Potting Up

Yesterday I finally got around to potting up little transplants.  I'm growing a lot of tomato plants for friends this year and have moved the tiny seedlings out to the potting shed.  Tomato seeds need heat for germination, but once they're up, they can take some cool temperatures.  With night time temperatures starting the move up, the potting shed it the place for them so they don't become too leggy.

Tomato and pepper seedlings in their temporary new homes

I always put the transplanted tomatoes deeper in the soil.  They will create roots on the buried stem, making the plant stronger and also making them less leggy.  More detailed directions on potting up tomato seedlings can be found in a March post from last year. At the same time, I potted up pepper plants.  They've been in the potting shed for a week now and are doing well.

My big problem is with pots.  I love to give away plants, but it's leaving me a bit short of 4" and 6" pots.  I'll have to ask for some pots in return!

Victoria Celery

This year I'm growing celery for the first time.  I carefully transplanted a dozen tiny seedlings into 6-pack planters and they have all survived.  Naturally, the ones left in the starting pot are ahead of them, not having suffered the shock of transplanting.  I may set out some of those as well as there are lots to choose from.

Lettuce Seedlings

Lettuce plants are also doing very well and I'll probably be able to set them outside any day now.

Red Currant volunteer against the potting shed

Today the weather is glorious, in spite of a dismal prediction.  The blue orchard bees are starting to emerge from their winter homes and the red currant is loud with the noise of pollination.

In the pond, the water marigold is coming into full bloom.  Fish are starting to come up for food and all the aquatic plants are waking up.  Spring is definitely here!

Hectic Spring

This time of year is always a flurry of activity.  Each week something needs to be seeded, moved to the potting shed because it has sprouted or transplanted into the garden.  There's also the beds to be readied.  There's a big pile of SeaSoil sitting on and under tarps and as the driver wasn't able to back up to where we wanted it dumped, it will have to be moved.  The maple leaves that were gathered last fall now need to be shredded.

Asparagus roots to be discarded with the finished bed in the background

First on the agenda was removing one bed of asparagus.  These particular plants are quite old - at least 15 years old - and needed to be replaced.  It was a lot of hard work for my husband, digging out the bed and depositing the root-filled soil on a tarp.  Then he sifted out the roots and dumped the dirt back in the pit.  In between layers of sifted soil, we added a good thick layer of SeaSoil.  The bed is filled now to overflowing but rain will tamp it down and we're expecting some this next week.  I'll buy a package of asparagus roots and plant them next week.

I'm growing celery for the first time.  A friend that I give tomato seedlings to has grown it for years and says it's pretty easy.  She freezes chopped celery to add to soups and stews during the winter.  I bought seeds of a variety called Victoria which is apparently quite popular in Britain.  The tiny seeds took a couple of weeks to germinate.  Today I transplanted a dozen tiny seedlings to 6-pack planters and they're sitting under plastic in the potting shed.  Any seedlings that fail to take will be replaced with a good supply of what remains in the spouting pot.

Seedlings!  Seedlings!

I also seeded the tomatoes today.  Because I now grow lots of tomatoes for friends, there's quite an array of pots.  I'm not sure where I'm going to put them all because they need heat for germination and there's only so much room under the grow light in the living room.  Perhaps it's time to get a bigger one!  For now I'll probably put them in plastic bags and sit them on the living room window still until the peppers finally sprout and I can move them to the potting shed.

About half of the raised beds are prepared.  Each one had a good amount of SeaSoil added, then a good dusting of my fertilizer.  At this time of the year, I wonder how I can possibly fill them.  By the end of April I'll be wishing I had more room!

Plan 2015

Today it suddenly occurred to me that it might be a good idea to have a plan for the garden.  What a novel idea!

The first step was to go up to the garden, pen and paper in hand, and sketch out a rough plan of the garden.  Most of our beds are concrete and so are permanent installations.  The perennial bed in the centre of the plateau and the asparagus beds are also permanent installations.  Our original wooden beds have just about outlived their purposes and are rotting away.  Two half barrels will also have limited life.  Then there are tire stacks which can be considered transitional as well.

