Easter: Tucking Tomatos Into Bed

I chickened out and tucked my tomatoes in under plastic to cover them up from the wind and frost. We also picked up some sweet hanging baskets at Easter and my 1971 Chevy Nova:

Crossed Fingers Starting to Cramp

I took the tomato plants from the grow house and planted them today. Yes its a bit early for Region 8A but I figured if they survive, great, if not, I'll buy some more. Anyway fingers crossed as I hope we don't have anymore snow, hail, or frost but who knows this year.

Flower Time 1.0

My thing is obviously vegetables but Jen's thing is flowers so we went out today and picked up some flowers that will be in the flower beds and baskets.Jen still needs 140 hot pink petunias for the driveway but we did pick some some of the other flowers that will go in the beds.

Also I am pretty excited about my 20+ tomato plants ready to go in the grow house when the weather warms. I am also thinking of hooking my 110 rain barrel system up full time soon.

Click to enlarge images

Mid April Update

We coughed up some money (thanks to an escrow rebate check) and replaced twelve roses (yeah the pictures below show 10 but I got antsy and got two more) that frozen over the fall. Everything is growing well. I moved past the tomato plants that got squashed when the mini green house got crushed in the wind storm and thanked my lucky stars for the 24 that are still in the grow house. I am surprised how well everything is coming up. The following are up and out: hops, horseradish, peas, carrots, onions, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, rhubarb, Swiss chard, leeks, garlic, and cucumbers (in grow house).

I also started growing sprouts inside like a typical Bellinghamite. I made my own sprout jars by cutting out screens from one grease splatted guard and visiting my local co-op. Next thing you know I'll be burning my bras and protesting the NRA.
Click to enlarge images

Arrrgggh!!!

Jen, Nyla and I went for a brisk walk with the wind howling. When I came back, I walked outside to see that the mini greenhouse had fallen over and crushed most of the plants inside. I spent some time scooping up the plants, pinching off broken leaves, and rushing them into the grow house all in the dark.

I saved (I hope) about four of the tomatoes out of the eleven that were in there. The torch lilies were a total loss. Good thing I have a lot more tomatoes in the grow house that I didn't put out. Here are a couple pictures of the scene I saw when I got out in the wind storm:

Hardening Off and November 2010 Cold Snap Devistation

I've been giving a lot of my starts away so the grow house is getting thinner and thinner but I am still keeping some tomatoes out there in case the ones in the mini greenhouse do not take too kindly to the hardening off process. I plan on giving the remainder of the tomato starts away at Easter so I started hardening them off this week. The cauliflower and brussel sprouts did well when they got outside and in the garden. The rest I'll give away.

I also tested out my 110 gallon rain barrel system to see how well I built it and it worked fine. I was a bit concerned because I made it and well...you never know how those things go all the time.

The cold snap we got in November is showing its devastating results now. Our Spanish Lavender was dead so I replaced it with eight new plants.

Out of 17 nice Jackson Perkins roses, maybe five survived this cold snap. We started looking at various nurseries for the Voluptuous hybrid tea to replace roses in the front of the house. We found a place in Lynden today with the amount we need.

True 1st of April

My tomatoes are really growing well in the shed. They are pretty bushy and not leggy. I'll keep them in there for another month while the cucumbers also get started. I started giving away my hardened off cauliflower and Brussels sprout starts. As usual you can click on the image to enlarge: