My garden, my chicken coop, my efforts

General Discussions
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Hello all, I thought I’d pop on and give my gardening update. I realized last week that though I love the idea of just putting out seeds and see what they produce, I love gardening, I love getting in the dirt, I love the projects that come with it. In fact, Hubby and I call it ‘dirt therapy’ because this is what keeps me sane! So, with that, be patient with me as I adjust to the philosophy here of being more hands-off.

I’ve got peppers, both sweet and hot started and many are sprouting nicely. I got 2 kinds of tomatoes, roma and cherry, started in flats, along with eggplant and okra. I planted out everglade tomatoes this afternoon after I finished the trellis at that point in the garden. I’ve got 2 fig trees to plant out, one next to a peach tree, and another in a flower garden. Both are aiming to be food forest areas or grocery row style, but not in rows. I’m too chaotic for nice rows!

I’ve got 400 onion starts in 4 different beds, and hoping to get a couple hundred onions out of them. But we’ll see. It might be that I fit in wonderfully here as I get distracted by some new project and leave stuff to languish sometimes.

I’m in zone 8 a/b. We had some cold weather, with the lowest temp reaching 14’ F. But now we’ve got a 15 day forecast of 60/70s in the daytime and 40/50s at night. Our average last freeze is March 15, but we might not get another. Which doesn’t bode well for a nice summer, and sadly, I can do nothing about the weather.

I’m trying not to do too much too fast, b/c I’ve got a history of tendonitis in my foot and when I do too much, it flairs up. But today, I finished my chicken coop renos! I was given a coop, so it needed some work and I got it done, finally! I’m thinking I’ll go get those chickens on Friday… yes, pullets. I don’t want to deal in chicks, I have cats and kids, I work from and homeschool, so life is already crazy. But I’ll take the crazy of chickens. I want eggs and poop! ha! I’m a gardener for sure.

Tomorrow, I’m going to seed the potatoes from here and the cucumber seeds I collected last year from cucs I grew then. And I’m sure I’ll find something else to plant out. Maybe I’ll transplant the figs, or compost my baby apple tree that is still growing after a week of freezing temps.

Thank your for letting me ramble!

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It was a lovely ramble! I hope to start a similar thread maybe next month to document what will be going on in my garden, also, but it must warm up a bit first. While you were having 14* F, we were having -22* F. But we are now having temps up in the 60sF also. Which is very unusual for Feb., but would be expected in about three weeks. Which leaves us with completely no idea what to expect next month. It frequently turns cold and snows again anytime in March and April. All that to say, I want to get into the garden, but am forcing myself to be sensible and wait.

You don’t have to be “hand’s off” to fit into the community. Many people are, just to try to stretch plants to choose the most durable genetics they have tucked away. But the main philosophy of Adaptive Gardening is to teach your plants to adapt to your way of growing, so you do what works best for you, and then select seeds to save from your own plants based on which plants responded best to that, with the traits you desire most. I’m planning to focus mainly on melons, then my daughter informed me we are also growing many kinds of beans. So, we’ll see how that goes!

I wish you well with the chickens. I have two.

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Nice update. We have been holding eggs for a few days to set inside the incubator. Otherwise, every egg is sold. I started plug trays in a friend’s greenhouse in January and the mixed maxima, mochata, and pepo’s are almost ready for transplant. The cukes are about the same. Not sure where all of it will go, older seed, but nearly everything germinated. Lots of herbs too, helps keep the bad bugs away and brings in the good ones.

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Beans, I’ll have to replant as I tried some early…but none are showing yet. We are getting 90 degree days already, its a race to beat the heat.

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I’m figuring out herbs to put in the garden beds, b/c I love herbs and b/c there are cats I need to keep out. Trying to putting forks through out the beds to keep them out. My front flower bed has a slew of herbs, which I just love!

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I cant live without dill and basil, lol. Garlic on the list too!

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Pinecones help with cats also.

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I’ll have to find some pinecones!

So far, the forks seem to be keeping cats, kids and others out of the beds. Still working on getting the smelly plants, like lavender, rosemary, etc., into the beds.

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I love the idea of writing, so I try to blog occasionally. And using my blog as a way to document my garden and homesteading progress.

Alas, the cats are not bothered by the forks in the garden. Ugh. I might have to create cage arches over the bed they love. But I’ve also got catnip seeds started, so I’ll be creating a bed just for the cats, as I get it. I like to play in the dirt too!