What a day, what a day. It started at 6:30 this morning when I drug myself out of bed, threw some clothes on and had a bowl of cereal before my brother showed up at my door with his truck. We then headed out to Steuber Distributing in Snohomish (30 min. away), which is a nondescript "hole-in-the-wall". Actually it's a commercial catering set of yards chocked full of pallets of all sorts of agricultural supplies. They had everything! For $300 I got 13 bags of vermiculite (4 c. ft) and 7 bales of peat moss. FYI, that totals 4 c. yards of material, and it ALL fit in the truck! Even if we did have to put four bags of vermiculite in the jump seats in back. Of course, my all my brother said was that's going to be the $500 tomato. Ah, gardening roughly 170 years of gardening experience to help me, gotta love it. I completely recommend Steuber Distributing if you're in the Puget Sound area. CHEAP gardening supplies and they had pallets of vermiculite and peat moss.
On the way back we stopped at Starbucks for an IV and picked up 4 big bags of coffee grounds. We got back to my house at 9:00 and I took my brother home. We left the truck backed up against my garage door with a tarp over the bags and strapped down tight. We don't have room to unload inside and the vermiculite will be easier to handle dry. Besides, at 10 I had to take my youngest to Music Together class. Then we ran to the party store and got balloons and plates. I took a shower and raced off to the Children's Museum in Everett for play time and a 2:30 cake and presents party. Boy was it hard to keep an eye on two toddlers in the midst of a hundred others while my wife greeted the guests. Thank goodness when my in-laws came and I could help set up. Whew, how my wife does it I have NO idea. She's a goddess for sure!
After the party we went out to dinner with the in-laws, and if I didn't notice it before then, I certainly came to the conclusion that I am very under the weather. PERFECT timing. Dirt day is tomorrow and I'm feeling crappy. So we're back and the kids are watching cartoons while I write this. I'm going to take some NyQuil and hit the sack early. Hopefully the sleep will do me good and I'll be up for working hard tomorrow, racing all over creation. It's hard to be excited when I'm feeling like this.
The plan for tomorrow is to wake up early, unload the truck, run to the lumber yard and get the sheets of plywood ripped to 1x8 pieces. Then head back there to Sky and get the first of two yards of Cedar Grove compost to create my Mel's Mix on a big tarp in the middle of my driveway. Then we wheelbarrow it to the beds, mixing in some coffee grounds in the top six inches. It'll be a process, but hopefully I'll have tons of help.
Night all, the NyQuil is working.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
February 15, 2008
I don't normally write posts before work, but I just checked the weather report for Sunday and Monday. Though it could change at a moment's notice, the prediction is for partly cloudy and highs in the mid 50s. Excellent news! I'll have a lot more help (the non grouchy kind) if the weather holds. There's even good weather expected for my son's party! We're good all around. Now to take the seedlings out for their walk. Have a good day all!
Boy did Seattle weather scare me today. I had forgotten that today was a 60% chance of rain. On the way home we were hit by a fair amount, and it has lasted most of the night. First thing I did when I got home as check the weather and it is still supposed to hold for tomorrow and the next day. Sunday's the day if weather holds. Saturday's completely booked up until the evening.
On a garden note, the more I look into Winter Sowing (thanks to Alberta), the more I want to give it a try. Although I could still do it this year, I'm really close to getting dirt and starting many of my veggies in a few weeks anyway, so what's the point?
I just rechecked my math (never was my strongest suit despite the 4 on the calculus AP test in high school), you use it or lose it. I need 13 bags of vermiculite and 7 bales of peat moss, which should come to $300 even with tax. Add $60 to that for the compost and we're talking $360 for "dirt" which is a far cry from the $750 I initially thought.
Well early to bed so I can get up and go get vermiculite and peat moss, then make it back to take my youngest to music class, then go get plates and balloons for my eldest's B-Day party, then go to the play time and party, then go to dinner with the inlaws before they head out to NY for a week. Finally, get the plywood for running the wheelbarrow over the gravel before I crash and wake up to dirt.
Busy weekend, but fun! Hope yours is spent enjoying the weather and maybe even working on your garden.
