Stay ahead of the weeds...ssshh...it's a secret.

I was just reading some of the gardening blogs and one blog in particular caught my attention because weeding was the topic.  Yes, weeding.  Something that I've been doing for the last few weeks.  I still have more to do.  The advise given was "stay ahead of the weeds" and "never let a weed flower in your yard."  Sounds like good advice to me, especially because it was coming from a grandmother.

It's official...Spring has arrived to my backyard ahead of schedule.

The Robin appeared on Friday!  That's my sign that Spring is officially here.  Yeah!  Now the fun begins.  Time to dig and prune and plant.  My finger nails will never be completely clean for the next few months.

Planted Strawberry Plants in Early March

I've decided to go ahead and plant strawberry plants even though the weather can still get below freezing here in Fallon, NV.  Both local nurseries have plants for sale, so I figured it must be time to plant them.  However, I did not purchase my strawberry plants from any of the local nurseries.  I purchased my 30 bare root strawberry plants at the local Walmart.  The price was right:  10 plants for $3. 

The variety I planted is 'Aromas'.  It is an ever bearing variety.  I found a site on the Internet that describes this variety as "High production of fruit, later than others with large quantities in fall.  Medium to large berries with good flavor.  Extra weather tolerant."

I also discovered that the 'Aromas' are patented by the University of California.

I decided to plant in a raised bed.  So I turned an old cabinet into my strawberry planter.  I had my husband drill holes in the bottom for drainage.

  I then mixed two bags of garden soil and one bag of steer manure with several, sifted shovel fulls of my local soil.  I filled the planter as shown below.

I then planted the strawberry plants in 4 rows and added some shredded small bark for mulch.

For extra protection I stapled a clear plastic cover.  My plan is to cover the strawberry plants at night when the temperatures are much lower.  This cover will also be extra protection from snow that will most likely fall sometime in March, April, or May.  Yes, we had snow last year for Memorial Day Weekend!

Update:  March 19, 2011

It's all about timing...and Mother Nature

I've started these seedlings indoors.  They are growing great, but now what?  I need to move them out, but it's not even March yet.  What was I thinking?  I was thinking that I wanted to start early so that I would have time to figure this whole thing out.  I would have time to make mistake and correct.  How did I know that every seed would germinate and grow so fast?

Here is a table of the Fallon, NV average high and low temperatures:

                       Feb     Mar      Apr     May     Jun    Jul    Aug   Sep    Oct   Nov
Avg High:       53       59         66        74        84     92     91      82      70     56
Avg. Low:      23       28         34        41        48     53     51      43      33     24

Apr-May:  Cool Weather
Jun-Jul-Aug-Sep:  Growing season for most plants
Oct-Nov:  Cool Weather

First Frost Date:
Last Frost Date:
Zone: 5b

My next step is to determine when I can set out my various young plants.

What my garden looks like Winter 2011.

Butterfly Bush

Purple breaded Iris

Lilac

Mum

Oak Leaf Hydrangea

Rosemary is the only herb left in the herb container.

East facing side bed.  Looking for ideas on what to plant here.

New vegetable-flower garden.

February weather in Fallon, NV

Here's a photo of what I woke up to this morning.  The wind was howling all night and didn't let up until mid-day.

Happy Valentine's Day

The lettuce seeds are growing as expected.

I see that my neighbor, who has a wonderful Sun Room on the South side of his house, has lots of seedlings growing.  They are doing so well that I can see all the green lettuce leaves spilling over the pots as I drive by each day.

So...I started with some lettuce.  The first type I started is called Salad Bowl.   It is a non-heading lettuce that is slow to blot.  It is suppose to produce large, medium green leaves. 

These seeds were planted using Organic Seed Starting Jiffy-mix in aluminum roasting pans that I punched evenly spaced holes in the bottom of.  The seedlings here are one week old.

Here is a photo of these same seedlings at two weeks old.

Here are photos of the Salad lettuce now that it has been planted in individual red cups with holes punched in the bottoms.

I used Miracle Grow Organic Potting mix in the cups.

I am hoping that these lettuce plants make the transition to soil without any problems.  My main concern is watering.  I am watering only from the bottom, but I'm not sure how the water is suppose to get to the little roots way on top of the cup.  Does the soil pick up the water?  Not really sure.  Guess I need to wait to see if the soil drys up.

