TOO BUSY TO BLOG

Well, it’s that time of year when the weather is finally cooperating (kind of) and you can get out and garden for hours.  Yesterday, I potted up the rest of my tomato plants that I am growing for friends and then buried them, pots and all, into the soil in the hoophouse.  So now all of the tomatoes are in one place and will be easier to keep happy.  I’ll distribute them to their new homes in about four weeks or so.  The temperatures in the hoophouses are warm – perfect for tomatoes.  I open it up when it gets a little too warm – as high as 120 degrees on sunny days - yikes!).  I buried the pepper plants in there too, along with the marigolds.  So it is a very crowded 4’ x 8’ area and will be bursting at the seams in another month.  So I guess that is what took up most of my time.  I continue to pull out the greens that are bolting, such as the arugula, and replace that crop with Swiss Chard, peas, turnips or spinach.  I noticed yesterday that the greens in the one bed are doing so much better than another.  I suspect that it is because the one bed has been used for three years and needs some amendments, whereas the other one is just new.  And, the older bed hasn’t had winter rye planted in it and that seems to make a huge difference.  The strawberry plants are starting to wake up and I need to compost that little bed if I want enough strawberries for desserts.  

We took the grow rack down from the living room and it finally doesn’t look like a nursery in there.  The impatiens starts were on the rack when I accidently knocked the whole tray off onto the living room floor.  Ugh, what a mess!  Damp soil and broken plants everywhere.  So I guess I’ll be buying my flowers at the local nursery again.   I was going to keep the rack up longer to start the squash and cukes, but you know, why don’t I just start them in the hoophouse too?  I’ll give it a try this year and see how it works out.  The hoophouses survived their third winter and only have a few cracks in the plastic.  A little duct tape will probably keep them going for a fourth winter.  Not bad for a mere $70 investment!