Category Archives: A to Z Blog Challenge

The tomatoes are not looking good.

The yellow is not going away. In fact, it’s creeping further up the plant.

I’m getting worried.

So I pulled a few from the greenhouse yesterday: 2 Mr. Stripey, 2 Black Prince, 2 heirloom, 2 climbing vine and 2 beefsteak.

I decided to plant a few earlier than my original plan. They are dying so I really have nothing to lose.

Joe was my big helper.

First, he dug a hole.

We had to make sure that the hole was deep enough to bury the plant up and over the bottom leaves in the hope that new roots will grow and make them stronger. For the best results and the strongest plant, only the top few inches of the plant should be sticking out of the ground.

Next, Joe gently removed the plant from the container.

The little Fertil Pots are designed to be transplanted directly into the ground. I like these because no drainage holes are required and, once planted, roots can easily grow through the pot.

I told Joe to just tear it up a little bit at the bottom but he insisted on pulling the entire plant out, breaking up the roots a bit and then planting it in the hole.

I tore the Fertil Pot up and put it around the plant before covering it with dirt. It’s made of wood fiber and peat moss so acts as a mulch of sorts.

Normally I water the plants in after transplanting, but the soil was already pretty damp and the weather forecast was predicting a light rain.

They all already look on the verge of death, but I’ve done what I could to save them. With luck and care, I might bring them back.

In all this gloom, I did find a few fun surprises.

Cilantro is growing in the kitchen garden! Some of it went to seed last year and has now volunteered all over.

Joe found some lovage freely growing in the back corner of the garden. It smells good and tastes like celery.

And dill is growing everywhere on the west side of the garden. This will be great for keeping those horrid hornworms away from my tomatoes…should they grow.

Borage is growing where I didn’t plant any. The leftovers from last year also went to seed so I’ll probably end up pulling a few and attempting to transplant them elsewhere or maybe giving them to a friend.

After we were done in the kitchen garden, we took a stroll around front to check on the roses and strawberries.

Sometime in May, the roses will start blooming. They already have the start of buds and they get greener every day.

The strawberries will be soon to follow. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get our first crop by mid-May.

Everything is moving faster this year than last. I just hope that means a bigger and longer harvest and not a quick death.

The berries are blooming
The roses are too
Tomatoes are dying
Herbs sprouting anew

With hope a good season
We’ll have by and by
If not in my coffee
I’ll certainly cry

I stopped by the greenhouse yesterday to check on all of my plants. I’ve been a bit overzealous with watering them…a bit paranoid that I’ll lose a few to thirst.

Now I’ve discovered that I was being so protective of them not getting enough water…a few of them now in the beginning stages of root rot and the leaves are turning yellow.

Luckily, not all plants were infected. I transplanted the ones that were and discovered that the roots were not yet rotted. They were beautiful, extraordinary and tangled.

In total, I transplanted 12 vining tomato plants. With luck, they’ll revive and the leaves will turn a bright, vibrant green once again.

After taking care of the tomatoes, I took a peek at the lettuce and herb table. The first round lettuce is quickly growing to full size and the second round is starting to poke out through the soil. I can’t wait until that very first salad of the season.

As I wandered back home, I stopped by the coop. We’ve moved it to the vineyard and charged the birds with the clean-up task before we spread more mulch.

We installed a few pieces of lattice for the hops to grow up. It looks nice and will look even nicer once the hops grows up the lattice.

Bright and sunny day
Chickens are in the vineyard
Boys are out to play

The swales are blooming and teeming with plant life. I walk through after a big rain and can hear frogs and see the trees as they green and blossom.

We’ve started our journey to an edible food forest with perennials.

We have cherry trees, apple trees, pear trees, walnut, chestnut and almond trees along with a variety of non-productive support trees like oak and willow.

Now, it’s time to add a few annuals and perennial berry shrubs to the mix.

Some annuals, we can turn into perennials.

Dill is the perfect example. Last year, we had dill shooting up all over the place because we didn’t harvest it. We let it go to seed.

Black-seeded  Simpson lettuce also popped up everywhere. Both plants were stronger and more vigorous than when we planted them from seed the previous year.

The plan is to make a mix of seeds and soil to throw down in the swales. By mixing the seeds with dry and crumbly dirt, we will be able to spread across a wider area and ensure that we don’t end up with clumps of annuals.

We’ll scatter cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and spinach seeds.

The boys will fling amaranth, sunflower and marigold seed bombs all over the place…and probably at each other.

And we’ll spread dill, chives, ground cherry, cilantro, parsley, and borage seeds.

We’ll create and edible food forest with berries and veggies everywhere.

Of course, we’ll have to keep the chickens out.

Seed bombers are back
Spreading flowers through the swales
Watch out you chickens