Sketch done, I made a better job of it in the house and scanned the result.  Then out came the seed packages to make sure I have everything accounted for.  And here's the result:

Gardening Plan for 2015

One half of the asparagus bed will be dug up this year as it's nearing the end of its productive life.  These were our first asparagus plants and are about 15 years old.  We'll replace them with new plants and then next year or the year after, do the same to the other side of the asparagus bed.

Beds 10, 11 and 12 will be dismantled after this growing season and at this point we're thinking of replacing them with 3 4x4 concrete beds.  Between 11 and 12 there's the top of a massive rock which prevents us from constructing one long bed.

I've left one 4x4 bed and 2 tire stacks empty at this point as you always forget something.  And in half of the compost bin this year, I'll grow Waltham Butternut Squash.  They should be very happy!

So that's the plan.  We'll see if I actually follow it!

New Toys - A Digression

And a digression will tell you exactly why I call myself The Messy Gardener - I'm easily distracted. Nevertheless, there is a garden connection in my new toys.

My first new toy is a digital weather station bought from Lee Valley, which we got because the thermometer on the side of the house doesn't really give accurate readings and you have to go outside to see it properly.  It comes with one sensor which you mount in a shady location, but I purchased an extra one because I planned to mount one in the garden and another below the house.  Shady locations in my garden are hard to find!  Mounting it on the north wall of the potting shed was turned down because the potting shed can get quite hot, hence inaccurate readings.  I finally decided to mount it on the inside of one of the gates to the pond.  It was a good thing I bought an extra sensor, because the first time the gate was closed, the vibrations rendered the sensor inoperable.  I found a much more detailed manual online which advised you not to joggle the sensors in any way.  Too bad that wasn't in the manual that came with the sensor!  And good thing I bought an extra sensor!

La Crosse Wireless Weather Forecast Station

The second sensor was mounted on a post under our bedroom deck and now we have a properly working weather station.  The time is taken from the Atomic Clock, so it's very accurate and we have indoor and outdoor temperatures as well as minimum and maximum temperatures.  As you can see, this morning was cold and clear.

My second new toy is my Fitbit Charge.  We grow our own vegetables because we want healthy food inside our bodies.  It was long since time that I worked on the outside to make my body healthier.  A note on my daughter's Facebook page asked friends what they knew about the Fitbit.  I've wanted a good step counter for a long time and it seemed like a good product to investigate.  It turns out this was exactly what I was needing.  You wear the Fitbit all the time - except when in the bathtub or shower.  My Charge counts my step and gives me goals to work towards.  It translates steps into stairs climbed and miles travelled.  It is a proper encouragement to get moving.  It even monitors my sleep.  Now that my daughter has one too, we challenge each other and that is an even greater encouragement.  Turns out we're a bit more competitive than we'd thought!  And as for the garden connection, you can log activities of which gardening is one.  Turning over the soil is translated into steps and periods of activity.

This morning, my Fitbit, the dog and I walked to the ferry terminal to get the car that my husband had left there.  A walk on Thetis Island is a definite workout as there's hardly a level place on the island.

Ice on the slough

The walk to the ferry terminal is a beautiful one as well and one I hadn't taken for quite a while.  The cold morning had put ice on the slough - just a thin layer, but ice nevertheless. Oh! And the walk was some 3,800 steps which is over a third of my daily goal of 10,000 steps.

Telegraph Harbour on a March morning

British Columbia's Gulf Islands are gorgeous places to live.  There's hardly a spot that isn't photogenic so taking a point-and-click camera with you whenever you go for a walk is a must.

Preedy Harbour looking to Mount Brenton

So, yes, my new toys are a bit of a digression for a gardening blog, but there is a connection.  I now can accurately gauge the overnight temperatures for transplanting outside in the spring, and my activity in the garden can be measured and help me to get myself in better health.  It's all good!