Down on my knees, planting those onion slips. It’s all wet, cold and muggy outside. The weather has been crazy this year. One day it’s cold and the next it’s warm. You never know what to expect, when planting the vegetable garden. I needed to get them planted, so out the door I went.
It took the better part of twenty minutes, to push all the little slips into the soil and make sure they were covered enough to with stand the cool temperatures. So, now they are finally in the ground and that’s out of the way. I can sit back and worry about planting the rest of the stuff. Potatoes, need to be in the ground in February, so the cabbage, brussel sprouts, lettuce, radishes and potatoes are my next projects.
It won’t be long until I will see the onions, start reaching for the sun. Soon, I will have new green onions to savor with my meals. I know I will enjoy them and will need to watch the family, when they visit. They know I grow a garden each year, so they come here looking for the bounty. Boy, did they get let down last year, the rains, just kept coming, the ground soured, killing all of the tender plants. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this year, for a great harvest.
It’s time to get the onions into the ground. Hey, tell Mr. Weather, that. It’s so messy that even if I could get into the garden to plant a few cool weather crops, it would freeze them. They would be dead in a matter of one day. So, here I am with onion slips ready to plant and can’t get it done.
The cabbage and brussels sprouts, plants I have, also have to sit around and wait for the weather to change. Either way, I’m at a stand still.
Last year I had a beautiful garden growing, when it started raining. The garden stood in water several days, and wasn’t able to recover. I lost all my garden and then the grass took over, leaving me with a large mowing job. Forget finding onions, in all that grass just wasn’t possible, everything got mowed.
You never know from one year to the next how things are going to go. The drought we had for the last two years, cause a water rationing, and left us with a killing heat during the summer months. It’s been rough on home gardeners. Many of the beautiful yard plants and shrubs, gave in to the heat.
So, we will see what happens this year and hope for a good growing season, with a bountiful harvest. My freezer’s ready.
Start Your Own Seeds
There are many advantages to starting your own seeds indoors. You can satisfy your need for green when it’s cold and snowy outside, experiement with unusual or heirloom varieties rarely available as transplants, and grow a large number of plants at relatively little expense.
Planting season is just around the corner, and most of you have been preparing your soil. So, it’s time to get the plants going so the season, can have a good harvest.
The shorter days and lower light levels in winter make it difficult to grow seedlings indoors without supplemental light. Windowsill-grown seedlings get weak and leggy. Consider investing in an indoor light system, either purchased or homemade, to add the extra illumination your seedlings need to grow strong and stocky.
You can buy or make a small hot house, to start your seeds in. There are also, warming pads that can give your seeds the warmth needed to germinate and grow.Starting indoors, give the plants an edge on the growing season and develops them well enough to survive once in the ground. Healthy plants are important when it comes to good gardening. Hey, have a great season.
I finally got my son-in-law, to come over and till my vegetable garden. The garden tiller I have, won’t let me crank it. When I first got it, I was able to crank it just fine. These days, I can’t yank on it hard enough to get the thing going. Then there’s this thing-a ma- jiggie, that’s called a setting for speed. I think? Anyway you have to set it just right and yank like crazy. Well, he’s young and has plenty of muscles, so he’s able to get it going. It’s bad when you have to wait on some one else to do things for you. I still think it just don’t like me. After a few yanks on the handle, and I really don’t like it either. It gets a few of my special words issued at it, while I trying to slow down my pounding heart and heaving chest. That’s when I throw up my hands and call him.
He walks right out and sets the settings and yanks “one time”! The mean tiller, cranks right up and off he goes! Now wouldn’t that just croak the best frog? It chaps me in more places, than I’d like to admit.
