We begin again in 2025

The first begonia cutting has been set. If it lives, in five to seven days I'll do about half the tray. If not, I'll wait a week to ten days and try again. 

Here's the thing. The planting guide for my location says I can start pepper seeds indoors now. Yeah, okay. But I trust a wax plant cutting more than the planting guide. I think these tender cuttings know more than the almanac. 

Besides, it's cold outside. I don't have my seed starting trays and soil inside warming up yet. I really need to get that done before I even think about starting seeds. I guess I'll have to go outside in below freezing temperatures with the wind whipping around and bring them in. 

Maybe tomorrow.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, wax plants, begonias, seed starts, cuttings, gardening, rural living, country lifestyle, weather watcher, green peppers 

Did I stick to the plan?

 

original plan

So I made a plan. I even made a nifty little diagram using MS PUB, a program I happen to like a lot. The question is, am I sticking to the plan? 

What a silly question. 

No, I'm not sticking to the plan, at least not closely. And the bottom line is, it doesn't much matter. 

The cucumbers and green beans switch places. The Brussels sprouts are going around the edge of the garden and sharing a grow bag with a marigold. Frankly, I don't have much hope for the Brussels starts. They didn't do well for me last year but I decided to try again. If they fail this year, I have seeds for one more try - the make-or-break try. 

April 20, 2023 plan

And I tried to overwater the poor little cukes. They snapped back as soon as they got to spend time in the sun yesterday. Today they seem rather happy in their respective buckets. 

All-in-all, it's going very well. We've reached the more traditional date for starting seeds outside, so I'll be planting in the Greenstalk over the next few days. 

Now I just have to keep a close watch on the weather forecast. If necessary, I can move all the buckets and bags into the greenhouse, but I hope that does not become necessary. It would be a lot of lifting but I could do it. 

I've drawn out the task of planting so I could really enjoy being in my little garden patch, but I'm ready to be finished. Then the tasks will be keeping everything watered and fertilized, and keeping an eye on pests. I'm looking forward to sitting in the middle of growing things and relaxing. I already have a chair in place! 

The Lady of The Hideaway

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, gardening, green peppers, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life, cucumbers, bunching onions, garden plans, growing things

Pepper's last bud

last bloom on the bell pepper

The ability to grow peppers has eluded me all my life- until this year. My family has a long tradition of gardening but I got short-changed on the gene. I've tried and tried to grow decent green bell peppers but it's been to no avail. But this year, I did it. 

I planted two different varieties of peppers side-by-side in grow bags. Was that the trick?  Who knows? But I did get a small pepper harvest, enough to freeze several ziploc bags for use in cooking. I couldn't do it today, but I hope to make up several batches of Potatoes O'Brien for in the freezer. It's nice to know I have the peppers ready to go. 

The peppers didn't grow to a large size, but size was not my measure of success. The fact the plants produced at all was a victory. Maybe the young doe eating the top out of the one was a factor in the pepper size, too. I've got a few ideas on how to improve the pepper harvest for next summer. I've even gone as far as to save some seeds to see if I can get them to sprout in the spring. 

Peppers were not a crop my grandfather grew. Oh, he had a plant or two so my grandmother could add fresh pepper to her rather famous potato salad, but that was about it. I'd be willing to bet my mother never cooked with a pepper her entire life. I certainly do not remember them being in the house when I lived with my parents. Where my love of peppers came from is a mystery. 

I thought the peppers were finished but then today I noticed one more bloom. Does it have time to form a pepper? I doubt it, but I'll let the plant work and see what happens. 

So we shall see if the summer of 2021 will be a good year for green peppers. Maybe I can build on the success of this year and raise a pepper worthy of stuffing. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor