Journal Entry 2012-09-25

Gardening in Middle Tennessee.
Changing water every day for the basil cuttings. Rosemary outside for morning sun. Time to start October journal. I hope I can get six or seven years [out of each book], I've planned for seven. We'll see how it goes.

[Note from 2018-12-12: I am actually getting 10 or more years out of each book (one book per month)]

---

How did this entry get here? What are Journal Entries? https://www.thelittlebiddyhenhouse.com/2018/12/combining-blogs.html

Journal Entry 2012-09-15

Gardening in Middle Tennessee

Made a good haul from the Farmer's Market this morning. One farmer noted that this was an awesome year for tomatoes.

• Carrots - 1 doz at $5 - the most expensive thing, but they are divine. Full sized but as sweet and crisp as baby fingerlings.
• Tomatoes - $1/pound - juicy, luscious, perfectly ripe, you can smell them
• 5 hot peppers - Tabasco style - boxes for canning were $14 - I just wanted 5. the farmer tried to just give them to me - I forced them to take 75cents
• 2 fat sweet potatoes for baking
• One green and one red bell pepper - hardly any ripe ones today - nearly all green. Maybe I didn't get to market early enough
• Bag of peaches - looked way better than the last batch. I may eat some fresh.
• Bag of spinach and one of red lettuce; one cuke. Salad for lunch on Sunday!

---

How did this entry get here? What are Journal Entries? https://www.thelittlebiddyhenhouse.com/2018/12/combining-blogs.html

Journal Entry 2012-04-02

Gardening in the High Desert

The gale-force wind from yesterday seems to have abated, so maybe today I will go out in my barren garden and see what's alive. Even though there are no veggies to put out yet, the strawberries and irises and daffodils should be making an appearance, along with lemon balm, oregano, thyme, and rosemary.

---

How did this entry get here? What are Journal Entries? https://www.thelittlebiddyhenhouse.com/2018/12/combining-blogs.html

Journal Entry 2011-05-06

Gardening in the High Desert

I can't find my garden journal!

• Planted out 4 toms today:
  • Red cherry between beds 2 & 3
  • Super Sweet 100 + yellow pear at end of bed 3
  • Early Girl between half barrels
• Also planted some plants in my sitting area
  • 1 Shasta Daisy "Alaska" [2012-05-06 Bunnies ate it down to the ground]
  • 2 Chamomiles [2012-05-06 Didn't survive not being watered when I was on travel]
  • 2 Salvia Blue Bedder [2012-05-06 Didn't thrive, but didn't die, either. Bloomed for two months or so.]
• And more
  • Culinary sage in the garlic area [2012-05-06 It grew well and has come back this year]
  • Taragon in SE corner of bed one [2012-05-06 Doesn't appear to have come back; something kept eating it]

• Windy like crazy. Sprinkled in the a.m. but not enough to be useful. I manually watered.
• Elm and maple in the back yard budding [2012-05-06 I think they have both finally died :-( ]
• Apple trees about done blooming
• Desert marigold blooming
• Desert mallow has first leaves
• Ate small plate of spinach
• Observed a duck bathing in water tub
• Ducks moved outside today
• Strawberries blooming
• Some type of bok choi has sprouted, as well as some chartreuse lettuce. Very tiny.
• Sunflowers under row covers sprouting. Primarily north fence near sitting area and w[est] fence near garlic
• Pulled weeds - made a path from gate. Also semi-weeded main garlic beds
• Watered and turned compost

---

How did this entry get here? What are Journal Entries? https://www.thelittlebiddyhenhouse.com/2018/12/combining-blogs.html

Journal Entry 2011-04-02

Gardening in the High Desert

• Water garlic, peas, spinach, daffodils
  
• Pulled grass from 3 west rows in corn patch and added osmocote fertilizer. It is ready to receive seeds
  
• Finalized oasis plan [Note 2018-12-16: don't remember what the Oasis was supposed to be.]
  

Received from a trade on Dave's Garden from R.X.