Boy did Seattle weather scare me today. I had forgotten that today was a 60% chance of rain. On the way home we were hit by a fair amount, and it has lasted most of the night. First thing I did when I got home as check the weather and it is still supposed to hold for tomorrow and the next day. Sunday's the day if weather holds. Saturday's completely booked up until the evening.
On a garden note, the more I look into Winter Sowing (thanks to Alberta), the more I want to give it a try. Although I could still do it this year, I'm really close to getting dirt and starting many of my veggies in a few weeks anyway, so what's the point?
I just rechecked my math (never was my strongest suit despite the 4 on the calculus AP test in high school), you use it or lose it. I need 13 bags of vermiculite and 7 bales of peat moss, which should come to $300 even with tax. Add $60 to that for the compost and we're talking $360 for "dirt" which is a far cry from the $750 I initially thought.
Well early to bed so I can get up and go get vermiculite and peat moss, then make it back to take my youngest to music class, then go get plates and balloons for my eldest's B-Day party, then go to the play time and party, then go to dinner with the inlaws before they head out to NY for a week. Finally, get the plywood for running the wheelbarrow over the gravel before I crash and wake up to dirt.
Busy weekend, but fun! Hope yours is spent enjoying the weather and maybe even working on your garden.
February 14, 2008
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY ALL!
With kids we decided not to pester our families to watch them while we went out to eat on a Thursday, so my Valentine suggested I bring home salads from our favorite downtown restaurant instead. It was almost as pricey as going out to eat, but they gave us more salad than one human should digest, and boy was it tasty. I love a good Italian Chop Chop and Palominos makes a great one. Anyway, today was a MUCH better garden day for me. Lots to tell. I'll compose while I have my desert smoothie.
First off, work was work, but at lunchtime I checked my email and found I had two non-spam emails. Bonus! The first was from a GardenWeb contributor, Alberta. I've been impressed by her comments on threads and experience in the garden for quite some time. Much to my pleasant surprise, she emailed me directly with thoughts on my garden woes. She suggested an alternative to lights for me. Apparently Winter Sowing is a good solution. She suggested I head to the GW forum on it and check out Vera's posts. She's in Washington also and has had great success at it.
I actually have been there and it is essentially planting seeds in potting soil in various recycled milk jugs and other transparent/transluscent containers. Then you put them outside in the winter sun and keep them watered. That's the gist anyway. I didn't try it because I figured it wouldn't work here with our lousy sun and frosty mornings. Now I'll have to check it out and see what Vera's up to. THANK YOU Alberta! I will definitely do that. Oh and I will let Judy know your troubles with the site. I have cable so it's not too slow for me.
Not that it's winter sowing, but a post I read last night said some guy in Minnesota has been putting his seedlings outside during the day to get them acclamated and hardend off or whatever to make them stouter. So I took the kiddies out for a walk today. Before work I put them out on a board resting between two beds. They seemed no worse off when I got home after dark and brought them in for the evening. I expect frost tonight or I'd leave them outside unless it rained. Too much water can be a bad thing. So I'm experimenting with these broccoli, cauliflower, onions and lettuce. They're either going to live or not, no matter what I do.
I also read Judy's comment and some of it is directly relating to my next comment, but that's good to know about peat moss. I recall it isn't as stringy as it could be, but I expect it works well once it's decompressed. I can understand how hard it is to do so, but that's what I'll end up getting. It can't be any worse than decompressing the newspaper blow-in insulation and my dad did 40 bags of the stuff in a day. I appreciate the comments and will take them to heart for sure.
Ok, so last night I calculated that I need fifteen 3.5 c. ft. bags of vermiculite to equal 2 c. yards. We check with Sky and find that they only have 5 bags, at $28 each. Thus the reason for my post on Ft2Garden's boards last night. I calculated with the peat, compost and vermiculite totaling 6 c. yards, it would cost me $750 for my dirt. OUCH! So after my wife told me Sky only had 5 (one third what I needed), I panicked.
