Things A'Bloomin

One of my favorite reminders that Winter is over and warmer days are on their way.....hopefully.

It's All Coming Along

Tomatoes are almost done being potted up. The last of the sprouted varieties will get transplanted for the first time tomorrow. The newly germinated will probably take another two weeks before they get potted up. Then it will be another week or two beyond that before the weather is right for hardening and finding their homes in the garden. This year, so far, 12 out of 16 varieties of tomatoes have germinated. One more is trying. So for the remaining 3 I have resown new varieties just in case. I want to post the varieties here but I honestly can't remember them all, plus I feel like I am jinxing things by naming them before they actually make it to the garden....so I think I will hold off until later and then do a 'Look Who Made the Garden' posting. On a side note, some of my Peppers have had a second potting up already , boy they are going to be huge. Not the Jolokias though, they will most likely take two seasons before they give any pods. My son is going to be disappointed about that for certain but there is no rushing Mother Nature.

So,the Spring has finally sprung. Of course it is snowing at the moment, but it is Spring never the Less. My peppers have germinated and been mostly potted up. And today we sowed tomato and eggplant seeds....hoosah!! Summer is on it's way!!! I should knock on wood here though, as last time we talked about Spring coming, two days later we had the snow storm of a lifetime and my little corner of the world got 33 inches in under 24 hours. 33 INCHES!! Can you imagine waking up to that, we had to dig the street out by hand...but hopefully there will be no more of that this year. Please Mother Nature, just 12 months of normal, that's all I'm asking....for now. Okay, so I will update with my sproutings as they happen. Good Growing!

Dead of Winter

So here we are, slogging thru the dead of Winter, and Spring seems like it is a million miles away. Sadly, tomatoes would then be a billion miles away...heavy sigh. So, it's been a long while since we've talked. I have definitely been horrible about keeping up here. Last years tomato crop being decimated by opposums didn't help that case any either. As excited as I was to have fantastic germination, and a great grow out, and tons of tomatoes set, those nasty, naked tailed, razor teeth monsters stole my thunder. And after several days of standing in my garden sobbing my heart out at the loss of my largest green fruit, we fnally discovered that those nasty opossums were the culprits. So we completely chicken wired.in the garden and salvaged a small portion of the season. But by that time I was in no mood.to talk about it. Then Autumn arrived...and along with that came Hurricane Sandy. Halloween was postponed for a week. Along comes November 7th, our new Halloween day and what do we have here....the first snow storm of the season. So here I sit, hoping for a "normal" season in 2013. Not a stellar season, not even a great season...just a normal, non rodentful, non hurricaney, run of the mill normal. Come on Spring!!! P.S. Computer is acting wonky, so I am posting from my cell phone. This is why there are some weird typos and awkward punctuations. My phone is just not compatible with this site. Please forgive :-D

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes...and a few Peppers too.

Yahooo it's Tomato time again!!! Not only did all varieties of my tomatoes sprout....but 90% of them have gone thru their first pot up. Okay, I know that this is a less than amazing proclamation, but I have been less than enthusiastic about my seedlings this season. A combination of the weird Non-Winter...and my youngest child turning 18 have gotten me in a twist. But my seeds have changed all of that for me....now I am jumping for joy. Okay...not literally jumping, as I  my fat ass has seen better days....but you get my meaning.

I have some special tomato varieties that are doing well, and I am proud to have one or two rare varieties as well. As for the Peppers, I only sowed 5 varieties. And out of those 5 only 1 was slightly exotic, and that one never sprouted. I am not giving up on it yet as it has only been a month, and maybe, just maybe it will spring to life some day soon and surprise me. I really want this variety to sprout.It is the Naga Jolokia....and I have people already lined up to try them (and for me to laugh at while they are gasping for air and screaming for water).

I know I have promised before to get my list up soon....and I swear I will. SOON!!


Ahhh...Spring really has Sprung, hasn't it?!?

Spring is about to be Sprung

Its that time of year again...seed sowing time!! I feel horrible about my lack of posting throughout the Autumn and Winter months but that was due to a touch of the blues. My spirits are definitely better now. So, onto the seeds.... I really haven't done much beyond chosing the pepper, eggplant and tomato varieties that will grace the garden this season. Unfortunately I cant remember all the names off hand so I will post them next week. Beyond that, I have sown both the peppers and eggplants. Out of the 6 pepper varieties and 3 eggplant varieties only 2 types of peppers have sprouted. Still makes me happy though as I was afraid that my old seeds had lost their oomph....but nope, they still got it!

So, what varieties are you all planting this year??

Hurricane Irene

Here we go again with Weather Gone Wild 2011 version.

First it was snowstorm after snow storm dumping 12" plus every week....now it's the Hurricane from Hell. Never a dull moment here in bucolic New England.

I will admit that we here in the Northeast may know our way around a blizzard, but it has been....what....25 years since the last real Hurricane. That one would have been Gloria, and I would have been all of 18 or 19 at the time and I'm pretty sure I slept through most of it. Well this time around I am a homeowner and there is no way I will be able to sleep through it knowing my roof is at risk. So we have battened down the hatches. The hatches in this case being our lawn furniture, watering cans and other such suburban detritus.

On a happier note...well not happier as it still pertains to high winds whipping away at my garden,but maybe a more garden-like note....I harvested a nice bunch of tomatoes that were just starting to go a shade past blushing to keep them safe from the wind. Also my son helped put all of the dangling squash, pumpkins and melons into little hammocks. So hopefully those will just rock the storm out.

Okay folks....keep your fingers crossed that my roof and garden make it through until Monday.