Spring Has Sprung

Well, the weather here has been really warm for this time of year, although we have had enough rain to last us for awhile as most of the stream and rivers around Indiana are at or above flood stage. The red bud trees are about ready to break into bloom and some of the spring bulbs are in bloom.

I received my red worms the other day and I put them into my stackable worm bin. See pictures above courtesy of Brandon Smith. The worms seem to be doing well so far. I will be keeping the worm bin inside in the basement. My plants inside my cold frame are doing well so far and seem to be growing nicely. I planted my green pepper seeds two days ago and I will be planting my Roma tomato seeds today. The forecast is for warmer than normal temperature for the next week or so. I just hope it does not rain too much more so the soil will dry out. I should be receiving my onion plants in another week or so.

Cold Frame, Compost, and Worms

Nearly all of my seeds have germinated to date and are in the cold frame. The cold frame is nearly full now. The weather has been really nice the past few days with highs at or near 80. The nice weather has allowed me the time to empty both of my compost bins. The compost was spread onto all of my garden plots. Believe it or not I still have one big chunk of compost still frozen that was in the center of my bigger compost bin!! I guess it WAS really cold this winter. I will be starting my pepper and tomato seeds soon. BTW I have purchased a worm bin to try some vermicomposting. The worm castings, otherwise known as worm poop, make an excellent soil amendment. I will be reporting on the progress of the worm bin in later posts. Happy Gardening!!

Where is Spring??

The weather continues to be cold. The ground is like permafrost here in central Indiana. I did manage to put up my cold frame yesterday, even though the ground was still frozen in spots. The low temperature today was around 15 degrees with highs only in the 30's. At least the sun feels warms, when it is out. I did manage to plant a whole flat of lettuce seeds and nearly a whole flat of other cold crop seeds. They are inside until they germinate, and then it is off to the cold frame.

Last night I found the following video on Google Video that I really liked, so I though I would share it with all of you. It is a World War II Victory Garden Video about a family in Maryland and it shows them planting and tending their garden. Check it out at the following address: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2958558120475680693&q=victory+garden&pr=goog-sl&hl=en

I really like watching these old films. Wow, planting and tending that garden looks like a lot of work. That is why I have a square foot garden. Besides, I do not have the horses that they used to plow with :-) Also notice that they have the kids doing all of the tedious labor like weeding and thinning, smart parents.

Cold Weather For Early March

The weather has been colder than average so far for late February and early March here in central Indiana. The temperatures at least warmed up enough over the last 10 days or so to melt almost all of the snow that was on the ground. Wow, I am soooooo ready for spring!!! The forecast is for warmer temps next week.......HOORAY!!!! I plan on putting up my cold frame tomorrow and placing it out in the garden. I will not have any plants out in it, but at least it will make me feel better :-)

I am going to start some lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and brussel sprout seeds right after I post this blog entry. I will be planting these in vermiculite in my cell packs and placing them under some lights until they germinate. After germination, I will put them into the cold frame.

By the way, let me know what you think of my new blog/journal. I am trying to keep this blog as uncluttered as possible. Man, I have seen some blogs that were so busy you did not even feel like reading them. Please feel free to post comments to any blog entry. You can find the link to do so after every entry. I would like to hear from my readers. Maybe tell me how your garden is growing, etc. Also, please note that you can now sign up to receive e-mails every time this blog is updated!! Look for the sign up box on the left side of this page. I think you will like this feature.

Everybody is blogging nowdays, but heck, I have been posting on-line garden journal entries since 2002. I do not even thinks blogs were around then. Enough rambling for now. Get Out There and Garden!!