During my lunchtime (I work through lunch), I called The Plant Farm at Smokey Point, way up north in Arlington. It's an hour north but I was desparate. They sold me my blueberry bushes so I like them. Well, they had only small bags of vermiculite, but instead of coming up blank on alternative sources (like Sky), they suggested their supplier in Snohomish. Snohomish is about 30 minutes away from us, so closer. Anyway, I called Steuber Distributing and asked if they had vermiculite in bulk, or at least large bags. They only carry it in 4 c. ft. bags, but I only need 13 of them. I asked how many they had and they said about 200! Then I asked their cost. Get this Judy, $14.50 each. WHOOOOOOT! That just cut the cost of my vermiculte in half!
Then I asked if they carried peat moss. Sky had half-bales for $17. Steuber has FULL-bales for $12.50! I couldn't believe my ears. Even getting my Cedar Grove compost from Sky (they're close and it's reasonable if you don't consider they get their product for free... all our yard waste goes there), the price of my "dirt" is now about $325 vs. $750. I'm so excited! After bugging my brother at work, we are set to head out bright and early Saturday morning to be there when they open to get 13 bags of vermiculite and 7 bales of peat moss. Boy do I hope it all fits in my brother's truck... I don't have time Saturday to make two trips (it's my eldest's 4th birthday).
So this weekend is time for dirt. Saturday is getting the vermiculite and peat moss, along with my son's party for his friends. Sunday is getting compost and mixing it all on a HUGE tarp, then moving it 20 feet or so to the beds. I'll pick up a sheet of plywood and rip it to 1 foot widths so the wheelbarrow can move over the gravel (still kicking myself in hindsight for getting pea gravel insted of crushed rock). Oh, and I'll definitely take pictures and share the experience.
All in all it was a very very good garden day. Thanks to my gardening friends out there and the nice folks at The Plant Farm who put me on to their supplier in Snohomish. If they are for real, I'll definitely add them to the vermiculite sources for Washington. I can't wait for the weekend!
With kids we decided not to pester our families to watch them while we went out to eat on a Thursday, so my Valentine suggested I bring home salads from our favorite downtown restaurant instead. It was almost as pricey as going out to eat, but they gave us more salad than one human should digest, and boy was it tasty. I love a good Italian Chop Chop and Palominos makes a great one. Anyway, today was a MUCH better garden day for me. Lots to tell. I'll compose while I have my desert smoothie.
First off, work was work, but at lunchtime I checked my email and found I had two non-spam emails. Bonus! The first was from a GardenWeb contributor, Alberta. I've been impressed by her comments on threads and experience in the garden for quite some time. Much to my pleasant surprise, she emailed me directly with thoughts on my garden woes. She suggested an alternative to lights for me. Apparently Winter Sowing is a good solution. She suggested I head to the GW forum on it and check out Vera's posts. She's in Washington also and has had great success at it.
I actually have been there and it is essentially planting seeds in potting soil in various recycled milk jugs and other transparent/transluscent containers. Then you put them outside in the winter sun and keep them watered. That's the gist anyway. I didn't try it because I figured it wouldn't work here with our lousy sun and frosty mornings. Now I'll have to check it out and see what Vera's up to. THANK YOU Alberta! I will definitely do that. Oh and I will let Judy know your troubles with the site. I have cable so it's not too slow for me.
Not that it's winter sowing, but a post I read last night said some guy in Minnesota has been putting his seedlings outside during the day to get them acclamated and hardend off or whatever to make them stouter. So I took the kiddies out for a walk today. Before work I put them out on a board resting between two beds. They seemed no worse off when I got home after dark and brought them in for the evening. I expect frost tonight or I'd leave them outside unless it rained. Too much water can be a bad thing. So I'm experimenting with these broccoli, cauliflower, onions and lettuce. They're either going to live or not, no matter what I do.
I also read Judy's comment and some of it is directly relating to my next comment, but that's good to know about peat moss. I recall it isn't as stringy as it could be, but I expect it works well once it's decompressed. I can understand how hard it is to do so, but that's what I'll end up getting. It can't be any worse than decompressing the newspaper blow-in insulation and my dad did 40 bags of the stuff in a day. I appreciate the comments and will take them to heart for sure.
