SQWIBS Urban Gardening Adventure 2018

SQWIBB · April 25, 2018

April 4th - April 18th

Well, I never got to go on the canoe trip, Dad ended up in the hospital and I wasn't comfortable going away for the weekend.

I decided to refinish my Sons room, the poor kid has been asking me for two years to do his room. New paint, tore out the carpet, installed a wood laminate floor, new trim work, next up is the door, ceiling fan, closet space, furniture.

Sadly gazing at my garden from Stephens Room while installing the Laminate Flooring.

Anyhow the garden stuff was a bit on hold, I did get all my plants in Saturday but in retrospect, I should have waited for a cloudy day. I checked the 10 day and all looked good with the exception of one day being 39°F anyhow, two days so far have been 37°F low and Thursday-Friday the 19-20th, it's supposed to be 38°F for a low it even snowed yesterday for a bit. It really peeves me that the forecast dropped at least 5 degrees the day after I checked the 10 day.
I really don't like to put the plants in until the lows are at 40°F and above.

I think I lost all but one of my Asparagus crowns and I'm really down about it, they were on their third year. I ordered another 10 but they wont be here till May.

The turtles were out and about.

I hooked up a valve to the rain barrel.

Oh, wait, I did get to finish installing most of my irrigation. I tied the new planter into the line, replaced all the single drip emitters in the raised beds with drip lines and put a valve on every bed so I can shut them off individually.

I ran a line through my back retaining wall to feed the trellis garden. Drip line couldn't be on the ground because the turtles go in and out here.

Got to play with my canning stuff, Redesigning the pantry in the basement, I'll try and get better pics after I finish the shelving this week.

Yay! It hit 35° early this morning.

April 21st - April 25th

My brother and I headed over to the Fairmount Park Recycle Center and picked up some compost and triple ground mulch.

On the way home we stopped at Moms and topped off her Hugelkultur beds and picked up her trimmings from a few of the Arborvitaes she was cutting back.

When I got home I covered the rest of the grass on the top garden with cardboard, placed down Moms Arborvitaes trimmings and topped with the triple ground mulch. The grass really never grew here and I wasn't sure what to do with this area so I'm gonna try keeping it Mulched.

I ran an irrigation line from the hose bib in the front of the house, inserting the 1/4" line in the expansion joint of the driveway and securing with black silicone. It runs in front of the garage...

... then up along the side of the step and across the sidewalk...

...under the pavers and comes up through the bottom of the Hugelkultur bed... trust me it looks better than it sounds.

I then T'd off of the line from the Hugelkultur bed and ran another line to the planter.

I placed a shut off valve on each line.

I also emptied out the compost bin and done some mods. One thing I will be doing differently next year for composting is to cut back on the cardboard, I had way too much cardboard in the bin that didn't break down, other than that, everything looked good.

It has been a rough week for my plants with the weather dipping down to 35°F. I may have lost a few more tomato plants, I will confirm what needs to be replaced this weekend, what's odd is that almost all of my peppers don't appear to be adversely affected.

My Cilantro and Dill sprouted and are residing under the Grow lights for now.

All of my Hardy Kiwi plants came back, I will be starting a trellis for them this weekend, my Grapes are budding.

Laura picked some Bok Choy and we had Garlic Roasted Bok Choy.

This is a picture of my neighbors yard benefiting from my Hugelkultur beds, the area that is real green is where my yard drains into his, we are on a hill and the way the houses are designed is they all slope down to the next yard. I put in a retaining wall over 20 years ago and leveled the yard, the area that is real green is a cut out in my retaining wall. I built the wall then the fence because I got tired of sliding off the hill and getting stuck under the fence when mowing the lawn, that and the fact we had our first child and I didn't feel it was a good idea to have such a slope. I benefit from the runoff too because I ask for his grass clippings sometimes.

I recently got into canning in an effort to "hopefully" can some of my harvest and free up the freezer. It seems that I'm not diligent enough to rotate stock in the freezer and food will sometimes go to waste, well compost actually, hopefully canning will be a better approach. The Pressure canner came in Friday so I got some "practice" canning done, I'm a newbie at canning so I got much too learn.

I'm excited about this one "Buffalo chicken"

This weekends (garden) project are to;

Dig out the dead Asaparagus bed and dig down 18", and refill with compost, plant new crowns and remulch
Build the Hardy Kiwi Trellis
Run an irrigation line to the front of the house planter.
Install a doggie septic system "Dog poop Digester".

Some other to do items, purchase a larger planter for the Koi Pond Patio, pick up some compost and mulch from the recycle center, remulch the front lower garden, clean up the hill to make room for the Hardy Kiwi's, tighten up the compost bin with some stainless steel bolts, plant the leeks and do a final check on which plants need to be replaced.

