NJ Jersey Shore Garden Blog | Playing in the dirt in planting zone 7

New Front Yard Melon or Squash Garden Bed

04.19.2011, No Comments, Vegetables, by admin.

Today I set up the new bed for Melons or Squash in front of the keyhole garden. I may build an A frame trellis for the vines to climb, or I may let them ramble all around the yard. If I let them ramble, they may set roots at the leaf nodes along the vine, which may lead to a better harvest. My grass is basically non-existent in this area anyway, so I don’t really care if they take over, as long as I can keep a clear path around the keyhole garden. I’ll probably only fit about 2 or 3 plants in this space. I wonder if I can plant different varieties of squash and melon here – will they cross pollinate?! That would be weird.

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So Much Planting Going On!

04.13.2011, No Comments, Drainage, Gardening Products, Keyhole Garden, Vegetables, What I Planted, When I Planted, by admin.

These are some lettuce transplants that are starting to grab hold in the keyhole garden. I’ve started some greens in there from seed and they are coming up slow. You can see a couple of tiny seedlings down near the bottom. I can’t wait till it’s filled with ruffled green leaves!

The nurseries are sending out my orders fast and furiously, so I am digging things in as soon as they arrive. On the 9th, I planted two Elderberry bushes I got from Ebay. I got a shipment of berries: Consort Black Currant, Red Colossal Gooseberry and 2 Jostaberries and planted them on the 10th. Farmerseed sent me a few free bulbs with the order so I planted the Orchid/Exotica and Shamrocks on the same day. On the 11th I planted 2 varieties of lingonberries: Red Pearl and Balsgard; the Northline Serviceberry and 2 Beach Plums from Raintree Nursery. And then yesterday, the 12th, I planted my All American Paw Paw trees from Miller Nurseries!

I’m also moving the broccoli and cabbage seedlings out into the garden. I’m hoping they can handle the cold because I need room in the greehouse for the new flats of warm weather stuff I started today. In the new flats we have zucchini, yellow summer squash, pumpkin, melon, spaghetti and butternut squash, cucumbers and purple tansy flowers to keep squash bugs away. I need to build those trellises.

I’ll certainly need to put the heater back in there to keep these seedlings cozy.

OH! And I ordered a super cool rain barrel from Amazon. This is shaped like a terracotta pot and I think it’ll look really nice, since it’s going to be sitting on the patio right next to the back door. I need to take a trip to Lowes for a downspout connector and then we will be good to go! 65 gallons of rain to quench my thirsty plants!

Here is a gallery of photos I’ve been taking outside the last couple of days. Everything is so tiny and new, but I swear in a couple of weeks this stuff is gonna get HUGE!

Tags: berries | keyhole garden | rain barrel

Drainage Holes and a Big Lumber Score!

04.05.2011, No Comments, Drainage, Gardening Products, When I Planted, by admin.

The area around our back yard gate has always gotten terribly flooded every time we get a hard rain. The close proximity to a downspout and the hard clay soil in that area had me scratching my head, unsure of how to fix the problem. I waited too long to get started and the heavy snow this winter kept that area too cold and too wet for too long. The mountain laurel I rescued when the hack landscaper rolled over it with his bobcat, finally succumbed to drowning and I had to chop it down to ground level. I feared the nearby rhododendron will be next to die, so I was hopeful when I read in Square Foot Gardening how to improve a garden site with poor drainage.

I dug two deep holes on either side of the gate about 1’ wide and about 3 1/2’ deep. I filled each hole back in with white stone and I am actually looking forward to this crazy 10 day rainy forecast to see if my solution will work! I used the dirt from the holes to fill in an eroded area next to the patio and to raise the level of the ground right through the middle of the gate.

I’ve been planting cool season crops in the backyard veg gardens, greens in the keyhole garden, some rhubarb, blue potatoes, Jersey asparagus and my elderberry bushes – all the planting dates are listed on the garden calendar. That’s so easy to update, and it will be easy to go back next year to see what happened when. I was taking a walk through the yard this morning looking around and saw that some squirrel or something had dug up one of the new rhubarb roots I put in and tossed it outside the hole. ACK! I tucked it back in I hope it will recover. Dang varmints!

Went to Lowes today to buy a wheel barrow because mine has COMPLETELY fallen apart and while I was there I got a new digging fork and a stirrup hoe. I was trying to decide what I would use to stake my tomatoes this year so I went to look around the lumber department. Any decent metal tomato cages are around $7 each and I knew I wanted to try something different. An employee approached me and told me that he was cleaning up the dept and I could have everything on this trolley cart for $10!! He also offered two imperfect 4×4 cedar posts (regular $20 each) for $5 each. So check the picture here – I got all this for $20 – totally worth it. I’m gonna build such cool trellises for the garden this year!

Tags: products | Tools | trellis

Mouse in the Greenhouse!

03.23.2011, 1 Comment, Greenhouse, Pests, by admin.

At least I think that’s what it is.