Ok, so last night I calculated that I need fifteen 3.5 c. ft. bags of vermiculite to equal 2 c. yards. We check with Sky and find that they only have 5 bags, at $28 each. Thus the reason for my post on Ft2Garden's boards last night. I calculated with the peat, compost and vermiculite totaling 6 c. yards, it would cost me $750 for my dirt. OUCH! So after my wife told me Sky only had 5 (one third what I needed), I panicked.
During my lunchtime (I work through lunch), I called The Plant Farm at Smokey Point, way up north in Arlington. It's an hour north but I was desparate. They sold me my blueberry bushes so I like them. Well, they had only small bags of vermiculite, but instead of coming up blank on alternative sources (like Sky), they suggested their supplier in Snohomish. Snohomish is about 30 minutes away from us, so closer. Anyway, I called Steuber Distributing and asked if they had vermiculite in bulk, or at least large bags. They only carry it in 4 c. ft. bags, but I only need 13 of them. I asked how many they had and they said about 200! Then I asked their cost. Get this Judy, $14.50 each. WHOOOOOOT! That just cut the cost of my vermiculte in half!
Then I asked if they carried peat moss. Sky had half-bales for $17. Steuber has FULL-bales for $12.50! I couldn't believe my ears. Even getting my Cedar Grove compost from Sky (they're close and it's reasonable if you don't consider they get their product for free... all our yard waste goes there), the price of my "dirt" is now about $325 vs. $750. I'm so excited! After bugging my brother at work, we are set to head out bright and early Saturday morning to be there when they open to get 13 bags of vermiculite and 7 bales of peat moss. Boy do I hope it all fits in my brother's truck... I don't have time Saturday to make two trips (it's my eldest's 4th birthday).
So this weekend is time for dirt. Saturday is getting the vermiculite and peat moss, along with my son's party for his friends. Sunday is getting compost and mixing it all on a HUGE tarp, then moving it 20 feet or so to the beds. I'll pick up a sheet of plywood and rip it to 1 foot widths so the wheelbarrow can move over the gravel (still kicking myself in hindsight for getting pea gravel insted of crushed rock). Oh, and I'll definitely take pictures and share the experience.
All in all it was a very very good garden day. Thanks to my gardening friends out there and the nice folks at The Plant Farm who put me on to their supplier in Snohomish. If they are for real, I'll definitely add them to the vermiculite sources for Washington. I can't wait for the weekend!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
February 13, 2008
You know you've arrived when you start getting spammed. I've had to delete five posts today. Hehe, that's more than I've had of real posts to-date. Come on people, tell me I'm insane or a fool to start out so big or whatever. We can't let the morons win!
Well, tonight's short. We went on the first of our regular 3.5 mile walks pushing jogging strollers tonight. We started out in light and ended in pitch dark. It sure felt good even if it was a bit chilly. Exercise and a healthy diet goes a long way to living to see my grandkids grow up. That's what the garden's all about now.
As for the garden, not all my seedlings have keeled over. They're still leggy and reaching to the sky, but they're hanging on and I'll keep them outside in the garden window until I've got dirt and I'll give them a shot... along with direct sowing some seeds. You never know. I'm sure stranger things have happened.
I've got to calculate the amount of vermiculite and peat moss I need for my beds so I can call Sky tomorrow to see if they have enough on hand. Otherwise I need to find another dealer for my crack. hehe.
Hmm. 3x3x3 is 27 ft3 in a y3, there are 3.5 ft3 in a bag of vermiculite, so roughly 15 bags for 2 yards. Same calculation for peat moss (Mell says compressed 2.2 ft3 peat moss is 4 ft3 loose) equates to roughly 13 half bales. Boy is that expensive. Heck the compost is the cheapest thing there because I can buy it in bulk. Maybe I'll let my fingers go the walking and see if I can't find a bulk source for vermiculite. You never know.
Well, tonight's short. We went on the first of our regular 3.5 mile walks pushing jogging strollers tonight. We started out in light and ended in pitch dark. It sure felt good even if it was a bit chilly. Exercise and a healthy diet goes a long way to living to see my grandkids grow up. That's what the garden's all about now.
