Thursday, February 26, 2015

And so it begins.

I will admit, we are running a bit late this year, but Sunday Pooka and I finally started working on getting seeds started. We didn't have time to get a full tray done, but we did have a chance to start some seeds in pots of dirt. We had the dirt inside from moving Cave, so it should of been warm enough to get things started.

We decided to start the things that really took the longest and that I have not had good luck with in seed starter cells. This meant the snap dragons and our beloved celery. The day before, Pooka got a letter from her Great Aunt B. She sent Pooka  package of butterfly flower seeds in the mail and Pooka jumped up and down for a good 5 minutes cheering for seeds. When we started the seeds, Pooka asked if we could start those as well.
Seeds
We filled some pots with dirt. Due to the cold, we had to do this inside. I will say some of this dirt is from transplanting the lemon tree as well. Pooka was all excited to get her hands dirty again. I have never had much luck with celery in a starter cell, but we have gotten better results putting it straight in dirt and just keeping it watered. This year we are looking forward to the celery more than most, since we have found more things to do with it.
Pots of dirt
Pooka sat there singing about how happy she was going to be to have snapdragons because she can make them SING. That is reason enough to keep around a flower we don't do much with. As you can see, we labeled with our favorite craft stick and sharpie method to keep track of which pots have which plant in it.  By the time we were done, we had 9 pots of seeds all ready to go. Next we need to get to work on the actual peppers and tomatoes, but I am hoping to do those this week.
Ready to grow.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Moving Cave

Since we fertilized our little trees, Cave the lemon tree has been doing a bit better but I may have over fertilized him. I also realized that he may of just been outgrowing his pot. On Sunday we took a few minutes to try moving him to a larger pot.
Before the move
We found this pot at one of the local home improvement stores. It was rather hard to find a place that had pots inside at this time of year, but we were hoping it was bigger than his current pot. It is definitely deeper and just slightly wider.
Awaiting Cave
There are no during pictures of the move since I was basically holding him still. He was not as root bound as I was afraid of, but I am sure potting him up after almost 2 years in the same pot was not a bad idea. During the move I notice he had some new flowers as well.  I also learned that I really should wait till I can do these things outside since it did make a bit of a mess.
flowers
 Here is Cave in his new home. He seems to look like he fits better. However, I will admit we used ice to water him slowly over the period of  12 hours. This allowed it all to "sink in" without drowning him. I am only hoping he didn't get too cold in those 12 hours. Now to just get him to hold on until the spring when he can start getting some real sunlight daily. I know that is most of what he needs.
all settled in

Monday, February 23, 2015

Monster

Yesterday, we were sitting in the same room as the lime tree, and I asked Daddy to see what was going on with a lime. From where I was, it looked wrong. Apparently it had split in half, something I didn't know limes would do. I knew it was getting a tad ripe, but splitting was new. 
Pooka saw the lime and decided it was a mouth and it wanted to talk to us. Daddy was convinced that it meant the lime tree was trying to say "feed me" which is his cue to get flamethrower (but aim it away from the house). Pooka refuses this theory and asked if she could put eyes on it.
I can see the mouth bit, but lets hope Caroline hasn't gotten that vocal yet. Let's all hope she doesn't get any ideas about trying to run the place. We may have to rename her GLaDOS if that is the case.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

What to do

So due to our own fault, the last of the garlic was about done. Now, this may not of been a problem had we left it in the garage or gotten it to the basement like we meant to. Warm kitchen counters are not the best place to store garlic, and this is why we know it our fault.
The end of the garlic
Some of the garlic was not salvageable. Not much, fortunately, but there were a few cloves we just gave up on. The rest had started to sprout. What does one do with garlic that has begun to grow?
The garlic that sprouted
Why plant it of course, I found a small section of the garlic bed that I hope does not have anything already in it, and I randomly placed garlic in it. To do this, I went out when we had a fairly good bit of snow, but the ground was mostly thawed. Pooka didn't want to help since it was rather cold that day. I just did the run out, plant and run back in method. Which is also why it was done randomly because it was too cold to be out there. I did wonder what cars thought of this crazy lady digging in the snow.

Just the place the garlic was put, no pictures of the process
When I ran out of room there, I took a spot in the herb bed. I don't know how that spot will work, but we will try it. It means probably one less herb plant, but I think the experiment of will the garlic grow is worth it. Ideally, this should work perfectly since you can take your largest bulbs and replant them so you never buy more garlic. However, since we put them in late, we are crossing our fingers to see if this works. If it does, it means we have a place for sprouted garlic. Time to let the experiment begin and just wait. 

This set is separate to see how well it does. 

Sunday, February 8, 2015

New Growth

Some days, you have to look for the little signs of spring. Especially on a very cold night in the middle of winter. And sometimes, it just jumps at you.
Caroline and Cave
 On that cold night, I saw a little sign of spring. Caroline the lime tree had some new growth on a branch.
That looks like new leaves
 Further inspection showed some flower buds and more new growth to go with it.
That is new leaves and a flower
In another section of the tree, you could see the flower buds and new growth right next to the ripening limes. Caroline might as well been jumping up and down saying "Spring, spring, I want spring."
We have flowers, fruit and new growth
Pooka took this as proof that Caroline liked being on Brother's desk, even if Brother wasn't too fond of the idea. I wish our lemon tree, Cave, would show some spring like moments, but I think he is just not as happy with the lack of sun. Then again, we did get some fruit tree fertilizer (organic of course) to put on both of them, so hopefully that will help as well.
Spring is coming, according to Caroline.
All in all, I think this shows that spring is coming. I am with Caroline, I want spring too. 

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Dear Teacher

Dear Pooka's Substitute teacher.
I know you don't know Pooka as well as some of the other teachers, but you simplified things a bit too well. You see, she came home and said "Mommy, I had to do this assignment. I told the teacher we were missing steps, but they didn't believe me." 

The short version
When you ask a Pooka to plant a seed, she will start with a seed starter, then plant it into a pot, then put it in the ground. However, at least she got to draw and write about gardening at school.  I am sure that helped


How to plant a seed part 2
Even if Pooka was a bit bored that day, she still told me she had fun explaining to her friends while they worked the correct way. At least the other kids expect as much from a Pooka and just let her roll with it. My only hope is that she didn't give you too much argument. Just don't try to teach her the steps of canning next.
Thanks
Pooka's Mom
How to plant a seed part 3

Monday, February 2, 2015

Winter Blahs

Well, it seems as if winter decided to remind us that he is still out there. We got a nice little snow storm yesterday, and today the schools are running one hour behind. If you look out into the garden, all you see is white.
It is snowing
I will honestly admit, we miss the garden right now. It is not just buying tomatoes and cucumbers (which in and of itself is hard) but its the ability to walk outside and see what is going on. Pooka asked when we could start seeds, I told her soon, but we could start some of her Christmas gifts, and that seemed to help. Meanwhile, we wait for winter to cut us a break. I will say this year has not been as bad as last, but the lack of sun and of being able to walk outside is taking a tole on all of us. Especially Pooka who doesn't do well in the cold, so she is inside more than most.
Everything is waiting on spring