ananxiousgardener
An Anxious Gardener
28 | she/her | Isabella | main interests are currently gardening, sport motorcycles, and jason todd
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Garden Log #5/03/2024 - Early Morning
I'm exhausted!!!
I had to take the apple trees to work with me yesterday so I could soak the roots on the way home (I bought a clean 5 gallon food grade bucket so I wouldn't need to worry about bumps splashing water everywhere). They soaked for the 2 hour drive, then I had to mow the yard when I got home, so they got about another hour and a half before I planted them.
I don't like the way one of the trees looks because the other three are all budding while this one just doesn't look as good (but I've never planted fruit trees, so what do I know?). I added some blood meal sprinkled on top of the soil, but I also just read that you're not supposed to add fertilizer for a couple weeks after planting? But I also watched a video of an orchard owner planting new transplants and then fertilizing immediately after?
Oh well, I prefer the trial and error method when it comes to gardening.
I need to head out to work on the garden a little earlier today because it's going to be another hot day and I definitely saw some of my catnip plants drooping last night. I, regretfully, did not check on the plants in the greenhouse before I went to bed. Most of them were doing fine in the morning, but the... more expensive seedlings were showing some stress from temps going down the past couple of nights combined with almost 90 degree daytime temps for almost a week.
I do still have 2 seeds of each variety saved, and I've also had a 100% germination rate from the other seeds I planted, so the only loss I'll have if/when I plant a new set is time... though they will probably grow much better if I can set up a raised bed inside the greenhouse and plant them directly.
I did a quick check of the cabbage and cayenne pepper sprouts I transplanted and, aside from a little drooping from a couple of the cabbage sprouts that need a little more water, they did survive the hot ass sun yesterday.
In non-garden news, my anxiety is getting real bad.
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Garden Log #5/01/2024 - Early Morning
I haven't done anything today (it's first thing in the morning), so this is a log for yesterday.
I had an unexpected day off, so while I spent a bit of the morning cleaning inside because it was raining, later in the day I managed to plant my cabbage in the garden, as well as a couple of cayenne pepper seedlings, though I don't know if those will make it since it is still a little early in the season.
After that I transplanted some of the extra cucumber and summer squash that were starting to sprout because I don't like wasting plants if I can help it.
I hate to admit it, but the day before yesterday I actually did leave my drip water on (the other time I left it on just barely, but this time it was fully turned on), and the only saving grace was that the garden is on a slope so the water drained pretty well. The plants actually seemed to be doing better yesterday than before, so maybe they needed it? I hope?
Anyway, after the small things I decided to work on another garden section, used the weed-eater down a 3'x20' area followed by the mower as low as the deck allowed and I was able to lay some weed barrier down. Hopefully it will hold up, but I did cover actual grass and it might be a little more difficult to control with how late in the season I laid it.
My apple trees are also supposed to be arriving today, which only sucks because it's supposed to be in the 80's and I'll be out of the house until after 5 with no one around to bring them inside and a front porch (where all the packages are always dropped off) in full sunlight after 3pm. I hope they'll survive, but it might just be up to luck.
I need to finish getting ready for work, including watering the plants in the greenhouse.
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Garden Log #4/28/2024 - Afternoon
I got an email around 11 that my apple trees shipped, so I decided to pre-dig the holes since I'll likely be working when they're delivered (I really hope they don't need to be signed for because I'll probably never get them if so, or at least not before they're damaged beyond use). I really underestimated how difficult it is to dig through grass. I had to use an axe to break every layer because I couldn't get enough weight on the shovel... and now my arms are weak and shaky after two holes.
I didn't get the fence done (I'm sensing a theme here), but I have roof work tomorrow and I do actually need to rest occasionally .
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Garden Log #4/28/2024 - Mid-Morning
I've got a bit done already! I set up a new patch (the one I intend to use when I transplant my strawberry plants next year) and planted the sweet potatoes, then I planted a peony root (though It looked like a chunk of wood... so I'm not sure how it will grow, if it does at all), then, when I went to plant the astilbe roots, I found that they had accidentally included an extra root which I planted in the (future) strawberry patch. The same thing happened when I unpackaged one of the grape roots last night where a small extra root system with a cut stem fell out alongside the main root.