As for the garden, not all my seedlings have keeled over. They're still leggy and reaching to the sky, but they're hanging on and I'll keep them outside in the garden window until I've got dirt and I'll give them a shot... along with direct sowing some seeds. You never know. I'm sure stranger things have happened.
I've got to calculate the amount of vermiculite and peat moss I need for my beds so I can call Sky tomorrow to see if they have enough on hand. Otherwise I need to find another dealer for my crack. hehe.
Hmm. 3x3x3 is 27 ft3 in a y3, there are 3.5 ft3 in a bag of vermiculite, so roughly 15 bags for 2 yards. Same calculation for peat moss (Mell says compressed 2.2 ft3 peat moss is 4 ft3 loose) equates to roughly 13 half bales. Boy is that expensive. Heck the compost is the cheapest thing there because I can buy it in bulk. Maybe I'll let my fingers go the walking and see if I can't find a bulk source for vermiculite. You never know.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
February 12, 2008
Tonight was an internet night. I didn't have much of a chance to do anything garden related today, but I gave out my blog site to a few folks, got a compliment on my Build-As-You-Grow bins, and said hello to some new folks on Ft2Garden.com.
Oh, and I found out folks from all over like Washington State University (in Eastern Washington, 5 hours away). They're a big agg school (among many other fine degrees they offer) so their agg department puts out great stuff. Besides it's gonna work here because they're close to me.
I also found out that corn can be planted in 8 inch rows with 4 inch spacing. So I can get 6 rows in my 4 foot wide beds, with 33 stalks per row. That's a whopping 198 plants!!!! That's way more than the 44 stalks I hoped to grow at 1/SF.
Well, I got to thinking, would planting that close work in Seattle's mild summer climate? It doesn't get over 85 here (maybe once a season it hits the mid 90s) and our springs are mild and wet. I'd hate to get nothing from that spacing. I sent the poster an email and will report back what I find. It's exciting none-the-less!
I got interest in composting from a post on Ft2Garden.com and found good information on the WSU composting site linked there. It isn't as simple and easy as I'd like it, and I'm not sure how well it would work for a quick hot compost. But eventually I would like both a compost and worm compost bin. I have far too much grass clippings than leaves in the summer so that leads me to think cold do nothing compost is best for me (my family does this type), but I would still need to recycle tons of grass clippings. And even then, would a cold process kill of the dandelion seeds in the weeds I mow up. Hehe, eventually I'll be weed free, but not for several years at the rate I'm going. Composting is very interesting and compelling, but we'll have to see.
To end, it's with sadness I report that I just cracked open the very last of my blackberry jelly. You haven't lived until you've tried home made blackberry jelly. I know it's not in my SFG, it's not even in my yard, but it's 5 feet outside my yard. I have GOT to figure out how to increase the yield from those naturally growing blackberry bushes without having them invade my backyard.
All in all, a good night. Very relaxing and educational.
Oh, and I found out folks from all over like Washington State University (in Eastern Washington, 5 hours away). They're a big agg school (among many other fine degrees they offer) so their agg department puts out great stuff. Besides it's gonna work here because they're close to me.
I also found out that corn can be planted in 8 inch rows with 4 inch spacing. So I can get 6 rows in my 4 foot wide beds, with 33 stalks per row. That's a whopping 198 plants!!!! That's way more than the 44 stalks I hoped to grow at 1/SF.
Well, I got to thinking, would planting that close work in Seattle's mild summer climate? It doesn't get over 85 here (maybe once a season it hits the mid 90s) and our springs are mild and wet. I'd hate to get nothing from that spacing. I sent the poster an email and will report back what I find. It's exciting none-the-less!
I got interest in composting from a post on Ft2Garden.com and found good information on the WSU composting site linked there. It isn't as simple and easy as I'd like it, and I'm not sure how well it would work for a quick hot compost. But eventually I would like both a compost and worm compost bin. I have far too much grass clippings than leaves in the summer so that leads me to think cold do nothing compost is best for me (my family does this type), but I would still need to recycle tons of grass clippings. And even then, would a cold process kill of the dandelion seeds in the weeds I mow up. Hehe, eventually I'll be weed free, but not for several years at the rate I'm going. Composting is very interesting and compelling, but we'll have to see.
