This, That, and the Other
Apr. 1st, 2011 05:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluesgardenLately, just looking at the blinking cursor in a blank window when I'm thinking about posting is enough to make me tired. I don't know where to start and the stuff to catch up on is piling up! On the other hand, I've been keeping up with dishes, so apparently it's one or the other? It doesn't help that winter is over staying its welcome this year. There was snow yesterday and there'll be more this weekend, although no accumulation. The nighttime temperatures have been frigid - 17°F (-8.3°C) is too cold when it's otherwise time to have things planted out.
Thanks to said weather, the outside peas have been wearing a double layer of clear plastic for a while now. The one is doing quite well but the other either has a bit of a draft or just doesn't have the shelter of a building along the north side like the first one does, so they've barely germinated. The stuff in the greenhouse has hung on through the cold temps although it's all growing very, very slowly. I noticed late this afternoon that the radishes, beets, and spinach are juuuust starting to get their first true leaves.
This is particularly good for the radishes as there was evidence of flea beetles last week. I pulled out the affected seedlings and haven't seen any since, which... shouldn't have worked, to be honest. I suspect the bitter temperatures put them off for a bit longer - which will hopefully allow them time to grow larger than the flea beetles prefer to snack on. I'll need to pick up some row cover for the garden radishes and their kohlrabi cousins to help protect them when the time comes to plant those seeds.
Some more things:
· I started the tomato seeds on Tuesday! Next up is the peppers, probably early next week.
· The onion and leek seedlings have already had one haircut and need another, and the onions have been thinned.
· Monday night I failed at removing seeds from black raspberry pulp and at jam making. It was my first attempt with Pomona Pectin, though, and a small batch, so I've no problems with trying again. Once I'm ready to face the dishes it will result in.
· River weighed in at 46 pounds today, but it was on a new (much more accurate) scale than before, so it's the new starting weight. Jack weighed in at 31.5 pounds.
· Speaking of, I had to actually buy pumpkin puree today - 12 cans at $1.69 each. :( If I'd known last fall how much pumpkin I'd be going through this spring and summer, I would have processed a lot more of them and not forgotten them to frost bite in the greenhouse!
· I have already found a flea on River, despite the weather which is completely unfair! Their doses of topically applied pesticides (Advantix II) were ordered last night.
· There's probably more, but I've forgotten it. *sigh*
Thanks to said weather, the outside peas have been wearing a double layer of clear plastic for a while now. The one is doing quite well but the other either has a bit of a draft or just doesn't have the shelter of a building along the north side like the first one does, so they've barely germinated. The stuff in the greenhouse has hung on through the cold temps although it's all growing very, very slowly. I noticed late this afternoon that the radishes, beets, and spinach are juuuust starting to get their first true leaves.
This is particularly good for the radishes as there was evidence of flea beetles last week. I pulled out the affected seedlings and haven't seen any since, which... shouldn't have worked, to be honest. I suspect the bitter temperatures put them off for a bit longer - which will hopefully allow them time to grow larger than the flea beetles prefer to snack on. I'll need to pick up some row cover for the garden radishes and their kohlrabi cousins to help protect them when the time comes to plant those seeds.
Some more things:
· I started the tomato seeds on Tuesday! Next up is the peppers, probably early next week.
· The onion and leek seedlings have already had one haircut and need another, and the onions have been thinned.
· Monday night I failed at removing seeds from black raspberry pulp and at jam making. It was my first attempt with Pomona Pectin, though, and a small batch, so I've no problems with trying again. Once I'm ready to face the dishes it will result in.
· River weighed in at 46 pounds today, but it was on a new (much more accurate) scale than before, so it's the new starting weight. Jack weighed in at 31.5 pounds.
· Speaking of, I had to actually buy pumpkin puree today - 12 cans at $1.69 each. :( If I'd known last fall how much pumpkin I'd be going through this spring and summer, I would have processed a lot more of them and not forgotten them to frost bite in the greenhouse!
· I have already found a flea on River, despite the weather which is completely unfair! Their doses of topically applied pesticides (Advantix II) were ordered last night.
· There's probably more, but I've forgotten it. *sigh*
