Friday, May 1, 2015

Garden, & Jack It Up Baby!!!!

I enjoy growing my own celery, but never had luck with doing it directly from seeds.  Every fall, I cut the ends off of the organic celery bought from the health food store, and place the ends in a small dish of water on my kitchen window sill to grow roots. 

When spring comes along, I take that rooted celery end and plant it in my garden.    I usually will end up with somewhere between 2 – 5 growing plants.  As my celery grows, I go out to the garden and cut what I need.  This way it continues to grow new stalks.




Speaking of stalks, look at this onion stalk; it’s grown substantially, compared to when I first planted the onion.  This will be the first year I planted a large quantity of onions; with hopes of using them throughout 2015 and into 2016 once harvested.
When I first received the onion starts.

A stalk on just one of my onions planted.
Here’s an update on my potatoes, which were planted on February 7, 2015. 

This is what my Yukon Gold potatoes look like as of today’s date.

I've planted cucumbers seeds in two large pots and placed them next to a feedlot panel to use as a trellis.



Since planting my cucumbers seeds in pots last year worked well, I did the same thing this year.  It really helps contain them so they’re not growing all over the garden bed. 

This is the first year I decided to plant red cabbage.  I picked up 4 seedlings at the local Atwood Ranch store.  I tilled an area by hand, since our tiller is still on the blink, and lined the small bed with bricks. 



On the back side of the cabbage garden bed, I planted two types of sunflower seeds to line the fence.  Hopefully, we will see Sunspot and Mammoth sunflowers soon.


My strawberry patch has started producing strawberries, I look forward to harvest strawberries this year to make jam……YUM!!!!

Since spring has sprung,  I've cut our grass at least 7 times.  Each and every time we brush off the tractor, and hook the water hose to the deck to clean off grass. 

When the grass is wet while cutting it, it has a tendency to bulk up under the deck and around the blades requiring a detailed cleaning.  If you don’t clean out the deck, the grass just sits on the underside of the tractor and starts to rot, causing a terrible smell.

We purchased a special jack for lawn tractors to aid in cleaning the tractor, and Bulldog Man scraped and pressure cleaned the entire tractor. 


What a great tool to have to make lawn tractor cleaning so much easier!!!!

Last night we placed, out on the back patio, two hummingbird feeders with sugar water in preparation for those beautiful hummingbirds passing through. 



Tell me; have you see a hummingbird yet in your area?
SHARE:

24 comments

  1. Got our first hummingbird Sunday and as of today we have three hanging around.

    My tiller went belly up this year as well which why I rented the huge monster tiller. I have a little baby front tine tiller too but it isn't up to any real job.

    Your plants are looking great!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PP,

      I'm hoping we get some hummingbirds, I have 2 feeders hanging.

      Those huge monster tillers are worth renting or even purchasing.

      Thanks PP, I'm trying to have a full healthy garden this year. I have my first bug issue going on right now with my potatoes.

      Delete
  2. Everything is looking great! The squirrels eat any strawberries I've tried growing. they take one bit & that's it, but they bite almost every single berry. I am missing not having something growing this year. I did put a few onions (saved ends from purchased ones) in the raised bed here in the city plus a few potatoes in the same bed. We'll see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DFW,

      Thank you!!! I've placed netting over the top of my strawberries. The birds, and squirrels leave them alone. When you return to your country place you may find onions growing from those ends you've planted.

      Delete
  3. Your garden is looking great!

    Den scares me and just lifts the mower with a tractor and chain to work under it.

    Happy weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gail,

      Thank you! When you have a strong source to use like the large farm tractor to lift the mower it should be okay as long as it's secured properly. Then you don't have to go out and spend money on a special jack.

      Enjoy your weekend my friend.

      Delete
  4. Sweet Sandy - your garden looks fantastic and since our weather is about a month late this year, i have to enjoy other people's gardens until i can get mine in! i should be able to get potatoes in this week (fingers crossed!). i can't believe that you already have strawberrie - woohoo - way to go gurl! and glad that BDMan has a proper tool to keep the lawn tractor clean!

    no hummingbirds yet....they are usually here at mid-end april but i don't think we'll see any until mid-end may. it's going to be an interesting gardening year at the Manor since everything is being put off by a month...but we don't get frost until mid-november so here's hoping we'll be able to put off the harvests for a month!

    much love you always, Brat Angel! your friend,
    kymber

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sweet Kymber,

      I should charge a fee for garden watcher's ........whatcha think?? Bahahahahaha!!!! Just teasing :-) Soon you'll be outside planting your garden and it will provide you with several wonderful harvests.
      Yes Ma'am, I have strawberries and they're almost ready for harvest. The strawberry plants are from 2 years ago. They keep producing!!
      Bulldog Man and I contemplated using a regular jack and bricks.....instead we went the safe way, and bought a lawn tractor jack. I didn't want to see Bulldog Man get hurt cleaning the tractor.....so I insisted we get the lawn tractor jack.

