulbs, I will develop a severe reaction, I think. What to do, what to do. I guess I’ll just keep doing like I’ve been doing. Clean it out once a year in the spring, and suffer with a small case of poison ivy. sigh….

Any suggestions for a poor, itchy gardener? lol

 

 

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So last week I was all optimistic like, and shared  pictures of the signs of spring in my yard.

Well, apparently, I jumped the gun on spring. Because this is what my yard looked like this morning.

Why, yes, those are snow covered daffodils.

Don’t they look cold? I know I was cold when I went outside with no gloves and no coat to take these pictures. What was I thinking? I did know it was 20 degrees outside, so I’m sure why I went out without those important items.

This picture was taken standing on the front porch looking towards the driveway.

I did manage to keep busy this week planting seeds. Hopefully next week, I will have pictures of lots of little, pepper, broccoli, and herb seedlings to share. I can’t find my cabbage seeds. I wonder who ran off with them? I’m going to have to order new ones this week. I wonder what else I’ll buy while seed shopping? lol I buy my seeds online, as I have a hard time finding organic seeds locally. Last week, I shared what kinds of tomato seeds I planted, to see some more of the seeds I’m using, check the Amazon widget in the lower right hand sidebar. No, I don’t expect you to buy anything, but it’s easier for me to direct you there, than to post the links here. It’s late and I’m tired. lol

What have you done this week to get ready for spring?

 

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It’s not Saturday anymore, but here’s the Saturday on the Farm update anyway.  🙂

I went for a walk yesterday (Saturday) to check for signs of spring. Here’s what I found:

My Chives are coming up! Looks like I’ll be able to use some shortly. yum!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was very surprise to find Daffodils opening in the front yard! The plants only get a few inches tall this year, I’m not sure why. Maybe all our 20 degree weather stunted their growth. I was just happy to see them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Iris’s are coming up in the a/c garden. Yes, that is the very original name we gave the garden on one end of the house that goes around the a/c. We’re really clever like that. lol These are brown tipped on the edges. I’m guessing from the weather, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wild Roses are leafing out! This one is in the back yard by my clothesline. I love to hang out clothes when they are in bloom. They smell so good! Then while the roses are still blooming, the honeysuckle blooms. I could stand out there all day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also got my tomato seeds planted this week in my little newspaper pots. I planted these two varieties. Seeds of Change S10772 Certified Organic Roma Paste Tomato (affiliate link) and Ferry-Morse 3140 Organic Tomato Seeds, Beefsteak (600 Milligram Packet) (affiliate link)  Now to just get the rest of the seeds started!

 

Do you have any signs of spring where you live?

 

 

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I planted carrots last August and left them to over winter in the garden as a test. I pulled some up the other day and they were great! The biggest one I pulled was 5″. The the biggest carrot I’ve ever been able to grow in this Kentucky mud. (Don’t laugh at me! lol) The tasted so good, too! So much better than store bought carrots. I will definitely be planting more carrots this spring, as well as planting some for the winter.

 

We had another large garden spot a few years ago. We used it for several years before letting it go back to grass. Last May, I think it was, we covered it with cardboard to take it back for gardening. Here’s what it looked like today. You can see the older cardboard in comparison to a new piece of cardboard in the lower right front of the picture.

And when I pulled back some of the old cardboard, this is what I found. Nice soil just waiting to be planted. We’ll be planting sweet corn and green beans in this section.

I love using cardboard in the garden. It kills off the grass and weeds while retaining moisture. A few years ago while watching a gardening segment on a tv show, the owner of a landscaping and gardening company recommend using cardboard in the garden. She said that the cardboard breaks down into a protein that attracts worms. I tried researching that but couldn’t find anything about the protein. I even called my local extension agent and asked him. He didn’t know anything about the protein, either, but said that cardboard was good in the garden and that the moist environment under it would attract worms. We do have a lot of worms under ours. So I do recommend using cardboard. It also saves a lot of time weeding!

Here are the remaining carrots in the garden, with the cardboard pulled back from the row. You can see we have weeds started already in with the carrots, but look how nice the soil is where the cardboard was. The carrot tops in this picture are the same size as the ones in the carrot picture above, they look smaller because of the angle of the camera. I can’t wait to pick more of them to eat!

On my way back from the vegetable garden, I stopped at the Bible Garden to take a picture of the Hardy Cyclamen. This stays green all winter long. In the spring I get beautiful light purple flowers, then the plant dies off in the middle of summer, only to grow back in the fall. It’s nice to have something green sticking up from the snow. 🙂

Have you ever used cardboard in the garden? I’d love to hear how you use it!

 

Here are a few links I found interesting and helpful:

Carrot Tops – I did not know you could eat the carrot tops!
Guide to Growing Herbs
How to Grow Microgreens – I’ve never heard of microgreens before, I want to grow some now!
Raised Row Gardening
8 Aromatic Indoor Herbs Which Purify Air
Herbs You Should Plant This Year

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