http://homepage.mac.com/rogersbrueske/iblog/B204603934 rogersbrueske@mac.com © Chris Brueske Thu, 01 Jul 2004 22:02:16 -0500 Thu, 01 Jul 2004 22:02:16 -0500 iBlog 1.3.8 As of July 1st, the gardens are looking great, we will begin harvesting some of our crops this week. it's so fun to watch everything grow this time of year and we begin picking the 'first' of all our veggies. it's so rewarding to grow our own food. ]]> Thu, 01 Jul 2004 21:39:19 -0500 Less than one week after we planted the pepper plants into the garden, the rabbits feasted on about 4 of them. ]]> Thu, 03 Jun 2004 21:18:26 -0500 Tonight we planted all of the tomatoes and pepper plants into the full sun garden lot next to our house.... The tomato plants were really starting to outgrow their small pots and they were starting to get lanky from lack of sun light.

...For the tomatoes we took some old 4 inch flooring boards, cut a tip at the end of each board, and pounded them about a foot into the ground 8 feet apart.... As the plants grow, we will continue this procedure up the stakes at 6 to 12 inch intervals until the plants stop growing, we run out of stake, or the season ends. ]]> Fri, 28 May 2004 21:36:12 -0500 I really want to do gazanias again this year in the sunny portion of that bed so plan to go back to the market this weekend (one of the farmers thought they would be able to bring me a flat of them if they were ready).... Last year we got so many compliments on the bed out front- lot's of people walk our street and they always enjoy the flowers.

...I am not sure if we will start pansies from seed next year or not, the ones at the market look so great and are always further along than ours that it's almost easier to support the greenhouse growers for those rather than take up space under our lights. ]]> Thu, 27 May 2004 21:35:17 -0500 A few weeks after the major worm bin die off, it appears that things are back to normal.

When managing a worm bin, I would recommend erring on the side of dryness and adding fresh bedding often. ]]> Wed, 26 May 2004 21:15:27 -0500 We planted beets, radishes and carrots in a raised bed. ]]> Sun, 16 May 2004 20:54:48 -0500 To keep the critters out, we nailed stainless steel quarter inch mesh to a miniature white picket fence and stuffed it around the inside edge of the beds. ]]> Wed, 05 May 2004 15:56:48 -0500 I did some research online to learn about what other pet owners do to keep their yard looking somewhat presentable, some don't care and just deal with the dead grass, some buy expensive additives for their dogs food and some have crazy remedies like pouring sugar on the dead spots.

...The first area I just raked with a short prong metal rake and then roughed it up to expose some dirt and loosen some of the yellowing grass and then saturated the soil there until it was soggy- supposedly new grass will begin to emerge.

The second area I again raked with the large metal rake and then on my hands and knees roughed up and pulled out most of the yellow dead grass, exposing much more soil, removing most of the yellow dead grass roots and all as best I could. ]]> Wed, 28 Apr 2004 20:40:53 -0500 Tonight when I was checking on some plants in our germination room, I noticed that there was a bad smell coming from the worm bin.

...I added a handful of worms from level one and some fresh food.

...Also we need to move the worms out of the older levels into levels that have fresh food and bedding and we need to remove that finished compost earlier. ]]> Sun, 25 Apr 2004 15:35:15 -0500 Tonight we decided to transplant the Brandywine and the Cherry tomatoes into small and medium size pots, because they are so large and many of their roots are growing out of the 2'' soil blocks.... I am sure that the tomatoes will grow just fine in the pots, considering we use good potting soil and at this stage of the game our plants are quite strong and healthy. ]]> Thu, 22 Apr 2004 15:01:37 -0500 One way to make healthy food for our indoor and outdoor gardens is to maintain a worm bin that takes our food waste and turns it into nutrient rich compost.

...Before we bought the worms I built a three layered worm bin using some scrap wood, old window screen, small nails, and staples.... Finally, I stapled small pieces of screen over each hole so that flies and other undesirable bugs couldn't get into the bin and the worms couldn't get out. Each box is the same size so that they stack well and the worms and other beneficial microorganisms can easily migrate between each layer.

...All three layers are in production with the bottom layer containing almost completely composted material and the second and first layers in the middle and beginning stages of decomposition. ]]> Tue, 13 Apr 2004 21:42:47 -0500 We have found a way to keep them watered while we are away by setting the tray they are sitting in, into another tray with water (so they get watered from the bottom) This method works pretty well.

...I am not sure if the seeds were old or if the conditions were not appropriate for them (too hot, too wet, etc.) The snaps are doing well and we will be transplanting them into 2 inch blocks soon. ]]> Wed, 07 Apr 2004 21:46:13 -0500 The Brandywine and Yellow Nugget cherry tomatoes roots were starting to get long and entangled with one another in the small blocks.... We were able to put the plastic covers over the 2 inch blocks as well for a bit longer until the plants become too high and they hit the top.

...They should be fine with a room temperature of 55-65° F, however they may not grow as fast as they would with the warm 78° F environment provided by the heat mat. ]]> Wed, 31 Mar 2004 22:04:02 -0600 We will use the regular growing mix rather than the seed starting mix to make the 2 inch soil blocks, last year we used the seed starter for all our soil blocks, which was unnecessary and an added expense.

...Once we transfer the plants into the 2 inch blocks we will take them off the heat mat since they just need warm soil to emerge. ]]> Tue, 30 Mar 2004 21:12:56 -0600 We kept the germination chamber dark for sprouting, we have the heat mat set at 78 degrees and have plastic covers over the flats which kept in the moisture and heat.

...Now that the sprouting has begun, we will keep the plants on the heat mat while they grow, it will be crucial to keep the soil blocks damp so the delicate sprouts don’t wilt and become weak at this stage of the game. ]]> Thu, 25 Mar 2004 22:26:30 -0600