What's Growing Right Now:

July 20, 2002
This is the year of the ignored web site. Far too many things are going on for me to be here updating this text. Anyhow, here is how things are going in the field:

I harvested the potatoes a few weeks ago. They were undersized, but tasty. Still have some left. The plants never flowered, maybe because of the lack of rain. And my lack of watering. The potatoes my wife put into the composter flowered. Maybe I should go eat them. In fact, to this day they have not died back.

My corn was very spotty. Bad germination. But the ones that came up were looking good. Then they died. I discovered that squirels, perhaps looking for moisture, cut them down. No more corn. I have a tomato or two starting to turn red. The plants look great. Harvested two zucchini so far. Over-sized at that. They weren't hurt by the drout. My herb garden is a failure. Everything but the basil is dead, and the basil doesn't look all that great. It gets far too little sun due to a trumpet vine over it. Also, the water issue didn't help. And beetles are having a field day.

I pulled one head of garlic about a week back but never ate it. I will pull the rest soon.

June 8, 2002
Lots to update. I've been digging up the plants (daffodils, daylillies, bluebells, and whatnot) from a border and I plan on moving them elsewhere. The border, which divides my driveway from my back yard, becomes an herb garden. Well, today it actually became an herb garden. I put in maybe ten basils, two spearmins, ten chamomiles, one borage. I also will be putting other things there. I'd like to split my oregano and move half there. Eventually sage, rosemary, thyme, savory, and whatever else comes my way. I also promised my son I'd put sunflowers there too. I can't wait to see what it looks like in the light. I finished quite late.

I put the peppers into the garden. Ten in all, jalapeno and two varieties of sweet pepper. They already had flowers on them. And aphids. I nailed them with insecticidal soap. The potatoes look great as do the garlic. Starting to look like a real garden. The beans aren't that healthy. Something skeletonized most of the leaves. I plan on taking a look-see tonight. I can replant if I must. Might just to be on the safe side. Should also replant the corn that didn't come up. I got maybe 70% germination.

I had gotten the tomato cages and planted the remaining plants two weeks ago. I had nine plants out there but one didn't make it. None look particularly healthy. Zucchini and pumpkin came up rather quickly and look healthy. I have a couple plants of lettuce and spinach growing, but breaking no land speed records. I will drop a few more seeds to keep them company.

It had rained a lot and the soil is thick and dark. Not ideal for planting a garden, but with three kids, you take any opportunity you can.

May 23, 2002
What little time I have to work in the yard, I have less to update this page. That's only a disappointment to me, since I'm the only one who reads this.

I put three tomatoes in the ground. I need two more cages. I had six others in there, and I had left the transplanted peppers, tomatoes, and basil outside. That signaled the weather to go from hot and wet, to cold and dry. I lost a couple plants, and everything has cold damage. Great timing. I transplanted into three inch pots the last of the basil and peppers, and the tomatoes that didn't get put into the ground were put into the compost heap. An hour of clean up made me feel much better. I might have to plant more basil and parsley.

I planted seeds last weekend. Corn, squash, pumpkins, and pole beans. The peas I put in never materialized, so I planted the beans where they were. I have a lot of room left over. Half a bed in front of where I planted the corn, plus more room where the tomatoes are. I'll find something to go there. The garlic and potatoes look great!

April 28, 2002
Weekends are starting to look bad. I coach Cal Ripken league baseball on Saturday and the games are on Sunday. Despite this, I got a lot of work done. Saturday was opening day for the league, so I skipped the normal 1:00 practice. My plants in the basement are starting to look very neglected, so I brought all of them out to see the sun. Most of the borage dried up. My bench is uneven by an almost inpreceptable amount but it's enough to cause deserts and swamps in my seedlings. I tried turning the trays around every now and again, but I'd have to do it every day. Anyhow, I transplanted a lot of stuff. I'll need to plant more basil and parsley if I want a crop this year. Peppers and chamomile did great. Still have more transplanting to do. Hey, it's boring.

