The Flood

I just noticed, again, that a post I had thought I had posted, didn’t post (ha!)  We had a massive flood in May.  Most of our hard work we had done literally the weekend before was all washed away, along with a majority of our urge to go on.

 I can’t believe I didn’t see that the post didn’t go up.  But here are some pictures of what happened.

In this one, the line you see used to be a fence.  It's just...gone.

 

And just so you know, this ENTIRE area, we ground clothed and wood-chipped with 2 dump trucks full of chips.  you'd have no idea because they were washed all the way to the other side of the garden where they sit in a pile. See I made it easy for you to see :)

Here are a few pictures of what I've been working on.  The pictures themselves are quite unimpressive but it was late, I did what I could.  Other than that, I suppose what the pictures are of is somewhat unimpressive as well but trust me, I worked my butt off to get what is there.  There is a lot still hiding under the ground as well but it will be exciting to see what comes up.  I have a feeling in the future this will be a lot of maintenance considering I planted things fairly close together for quick, pleasing results. 

Beans and Peas

I will post more when there is more growth and to show you just how many peppers and tomatoes we planted, and some showing just how much space I actually have this year.  It's nuts!

But exciting :)

The Season Begins With Some Dissapointment

We froze the plants.

We got back to the house around 2:30 am to a coating of frost on the windshields of the cars in the drive way. 

Oh no...

Sure enough, most of the tomatoes are dead but we'll see what happens.  We did what we could, brought them inside and sprayed them with water right away but the first half inch of all the pots was frozen so I don't have a whole lot of hope.  Sad.

On a happier note because I can't spend my time dwelling on what happened, I have been assigned a cool project in the corner of the garden.  I also just purchased my first piece of furniture for it!

There she is.  Cost me about 100 bucks but I'm so excited!  Here's the very ugly/rough sketch at what I'm wanting to do.



Get it?  I know that's a terrible drawing but I wanted an idea of what I'm doing.  I also was informed that the corner where drew a 90 degree angle, is actually almost rounded--45 or so instead which gives me even more space to play around with.

So it begins.

Also just received some poppies in the mail which will go there along with gladiolus.

And last but not least, we just got in the purple asparagus for planting.  We just have to find a nice permanent home for them.

The Potter in Me

I have this blog, so I might as well use it.  Hopefully this won't be a regular thing but I guess I don't need to limit myself completely to garden stuff, though that was the original purpose of this blog.  Things change.

As I'm sure I've mentioned, I have access to a pottery studio and things are starting to get very exciting for me.  I have been able to create and use my artistic abilities which I am now able to share with others.  I have recently had a few pieces commissioned by some co-workers which feels great, for others to enjoy what I do.

I have quite a few before and after's to share, you can kind of see the process of what pottery goes through to become the useful form it is at the end.

I hope you enjoy:

Let The Season Begin!

Plants are officially started.  We worked the last two weekends starting peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, melons and flowers.  Most of the flowers are vining plants though of course I bought a few bags of gladiolus.  Vines include Moon Flower, Morning Glory, Nasturtium, some wildflower mix and I'm sure there are others.  The three of us make quite a team, assembly-line-style operation, planting over 300 peat pots in a few hours. I think it's a good start to the season.
Here's the list for this year.  More to be added later in the season, I am sure.

Peppers:
Emerald Giant Pepper
Albino Bullnose Pepper
Thai Yellow Chilli Pepper
Thai Red Chilli Goat Horn Hot
Chocolate Habanero Pepper
Mustard Habanero
Purple Jalapeno
Black Hungarian PepperRed Marconi Pepper Quadrato D' Asti Giallo Pepper
Quadrato D'asti Rosso Pepper
Purple Beauty Pepper

Peas:
Golden Sweet Snow Peas
Mammoth Melting Sugar Snow Peas
Blue Podded Blauwschokkers Garden Pea
Melon:
Ananas Melon
Hale's Best 45 Melon Oka Melon ( Bizard Island Strain )
Plus a gift pack

Tomato:
Ananas Noire or Black Pineapple Vorlon Tomato
Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge
Black Icicle Tomato
Black Giant Tomato
Pink Icicle Tomato
Tsar's Royal Gift Tomato
Orange Banana Tomato
White Tomesol
Ivory Egg
Roman Candle

Squash:
Zucchini Squash - Golden
Zucchini Squash - Gray
Vegetable Spaghetti Squash
Table Gold Acorn Squash
White Acorn
Black Futsu Squash

Eggplant:
Rosa Bianca Eggplant
Pandora Striped Rose Eggplant
Japanese White Egg

Misc.:
De Bourbonne Cucumber
Atomic Red Carrot
Cosmic Purple Carrot
Golden Wax Bush Bean
Dragon Tongue Bush Bean

Herbs:
Cilantro, Slo-Bolt
Basil - Lime
Basil - Siam Queen Thai
Basil - Genovese
Dill Bouquet

Seeds Ordered and An Update On My Life

I have purchased $120 in seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  I've never planted heirloom seeds before and still don't know a lot about them but I plan to learn this year.

