I'm Done Spiking

 I put in the last of the fertilizer spikes today. Even put a few on the Evergreens. Now, I haven't given up on organic techniques, as a matter of fact, I plan to step them up this year, but after the weather calamities of the last 3 years, I figure my non-food plants could use a little desert to go on top of that good organic meal. Vegetables and other edibles will stay all organic. Also, I planted the new Moro Blood Orange today. I was quite unhappy with the state of the root ball when I pulled it from the pot, but I put it in some scrumptious soil, so I expect it to take off quickly.

Raz Taz 'Radrazz'

First new additions for the 2010 garden went in this weekend, which were 4 Knock Out Roses 'Radrazz'. There are in the front bed and were put in with One Step Plant Starter. These soils are really bad, with lots of sand over an old road bed. I tilled in compost last year and added 4 inches of bark compost. To my amazement, the bark in less than 1 year had rotted down to less than an inch thick. But the soils looked so much better than when I stated, it was amazing. My shoved easily penetrated both the soil and the gravel of the old road bed, which last year was like rock.

Veggie Beds They Are A'Changing

 I am still working on the new veggie beds, piling on layers or leaves and cow manures on all but the compost only bed. Put down 175 plant spikes on the Palms and Ctirus. Trimmed up the Crepe Myrtles, Olive and adjourning Grape Fruit, etc.

A Start on Spring

Started layering the new veggie bed area. Put a light covering of fertilizer on the Citrus and other things to kick start spring activity.

It's Been a While, but I am Back Again

The length of time since my last post pretty much says it all. Fall and Winter were just crazy. Crazy workloads, crazy rainfall, crazy cold. We finally got on of those winters that I always knew was coming. That every 20 year or so Arctic Express. We had 3 nights right at the 20 degrees, on top of several nights in the upper 20s. We have had nearly our average annual rainfall in the last 3 months or so. Gardens are always changing, but sometimes they undergo traumatic change. This was the year. There are many dead plants out there. Quite a few of my palms are gone. I was sad to see them go, but always knew it was only a matter of time. Although I hope to keep the gardens exotic and beautiful, I am continuing my move to a more organic food forest type of garden. At any rate, we are still a month away from spring and recovery.


So, what prompted me to wake up the posting here? Well, the spring vegetable garden seeds are sown in their incubator. I have already potted up a couple of flats of various things, mostly tomatoes. I finally got a winter/early spring garden seeded, but a full month later than it should have been. The soils were just too wet until now to work.

Spring is On The Way

Feb 9 - The length of time since my last post pretty much says it all. Fall and Winter were just crazy. Crazy workloads, crazy rainfall, crazy cold. We finally got on of those winters that I always knew was coming. That every 20 year or so Arctic Express. We had 3 nights right at the 20 degrees, on top of several nights in the upper 20s. We have had nearly our average annual rainfall in the last 3 months or so. Gardens are always changing, but sometimes they undergo traumatic change. This was the year. There are many dead plants out there. Quite a few of my palms are gone. I was sad to see them go, but always knew it was only a matter of time. Although I hope to keep the gardens exotic and beautiful, I am continuing my move to a more organic food forest type of garden. At any rate, we are still a month away from spring and recovery.


So, what prompted me to wake up the posting here? Well, the spring vegetable garden seeds are sown in their incubator. I have already potted up a couple of flats of various things, mostly tomatoes. I finally got a winter/early spring garden seeded, but a full month later than it should have been. The soils were just too wet until now to work.

Another sign of the impending spring showed up today as well. A flock of 8 Wood Ducks just showed up. They'll start pairing off and nesting very soon. I am hoping a pair will choose my box this year. Its that time of year when you know spring is right around the corner, but we still have 2 nights below freezing predicted. Daylight savings time is a mere 5 weeks away.