I mixed three 40 lb bags of composted cow manure into a wheel barrow along with the last pound or so of lime and mixed in some 10-10-10 and compost and put it into the remaining beds. I dug the beds up but didn't plant anything. Some of the lettuce and spinach I planted earlier seems to be starting to sprout.

Cherry, forsythia, and daffodils are past. Tulips, what I have, are looking great. Maybe a week away from lilacs and azalias making a show. I prmosed myself that I would dig up the daffodils once they faded. I'll try to do that next weekend.

April 16, 2002
I did replant the parsley. Still have at least a week to go to find out if they took as well.

It's summer. Temperatures into the 80's, and the heat continues into the night. I'm loving it, as is my landscape. The plants in the basement are doing well also. I've transplanted the rest of the tomatoes and today set up the fan on the timer. I should get an oscillating fan. I put fertilizer into the water also.

I'm waiting for the daffodils to pass so I can dig them up and start my herb garden in ernest. I will be buying the manure this weekend, as well as some other supplies. I need another shoplight. I have two set up for my indoor plants. One set low for the seedlings and one high for transplants. The transplant light is an oldie I got for free. Apparently one ballast is dead so one light doesn't work. I already tried replacing the bulb. A Wall O Water would be nice, but I haven't found them retail.

April 10, 2002
I transplanted a few plants earlier in the week. A couple tomatoes and a borage. Rosemary, lavender, and lemon grass is still non-existant. I have, however, one parsley to show for my efforts. I guess I will have to replant.

I picked up seed potatoes at Agway on Monday and I planted them yesterday. 12 tubers of Yukon Gold, almost doubling what I planted two years ago. While at Agway, I also picked up some bamboo poles and today I built a teepee. Half was planted with peas left over from 1997 or 96. In the middle I planted spinach and Paris White lettuce.

The garlic looks good. Really poking out of the ground. Daffodils are mostly in bloom.

April 2, 2002
Lots of plants doing well. All the tomato and basil, and most of the borage and peppers germinated. Chamomile looks good. Some spearmint is growing. Rosemary, lavender, lemon grass, and parsley are AWOL. I'll be patient with them.

Daffodils are starting to open. One or two are fully open. Once they pass, I will dig them up from one place in the back yard and transplant them to fill in other places, and use that area for my herb garden. Forsythia is almost in full bloom. I counted forty seven garlics boldly poking out of the soil. I think I planted around fifty.

March 19, 2002
On Saturday I saw that two basils and one borage germinated. Quite exciting. On Sunday I had most of the tomatoes up, a chamomile, and another borage growing. I had to remove the cover and set up the grow lights. Also on Saturday I was pleased to see the bulk of my garlic growing like mad. I don't know why my heart skips a beat when they are slow peaking through the soil. I did a little weeding and today found my garden under two inches of snow. It snowed all day, but it couldn't quite keep up with the sun. Air temperature was well over freezing and everything became a slushy mess by nightfall.

Forsythia buds are about ready to break, and a couple daffodils started to show their yellow. This, of course, is prior to the snow.

March 11, 2002:
Welcome to the 2002 growing season.
About a week ago the garlic finally peaked through the soil. It has been unseasonably warm and dry this winter. Last weekend it was in the 60's.

Today, I started seeds:

6 Rosemary
12 Spearmint
6 Lemon Grass
6 Borage
18 Lavender
12 Chamomile
6 Thyme, German winter (Thymus vulgaris), Johnny's (1999)
18 Basil, Genovese (Ocimum basilicum)
6 Parsley, Plainleaf (Petroselinum crispum), Johnny's (1997)
6 Parsley, Gigante Catalogno (P. crispum), Johnny's (1997)
6 Early Girl Tomato
6 Tomato, Brandywine, from saved seeds
6 Purple Beauty Bell Pepper
6 Mandarin Bell Pepper
12 Jalapeño
12 Romane style Lettuce

I decided to kill a daylilly, some daffodils, and a bunch of insundry and unidentified bulb plants to have a herb garden close to the kitchen. Also, it frees up space in the regular garden. I am actually planning on growing garlic, potato, and corn in addition to my regular crop. We shall see how this pans out. Spring optimism.