As for my life, everything has changed since last summer but for the better I would say.  My eyes have opened up to whole new experiences and opportunities.  I am no longer engaged but I do still own a house in Fridley.  I now live in a small apartment in Wisconsin with my sister which means no gardening there.  Obviously that won't stop me from planting my little heart out. 
I plan to help my ex with the landscaping in Fridley. I welcome the opportunity to work on different spaces all summer.  My current boyfriend lives on a large chunk of land in the valleys of western Wisconsin. Their property is right on a river and the entire place is one giant project.  There's a lagoon that needs much tending too and I hope to add some beauty to it this summer with lillys and hostas, hibiscus and anything else my flower-obsessed self wants to see this summer.  The plan is to make some large planters for around the pond/lagoon because it's almost completely rock out there.  Him and I make pottery together at his neighbors house who is a retired ceramics professor.  So the sky is the limit with some nice looking planters.  That's a few big jobs right there.  Other than that, my boyfriend and his best friend spent all of last summer building raised garden beds.  Sixteen if I remember right.  They also have a large space fenced off to keep the deer (and dogs) out that will be used for squash and melons.

As for my boyfriend, when it comes to plants, he is very much like me.  Research everything.  And he's crazy about vegetables and even more crazy about all the fun stuff you can cook with different kinds of this or that.  It's so nice to share my passion with someone and bounce ideas off each other and introduce each other to new things/plants/flowers/foods.  It will make for a interesting and fun summer.  I cannot wait, though it seems I won't have to wait long considering it is March 12 and it's raining with 70's on the forecast for this week.

Summer here we come.

By This Time Last Year

I think I had much more accomplished and started by March 1st of last year.  I am sad to say I have not even spent time looking through catalogs yet this year.  What a sad thing.
I will have access to a large plot of land this year which is great.  However, the location is in the bottom of a valley where the temperature is 10 degrees colder than anywhere else which shortens the season length.  But I cannot complain for I will have space and flower related projects and someone to share it with.
I will be learning plenty about heirloom seeds and hopefully asparagus as my father has ordered some purple asparagus to split with me.

I cannot wait for the season to begin and have already begun day dreaming about what lies under the snow.

Spring is a coming!

Moved Some Plants, Pleanty To Go

I still have quite the project ahead of me.  I moved a bunch of daylilies, coneflowers, lilies and irises to my friends house.  Hopefully they will settle in but they've been moved to an area thats mostly sand so I'm not sure how they'll do.  Oh well, we'll see what happens next year.  Tonight I plan to move another big load of plants.  There are still pleanty of hostas and daylilies and you name it that need to be transplanted.  I've been away from my house for a month so there is a lot of stuff that needs to be done.  I plan to be "home" soon so I can catch up on fall chores before the frost hits.  I should really head out to the garden and see what's there to harvest.  Maybe make some corn tonight, hopefully have a fresh melon to munch on.  It's nice to feel like things could get back to normal in the garden.  I loved digging in the dirt last night.  Bout time!

Transplanting Question

Lets say I have a BUNCH of flowers I'd like to transplant right now.  Will they be established enough by freeze time that they will come back in the spring?

I'm refering to Hibiscus, Daylilies, irises, coneflowers, etc.  Maybe they each have their own "best times to transplant" but I'm curious as to whether they will all survive.

Another question, will Irises survive out of the soil for one or two full days.  I mean at this point they are fairly dormant anyways but if I pull them now, wait a day and transplant them tomorrow or the day after, will they be okay and come back in spring?

An Entire Season Passed

Unfortunately this was the most chaotic but sometimes wonderful summer of my life.  Sadly enough a lot of real life events got in the way of my gardening.  I neglected the garden and didn't even find the time to cook with most of the produce which is the whole point.  It's sad, I feel like I missed out on a once a year event like the state fair or some great gathering that you're always supposed to go to but I just missed out on summer gardening.  I have a feeling this will effect me this winter being that I didn't get in the dirt as much as possible as usual.  I may have to buy a kiddie pool and fill it with dirt to play in all winter.  That sounds a bit odd but I know I'm going to miss it.  And the flowers :( Thank god I planted some glads on our patio at work or I wouldn't have even seen my favorite flower this summer other than at the state fair.

I plan to go out this evening or possibly tomorrow and move some things, maybe do my last harvest and call it done aside from pumpkins. 

What a bummer, my favorite thing took a back seat this summer.  Hopefully next year I won't let it pass me by.