February 9, 2011

The butter salad bowl lettuce is growing second and third leaves.  I have 18 of these plants.  I'm not really sure how many I need to get enough lettuce for a family salad.  Guess I will soon find out.

I'm planting Blueberry bushes this Spring in Fallon

Today while shopping for some potting mix at the local Walmart, I came across a display in the garden center that had blueberry and raspberry young plants.  I have always wanted to grow blueberries, so on impulse I purchased 3 blueberry plants:  two Jersey and one Legacy.  The reason for the Legacy was because the packaging information states the plants have best production when two or more varities are planted together for cross-pollination.  Both the Legacy and Jersey plants produce a "Late Season" harvest.

Does anyone grow Blueberries in Fallon, Nevada?  I'm not really sure, but I think I've heard that Lattin Farms up the road from me grows blueberries.  I plan to find out if they do and ask for some advice from them if indeed they do grow them.

I got these home and decided to plant them in some used 3-gallon nursey pots that I have laying around the side of the house.  I washed out the pots and then filled them with Miracle Grow Potting soil.  The instructions state the plants are to be watered throughly and then planted in the biodegradable container they were purchased in, after removing the outside wrapper.  

Here is one of the Jersey Blueberry plants.  I will keep them in these pots in the house until the first of June.  As you can see from the photo, the plant has lots of buds which I think is a good thing.  My only concern is the ph of the Miracle-Gro potting soil.  From reading on the web, Miracle-Gro potting soil has a ph of around 6.5.  I know that blueberry plants like acidic soil with a ph about 4.5.  Maybe I can mulch with some pine needles and/or buy a good fertlizer made for blueberry plants to get the proper ph for my blueberry plants.

My plan is to plant these three blueberry bushes on the East side of the house (see photo below) to protect them from the wind and provide them some shade from the harsh afternoon sun.  I will plant them 5 to 6 feet apart.  They will get the morning sunshine.  I think they will do well at this location.  Now, I have a few months to figure out how to prepare the soil at their soon to be home before I plant them there.

I think I will start off by weeding this area and then mulching with pine needles from the pine tree growing over the fence in the front yard.  You can see the pine over the fence in this photo.  Also, I will start collecting coffee grinds and adding them to this garden bed.

Update:  I've done some research on the web and have found that I need to re-pot my blueberry plants using 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 potting soil, 1/3 medium-size bark.  I need to add some fish blend, cotton seed blend, and a hand full of sulfer.  This combination should result in giving the blueberry an acidic ph soil that they need to grow.  I plan to repot this weekend.

In the meantime, I have found that the plants I bought at Walmart were selected and packed by VanZyverden, Inc. headquartered in Meridan, MS.  There are both good and bad reviews on the web regarding products different customers have purchased and whether the plants grew or didn't grow. 

I am optimistic about the plants I purchased, as all three look healthy.

UPDATE:  Feb. 20, 2011:

UPDATE Feb. 28:

Cilantro - My favorite herb

The Cilantro seedings emerged today!  Nine days after sowing the seeds, I get to see the seedlings.  I am finding that "hatching" the seedlings is fairly easy, but seedlings are fragile.  It is more of a challenge to deal with the seedlings once they have emerged and need to be transplanted to a soil mixture and need some fertilizer.  Here is a photo of my newly emerged Cilantro seedlings.

My plan is to leave the seedlings in this pot and not transplant them.  Hmmm...I used a soiless, seedling mixture to sow the seeds.  I need to re-think my plan.  All plants need soil.

Here is the Cilantro seedlings on Feb. 4,2011.  They are 4 days old.  They seem to all be doing well, but have not gotten their first leaves yet.

Wondering if I should thin them...

Top view of Cliantrol seedlings.

The Sunset web site had an interesting method for growing cilantro in a pot.  They recommend using a 18-inch wide and 10-inch deep pot and then harvesting using sissors only 1/3 of the leaves at a time (see photo above) and allowing the cuttings to re-establish their leaves.

Here is a photo from a "how to" web site which shows a cilantro seedling.

Here is a photo of that same cilantro seedling.

Here is photo of that same cilantro seedling that is now a plant.  I know that it is important to not let the soil temperature reach 75 degrees, because once that happens the cilantrol will bolt to seed.  Here in Fallon, that will happen around June 21st.

Here is a photo of a close-up of the Cilantro leaves.

Update:

February 9, 2011.  The cilantro has been thinned a little.  First real leaves are growing.  It smells like Cilantro.  I love that smell!

February 16, 2011.  Cilantro update: