Saturday, May 2, 2009

May 2, 2009

Well, today was a very interesting weather day.  It was raining off and on all day, but I was cooped up inside pretty much all day working over at the folks.  My poor niece though was loading the truck for a dump run so she got pretty wet.  And as I type this, we are having a pretty good storm.  Wind and drenching rain.  It started about 5:30 when I was trying to plant out my tomatoes.  Good thing I only got this far...



Actually I got the two bins going in the garden area placed in their season locations.  To do that I needed to remove the trellis from bed #2.  I was going to set up my tomatoes and put the trellis on bed #4 so my peas can grab something in a week or two.  It was about then it started to sprinkle big drops, so the kids and I went in.

It was about then that I felt exhausted from the day.  So I tackled a project I've had in the back of my mind for a while.  My seed packets have been hanging out in the big bubble envelope that I got my original seed order last year.  For a while I've wanted to keep them in the fridge out in the garage.  So, while I was sitting watching some new Cinderella movie with the kids (they wanted to go back outside, rain or shine, so this distracted them), I sorted out my packets.  Then I grabbed two Costco peanut jars.  The mouths are wide enough to get a seed packet in and out, and are just deep enough to hold a standing packet.  Unfortunately I have more seeds than can fit in one container, so all the store bought seeds went in one and the traded seeds and tomato seeds went in another.



On this one I taped a discant (can't spell it or say it) packet to the lid before I screwed it on tight.  That way, any moisture will not get to the seeds.  Finally, both jars got stashed in the mid-level cheese crisper of the extra refridgerator.

At around 8 I had noticed the typhoon winds (kidding) outside and was thinking about the SWCs outside.  They're fine, but then it dawned on me... the tomatoes!  So, out I ran to grab the trays.  It was the first time in three plus days that they've been inside.  I wouldn't have done it but they were almost laying flat in the wind, and that place doesn't get much comparatively.

So, the tomatoes are hanging out on top of the freezer in the garage once again, but tomorrow they'll be planted out.  Hopefully the cages can keep them from blowing over if there's another storm.  However, I agree with all the comments that they just need to get into their self watering containers. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that on the way home from my folks old house today I ran by the dollar store.  I remembered my brother's finds from there and wanted to pick up a few things for the garden...



As you can see, I got a wide color variety of jumbo clothes pins.  They're cheap, 6 for $1, but they should last longer then the rusty binder clips since they're mostly plastic.  I figure even if the spring rusts it should work well enough for a few years before I have to spend another $5 on another 30 of them, hehe.  Also, what you can't see is that I'm holding a brick of popsicle sticks, 200 of them to be exact.  I'll use them to label my plants, especially my tomatoes.  Not a bad haul for $6!

Enjoy your garden!

7 comments:

  1. Your SWC look great! I can't wait to see the tomatoes planted in them tomorow.

    What are the clothes pins for? Great idea for the popsicle sticks!

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  2. "desiccant" :) It took me a second to figure out what you were trying to say, but there you go!

    As far as dollar stores go, you should check out Daiso (basement of Westlake) on your lunch break sometime! There's a whole new world of $1.50 stuff in there.

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  3. Great finds at the dollar store. I am going to have to make a point of checking out our local one and seeing if I can find those jumbo clips! They would be most useful to have on hand.

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  4. Thanks for the popsicle stick idea! I'm the world's worst labeller because I refuse to spend mega bucks on the tony sticks they sell in groups of 10.

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  5. Yes, that was quite a squall that went thru the northwest yesterday afternoon. Of course, nothing like most of the rest of the country gets, like 4 inches of rain in one hour in Texas. We're used to having no extremes here. I had just put my tomatoes in the ground and some winter squashes were moved from the cold frame to the garden. They got pushed around but no damage really.
    With a desiccant package in an airtight container in the fridge, that's just about ideal. Your seeds should last quite a while. I wonder if the freezer would be better. The seed repository in Norway(?) keeps their seeds as close to absolute zero as they possibly can.

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  6. Love your SWC! And you got a great haul from the Dollar Store. Popsicle sticks...argh! This is one of those smack yourself on the forehead moments. Here I am, paying a fortune for nice wooden plant name stakes and the same thing is available from the Walmart in the craft isle so much cheaper. Thanks for that!

    And you may have gotten the rain and wind, but we didn't get any of the promised rain...just that dessicating wind! I'm certainly not making wishes though...gotta be careful with that, you know. :)

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  7. I'll trade our storms for yours, anyday! Whew....it's pretty eXciting around here sometimes. Oh! it's called dessicant, and that's a good way to keep them dry. Good idea!

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