The sprouts are here

     It may not look like much but the little sprouts popping out of the soil are radishes.  This is the first year my husband has planted the vegetable and if they do will it will not be the last.  We are planning to plant potatoes and a pepper or two, maybe even a tomato plant.  I don't know about you but nothing beats a good old fashioned tomato sandwich made with a homegrown tomato.  I just can't wait until spring gets here that's when the garden really starts producing and you can enjoy the harvest, talk about some good eating.

New year, new plants

    

      Well this year my husband has started on the garden early. He started yesterday and with the help of his dad and a seed planter they planted radishes and made room for potatoes.  From what I have read the radishes take about a month to grow while it takes the potatoes several months. 

     Personally I do not like radishes but I really do like to watch them grow.  I think this year I will plant some other things to sell at the farmers market.  I was leaning toward house plants mainly since that is what I have the best of luck growing.  I have considered growing some herbs because sometimes they sell pretty well.  I was thinking about basil, or perhaps thyme.  I haven't really sat down and plotted out a plan as far as growing something.

     I do know that this year I will start some bell pepper plants and more than likely some tomato plants.  Like radishes I do not like to eat bell peppers but I love to watch them grow.  The tomato plants I have a pressure cooker so I can any tomatoes that I have grown and honestly fresh tomatoes taste better in spaghetti sauce that those canned tomatoes you get at the store.

Shasta Daisy

Well the plant I planted last year and had forgotten what it was, turns out it is a Shasta Daisy.   The Shasta daisy is a perennial so it will come back year after year.  What makes it so good is all of the bulbs that I have planted in this part of the yard are all white.  Lilies, daffodils and irises, the one next to it is every other color. 

Gardenia's in bloom

This is one of my Gardenia bushes in full bloom.  My husband put just a handful of fertilizer on the bushes (10-10-10)  and they all started blooming.  They are planted all across the front of the house and they make the house smell so sweet this time of year.  My little girl asked me where the perfume she smelled was coming from, I told her it wasn't perfume it was the flowers.  She smelled the flowers and she realized it wasn't perfume but the flowers.

My Backyard Garden

If you are wondering what those bottles are beside the tomato plants are, they are water spikes with 2 liter bottles on top of them. I am trying an experiment this year. I placed water spikes beside the plants as I put them in the ground this year. I am hoping that I won't spend half the day watering the plants like I did last year. I am suspecting that we may have a HOT HOT summer. Last year I did it with my butterfly bushes that I started from seeds and they survived and grew very well. This year I planted tomatoes and bell peppers. The bell peppers are from a carnival mix so I have no idea what color they are going to be. We are going to have some cold weather tonight so I hope that the plants will survive the cold. It is suppose to get in the low 30's. I am going to cover the plants and pray that the cold does not kill them.

Also today I potted quite a few amaryllis plants. I think it was a total 24 or more. The thing is I have another 30 sprouts and another 4 seed pods that are ready to pop open and day. The seed pods can have as many as 75 seeds or possibly more.

Vegetables in the garden

Well it's been a while but a lot has been going on. First I did something this year that I have never done before. I started tomatoes, from seed. I start my seeds after valentines day. Some people tell me it's to early but by the time they get large enough to put in the ground and start bearing fruit it's really too late to start the seeds. It took the plants about 4 weeks to get large enough to put in the ground. Well they are in the ground and they are going to have to be stakes today. The tomatoes I planted are called boy-o-boy hybrid. They came in a pack of seeds that I got at Dollar General. I've also started Beefsteak and Delicious tomato plants. The Delicious variety can get up to 7 pounds. I don't expect it to get that large but you can never tell. I also planted peppers but they are from a carnival mix so I have no idea what color they will end up being. It will be a surprise. I also have potatoes planted in the yard. My husband planted seed potatoes and they are doing well. We have a compost barrel and in it we throw kitchen waist (especially potato peelings) and other waste materials. well this year when I looked in the barrel I saw several potato sprouts and yes I dug them out and put them in the ground and before you ask They are going well, not as well as the seed potatoes but, then the seed potatoes have been in the ground about a month longer then the compost potatoes.

A New Year, a new diary

Stating now I am going to start making a garden diary. It is something I have wanted to do in the past but never got around to. Well this is a new year and I figured it's a great way to start the new year.

Entry 1
Back in November 2010 for my birthday I received several Amaryllis bulbs. Absolutely none of them bloomed. They all sprouted leaves but no bud. To be honest I was disappointed. Well this year they are more than making up for it so far. One of the bulbs went as far as to grow an offshoot. I can't complain about that. I excited to see the flowers when they bloom I just hope they are as beautiful as the pictures on the package. I was somewhat disappointed when the Black Pearl was more of a maroon color instead of black but hey it still bloomed and for that I am thankful. I may even get some seeds from the pod of the Black Pearl as soon as it dries out and pops. The one thing that gets me is the room, bu that I mean I am getting cramped with all the Amaryllis bulbs I have growing. My husband has let me keep the bulbs I started in 2009 in his shop because it gets cold in there but never freezing. Which is exactly what my bulbs need. Unlike other bulbs (tulips) Amaryllis bulbs should not be frozen, they should just be cold like a refrigerator, I was not about to throw all my food out just to get a bulb to go dormant. If I am lucky the bulbs may bloom this year. I have my fingers crossed.