Green Dragon's 2023 Grow

[GreenDragon]

January is almost over and I'm already getting the bug to get this year's garden going. The wife was looking through all her seed catalogs yesterday (she calls them her "seed porn" LOL) and I set up the seedling "nursery" in the garage.



It's gloomy and drizzling outside as I write this, so no gardening today, but that gives us all day to decide how to divide up the growing beds for veg (her) and tobacco (me). Right now I have some cabbages and collards in one bed, and a cover crop of clover in the rest which I will till into the soil in the spring. Also need to get around to building a decent composting bin for this year.

 

[GreenDragon]

And we have lift-off!
5 new (to me) varieties of tobacco (courtesy of Bob).
Pumpkins, Hot Peppers, Tomatoes, Ginger, and Turmeric
Wife to start the rest of the veggie seeds today.

 

[GreenDragon]

Happy birthday to me!!!! Today I turn 49 years young. In celebration of this my loving family spoiled me in the following manner:
My younger son met me at the door this evening with a rum & coke. sipping this lovely heavy I immediately changed into my PJ’s and bathrobe. My wife cooked a delicious dinner of fish and chips and shrimp and onion rings. We didn’t even bother with a token veg (coleslaw)! Now I’m settling in for an evening of New Zealand murder mysteries - The Brokenwood mysteries. Highly recommend.

 

[Amberbeth84]

Happy birthday, sir!

 

[deluxestogie]

Happy birthday.

49 years young

Is that the contrapositive of 51 years old?

Bob

 

[Alpine]

Felicitations for the 30th anniversary of your 19th birthday @GreenDragon !

pier

 

[Radagast]

Happy birthday fella!

 

[Knucklehead]

 

[GreenDragon]

We have our first sprouts!

 

[Snue]

happy birthday mate

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

Happy birthday! 49 dragon years... how many human years is that? Haha!

 

[GreenDragon]

Happy birthday! 49 dragon years... how many human years is that? Haha!

Approximately 343

 

[GreenDragon]

Rainstorm blew through this morning and soaked everything. It was perfect timing as I have been doing a lot of yard work the past few days. I've moved about 20 shrubs in the backyard to areas more appropriate for their light requirements. I also completely re-made one flower bed.

Hardening off the seedlings.


New flower bed


Ladybugs in the cherry tree.

 

[GreenDragon]

I was all geared up to do some major work in the garden this weekend. Had 200 retaining wall bricks and 20 bags of soil and 20 bags of mulch delivered. So far… 3 inches of rain! My backyard is a lake. Maybe next weekend…

 

[Plinsc]

About an hour and half away from you, I was thinking of getting the barn cats some pool noodles

 

[GreenDragon]

Work continues on the garden each evening. I’ve got a little over 2/3 of the retaining wall completed. This is where we will be growing my tobacco, pumpkins, cucumbers, and sunflowers.

In the established beds we are experimenting with green mulche (clover). Back left bed has garlic and potatoes, front bed has tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce. The far right bed is herbs and peppers. The middle bed has not yet been planted. Also have a dedicated herb bed to the side.

 

[GreenDragon]

Finished the retaining wall last weekend and trimmed all the shrubs. I was able to plant all my tobacco seedlings on Monday. Unfortunately I've lost 3 already because something (I assume a squirrel) keeps digging them out of the ground for some reason and the sun completely fries them when I'm at work!

Also, need some advice on growing asparagus. Bought this one last year at the HD. The stems seem very crowded. Should I dig it up and separate the stems from each other or leave it and assume it will send out runners?

 

[deluxestogie]

If you purchased an asparagus root crown, and planted it a year ago, then you need to just let it go to seed for its first two growing seasons, and lightly harvest the stalks in the third growing season. If you purchased a mystery pot, and don't know if it is more than a single root crown, then you might want to dig it up in the late fall, after it has gone dormant for the season, and just inspect it. If it's a single crown, then return it to the garden bed.

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/on/dema...ormation/8971-asparagus-production-crowns.pdf

My experience has been that by the third season, I began to see some fatter stalks.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

Ever seen “elephant garlic” in the grocery store? If you plant the bulbs in the fall you get these in the spring!

They make great cut flowers.

 

[GreenDragon]

The transplants are finally taking off. The month before I put them out was cool and rainy. Then, as soon as I transplanted them it turned windy and very dry for two weeks and I had a hard time keeping them watered. They seem to be happy now though so fingers crossed.