• 6 flying saucers morning glories
  
• 6 purple white stripped morning glories
  
• 6 star of yenta [morning glories]
  
• Lots African Marigold
  
• 6 Mexican Sunflower
  
• Summer thyme
  
• Lemon Balm
  
• Anise Basil
  
• Salad Burnet
  
• Crystal White Wax Onion
  
• Pepper Mint
  
• Pkg Scarlet O'Hara [MG]
  
• Pkg Heavenly Blue [MG]
  
• Pkg Tall Mixed [MG]
  
• Pkg Forget-Me-Not
  
• Pkg Purple Cone Flower
  

Sent in exchange

• Spinach - Bloomsdale
  
• Spinach - Matador
  
• Sages - Broad Leaf, Blue Bedder Salvia, Culinary Sage
  
• Garlic Chives
  
• Basil - unknown small leaf, cinnamon
  
• Lemon cuke
  
• MG - ground
  
• Lavender moon flower
  

---

How did this entry get here? What are Journal Entries? https://www.thelittlebiddyhenhouse.com/2018/12/combining-blogs.html

Journal Entry 2011-04-01

Gardening in the High Desert

Seedlings that are up [sprouted] inside

Peat pellets
• 3 purple cone flower
  
• 1 white cone flower
  
• 1 vera tomato
  
• 2 cells curly parsley
  
• 2 cells tarragon just breaking ground
  
• 2 bee balm monarda
  
• 3 cells gama grass
  
• 3 tall vine tomatoes
  
• 1 dill bouquet
  
• 3 cells chamomile
  
• 2 Joe's Long Cayenne [pepper]
  
• 4 Shasta Daisy
  

Bedding Tray
• 4 Clumps garlic chives
  
• 9 Tam Jalapeños (2 not doing so well)
  
• 3 culinary sage
  
• 6 pomadore [tomato] (1 not doing well)
  
• 5 flat leaf parsley
  
• 10 Salvia Blue Bedder
  
• 3 red pear [tomato]
  

Purple Basil Tray Almost ready to transplant Tam Jalapeño Flat (6) not germ yet

Outside Status
• Spinach in ground has germinated
  
• 1 pea has pushed san aside
  
• I covered rows with some ferny weed leafs - hopes that hides them until they are too big for the birds to care
  
• Garlic beds doing well
  
• Weeded - lots of ferny things - pulled ones closest to the individual garlics
  
• No weeding for daffs, but I did feed and water ones buy west fence and the volunteer daffs and crocus
  
• Old Biddy followed me around and scored a big, fat caterpillar. That's about 4 I've dug up so far this year
  
• Read certain butterflies like to lay their eggs on parsley, so I think I shall plant more parsley. And cilantro, too. Maybe a whole swath in my tinny "wildflower" garden
  
  Watered
  • Bed 2 and 3
    
  • All Garlic
    
  • Volunteer daffs
    
  • Daff bed West
    
• Corn stubble - chickens have worked over the stubble - no over-wintered bugs there!
  
• Ferny weeds along the north and east corner - these will be the backdrop to wildflower are. I know some caterpillar eats them
  
• Watered and turned compost - not steaming, yet, but smelling more strongly of ammonia. Something is alive in there
  
• Ordered floating row covers. Hopefully they'll be here soon. I am ready to direct sow seeds.
  
  Direct Sow Candidates
  • White Sage
    
  • Sunflowers
    
  • Peas
    
  • Spinach
    
  • CA Poppies
    
  • Salvia
    
  • Turnips
    
  • Rutagega
    
  • Law Grass
    
  • Morning Glories
    
  • 4 O'Clocks
    
  • Lettuce Mix
    
  • Wild flower mix (in rows, so I know they aren't weeds)
    
  • Malabar spinach
    

---

How did this entry get here? What are Journal Entries? https://www.thelittlebiddyhenhouse.com/2018/12/combining-blogs.html

Journal Entry 2011-02-05

Gardening in the High Desert

• After a week of being gone on travel, it is good to come home. I am amazed at how well things are growing in my mini green house
  
• At 8 am, it is still slightly below freezing. If it gets into the mid 40's, I will set out toms for some natural light. If it gets to 50, will set out basils, too.
  
