Garden Diary
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Summer 2022
Lots of changes this year, not least was my move to Planters' Choice Nursery, working in customer service and taking care of annuals and perennials. That means answering the phones and watering plants in the heat of the afternoon. Also means working with dedicated people, learning A LOT about the business and plants, and supporting the native plant sales.
There a quite a number of native plant organizations in the area, one of which is Tiny Meadow Farm, a strong supporter of the Ecotype project. Thanks to Shanyn, I am trialling a dozen solidago arguta seedlings. Planted on 4 July in six different locations, results here.
This has been a year of growth for the plantings, with shrubs maturing and better able to support local fauna - that means that the deer browse and insect munching haven't completely decimated them! Lots of flowers, June was an amazing month for blooms!
Fall in Connecticut
1 October 2021 - First signs of color in the back woods, yellow leaves in early morning sunlight. And, official notification of my NOFA Accredited Organic Landcare Professional! Time to start designing some gardens - see Ecological Garden Design.
4 July 2021 - Recovering from several days of rain and a deer invasion! The vegetable garden mostly escaped being eaten, a couple of pepper plants had their tops nibbled. The Shasta daisies took a big hit, as well as the cut-leaf coneflower and lobelia by the frog pond. Netting fences are back up, and nasty smelling deer repellent has been applied. Will do another spray once everything dries off. Biggest annoyance is that the trap crop of hostas was completely bypassed!
25 June 2021 - We're in the lull between spring and summer flowers, waiting for daisies and coneflowers to take over. There are plenty of blooms - roses, rose campion, last of the penstemon, with lilies and phlox peeking up here and there.
30 May 2021 - It feels like March! Cool rainy weather is putting a damper on garden activities. All of the vegetable plants (grown from seed!) were planted last weekend - tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and Borlotti beans. With cold weather in the forecast, we put the row cover up to try and retain some heat. The potted versions went in the greenhouse, turns out we weren't done with it after all.
The Resource page has some new links to information about Ecological Communities. The woods around us are predominantly Oak and Tulip Trees, so in that community. We'll be looking for the understory plants that are found in this community, and add those to the inventory. Some of those already located are witch hazel, mountain laurel, striped maple, and a number of herbaceous perennials - Jack in the Pulpit, false Solomon's Seal, and Christmas Fern.
25 April 2021
The garden is coming to life, the moss is very happy after the rain this morning. Check out the Woods page for Month by Month details on all of the plants that we found on the back hillside.
26 Mar 2021
Fox and coyote midnight visits.
23 Jan 2021
Microgreens and an arduino moisture sensor! Mesclun lettuce seeds sprouted in a couple of days and are growing nicely. The prototype of the moisture sensor is pictured, next step is a power supply and a box to enclose the components. It doesn't alert if the moisture level is too low, so needs regular checking.
More animal sightings - possum came by during the day, and frogs can be swimming around under the ice.
17 Jan 2021
January has entered the dreary period, with a few bright sunny days. Time to start seeds, with a tray of mesclun destined to be microgreens. I've heard "winter sowing" mentioned in a few podcasts, so will try that with some of the beans and peas, and possibly the pink muhly grass.
Animal Visitors
We installed spotlights under the roof, and discovered a couple of foxes curled up under the bird feeders for the night. A possum was seen on another night.
8 Jan 2021
The woods in winter are beautiful, just enough snow on the ground to highlight the boulders and evergreens. Birds are somewhat active around the bird feeders, and the frogs can be seen moving around the pond, now that we have a heater that can melt the ice. A coyote paid us a visit this morning, most likely looking for squirrels around the bird feeders.
Seeds came in the mail today! Added to the leftovers from last year, and we will have an abundance of vegetables, if the new vegetable bed gets enough sun. Some of the veg can be grown as microgreens, so those will get started under the grow lights as soon as the soil thaws. The plan (Seed Starting Plans ) is to start with potting soil, to provide nutrients for the plants to grow. The seeds that will be started for transplant will be in the soilless seed starting medium. The first groups of seedlings will be started on 1 April, we think we started too early last year.