Taking Full Advantage of a Week of Great Weather-Spring Chores and Gardening Updates

Dan’s Almost Daily Journal-Volume 59-Tag Along With Me on My Sometimes Boring Sometimes Interesting Sometimes Humorous Journey Through Life

Welcome back. Spring has sprung! This week we are having above-normal temperatures and supposedly a string of 6 or 7 days without rain. Say what? Pretty much unheard of around here. Especially in the Spring. I am planning to take advantage of the weather this week to try to get ahead of Spring outdoor chores. You know, that long list of tasks you want to do once the weather breaks. This is always a busy time of the year as we transition from Winter to Spring and Summer. What to do first?

Let’s Start With Some Yard Clean Up

Now that the yard has started to dry up, I have been raking and getting the yard in shape for mowing. Speaking of mowing, over the last week or so, I serviced my trim mower and lawn tractor so they’re all set for mowing. Believe me, I’m in no rush to start mowing. Usually, when I start this process, it is still cold as I work on the machines in the garage, It always seems too early when I start; however, once the weather warms up as it will this week the grass awakens and will be ready to mow a few weeks. Especially once it rains.

This year the yard is in pretty good shape; just the usual tree debris, especially under the pines that line the North and West sides of our property. There are always some stones, etc. to rake along the road edge from the snowblower and road plow. Most of the perennial flowers were cut back last Fall.

Staining the Deck-Again

Yesterday I took advantage of the nice weather and coated the deck with fresh stain. I just did it last year. It seems it has to be done every year, no matter what stain I use. The long Winter takes a toll on it, as does the snowblower I use to clear it. On Monday, I pressure washed to make sure it was clean. It’s always so much easier to do this project before all the deck furniture comes out.

When I checked Tuesday morning, there was no chance of rain until at least Saturday. When I turned on the news at 6 PM after finishing the 6-hour project, they were talking about rain showers headed our way! Huh? So much for a dry week! I was initially freaking out since the stain takes a few days to cure. Luckily, we never got the rain. Lucked out this time.

Later this week, I may start to get out the deck furniture. This is a big project for us since we have 2 tables and 10 chairs. We also move some of our house plants out for the summer and plant flower boxes for the railings. We spend a lot of time on the deck eating meals, etc. Ah, Summer is coming!

My Tomato Plants Came Close to Freezing

This past weekend, before this latest warm-up, we had some cold nighttime temperatures for several nights. Even though I have my plants in the greenhouse on the porch at night, I have to keep an eye on the forecasted temperatures. I have been bringing in the plants at night if freezing temps are expected. On Saturday, I decided to put a heat source in the greenhouse (heat tape) to provide just enough heat to prevent the plants from freezing. This works well if it doesn’t get too cold. If the temperatures are in the mid to upper 20s, the heat tape usually works well.

However, Saturday night, the night before Easter, the forecast called for a low of around 29. By morning, it had dropped to around 20! The greenhouse has dropped to about 26, even with the heat tape. I was not happy! Why didn’t I bring at least the small container of tomatoes in? The other seedlings are cold hardy plants, including onions, kale, etc. They were fine.

Did The Heirloom Tomatoes Survive?

By the time I checked on the tomatoes on Easter morning, the sun was already up and the tomatoes didn’t look good. They were drooping over. I was upset over this and figured I would have to replant or just buy plants this year. I brought them inside and out of the sun and spritzed them with some Miracle-Gro. A few hours later, they looked better. I left them inside another day, and yesterday I put them back in the greenhouse. They are looking good again. I lucked out this time!

Once Again, Winter Sowing Was Successful

In addition to the heirloom tomatoes, everything I planted using the Winter Sowing technique has sprouted: it was successful.

The onions I planted using traditional seed-starting methods also are doing well:

When I planted the tomatoes near the end of March, I also started some pepper seeds indoors. These took a lot longer than the tomatoes to sprout but over the last week or so they are gradually coming up. Peppers can be finicky and seem to grow slower than tomatoes. The warm weather this week should give them a boost.

This year I planted large Bell, Hungarian Wax, and Mimi Bell peppers. They have germinated fairly well, hopefully, they will be of good size come late May or early June.

Both the tomatoes and peppers will be transplanted into individual peat pots once they get big enough. The tomatoes should be ready in about a week. The peppers might take longer.

Stay tuned for more updates.