Planning for planting

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Planning for planting

Postby Lollykoko » Sat Feb 18, 2012 7:14 pm

My brother picked up the single glass shower door that I bought at auction last week, thinking it was a folder. One sheet of plywood, some Styrofoam for insulation and a little paint should combine with that to create a cold frame. Sis has a green thumb, if her houseplants aren't lying to me, so I'm trying to talk her into starting some plants from seed.

For the last few weeks I've seen 40% off signs on specific seed displays. With the brown and green winter we've had this year, it's very tempting to forget that February still has quite a while to go. Yesterday I finally finally gave in to the urge, gathered a BIG handful of various annuals and made my way to the check-out stand. $40+ later, I'm ready to make a trip north at the first of the week. :)

Today I picked up three bags (24 ounces each) of wildflower seeds mixed with some filler material. The instructions talk about how to prepare the seed beds, but I will probably ignore them completely. My thought is to chain the old bedspring behind a vehicle and drag it around the pasture a bit to loosen the winter thatch and scratch up the surface of the soil a bit. Then we will scatter the seed over the areas that have been disturbed. Three bags isn't much, but it's somewhere to start. ~~ Several years ago we were fighting "horse weeds" like crazy. In April (before they got a start for the season) I turned the grandkids loose with small boxes of wildflower mix from the drugstore and told them to scatter it wherever they could see dirt among the grass roots. A few weeks later we had patchy flowers, with less weed growth than before.

I'm hoping to get started on a hugelbeet or two within a month. There are places where some chainsaw work needs to be done before putting fruit trees in the ground. Planting season here can be as early as Easter. Other than cool weather crops, everything should be in the ground before Memorial Day. I'm getting as excited as a kid who has finally gotten through Thanksgiving and knows Christmas will be coming soon. :D
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Re: Planning for planting

Postby matt walker » Sun Feb 19, 2012 4:29 am

You and me both Lolly. I'm thankful for the distraction of the stove, otherwise I'd probably have all sorts of seeds started by now. I'm back into thinking about the garden though, and I too am excited about this season. I've learned a lot this winter, and there's tons of stuff I want to try.

I like your wildflower idea. It sounds like fun anyway!
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Re: Planning for planting

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Sat Mar 10, 2012 8:58 pm

How is the hot bed coming along Lolly? Have you found a way to use the glass doors yet? It maybe hard for you to start things underglass at your place if you are not there 100% of the time. I hope you find a good way to use the glass. It would be great to see a green house of sorts from cheap and disguarded glass doors. I am sure that you will find a use for them, if not this year then next year for sure.
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
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Re: Planning for planting

Postby Lollykoko » Sun Mar 11, 2012 2:31 am

The glass door is still north at sis's house, while I'm sitting at my place in town, well south of even the farm. If I manage a cold frame this year it will be from odds and ends I have here, like old storm windows or the glass tops (and mirrors) from end tables I bought in 1988.

But I have made a long, long list of things I hope to be able to plant this year. I have seed for the annuals and am making an order list for trees and shrubs.

My friend Chuck went to the farm with me a few days ago. Just before sundown we were looking at the debris along the ditch and discussing how much work it would take to turn the whole length of it (over 800 feet) into a hugel bed. Can you see the higher portion in the foreground / right corner? That is old cottonwood trees under the prairie grass. Camera looking W to the road.
Image
The second photo was taken from a slightly different spot. The leaning tree is the same in both photos. The view is to the ESE, down the bank of the ditch. This was taken in 2006, the year after all the trees had been cut down and debris left strewn in an untidy chain that stretches the full length of the ditch on the east. On the west side there is less debris, as well as less urgency. That field will remain Zone 5 for the foreseeable future.
Image
I think the photo shows some limbs that hadn't been covered with growth at that time. Anyway, nearly seven years after the "rape and pillage" of my waterway, it seems to be time to move more dirt on top of the mounds and act like I'm glad they are there. The ground where the debris is located is higher than the ditch, so capturing run-off will be a positive and reduce my workload. It is much closer to my running water source than the bottom ground (past the trees to the east) where I have put my plantings in the past. My BIL has promised a small 12V water pump and battery to help with irrigation this year, and 100 feet of hose will be a lot easier to drag around than 500.
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