I know, I know...I live in Southern Louisiana...a solid hardiness zone 8. I should have done been sowing my seeds. Did I mention I have narcolepsy?? I feel like I did a pretty good job with timing considering I beat March to the punch. Also, I'm trying to go BIG with my garden this year. I'm talkin' extra produce to the point of necessitating a booth at the local farmer's market. I want to plan big and succeed big. MUCH growth, SUCH production. Therefore, I feel it goes without saying [but I'll say it anyway because blog...] that this requires an enormous amount of foresight and organization. All that would be just fine if I was an expert but I am very far from those credentials and I have NO ONE to model my methods after. It's a good GREAT thing that I am hopelessly addicted to reading and researching. If I am unsure of something, I have to find a credible source, write it down [because the damn printer is broken as printers are wont to be...], and make sure to remember to apply that knowledge when the time to act rolls around.
SOW... [Heh. It never gets old.]
Today I learned that while you may have the best of intentions by wanting to reuse/recycle your Jiffy Peat Pellets from last season's failed germination, they'll not live up to your expectations or standards come the next/recycle season. Also, if you happen to find a cache of these same, unused, pellets in your often neglected "drop shed" leftover from your bf's MawMaw's gardening days....it's best not to rely on them to accommodate a quantity of seeds you're planning on starting. At least not without backup ACTUALLY NEW pellets. Why? Oh, just this little issue called 50% UTTER FAILURE. In my carefully calculated preparations, I planned to use 72 of these "new" pellets that I found in the shed. When it came time to hydrate them for use, a dismal 32/72 pellets actually absorbed any water and thus actually becoming functional for seed starting. Due to that massive oversight on my part, I had to reorganize and plan out the trays/pellets on hand that were actually functional with the seeds I planned to sow. A "simply" revision...a little TWELVE HOUR DELAY...no big deal, right?
It is now 12 hours after I sowed the seeds within the properly functional trays and I have just finished reworking my plans so that I can just use what I have and not have to purchase any additional pellets. *wipes proverbial sweat off brow* After I cook myself a GF victory feast, I will sit down to commence sowing the remainder of my seeds according to this newly devised plan.
In other gardening news, I was outside this afternoon trying to convince Boops to get some exercise/play with his mommy and I accidentally found the soaker-style sprinkler? hose that I was asking C about just yesterday. Delighted with my discovery of an irrigation gem, I poked around some of the stuff leaning against the shed that has become just part of my surroundings over the years they have been sedentary and ended up finding several materials for either building beds, trellis supports, or irrigation.
I was stoked on my finds and full of enthusiasm [not to mention procrastinating due to the facepalm with the pellets noted above] so I called our friend Jimmy who told me he has a significant pile of rich, black gardening soil that he needs moved out of his way on his property. I rode over there armed with several [not NEARLY enough] buckets and loaded up! I also got him to provide some moral support for a visit to C's Ma's shed which CERTAINLY has become home to some critters post 2016 flood, so that I could scoop up the last bit of gardening/lawn care tools from it. I was happy to see more irrigation tools as well as the ultra-vintage and ultra-useful wheelbarrow I had been drooling over for the past few months. On my way out, I noticed a pile of very long/rather skinny PVC that I scooped up for...you guessed it...irrigation materials.
All in all, I feel like Operation: Sow Where Am I Gonna Plant These? is well underway. Tomorrow, I hope the weather will permit me to spend the day outside planning which parts of the yard that I need to prep the ground for planting on. I'm about halfway through raking and I plan to pile up the debris on the first few areas that I wish to kill the grass on. First thing's first, of course.
I'll be praying to the fickle gods of South LA weather to bless me with workable conditions and the narcolepsy gods to bless me with consciousness with which to take advantage of those good conditions if they should present themselves.
SOW... [Heh. It never gets old.]
Today I learned that while you may have the best of intentions by wanting to reuse/recycle your Jiffy Peat Pellets from last season's failed germination, they'll not live up to your expectations or standards come the next/recycle season. Also, if you happen to find a cache of these same, unused, pellets in your often neglected "drop shed" leftover from your bf's MawMaw's gardening days....it's best not to rely on them to accommodate a quantity of seeds you're planning on starting. At least not without backup ACTUALLY NEW pellets. Why? Oh, just this little issue called 50% UTTER FAILURE. In my carefully calculated preparations, I planned to use 72 of these "new" pellets that I found in the shed. When it came time to hydrate them for use, a dismal 32/72 pellets actually absorbed any water and thus actually becoming functional for seed starting. Due to that massive oversight on my part, I had to reorganize and plan out the trays/pellets on hand that were actually functional with the seeds I planned to sow. A "simply" revision...a little TWELVE HOUR DELAY...no big deal, right?
It is now 12 hours after I sowed the seeds within the properly functional trays and I have just finished reworking my plans so that I can just use what I have and not have to purchase any additional pellets. *wipes proverbial sweat off brow* After I cook myself a GF victory feast, I will sit down to commence sowing the remainder of my seeds according to this newly devised plan.
In other gardening news, I was outside this afternoon trying to convince Boops to get some exercise/play with his mommy and I accidentally found the soaker-style sprinkler? hose that I was asking C about just yesterday. Delighted with my discovery of an irrigation gem, I poked around some of the stuff leaning against the shed that has become just part of my surroundings over the years they have been sedentary and ended up finding several materials for either building beds, trellis supports, or irrigation.
I was stoked on my finds and full of enthusiasm [not to mention procrastinating due to the facepalm with the pellets noted above] so I called our friend Jimmy who told me he has a significant pile of rich, black gardening soil that he needs moved out of his way on his property. I rode over there armed with several [not NEARLY enough] buckets and loaded up! I also got him to provide some moral support for a visit to C's Ma's shed which CERTAINLY has become home to some critters post 2016 flood, so that I could scoop up the last bit of gardening/lawn care tools from it. I was happy to see more irrigation tools as well as the ultra-vintage and ultra-useful wheelbarrow I had been drooling over for the past few months. On my way out, I noticed a pile of very long/rather skinny PVC that I scooped up for...you guessed it...irrigation materials.
All in all, I feel like Operation: Sow Where Am I Gonna Plant These? is well underway. Tomorrow, I hope the weather will permit me to spend the day outside planning which parts of the yard that I need to prep the ground for planting on. I'm about halfway through raking and I plan to pile up the debris on the first few areas that I wish to kill the grass on. First thing's first, of course.
I'll be praying to the fickle gods of South LA weather to bless me with workable conditions and the narcolepsy gods to bless me with consciousness with which to take advantage of those good conditions if they should present themselves.
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