To end, it's with sadness I report that I just cracked open the very last of my blackberry jelly. You haven't lived until you've tried home made blackberry jelly. I know it's not in my SFG, it's not even in my yard, but it's 5 feet outside my yard. I have GOT to figure out how to increase the yield from those naturally growing blackberry bushes without having them invade my backyard.
All in all, a good night. Very relaxing and educational.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
February 10, 2008
Ah Sunday. Time to get tons done before you go back to work. Some people relax on Sunday, but gardeners tend to get stuff done.
I'm going to keep this post short because it's all about my potato bins and I'll save most of the discussion for my page on them. Let's say they were very cheap, $65 for materials I didn't already have. I ended up using the Douglas Fir which was only $4.33 for a 10 foot 2x6. They've got dings and knot holes but they're solid and hold up in the weather alright, so they're perfect for my bins. They'll last a few seasons which is pretty good for non-treated wood.
They ended up being only 27 inches square inside, and 33 inches tall. They're big enough for my needs and should work for most people. It took me longer than I thought it would because I'm not that good with my hands and I was working alone.
I got the materials at 1 and didn't finish until 4:30, and I didn't get all the boards cut like I wanted. I must say though, my Aunt came over and interrupted my building to help me work in the yard. We did some light pruning of my mature pear and plum trees (mostly cut back the suckers that grew last year and cut some of the inside clutter). We also did some weeding and removed most of the leaf mulch I put down in fall. Apparently they'd done their job and needed to be removed. I wasn't sure of this but she's the expert. Oh and I weeded my blueberry bed and found a half dozen worms. Insane, in a good way.
Talking to my brother when I returned his truck, it got me thinking that I may want to move my potato bins to my failing rose garden. It has space and is southern facing, but blocked part of the day by the house. The advantages of doing that would be I wouldn't have to worry about landscaping fabric being strong enough to hold back dirt or the staples ripping. I could just dig out a 30x30 square about 12 inches deep and fill with Mel's Mix, then put the bins on top. No weeds, no worry of spilling dirt on my gravel which would lead to weeds taking hold easier. The disadvantage is that they'd be on the other side of the house from my veggie garden. They would be 15 feet away from my blueberries though. I don't know, I'll have to think about it.
Anyway, I'll end with a before and after picture to make you want to go through my Build-As-You-Grow page.
Never say the day is over when you have kids. We set up a new twin bed for my eldest and moved my youngest into a toddler bed today. I should have known that the seedlings were in danger, but I hoped for the best with my 19 month old. Now he could reach the broccoli. And he did. He wouldn't go to bed and all heck was breaking loose, when my wife calls me in a panic. My youngest has eaten the broccoli, and the dirt that it was planted in, and I think it was my best seedling.
Alas, my seedlings have been a failure. They are now relegated to the 45 degree garage window sill and they're leggy to boot. I don't think at this point I will do more seedlings this season, instead I will direct sow seeds in my SFG when I have dirt. What a disappointment. Lights are a necessity for me and I don't have a good spot for them. Maybe next year.
I'm going to keep this post short because it's all about my potato bins and I'll save most of the discussion for my page on them. Let's say they were very cheap, $65 for materials I didn't already have. I ended up using the Douglas Fir which was only $4.33 for a 10 foot 2x6. They've got dings and knot holes but they're solid and hold up in the weather alright, so they're perfect for my bins. They'll last a few seasons which is pretty good for non-treated wood.
They ended up being only 27 inches square inside, and 33 inches tall. They're big enough for my needs and should work for most people. It took me longer than I thought it would because I'm not that good with my hands and I was working alone.
I got the materials at 1 and didn't finish until 4:30, and I didn't get all the boards cut like I wanted. I must say though, my Aunt came over and interrupted my building to help me work in the yard. We did some light pruning of my mature pear and plum trees (mostly cut back the suckers that grew last year and cut some of the inside clutter). We also did some weeding and removed most of the leaf mulch I put down in fall. Apparently they'd done their job and needed to be removed. I wasn't sure of this but she's the expert. Oh and I weeded my blueberry bed and found a half dozen worms. Insane, in a good way.