I watered the plants that needed watered, and also noticed all my potatoes have broken ground.
Bad news is that apparently my water spigot wasn't turned completely off last night, so my drip irrigation was still dripping when I went out to check the garden. Good news is that this spring has been pretty dry and there isn't really much rain in the forecast.
Back to the strawberry patch... I'm not sure if anything I plant in it is going to do very well. The bottom layer is the regular ground dirt, but then I have a pretty substantial layer of straw, and after that is old potting soil/dirt from my greenhouse. I'm not super concerned about it, though, because my plan is just to plant leftover seedlings/plants that I don't really need to plant but also don't want to just throw away in there.
Ohhh, maybe I should plant the giant planter of potatoes in there! I don't know if that would help loosen up the dirt or anything, but it could maybe become some type of fertilizer...
Quick internet search says they would likely need to be cooked before adding to compost, so maybe I won't bother with that.
My remaining main goal to finish today is adding the wire for the fence, but also weed-eating around the fence base as well as around the greenhouse and beside the strawberry patch. It'd be great if I could plant the cabbage, but not the end of the world if I don't, especially since I'd have to make sure they're all well covered with netting to prevent cabbage worms and slugs from destroying them >_>
I wonder if netting could help keep aphids off lettuce and kale...
I'm also wondering if I could build some kind of 'cage' of netting so it won't just sit directly on the plant... Something to keep in mind, for sure.
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Garden Log #4/28/2024 - Morning
I always forget how fast time goes by when I'm working...
Assuming the 10 day forecast is at all reliable, the threat of frost should be done for spring which means I can safely plant some things into the ground (cabbage and broccoli, specifically). I planted 4 grapes last night and 3 raspberries, 1 blackberry, and 4 blueberries the night before. I've also started leaving the seedlings and seeds I've planted in the greenhouse and they seem to be doing okay.
I hate that I have to leave for work 3 hours before the sun comes up because I had to leave all the seedlings inside in relative darkness for 3 days, but hopefully that didn't have any particularly lasting consequences.
I've got 4 out of 7 potatoes breaking ground, most of the garlic and onions are coming up, and the random sunflowers somehow survived the frost.
I cleaned half the greenhouse on the last day off I had and found two random pumpkin/squash seedlings (no idea what they are, I had a ton of different pumpkins/gourds/squash stored in the greenhouse and some animal got in and knocked a bunch of seeds on the ground/ate a lot of them). I managed to transplant them to some small pots to grow until I can plant them in the garden.
I also transplanted the catnip I had growing in the greenhouse and even though I was sure I killed two out of four of the plants, they seem like they've regained some life in the past two days. I planted them in the middle of the patches where I planted the berries.
I also bought 4 apple trees (2 honeycrisp and 2 granny smith), but they aren't supposed to be here until May 3rd through the 10th, so even though I'd like to prep the ground on my day off... I also don't want the areas I need to dig to become too dry. Plus, I'm not entirely confident about the seller and I don't want 4 giant holes in the yard for nothing.
There are a couple of things I need to do today; add another line of wire on the electric fence because something has dug up two of my garlic bulbs, plant a couple of sweet potatoes, and plant some flower roots I impulsively bought. I also need to plant some flower seeds in pots where I have some sprinklers already set up.
I ordered another pack of drippers for the new plants, though I think I'll also need another faucet adapter for a new line soon. Anyway, the drippers won't arrive until tomorrow, so I can't really do much with the irrigation line today.
If I'm not utterly exhausted, I might try to clean up the other half of the greenhouse. I've already noticed ground moles digging around under the weed barrier I placed, though, so I'm glad I triple lined it.
I don't feel like writing anymore right now, so I'm going to end this log here.
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Garden Log #4/21/2024 - Morning
I haven't done a log for a couple days (work is back), but I've still been doing my garden things. After work on Friday I planted a blackberry bush and a raspberry bush, though they won't produce fruit until next year if I can keep them alive. I also planted a couple of pink hollyhock roots, though the roots were so much smaller than I expected that I thought the bag I got was missing the roots. I'm really not sure if those will grow, but the flowers look really pretty and $4 for two roots is a lot cheaper than buying the fully grown plant. It's also fun when things grow from something small into something vibrant.