I’ve been dragging the greenhouse into the garage at night and then right outside the door here in the mornings. My greenhouse isn’t heated, so I’m afraid to leave it out at night this early in spring. The sides don’t zip all the way down, but I’m sure the little buggers could get in there even if they did. It’s not happening while the greenhouse it outside. I’m sure it’s happening while it’s in the garage. Honestly, as long as they don’t come in the house, I couldn’t care less if they take shelter in my garage but EATING MY PLANTS?!?! No way Jose. This means war.

So far, he’s munched on my broccoli, cabbage, pok choi, peppers and eggplant seedlings. I’m SO pissed. They don’t seem to be touching the tomatoes or the lettuce though – just the tiniest seeds/seedlings. Though I planted the eggplant and peppers last month and they were JUST getting their first set of true leaves when CHOMP – now I’ve just got tiny little stems, the leaves have been eaten.

Today I’m going to buy mousetraps and arrange them ever so carefully among my seedlings… Yeah. They crossed a line man.

Tags: animals | greenhouse | mouse | pests | seedlings

Peonies Like Alkaline Soil

03.17.2011, No Comments, Flowers, Fruits, by admin.

Oops! I planted a peony root (?), corn (?), bulb (?), in the front yard in the fall. I thought it would look pretty near the blueberry bushes – but I just read that that was probably the wrong place to put it.

“The acid soil that favors the iris is bad for peonies, and trying to grow them together doesn’t work.” (Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden (Modern Library Gardening) )

I was planning to plant my new lingonberries close by when they arrive in the mail. They like acid too, just like the blueberries. The damn peony has wintered over in that spot and I couldn’t wait to see it come up this season. Well, if it sucks – now I know why.

Tags: peony

Presenting, The Garden Arch

03.16.2011, No Comments, Lawn, Weather, by admin.

I had most of my gardening ‘stuff’ hanging out in my popup greenhouse in the backyard this winter. I took everything out to move the greenhouse into position in the sun to use for seedlings and started finding a home for the large pots and 1/2 bags of soil and gloves and things that were inside in the garage. I wasn’t done and it RAINED last night – everything is soaked. grrrrrr. I NEED a shed!!!!!!

I built this garden arch, a birthday present from my lovely sister, and dug the bed beneath it yesterday. It’s pretty huge and a big commitment for the front yard. I hope it doesn’t blow down 1/2 way through the season. Some of the cheesy screws provided to hold it together were really ticking me off. I couldn’t use the stakes provided because they wouldn’t secure to the base properly grrrrrrrrrr so instead I hammered 6 bamboo garden stakes into the ground where I wanted it to go and then I slipped the hollow metal legs of the arch over the stakes. I feel like I need to find another way to secure the thing, I would hate to have it fall over when cucumbers are growing all over it. I would definitely cry.

I plan to grow cucumbers up the sides, but first I plant some radishes and nasturtiums down below. I have some alfalfa seeds I want to plant. They are deep rooted ‘pea’ plants that fix nitrogen into the soil. Supposed to have purple flowers. Not sure if it will be good for the front yard or just look like a weed. The soil here needs a LOT of help. I’m workin’ on it.

Tags: cucumbers | front yard | new garden bed

Keyhole Garden is All Filled Up!

03.12.2011, 1 Comment, Flowers, Keyhole Garden, by admin.

Oooooh, my back! (well, not yet. but I’m gonna feel it tomorrow.)

This dark patch is where my spring bulbs are starting to come up. We’ve been hanging out in the front yard and the kids were getting dangerously close to running right through them. I had to make them noticeable! I can’t wait for the flowers! The 5 small dark circles of mulch in the background are those 5 new nanking cherries I planted the other day…

The kids helped me plant peas in the back yard today – but I didn’t have a chance to plant anything else. Hopefully the rest of the week will have nice weather. I welcome spring showers, but I’m hoping they come at night. Smile hahaha.

Tags: peas

2011 Garden Plan

03.12.2011, 2 Comments, Fruits, Keyhole Garden, Vegetables, by admin.

Here it is. The plan for this season. I’m about to plant the cool seasons stuff any day now – peas, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, raab… I want to get out there and do it!! The seedlings in the aerogarden are getting big and I’ve already had to take some out and pot them up because they are shading out the rest.

I planted 2 new berry bushes yesterday behind the 2 boxwoods on the side of the house. Planted 5 nanking cherry bushes earlier this week in the front yard. I gave the extra 3 to my neighbor – it’s always a good idea to give peaceful gifts to the folks who live around you.

I just finished digging garden “E” yesterday – still need to double dig garden F and G. These gardens will be no-dig after this – I’ll just apply a layer of compost to the top and plant from now on.

The onions and garlic are already planted and coming up in garden D. These are Egyptian walking onions – so I imagine this will be the only bed I won’t be rotating the crops in because they are perennial onions and will multiply here and come back year after year.

The circle with the broccoli had a pole bean teepee in it last year – so the soil should be pretty awesome for a brassica crop this year.

Tags: berries | cherries | garden plan