April 25, 2018	#11
SQWIBB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2018 Location: Philly 7A Posts: 739	April 4th - April 18th Well, I never got to go on the canoe trip, Dad ended up in the hospital and I wasn't comfortable going away for the weekend. I decided to refinish my Sons room, the poor kid has been asking me for two years to do his room. New paint, tore out the carpet, installed a wood laminate floor, new trim work, next up is the door, ceiling fan, closet space, furniture. Sadly gazing at my garden from Stephens Room while installing the Laminate Flooring. Anyhow the garden stuff was a bit on hold, I did get all my plants in Saturday but in retrospect, I should have waited for a cloudy day. I checked the 10 day and all looked good with the exception of one day being 39°F anyhow, two days so far have been 37°F low and Thursday-Friday the 19-20th, it's supposed to be 38°F for a low it even snowed yesterday for a bit. It really peeves me that the forecast dropped at least 5 degrees the day after I checked the 10 day. I really don't like to put the plants in until the lows are at 40°F and above. I think I lost all but one of my Asparagus crowns and I'm really down about it, they were on their third year. I ordered another 10 but they wont be here till May. The turtles were out and about. I hooked up a valve to the rain barrel. Oh, wait, I did get to finish installing most of my irrigation. I tied the new planter into the line, replaced all the single drip emitters in the raised beds with drip lines and put a valve on every bed so I can shut them off individually. I ran a line through my back retaining wall to feed the trellis garden. Drip line couldn't be on the ground because the turtles go in and out here. Got to play with my canning stuff, Redesigning the pantry in the basement, I'll try and get better pics after I finish the shelving this week. Yay! It hit 35° early this morning. April 21st - April 25th My brother and I headed over to the Fairmount Park Recycle Center and picked up some compost and triple ground mulch. On the way home we stopped at Moms and topped off her Hugelkultur beds and picked up her trimmings from a few of the Arborvitaes she was cutting back. When I got home I covered the rest of the grass on the top garden with cardboard, placed down Moms Arborvitaes trimmings and topped with the triple ground mulch. The grass really never grew here and I wasn't sure what to do with this area so I'm gonna try keeping it Mulched. I ran an irrigation line from the hose bib in the front of the house, inserting the 1/4" line in the expansion joint of the driveway and securing with black silicone. It runs in front of the garage... ... then up along the side of the step and across the sidewalk... ...under the pavers and comes up through the bottom of the Hugelkultur bed... trust me it looks better than it sounds. I then T'd off of the line from the Hugelkultur bed and ran another line to the planter. I placed a shut off valve on each line. I also emptied out the compost bin and done some mods. One thing I will be doing differently next year for composting is to cut back on the cardboard, I had way too much cardboard in the bin that didn't break down, other than that, everything looked good. It has been a rough week for my plants with the weather dipping down to 35°F. I may have lost a few more tomato plants, I will confirm what needs to be replaced this weekend, what's odd is that almost all of my peppers don't appear to be adversely affected. My Cilantro and Dill sprouted and are residing under the Grow lights for now. All of my Hardy Kiwi plants came back, I will be starting a trellis for them this weekend, my Grapes are budding. Laura picked some Bok Choy and we had Garlic Roasted Bok Choy. This is a picture of my neighbors yard benefiting from my Hugelkultur beds, the area that is real green is where my yard drains into his, we are on a hill and the way the houses are designed is they all slope down to the next yard. I put in a retaining wall over 20 years ago and leveled the yard, the area that is real green is a cut out in my retaining wall. I built the wall then the fence because I got tired of sliding off the hill and getting stuck under the fence when mowing the lawn, that and the fact we had our first child and I didn't feel it was a good idea to have such a slope. I benefit from the runoff too because I ask for his grass clippings sometimes. I recently got into canning in an effort to "hopefully" can some of my harvest and free up the freezer. It seems that I'm not diligent enough to rotate stock in the freezer and food will sometimes go to waste, well compost actually, hopefully canning will be a better approach. The Pressure canner came in Friday so I got some "practice" canning done, I'm a newbie at canning so I got much too learn. I'm excited about this one "Buffalo chicken" This weekends (garden) project are to; Dig out the dead Asaparagus bed and dig down 18", and refill with compost, plant new crowns and remulch Build the Hardy Kiwi Trellis Run an irrigation line to the front of the house planter. Install a doggie septic system "Dog poop Digester". Some other to do items, purchase a larger planter for the Koi Pond Patio, pick up some compost and mulch from the recycle center, remulch the front lower garden, clean up the hill to make room for the Hardy Kiwi's, tighten up the compost bin with some stainless steel bolts, plant the leeks and do a final check on which plants need to be replaced.