JAP69's Blog

Went out this morning to see if the flower transplants are surviving the trauma of the transplanting into the flower pails. When I removed them from their starter containers I took my fingers and loosened up the roots as they were compacted and root bound from being in the starter pots. Figured it would give them an advantage to expand their root growth into the new potting mix. I loosened them up pretty good. They are Oo'Ka right now.

Checked the soil temperature in the containers and the pile of mix I had stored from the removal from the 4x6 foot bin. Soil temperature around 62 & 65 degrees. Thought I would plant my seeds in the ground boxes next week, melons, cukes and squashes. But it is a little early yet. Wait until soil temperature goes up about another 10 degrees.

Off to another day of fun activity.

Kinds of Tomato Fertilizer

Effective tomato fertilizer, whether organic or not, provides nutrients tomatoes need at different stages of growth.

http://www.tomatodirt.com/tomato-fertilizer-kinds.html

Lots of useful articles on the side bar of the page.

Tomato Jokes and Riddles
Q: How do you fix a sliced tomato?
A: Use tomato paste.

Went to Home Depot this morning. Picked up one 2 cu ft bag of medium grade vermiculite. Then I moseyed on down to the 70% discount bin to see what they had to make three more ground containers out of wood. Got four 1x3x8 ft wood strips. All crooked and twisted but they will work for what I want them for. $7.84 worth of lumber for $2.35.  Tomorrow I will cut them 16 inches long giving me 24 pieces out of the four boards and make a 16 inch square box 8 inches deep. I have some of that 2x8x8 foot left I got earlier to cut 2x2x8 inch long corner nailers. Put one strip on the bottom and one strip on top leaving a space in between them. Then I will take that brand new aluminum screening I messed up, cut it to size and staple it over the space in between the strips. May prepare the soil for the three ground boxes tomorrow also and fill the ground boxes. 

After I got back from being out I carted the vermiculite out back to deck and finished the top portion of the last container. Then I redone three flower pails from last year that did not have vermiculite in them. Tossed two plants from last year that were not doing well and transplanted one Plant from last year after I prepared the new container mix with vermiculite. Then I put the new plants in the other two flower pails putting two and three plants in each flower pail seeing I have so many plants. Sprinkled some ferlizer around the plants and watered them down. See how they do with more than one plant in each flower pail. From there I organized things on the deck and washed it down.

Forgot to stop at the Dollar Tree to see if any more 10 quart pails come in.

Went and picked up another bag of perlite for the bottom portion of the container mix. Purchased a mess of flowers for the flower bin that holds the flower pails. Different colors and different varieties. Mostly flowers in six packs plus  two or three in three inch pots. Have more flowers than I know what to do with now with all those six packs I purchased. Then I had gone to the dollartree and picked up the seven remaining pails with handles they had. Need to get more when they come in.

From Tuesday until today I have been finishing the rest of the container mix for the containers like I explained earlier except for maybe two gallons of the top portion with the vermiculite mix in the final container. Ran out of vermiculite as I needed to mix up potting [container] mix with vermiculite first for the seven flower pails to transplant at least seven flowers.

Need to trek out to the garden center for another bag of vermiculite and check the dollartree to see if they have more 10 quart pails with handles come in.

Only seen some tomato plants at Home Depot that came in. Considering picking up a nice four inch tomato plant when I get the vermiculite. Think it was a Bonnie plant best boy or big boy plant. Said it grows tomatoes around one pound each.

Figure out what to do with all the extra flowers now as six pack flowers are a lot less than the three inch pot jobs that only have one flower plant. Something like a $1.89 for a six pack compared to $3.89 for a three inch potted plant with one plant.

This is the article I read about growing melons using compost.

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Growing Cantaloupe and Honeydew Melons

https://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-cantaloupe-and-honeydew-melons/

Dragged the tools out onto the back deck today and built two 16x16x5.5 inch deep ground boxes using all the left over lumber I had. All the sawing, nailing and screwing together lumber is done now. Threw the four sided boxes over the back fence and set them where I wanted them. Took the part of a bag of mushroom compost and set that over the fence. Filled two five gallon buckets with that mixture I took out of the 4x6 foot bin yesterday and set those over the fence. The texture of the bin mix felt like it was suitable for the ground boxes.

Went on the other side of the fence and put about one and one half inches of the mushroom compost on the bottom of each box. Then finished filling them with the bin mix I took out. I read an article the other day that melons like warmer soil temperature and the compost on the bottom of the ground boxes will generate heat.

