26 Thursday Apr 2012
Posted in Being Green, Gardening/ Landscaping
I never realized before that each state celebrated arbor day on different days. Today is Pennsylvania’s Arbor Day. I should celebrate it by planting the state tree, an Eastern Hemlock… but it just wouldn’t do well our my property.
Next week our school will give the students small lilacs, blue spruces and other trees to plants. 
Go visit the Arbor Day website!
Find out when your state celebrates Arbor Day.
Are you planting anything?
15 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in Gardening/ Landscaping
Tags
food, garden, gardening, kitchen garden, potager, radishes, raised beds, sunchokes, sustainable living, vegetable garden
This week has been busy in our garden, both our potager and landscaping. I think the muscles in my back are proving that we overdid it… (Hubster said that I’m not allowed to have any sore muscles or back pain while I’m in my 20′s….)
Indoors: I sowed more seeds; lettuces, cabbage, and even some indoor radishes (I want to see how they perform indoors and might try to grow some year round…). I started more romaine and celery from kitchen scraps, and removed he potatoes from my kitchen windows sill to make room…
Outdoors:Hubster built me four new raised beds, one 1′x2′ for my Jerusalem artichokes (aka: sunchokes) and three 1.5′x1.5′ for my sweet potatoes, potatoes and blue potatoes.
Small Raised Beds
In the largest raised bed I planted some cauliflower and celery starters I purchased from the local garden store. We had a few nights when temperatures dropped and frost hit, but I was prepared. I used glass bowls and vases as mini greenhouses to protect my tender plants.
Cauliflower & Celery
Mini Green Houses
This week’s weather look fantastic again (tomorrow is supposed to reach 88°F!!!), so I’m hoping my back feels better soon. I want to get a lot of outdoor work done…
Week 7: More Peas, Carrots, Radishes
Week 6: I took a break!!!!
Week 5: More Tomatoes, Peppers & Lettuce
Week 4: Carrots, Radishes, Peas & Sugar Snap Peas
Ravenous for Radishes
Week 3: Raised Beds
Week 2: Celery & Scallions
Week 1: Tomatoes, Peppers, Sweet Potatoes & Potatoes
What progress is your garden making?
11 Wednesday Apr 2012
Posted in Gardening/ Landscaping
Tags
boxwood, gardening, juniper, landscaping, roses, transplanting
Phase 1
Last Tuesday night, I checked my email and saw that the 20 rose bushes I had ordered would be arriving in the next few days. I wanted to order 40, but Hubster said it would be too difficult to get them all in this year. So we decided to focus on where I wanted the roses in the front. We have a few garden beds lining the front walk and I wanted to add another on at the top of the first bank.
Last Summer - Before
Our Spring Break started on Wednesday and we decided that we better get ready for the rose delivery. We removed the barberry bushes that were crowding the front walk and transplanted (and mulched) them on the lower bank, four on each side. In the fall we transplanted two and only one survived the move, so we hope they have a better chance this time. I used Hubster’s sawsall to prune the holly into a nicely shaped tree. Why the previous owners wouldn’t want to see the fantastic mountain view from their front porch is beyond me. We carefully weeded and tilled the soil in the two beds that line the front walk and removed any traces of weeds.
Thursday wasn’t really a work day, I made a trip to the garden center and bought some Blue Star Juniper. I really like the texture on this plant and the fact that we’ll have evergreen color in the winter. I also picked up some thick black plastic to use as a weed barrier in the beds (of all the gardening techniques we used at our previous residence, this was the best!).
Friday morning we were back to work, with Poppy (my dad) and Pumpkin helping with the day’s chores. We removed the straggly daffodil bulbs, mint and the pathetic hostas that were formerly hidden under the barberry bushes and set them aside, hoping to give them new life once we plant them in the right conditions. We cut the plastic to fit the garden beds. To add the 6 junipers and 6 rose bushes we cut an x in the plastic, made a hole in the soil, planted them, repositioned the plastic, covered with mulch and watered. Hubster removed the two overgrown arborvitaes, and now I can see the mountains from my living room and dining room!
The outside of the driveway is lined with mountain stone, right where our lawn drops down to the first bank. We laid down the plastic and mulch and added the 14 remaining rose bushes. It was finally time to call it a night!
Saturday, my father and I made another trip to the garden center where I got 6 more junipers and 7 boxwoods. We alternated planting them between the roses which lined the top of the front slope.
Phase 1 - In Progress
With Monday being so too windy to work, we stopped the job there. We need a good solid rain to settle the mulch before we top it off and then trim the excess plastic. However, this break we got done way more than we thought we would.