On a disappointing note, the sudden drop in temps has not been good for the sunflower seedlings even though I've been covering them with straw and, last night, coco liners. they're clearly showing cold stress, but they're in the actual garden and I can't do much more than cover them to keep them warm. I have hundreds of sunflower seeds (and some really pretty varieties that I'd like to plant), so I'm not really upset. I just don't like when plants die...
I counted at least 8 onions shooting last night and 5 garlic, as well as some marigold seeds that are sprouting (which I covered, but I really was not anticipating these cold nights and tonight is going to get down to freezing).
My estimated last frost date was supposed to be April 19, but it looks like I probably shouldn't attempt to sow anything outside until Friday, so that sucks. I might be able to do some cold hardy veggies, but I'll still be worried about the seedlings, so it may just be better for me to prep the areas as much as needed so I can just drop the seeds on Friday and be done.
There are still a lot of doable things in the garden today, including cleaning up the greenhouse and some more prep on the strawberry patch. If it warms up enough (and with the power of the sun), I might be able to add some lines onto the main irrigation line for future sowing.
I'll be taking my seedlings back out to the greenhouse in another hour or so, when the sun is up and it's warmed enough.
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Garden Log #4/18/2024 - Evening
I'm not spending much time on this log because I just want to read a little before I need to go to sleep.
I ended up adding more to the main irrigation line because I moved some potted plants (flowers) on to the garden section. I also finished adding the wire to the electric fence and am a little annoyed at the bottom section because it's sticking out way further than I'd intended. If it gets too bad then I may go back and hook it up backwards, but I didn't have time to deal with it today.
I still need to test the irrigation and the fence, but it's still too hot for the water to be turned on and I need to look up what to set the fence on so I'm not worried about shocking myself (I don't think it could do a deadly shock, but it's still worrisome to me). I might sprinkle some zinnia and other flower seeds in the pots I added irrigation to, as well as a few separate pots for the nasturtium flowers. I saw somewhere that tobacco plants are good aphid distractions, too, but I don't even know if they'd grow well here.
I haven't done much else since my last post.
No photo because it didn't save to my drafts fast enough and I wanna read!!!
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Garden Log #4/18/2024 - Afternoon
It's hot! Again! Though not nearly as bad as the last couple days. I finished setting up the majority of the electric fence (minus a part that I need help with, but that'll get done tonight). I'm definitely going to need at least 5 though preferably 8 more posts to make it sturdier. I'll still need to weed-eat around the garden, but I won't need to worry so much about grass and weeds growing right on the posts this year.
I also mostly finished the irrigations, though I won't know for sure until the sun goes down enough that I don't need to worry about spraying my bulbs and seedlings with scalding, sun-warmed water. It is much easier to put everything together when the sun's pre-heated the tubing up.
Off-topic, but weather.com is getting increasingly more frustrating to use and I'm really close to just using a different website (that doesn't have excessive ads that make the page non-functional unless you reload it, and that's with adblock). I'll probably start checking and comparing accuweather, since it's the only other weather site I'm somewhat familiar with that isn't spc.noaa. Unless the culprit is just Google Chrome -_-
I'd still like to add some more sections of irrigation on the main line so I can plant some root veggies and things, but my thumbs are a little sore and I also just really don't want to be out in the sun right now...
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Garden Log #4/17/2024 - Evening
I'm only a little annoyed that my browser crashed while I was writing this text post (I hadn't typed much yet), so I will try to write it out again. :P
For starters: drip irrigation kits! I understand why someone recommended just getting the cheapest one as a starter because it's really just a way to learn how to hook everything up and what pieces you actually need for your uses. I'm a little more than halfway finished with a basic setup and everything is working like it's supposed to.
As I was setting the tubing up, I did sneak some peeks at some of the things I've planted and I noticed at least one onion is shooting, the single garlic I moved the dirt around to check has rooted (I didn't know that's what garlic did and was checking for rot/dryness), the potatoes have all developed roots, and the two different dahlia roots I planted are also starting to grow new shoots even though I definitely thought I'd killed them by not watering enough on those random ass summer heat days. The cherry tomatoes are still alive, and the sunflowers are doing really great, as well.
The only thing (in the garden itself) not showing any progress are the marigold seeds, but a store-bought packet I found says the germination time is 10-14 days, and I only planted them a few days ago.