The seed starting is coming along. Have some seedlings up to about an inch or so. Some have sprouted and just wee things right now. Some seeds have not sprouted yet. I had re seeded a couple weeks ago. Had a problem with heat source as I did not want to spend a lot on electrical cost for the back room I generally do not keep constant heat in. I generally in past years just turned the heater on when I was occupying the space.

If I start seeds next year for spring planting I may need to start them in December. May need to build a small box about three feet square and put a heat lamp in it. Plus maybe a grow light. I would like my seedlings up to about six or eight inches for spring transplanting to the outside.

I could buy my plants at the garden centers for what few I need but they may not have the plants I want. I will look this spring when their shipment of plants arrive. They are not in the stores yet on many plants. Only seen some flowers and spring vegetable plant like some cabbages, cauliflower and the like.

For the amount of transplants I want would probably cost around $30.00 tops. How much can about ten or twelve plants cost. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the bother dealing with seeding and tending almost daily for about ten weeks for a few plants.

Went out this afternoon and removed the soil from the 4 x 6 elevated bin and set it aside in a pile. The stuff looks like it could be usable for my ground containers in the back fence area. I will think about that.

Moved the pail containers with the flowers in them that were sitting on the deck into my now new flower/herb bin. The bin is large enough to hold 20  2 1/2 gallon pail containers. I have blue pails but seen red at the Dollar store last year. Maybe some red pails mixed in for color.

Need more pail containers now.

While I was at the store yesterday I decided to get some ingredients for a stirabout to prepare ahead for my lunch menu.

Mosied on over to the fresh vegetable area and picked up a bunch of celery and a one pound bag of baby carrots [ for 10 cents a pound extra they are already peeled] plus two medium sized sweet onions totaling 1.01 lbs. Decided I wanted some meat in it this time and went to the meat section. Spotted a 1.85 lb chuck roast on big discount that normally sold for like $9.13 and got it for $3.83 [what a deal]. Then I picked up two 32 oz containers of beef stock plus a 32 oz can of diced tomatoes. All total the ingredients cost $11.28.

When I got home I got the big pot out, dumped in in the beef stock plus the can of diced tomatoes then turned the heat on to about medium to start heating it up. While that was warming I got out the cutting board and the sharp butcher knife and took that big hunk of meat and diced that up into small chunks and threw that in the pot. Then I cleaned up [washed] the whole bunch of celery and diced that up plus I diced up the carrots and threw those in the pot. Then I diced up the onions and threw those in.

Then I moved onto the seasoning. About a tablespoon each of oregano and parsley plus one or two others which I forgot what they were now. Just put in what suited my fancy. Then I got thinking about that lemon grass I was going to grow for seasoning [did not have that of course] so I decided to try lemon flavoring and just reached in the frig and pulled out the squeeze bottle of lemon juice and squirted in maybe a couple tablespoons of that. Then I grabbed the jar of chopped garlic out of the frig and put in a couple tbsp of that. Threw in a small amount of salt [beef stock is already salted]. Need to watch my salt level to keep my ankles from swelling.

I use to buy chili and canned soups for my lunches. Loaded with salt they are so I make my own now. Had a problem with ankles swelling and the doctor told me to cut down on the salt level. For table salt I now prefer to use Himalayan pink salt. Want a little extra salt on what is on my dinner plate I just give the Himalayan pink salt a couple cranks over it.

Looked like it needed more liquid after the ingredients were in so I put in maybe 2 cups or so of water. Set the stove on low simmer, covered and let that simmer for about two hours.

Taste tested it when done and it was delicious. Best stirabout I made yet and it was nice and thick with ingredients. I do not like watery soup.

Got 12  one and one half cup servings out of that pot. Got the containers out and filled those and stuck them in the freezer leaving one out for ready use. I put two serving in each container for frig space saving. Just use half one day and the other half another day from each container.

May decide to go out and empty that 4 feet x 6 foot bin this afternoon.

Yesterday and today I emptied out the four remaining containers keeping the upper and lower mix separate. Why keep it separate you may want to know. The lower bottom section of the container mix contains the water saving crystals. I did not want the water saving crystals in the top portion. The water saving crystals must work quite nicely. As I got to the top of the bottom portion of the container mix it was moister than the top portion of container mix. as I got down to the bottom of the container it was very moist.