Talking to my brother when I returned his truck, it got me thinking that I may want to move my potato bins to my failing rose garden. It has space and is southern facing, but blocked part of the day by the house. The advantages of doing that would be I wouldn't have to worry about landscaping fabric being strong enough to hold back dirt or the staples ripping. I could just dig out a 30x30 square about 12 inches deep and fill with Mel's Mix, then put the bins on top. No weeds, no worry of spilling dirt on my gravel which would lead to weeds taking hold easier. The disadvantage is that they'd be on the other side of the house from my veggie garden. They would be 15 feet away from my blueberries though. I don't know, I'll have to think about it.
Anyway, I'll end with a before and after picture to make you want to go through my Build-As-You-Grow page.
Never say the day is over when you have kids. We set up a new twin bed for my eldest and moved my youngest into a toddler bed today. I should have known that the seedlings were in danger, but I hoped for the best with my 19 month old. Now he could reach the broccoli. And he did. He wouldn't go to bed and all heck was breaking loose, when my wife calls me in a panic. My youngest has eaten the broccoli, and the dirt that it was planted in, and I think it was my best seedling.
Alas, my seedlings have been a failure. They are now relegated to the 45 degree garage window sill and they're leggy to boot. I don't think at this point I will do more seedlings this season, instead I will direct sow seeds in my SFG when I have dirt. What a disappointment. Lights are a necessity for me and I don't have a good spot for them. Maybe next year.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
February 9, 2008
Well, I did a ton of spinning my wheels today. I was very active, but nothing got done. I went to Home Depot and looked at their wood and shop lights. I'm trying to build my Build-As-You-Grow potato bins this weekend. I am also going to set up my grow station because as you could see in my February 8 post, my broccoli and cauliflower are very very leggy. They may be able to be salvaged if I burry them to where the stem splits into leaf branches. I'll see if they can hold out til I get dirt and then plant them immediately.
Anyway, at Home Depot I find the lumber's expensive, so I decide to go to a local lumber yard to get a better deal and selection. I head over to the lights and find one, just one option for my 28 inch space. They have a 24 inch two-bulb, 20 watt T12 fixture, but it doesn't have blinders on it to disburse light and it doesn't hang from chains to adjust up and down based on the growth of the plants. Further, since it's 20 watt and T12, I'm limited to 20 watt bulbs. Further, since I'm stuck at 24 inches, the bulb choices are even more limited. I'm trying to figure out if I should spend twice as much for plant lights or just use two different regular bulbs. I'll research it and let you know what I found out.
So my plan is to install it on the lid of the cavity and put the shelf about a foot below it. Here is the cavity I've decided to use.
The only use for that space currently is the cold-air return for our furnace directly above it. The top area above that hand-carved walking stick is where the seed growing setup will go. To raise and lower the trays, I'll just use books and other stuff to get it within an inch or two of the lights. Certainly not the best set-up, but I'm stuck with what I've got to work with. Maybe I'll work on that project tomorrow after my bins... which leads me to the rest of my story about the shot day.
While I was looking at Home Depot for lights, finding out that I was severely limited by my 24 inch space, my kids were getting antsy, in a hardware store with exploding flourescent light bulbs all around. Needless to say we went home and dropped off the kids. After calculating the materials I needed for my bins, I figured 10 foot 2x6s (cheaper than 1x6s so I am going strong and cheap) have less waste. Unfortunately there's no way 10 foot boards would fit in our minivan. So I go over and borrow my brother's truck, talk to him about the garden and jump in the truck. As I'm doing so, he says, you're good, you've got a full tank. WRONG. First trip is to the gas station. I call my wife and have her call Dunn Lumber to see how late they're open. Another half hour. Great. Ok, race there, call them and figure out what I'm getting rather than standing at the counter. They're incredibly helpful.
After hearing what I was doing, they said instead of using their construction grade Pine/Spruce/Fir (PSF), which is pretty but definitely an indoor wood, I should use Douglas Fir. It's actually $1 cheaper per board but much more resilient to rot and weather damage. Unforunately that store doesn't carry Douglas Fir, their other store does. It's equally distant from my house, they too closed at 5, so I'm out of luck today. I called them and they've got tons of stock and I'll go tomorrow at 10.