I think some of the catnip and rosemary I planted it starting to sprout, and my cabbage sprouts are looking really nice. When I get the drip irrigation set up I will try to transplant the cabbage/broccoli and plant lettuce, spinach, radish, beets, beans, and a bunch of miscellaneous herbs and flowers that are supposed to be good companions for more of the garden. I'm really excited to plant the white yarrow sprouts because even the seeds had an amazing smell, and hopefully my chamomile seeds will germinate soon, too.
I'm going to be a lot more careful with how I store my seeds this year so I won't have to spend so much on restocking again OTL
Oh! I forgot to mention because I'd already typed it out in my other text post attempt that I finally planted the seeds that needed planted! Finally!!! I do also plan to replant some herbs that are having trouble germinating from last year's seeds, but I won't need to go through as much trouble with the seed starting mix.
I also found a packet of Parisian Market carrots that I'm a little excited for because they basically look like orange radishes and should be easy to grow anywhere there's open space in the garden and I've never grown carrots before.
I'll need to make sure I get the electric fence put up tomorrow because the cats are trying to use my garden as a litter box and I'm also worried opossums or raccoons will bite or pull out my irrigation tubing or dig out the bulbs and tubers
The game-plan for tomorrow should be: 1) finish setting up irrigation, 2) finish setting up the electric fence, 3) plant whatever I remember to plant where spacing allows, 4) fix ripped greenhouse screen windows
I just found out that tumblr autosaves posts as drafts... but I already typed all this out and I'm not about to edit it all just for something I already went over.
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Garden Log #4/16/2024 - Evening
Today is truly a day of halves. Everything I started is only halfway complete. I started working on the strawberry patch (was this in my itinerary at all? Nope!) and only got so far as laying old straw and used potting soil over the freshly weeded patch where I'll be transplanting my strawberries someday.
After that I moved the steel stakes for the corners of the electric fence so it's less likely to be overgrown by weeds and dug out these long hard plastic slats that I need to drill holes into so I can run the actual electric fence posts through so I don't need to poke unnecessary holes into the weed barrier. I also cut the grass and weeds where I need to place the plastic slats. And that's that for the electric fence!
I also tried to work on the drip irrigation, but realized I bought the wrong size tubing, so I only got as far as testing the length, figuring out exactly what I need to hook up to the spigot and then I couldn't work on that anymore today.
It's honestly really not great outside today, either. 85° in mid April when I'm still waiting for the frost date to pass so I can safely plant things outside? I don't like it!
It really wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't also very humid, but there's nothing I can do about it. It's supposed to rain and storm all day tomorrow, then I go back to work for the foreseeable future (where there are a few nights in the 30s forecasted).
And I still haven't planted the seeds OTL
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Garden Log #4/15/2024 - Late Afternoon
I watered everything that needed watered this morning, bought stuff for drip irrigation, re-mulched the front decorative landscaping (very small areas, mostly just needed a few bags of mulch I'd had left over from last year spread around and some weeds/dead plants cleared out), got the posts for the electric fence out, spent 1.5 hours mowing the yard, and finally got to sit down when my period cramps hit T-T
I also bought a 'plastic 50 gallon rain barrel' (not a hard plastic barrel), but it was only $35 so I don't have very high hopes. It's supposed to have a spigot, and it shouldn't be difficult to build a stand behind the greenhouse so I can have the drip irrigation (hopefully) use that water and save a little that way. If it actually works and doesn't break in a month I may buy another one.
I did not plant the seeds. OTL
Pictured in this is a photo of me: protection from my scalp being fried, protection from stray sticks and rocks gouging out my eyes, protection from hearing loss, and my inability to take a selfie without a peace sign. Not pictured: sunscreen I thankfully remembered, my sweaty feet in black mud boots, and the aching head I felt the full brunt of an hour after I squeezed that hat over those headphones.
If the cramps stop then I may go back out to do some more work, but with how bad ticks have been with the warm weather... I don't know if I want to take another shower today. I have seed starting soil and all the seeds inside, so I guess I could do the one thing I had actually meant to do today...
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Garden Log #4/14/2024 - Evening
I managed to add five plots! The only downside is that I only have two bags of dirt left which isn't going to be enough for some pumpkin and gourd patches 😭. I'll most likely lay some more weed barriers and just plant them directly in the ground again. It's a hassle with keeping everything watered right, but I had a giant pumpkin harvest last year regardless.