• The 5 of 6 Striped Cavern (hollow stuffing tom) and 5 of 6 Alaskan Fancy planted on 1/16 are well ready for transplanting to cups today
  
• The peppers have not germ's. Going to put my heat pad under them this week and see if I can coax them along.
  
• Toms in cups need transplanting to bigger cups (Tco Bell cups) soon. I can see their roots against the translucent walls. A few have opts that are expanding beyond the drainage holes
  
• I know that, for most places, I have started toms way too early. What I need, however, is toms that are mature enough to set fruit when I set them out, so that they will be able to fruit before the summer temps go crazy. I am hoping, hoping.
  
• Before we had a fence up, Alaskan Fancy had set a dozen fruit. I have 5 plants now, and we'll start another 6. They are determinate, so once they set and ripen fruit, they won't be useful - except maybe as hosts to horn worms. I love the hawk moths.
  
• Hawk moths like sunflowers, too so a sunflower "tomato cage" should be quite an invite for them. Mybe will be able to go out on a moonlit night and photograph them this summer [2012 Note: did not]
  
• Need to plant seeds closer for things like basil that can be done in pairs, or further apart for toms, because it's hard to cut them apart when they are so close [Referring to seeding in flats]
  
• Ivys are growing horizontal - move them to shelves with limited height - move taller toms to top shelf. I'm going to be out of room real soon.
  
• I have lots of south facing windows. Maybe that's where toms go during the day. They could get 8 hours of light that way.
  
• When IS our last frost? April? May? Will have to look at my next journal
  
• Chickens and little birds love my old Christmas tree. Need to move it into the chic hen run for them to enjoy
  
• Had a happy Imbolc earlier this week. Would have been better at home, but still good.
  
• Will Thyme and Oregano grow like weeds?
  
• Wildflower area needs to be chicken proof as some items could be poison
  
• 9:29 am and into the fourtys, now. Time to get out and about. Bring chickies warm water. Check for eggs, water things, etc. Take pictures. But first, breakfast!
  

Backyard [not garden] Temperatures
00:17 24*F
3:21 18*F
4:06 18.3*F
6:42 16.9*F
11:39 86*F (full morning sun)
16:15 59.2*F
16:45 54.3*F
20:02 34.7

---

How did this entry get here? What are Journal Entries? https://www.thelittlebiddyhenhouse.com/2018/12/combining-blogs.html

Journal Entry 2010-12-05

Gardening in the High Desert

• Deep watered orchard trees
• Watered garlic & beds 1 - 3
• Watered new beds - hoping to encourage wee germination - then can till in to both kill weeds and add organic matter to sand
• Added one 5 gal bucket sweet smelling compost to two different beds.  There is a lot more to put out.  Then clean coop and start another batch of good stuff  

[Note 2018-12-12: Ah, the year of the 400 garlic bulbs...]

---

How did this entry get here? What are Journal Entries? https://www.thelittlebiddyhenhouse.com/2018/12/combining-blogs.html

Journal Entry 2012-12-09

Gardening in Middle Tennessee
Filled the bird feeder twice this week. Need to buy some chicken scratch two makes in with the sunflower seeds. Will attract different thirds – and be much cheaper, two. I have a lot of seeds that are six years or older. I should do a germination test.

---

How did this entry get here? What are Journal Entries? https://www.thelittlebiddyhenhouse.com/2018/12/combining-blogs.html

Journal Entry 2008-05-06

Gardening in the High Desert

• Watered beds, sunflowers, weeds
• Looks like volunteer oregano germinating in bed #1
• Took some photos of strawberry blooms
• Sunflowers planted kind of close, but since it's only one row, hope still will be OK. Need to plant more, more, more. Some for the backyard, too.
• Is the last hard frost gone yet? Can I try toms outside? Time for another sacrificial tom? Time to plant some purple "cool soil" beans?

---

How did this entry get here? What are Journal Entries? https://www.thelittlebiddyhenhouse.com/2018/12/combining-blogs.html