Top Slope Garden
Hubster and I plan to add more mountain stone (at our first house it was river rock) to completely line each bed. This will be essential to the bed at the top of the hill to keep the mulch from sliding… Phase 1 complete… Phase 2 planned…
Were you able to get any yardwork/landscaping done?
09 Monday Apr 2012
Posted in Gardening/ Landscaping
Tags
garden, peas, potager, radishes, salad garden, seedlings, sugar snap peas, sustainable living, vegetable garden
I took a break from my seeds last week since I went away for the weekend. When I was gone, Hubster just about killed my seedlings! Fortunately, I was able to nurture most of them back to health.
Pumpkin also munched on all the scallions and didn’t save the roots, except for three that were left in the container, my supply is busted… I think these boys are trying to sabotage my garden!
This week, I was able to directly sow more seeds in my raised beds. Time for more carrots, peas, sugar snap peas and radishes.
Radishes - Planted 3 Weeks Ago
Peas & Sugar Snap Peas - Planted 3 Weeks Ago
Week 6: I took a break!!!!
Week 5: More Tomatoes, Peppers & Lettuce
Week 4: Carrots, Radishes, Peas & Sugar Snap Peas
Week 3: Raised Beds
Week 2: Celery & Scallions
Week 1: Tomatoes, Peppers, Sweet Potatoes & Potatoes
What did you do in your garden this week?
27 Tuesday Mar 2012
Posted in Gardening/ Landscaping
We had two and a half weeks of pure blissful weather. I’m talking about 3 days hitting 80°F! In central Pennsylvania, that doesn’t happen in winter… not even towards the end. Now that Spring is officially here, the weather is back to what it should be cool and rainy. The winter heat wave granted us an early Spring (take that Phil!).
The local blooming trees bloomed 3-4 weeks before normal. For the last three weeks I wistfully watched my neighbors’ trees blooming throughout our development, some even have passed their peak. This week our cherry tree timidly began to show some blooms.
Timid Cherry Tree
The grape hyacinths are gathered by the masses all over our lawn…
Cluster of Grape Hyacinths
And I had even planted a white and purple mix of grape hyacinths last fall.
White & Purple Grape Hyacinths
A plethora of purple periwinkle hugs the front banks…
Plethora of Periwinkle
My azaleas are showing small buds, almost ready to reveal their mystery color and the allium foliage are proudly popping up from the earth. I’m still trying to find the gems during the first Spring at our new house.
How is your season changing?
25 Sunday Mar 2012
Posted in Gardening/ Landscaping
This weekend was chilly and rainy, I didn’t get any more seeds sowed outside in the raised beds. The forecast looks bleak this coming week, and or taste of warmer weather my be over.
In my windowsill, the celery is showing roots at the bottom and Pumpkin attacked the scallions which had completed regenerated in only 3 weeks. We started to root the ends of romaine lettuce in my crème brûlée dishes, and we can’t wait to see how they grow.
I decided to sow some seeds indoors, I started another 2 rows of each variety of tomatoes and pepper that I did one week one. I also sowed a mix of lettuce and am waiting to see how that turns out.
Week 4: Carrots, Radishes, Peas & Sugar Snap Peas
Week 3: Raised Beds
Week 2: Celery & Scallions
Week 1: Tomatoes, Peppers, Sweet Potatoes & Potatoes
19 Monday Mar 2012
Posted in Gardening/ Landscaping
Please forgive me, I’m a day late with this post, but it has been simply gorgeous outside and I haven’t been near the computer much. First using a layer of newspaper at the bottom as a weed barrier (hopefully, I made it thick enough) and then mixing top soil and mushroom soil we got from a local farmer, Hubster and I filled our raised beds. For $20, our 8′x4′ and one 4′x4′ are filled.
I checked out Smart Gardener and starting playing around with some of the layout. Compared with the info from Sprout Robot, I was ready to start sowing seeds outdoors. Afterall, they don’t really know that our plants are three weeks early this year.
Smart Gardener
This week I direct sowed Burpee’s Super Sugar Snap Peas, Easy Peasy Peas, Perfecto Radishes and Kaleidoscope Mix Carrots. After I placed the seeds, Belle decided to throw her frisbee and drag it across the top of the radishes and carrots. Ugh! We’ll see how many of them got tossed about. I plan on planting these in succession (weekly) across the furthest 4′x4′ bed each week.
Week 3: Raised Beds
Week 2: Celery & Scallions
Week 1: Tomatoes, Peppers, Sweet Potatoes & Potatoes