Where was I? OHH, I emptied the four containers and completed the carpentry work on them. When I built those four containers last year I only used a 3/4 x 3/4 inch board 16 inches long to elevate the containers. I took those off and put a 2 x 4 16 inches long for elevation to keep them higher off of the deck. Better ventilation under the containers. Then I installed the 45 degree corners and the triangular cap on the four containers.

Now I need to pick up another bag of perlite and vermiculite to finish my mixes for the top and bottom of those four containers. Looks like I will have plenty of top and bottom container mix left when I am done. Probably use that left over container mix and probably have perlite and vermiculite left over for three or four more containers I am going to buy at the dollar store. The Dollar Store containers are pretty much square and hold about 10 gallons each.

Sure glad I finished those wooden containers. They turned out to be a long drawn out affair with cutting assembling and redoing the container mix with perlite and vermiculite. Still need to do my perlite and vermiculite mixing for the last four containers.

Have another container project I need to redo. I built an elevated container for my wife last spring about 4 feet x 6 feet 6 inches deep and filled it with the wrong mix. All packed hard and did not do the job properly. I had planned on taking out the wrong mix and building it up another 6 inches and putting in container mix. I have been informed she does not intend to do anything with  it this year, So I am just going to remove the wrong mix in the container and leave the box empty. I may use it to set my 10 quart container pails in it with the flowers in them. May buy more container pails for a more variety of flowers and use some of the container pails for herbs. Have a flower and herb bed using container pails.

While I was working out there I seen a squirrel rummaging around the tree and up and down the tree about 15 feet from where I was working. If that squirrel thinks I am going to be his protector from that hawk  the squirrel can just fuggetaboutit. That Hawks could do serious damage to my hide.

I was thinking about that hawk that has been in the neighborhood the last week or so. The thought occurred to me that I have not seen any gray squirrels in the backyard recently. Usually they are back there on a daily basis rooting around the lawn for food or in the bird feeder. They also chase each other around for some reason I can not comprehend.

I mentioned last year about spotting the big snake [speed racer] in my back yard last year and the baby snake I seen under one of the containers when I moved it. I was just looking outside and seen a hawk about one foot tall land in the tree in the backyard. I have seen it around the neighborhood the past week or so cruising around and perching in trees. Looks like the hawk has taken up residence in the woods across the main highway from me as I have seen it over there a couple times.

I kicked my thoughts around last year about fertlizer and compost for the containers. I also kicked around about making compost tea.

I came across this article this morning in a search for liquid manure. I like this idea as the ferlizer gets to the plant quicker.

 

http://www.survivopedia.com/how-to-make-and-use-liquid-manure-compost/

Sit it out a little while until I see what the weather is going to be. Have overcast skies and not a smidgen of the sun showing. I do not want to cart out the work supplies from the garage and get them spread out. Starts to sprinkle with rain coming I am not as fast as I use to be gathering things up and carting them back to the garage. The bum hip joint and arthritis has slowed me down some.

You want to hear a story of a real screw up with the screening project. I purchased a 36 inch wide roll of screening 24 feet long to do one back window and two front windows. You have already read about the back window screening chaos. Today I went out to do some work thinking about the violas that needed transplanting and the two front window screens. I got my ruler out to check the front screens for length figuring if I had enough screening for both windows. Are you ready for this. Oo'Ka, here it is. I took my tape to measure the width of the screen. Guess what I discovered? The window screen is 39 inches wide.Looks like I got some screening for the storage area.

I moved on to the back yard to transplant the violas out of the big containers I am re-doing with perlite and vermiculite. Mixed up enough container mix with 20% vermiculite for 5 hanging flower pails. Transplanted the five viola plants in the pails. Sprinkled them with ferlizer plus put ferlizer on the other flowers in pails and watered them down.

When I was removing the violas from the three containers I discovered that the violas had self seeded themselves. Little itty bitty plants all over the containers starting to grow. I need the containers for my vegetables after I re-do the container mix. I had put the violas in the box containers last fall for an easy and quick place to put them.

Spotted signs of growing season starting. The clover is turning green on the front lawn, the bird seeds under the bird feeder are growing and the tree in the yard has sprouted its spring buds.

One thing about the seasons in SC is that it flips like a coin from one season to the next. Real quick sometimes. You can turn the heat on in the car in the morning and turn on the AC in the afternoon.

May work on the container boxes I took the violas out of tomorrow. I could get my ground boxes made and ready also. Guess they call them raised beds. I will be planting my squashes, cukes and melons in the ground boxes.

Radishes have sprouted.