I need to use the pieces of barrier that I cut to line the outside of the garden. I'm thinking about running it under some bricks, but I'll need to make them flush with the ground and I also just don't have enough bricks. I do have a lot of spare lumber that I might be able to use instead...
I don't know if I'm going to have time (or the will, tbh) to clean out the greenhouse before work starts back up.
Distracted again! Now I'm watching a video on drip irrigation 💧💧💧. It was taking almost an hour to water everything last year and the fact that I had to do this at 5:00AM and leave for work at 6... it was a lot, and if setting up drip irrigation saves time and money, I'm down for that.
My hope for tomorrow is that I'll decide what is getting planted in the plots and also sow the seeds that need sown.
And I need to remember to bring my seedlings in tonight :P
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Garden Log #4/14/2024 - Afternoon
I've watered the entire garden, sown five or six marigolds, and moved the compost into a fence so I don't have to deal with the opossums rooting around in the pile. I'd like to finish prepping/building a few more garden sections today, and I also need to plant a lot more seeds very soon.
Unless I can find a better way to transport water, it's going to take a long time and a lot of effort to water the garden this summer. I could just use the hose... but I'm gardening because I want to spend less on food. Otherwise I'd just be planting flowers.
Also, there is an excessive amount of earthworms/red worms in my garden dirt. Every time I move the tiniest bit of dirt or pick something up I see at least one good size worm, but usually more than one. I wonder if it's because I didn't use any chemicals on my garden last year or something else, but there definitely weren't so many when I loosened the ground for potatoes last time. I think I had one worm every two holes and I was going an entire foot down as well as a foot wide for each hole.
I had to take a few minutes to check if it's bad to have a lot of worms, then I had to find a video on jumping worms just in case, and I've arrived at the conclusions that my worms are regular earthworms so it should be fine 😅 (video included for future reference).
youtube
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Garden Log #4/14/2024 - Morning
I bought 80 bags of 1cuft garden soil foolishly expecting that to be enough for my garden (even adding the remaining 13 bags from last year), but I'm down to 37 bags and I've only filled one row out of the 4-6 rows I'd hoped to do.
I'm going to make some shorter plots for planting some squash, zucchini, and cucumbers, just because I really want to keep those as separate as possible to avoid the issues I had last year with powdery mildew. I also need to make space for beans, though I'll likely just end up inter-planting them with all the other plots.
And corn! I keep forgetting to make a plan for the stinky corn. It grew well last year, but I didn't harvest any of it at the right time and it was way too chewy to enjoy. I might be able to interplant corn with some of the vining plants, though I'll need to check the compatibility between them first.
I also need to decide where I'm going to be transplanting my catnip plants as I have five that should be transplanted, and they're supposed to work well as companions for most veggies.
I've also got to clean out the greenhouse so I can lay the weed guard down so it doesn't get overgrown like last year. I wish mulch and gravel weren't so expensive because it would be nice not to have to worry about the weed guard getting blown away like I have in my garden. Then again, if it's blown away in the green house then that's likely my least concern.
Yesterday I managed to plant... maybe eighteen garlic cloves, at least twelve sweet onions, two dahlia roots, seven potatoes, and two yellow cherry tomato seedlings that I found growing in my greenhouse. Oh, and two sunflower seedlings that I also found! All went directly into the garden. I'm considering planting my broccoli and cabbage seedlings in as well, but I'm concerned about slugs eating them or raccoons and opossums digging them up.
I should probably put up the electric fence before it actually does become an issue. They're too nervous about the weed guard to go digging right now, but it's only a matter of time.
I hope I can make some garden logs every now and then as it really helps to keep my interest up and it's fun to remember the progress I've made, as well as a reminder to when I planted things. It is getting a little late in the morning, though, and I need to take some seedlings out to the greenhouse and uncover some plants in the garden before the sun hits them.
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#I’ve got some frogs that decided they want to live in a place that has no natural standing water#so this would be really cool to figure out 😚
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Misty Meadows Background piece cause I heard y’all like when I do pastel stuff
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May.
© Jee Won Park (ig: zeewipark)
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