Good thing my brother doesn't need the truck so I'll keep it overnight. Tonight I'll check Lowes for their lighting department choices. I know gardening can be a ton easier than this, but I do enjoy a challenge.
I checked Lowes, and although their lighting department looked better than HD, they didn't have anything remotely workable for my needs. Their 2 foot stand alone unit was only 17W T12, so it wouldn't throw off enough light for growing plants. Oh, and their commercial one that was 20W T12 (just like HD's stand alone) didn't have a cord or a shut off switch. The electrician there at 8 PM was helpful enough to tell me just how easy it was to wire a cord to the commercial one, but he was stumped as to a switch. I was the one that came up with the idea of a surge protector with a switch, or better yet, a timer. Looks like I either find a 4 foot area to set this up or settle for the HD one. Sigh...
Anyway, at Home Depot I find the lumber's expensive, so I decide to go to a local lumber yard to get a better deal and selection. I head over to the lights and find one, just one option for my 28 inch space. They have a 24 inch two-bulb, 20 watt T12 fixture, but it doesn't have blinders on it to disburse light and it doesn't hang from chains to adjust up and down based on the growth of the plants. Further, since it's 20 watt and T12, I'm limited to 20 watt bulbs. Further, since I'm stuck at 24 inches, the bulb choices are even more limited. I'm trying to figure out if I should spend twice as much for plant lights or just use two different regular bulbs. I'll research it and let you know what I found out.
So my plan is to install it on the lid of the cavity and put the shelf about a foot below it. Here is the cavity I've decided to use.
The only use for that space currently is the cold-air return for our furnace directly above it. The top area above that hand-carved walking stick is where the seed growing setup will go. To raise and lower the trays, I'll just use books and other stuff to get it within an inch or two of the lights. Certainly not the best set-up, but I'm stuck with what I've got to work with. Maybe I'll work on that project tomorrow after my bins... which leads me to the rest of my story about the shot day.
While I was looking at Home Depot for lights, finding out that I was severely limited by my 24 inch space, my kids were getting antsy, in a hardware store with exploding flourescent light bulbs all around. Needless to say we went home and dropped off the kids. After calculating the materials I needed for my bins, I figured 10 foot 2x6s (cheaper than 1x6s so I am going strong and cheap) have less waste. Unfortunately there's no way 10 foot boards would fit in our minivan. So I go over and borrow my brother's truck, talk to him about the garden and jump in the truck. As I'm doing so, he says, you're good, you've got a full tank. WRONG. First trip is to the gas station. I call my wife and have her call Dunn Lumber to see how late they're open. Another half hour. Great. Ok, race there, call them and figure out what I'm getting rather than standing at the counter. They're incredibly helpful.
After hearing what I was doing, they said instead of using their construction grade Pine/Spruce/Fir (PSF), which is pretty but definitely an indoor wood, I should use Douglas Fir. It's actually $1 cheaper per board but much more resilient to rot and weather damage. Unforunately that store doesn't carry Douglas Fir, their other store does. It's equally distant from my house, they too closed at 5, so I'm out of luck today. I called them and they've got tons of stock and I'll go tomorrow at 10.
Good thing my brother doesn't need the truck so I'll keep it overnight. Tonight I'll check Lowes for their lighting department choices. I know gardening can be a ton easier than this, but I do enjoy a challenge.
I checked Lowes, and although their lighting department looked better than HD, they didn't have anything remotely workable for my needs. Their 2 foot stand alone unit was only 17W T12, so it wouldn't throw off enough light for growing plants. Oh, and their commercial one that was 20W T12 (just like HD's stand alone) didn't have a cord or a shut off switch. The electrician there at 8 PM was helpful enough to tell me just how easy it was to wire a cord to the commercial one, but he was stumped as to a switch. I was the one that came up with the idea of a surge protector with a switch, or better yet, a timer. Looks like I either find a 4 foot area to set this up or settle for the HD one. Sigh...
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