Ever saved a few Grapefruit seeds and let them dry? Well, if you do, then prepare a few small pots with potting soil, and take the bigger firm seeds to plant. Break the pointed end and place the seeds in the soil, about 1/2 inch deep. Moisten soil and keep warm and moist, about 2 weeks. Then water once a week. About a month or so later, you should small green shoots breaking the ground. Let small plants, get to be about 1 1/2 inches tall and seperate and transplant in individual pots. Keep moist for about 1 & half, then water once weekly. After 2 months, you can give them some plant food, ever other month. They grow fast and make beautiful house plants. Put them outside during the summer, and make sure they don’t dry out. Repot, ever six months, to encourage growth. Watch out for the thorns. 
I’ve not seen these type of homegrown plants produce any fruit. But who knows, you might be lucky.
We all love turnip greens, when cooked up with bacon or salt pork. But I just wondered if you’ve ever noticed, how when everything else in the garden freezes, the turnip greens are still green and lively? 
They have a resilience that keeps them going when everything else is dead, they rank right up there with the collard greens, which have the same ability. 
So, whether we like these strong greens or not, we have access to certain fresh garden greens,all winter, if we choose.
Do you like turnip greens?
Have you noticed that if you just put your leaves/grass into large black plastic trash bags and leave them for a few months, what happens?
I am a lazy person, so if I turn them over once in a while, it’s their lucky day. The only problem, with turning them is, they may burst open, spilling out the contents.
I left several bags of grass and leaves lying around for most of the year. The bags burst open, when I tried to move them, but I still was able to salvage most of the nice black, moist compost.
I don’t encourage this, but it’s an easy way to do it, if you have a corner of your yard that, you don’t use often. Then just plop a few bags of leaves/grass there and let then lay. Too easy, right?
So, you think earthworms are outdoors creatures? Well, you can actually raise them indoors, and use their castings to improve your soil, indoors and out.
Container
Make it large and manageable, space 8 to 12 inches deep. They feed on the top layers of the bedding. Bins can be plastic or wood.
Drill 8 to 12, ¼-inch-diameter holes in the bottom and sides for aeration and drainage. Drill more holes if using plastic or bedding stays wet. Place a tray under bin to collect “tea” that drips from bin. Tea makes good fertilizer for houseplants.
Bedding
Options; shredded cardboard, newspaper, or coir (coconut husks); and peat moss. Mist bedding with water if it looks dry.
Cover bins to keep worms in dark. Keep temperatures between 40°F and 80°F for survival, place bins in cellar, warm garage.
Red wigglers thrive in temperatures between 55°F and 77°F (Worms from garden, night crawlers, prefer cooler and deeper soils.) Buy red wigglers through the mail or at a bait shop.
One pound of red wiggler worms (about 1,000 worms) can eat a 1/2 pound of scraps a day.
Food
Feed worms vegetable scraps, fruit peels, coffee grounds, tea bags, crushed egg shells, and even leftover pasta. No spicy foods. Avoid meats, fish, fatty and oily foods, and bones. Lay a thin layer on top of bedding. Worms feed in the dark.
A small amount of potting soil or cornmeal help your worms digest their meal.
Harvest
After 3 to 4 months your worms should have eaten the bedding and the scraps. Top layer of matter should be dark brown and the consistency of chunky sand. Harvest the castings. Push the castings to side, add more bedding and scraps. Worms will go to the new bedding and scraps. Dig out castings and add more bedding and scraps. Make sure to pick out stray wigglers and return
When putting fresh flowers into a vase, cut of the ends and sear ends with the flame from a candle. This stops the bleeding and will seal the sap. The less energy lost the better for the blooms, helping your arrangement to last longer
What to do with the old plant, once it starts to drop it’s leaves and die back? Or your just getting rid of it because the season’s over?
Like to have a nice plant, year around. Well, cut back the dead limbs, water it and set in a sunny area.
In a few weeks, new leaves will come out and it will start growing. Feed it some plant food, and watch how great it looks in a few months. It can be put outside after danger of frost.
If you live in the tropical areas, it can grow outside without ever being brought into shelter, during the winter months. I’ve seen plants in borders around the houses in Florida, that had grown as tall as the roof. They make nice floral hedges, around the house and are so colorful.
If your an avid gardner, then try this, just for fun.