      It's probably still a little bit chilly up there in your area for hummingbirds. I bet in another month or so they'll be hoovering at your place.

      Sending hugs and love to you both.
      Your friend and brat,
      Sandy

      Delete
  5. Looks Great! I love that tool...might have to look into one ....Hummers have been here for about week and half I don't know. started out with just one now it seems there may be as many as five fighten over the feeder. Thinkin I may need to put out another..last year I had two out it seemed to work.
    I planted a lot of onions this year too with hopes of canning, drying, storing whatever I can ....we use a lot of onions!
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M.E.,

      Thank you!!! This lawn tractor jack really makes a world of difference when cleaning the tractor. We found ours at Home Depot, they generally run any where from $170 - $250 dollars. The jack will last you a life time!!!! Granted they're other ways a person can raise the tractor, we went with this jack because were getting to old to try using some of those other ways of lifting the tractor.

      We have 2 feeders out, haven't seen one hummer yet. Hopefully we will. Last year 1 hummer had one toward the end of the season just before it turned cold.

      We use a lot of onions when cooking too. Like you, we want to can, dry, and long term store in a cooler place at home.

      Hugs and love to you both,
      Sandy

      Delete
  6. It all looks awesome! Love it! And how fortuitous that I visited this evening. The zen machine stopped cutting while I was mowing, it was all clogged up! I reached up underneath it and dug it out. It was a pain in the butt. I told myself I needed to get a jack of some sort. Now I know what to get!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1st Man,

      Thank you Sweetie!!! That wet grass will clog up the mower, requiring a good scrapping. You can find these jacks at hardware stores, they're not cheap. May run you somewhere between $170 - $250 depending on where you purchase it.

      Delete
  7. You're garden looks fantastic Sandy. I missed potato planting because of all the rain and mud. I should have done them in containers! I tried a celery end cutting too, but mine gave it up and died on me. I'm glad to hear you've had good success so I'll have to try again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Leigh,

      Thank you Leigh! We expanded the garden this year, not as big as we wanted though. Were planning on planting seeds and seedlings to the max. Now I need to make sure to have plenty of jars come time for canning.

      I've found that my celery did very well when planted within my tomatoes, maybe changing where you plant your celery will make a difference?? Don't give up, try again!

      Delete
  8. I knew you would be keeping us updated on your garden. Looks great! I am interested in you red cabbage. I may try that next year. That jack was an excellent purchase!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michaele,

      This is the first year at trying red cabbage for me, I'm hoping they do well.
      Yes Ma'am, my husband and I are both happy we purchased this jack. It's prevented us from getting hurt trying to lift the tractor by using something else.

      Delete
  9. Your garden is so NEAT! And thank you for reminding me to get out and clean up my hummingbird feeders. I haven't seen them yet, but they should be arriving soon, as the weather has been very warm. I love cabbage but my set up is not ideal for growing it - so I fob it off on my wonderful neighbor who has a huge garden. It's a win-win situation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan,

      Thank you Susan! I'm trying to keep this garden weeded and organized for the first time, LOL.......

      I haven't seen any here yet this year, last year we only had 1.

      This is the first year I'm trying to grow purple cabbage, we will see how it goes. I've noticed 2 leaves with white blotches.

      Delete
  10. I need to look into investing in one of those lawn tractor jacks! Flower Boy just chains ours to the forks on the feed truck. This looks much safer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rancher Girl,

      Those lawn tractor jacks make a real difference on being able to work and clean your tractor properly. It is much safer!!! But chaining the tractor to the forks on the feed truck gets the job done. We don't have a feed truck, and were getting up there in age, so we invested in this jack.

      Delete
  11. I'm glad everything is going so well at your place. You two always seem to be right on top of everything. I always feel like I'm behind the power curve!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey There Harry,

      Most everything is going well, I keep a smile on my face, and try to think positive even if something negative is occurring. Bulldog Man and I have this thing, where we sit with our coffee make plans,and talk things through. We've always been this way, it works for us :-) We try to be proactive with most things but there are times when that just doesn't happen.
      Harry you're not behind on the power curve one bit. You're ahead of most!!!!

      Delete
  12. I am so going to try the celery thing this year I am ready. Great work and jacked up :) Hug B

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Buttons,

      Good to see you my friend! I love growing celery this way. Place celery end in a jar or cup with a little water for the bottom end. Keep replacing water, you'll see roots growing. Wait until you have a full root ball, then plant that baby in soil. It worked really good for me last year, and I'm doing it again this year.

      Thank you, I'm trying to really have a full garden this year. I still have seedlings sitting in my greenhouse inside my actual house. It's suppose to storm all week long, I'm going to plant those seedlings in the ground after all the rain goes by. We love that jack!!!

      Delete

BLOGGER TEMPLATE CREATED BY pipdig