Saturday, April 2, 2011

Field Trip

No, not to Home Depot.


What can I say?  It's a favorite past-time of ours.

We also have had a seedling disaster.  After our initial success, some of them weren't really thriving and we were concerned.  We didn't understand because we've been watering them and had them under grow lights.  The herbs and tomatoes were the worst.  We figured they must need fertilizer, so we added some fish emulsion to our water and let them have it.  Overnight, they went from various states of bad to almost dead.  We just couldn't figure out what we did wrong?

We got up today and decided to go to a garden center and buy established cold weather plants.  The garden centers in Lancaster are cheaper and have a better selection than those around here.  And hey, who doesn't like Intercourse?  So, off we went.

Once we got home, we decided to try transplanting some of the stronger looking okra and tomato plants. That's when we discovered what went wrong.  We used two different types of seedling soil.  When we started to move the tomatoes, we found that the top part of the soil was good and wet but the root end was dry as a bone.  The Agway soil was not draining properly so the roots could not thrive.  This prompted us to over fertilize the other stuff, which was now suffering.  Ugh.

Oh well, we have some stuff to put in the ground.  Tomorrow!  And we'll see if we could save some of the plants that can't be put in until May.  We are not looking at this as a defeat.  Rather a lesson learned.

Next...What's going in the ground?  Where are we going to put our new fig tree?  And, new fence art.

9 comments:

  1. Yep! You read the headlines right! Intercourse... (Families doing things together.) Good Gawd! I guess that this little paper gives the news from the front (And the rear.) So everyone thought that I was full of shit whenever I said that we were going to Intercourse. Sometimes, you just can't make this stuff up.

    Today is the "Big Day!" Plants are going in the ground and it's P-R-E-T-T-Y nice outside. We need something positive going on with this garden, Yestarday I was a little down because of our near catastrophe with our seedlings but ya know? Live and learn. (I've learned not to buy "Top Shelf" AGWAY starter soil.) What a crock of shit THAT stuff turned out to be. I guess that it's not always true that "You get what you pay for." That bullshit wasn't cheap. Just sayin'.

    I'm really stoked about this Fig tree that Chele has picked out! Once you have a nice established Fig Tree.... There's nothing better for shade. My Buddy in Charleston has one that's about Twenty years old in front of his Man cave and this thing is so fuckin' big... We hafta trim out a tunnel like passageway so that we can get into the door. It's REALLY cool! I've found out a secret with Fig trees.... They like beer. Yep! That's right. We have the recycling bins next to the tree and once you're done with your beer.... Pour the dregs at the base of the tree and you'll have yourself one happy tree. I know that it sounds far fetched but I don't make the news... I just report it.

    We did an emergency transplanting operation last night and we busted out the good 'ol Black Cow fertilizer so we should see some positive results here in a few days. We're not two Bozos up here with this thing..... We've been down this Avenue before. I think where we went wrong was putting a false sense of security into a bullshit product. (AGWAY) Yeah.... I just called you out! Miracle Grow and Black Cow; That's where it's at. Pictures are sure to follow.

    On a side note... I'll tip my glass to everyone who ran the Cooper River Bridge Run in our hometown of Charleston, South Carolina! Better you than me.... Oh yeah... The Ethiopian won. Go figure.

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  2. We will hopefully get the tilling done this coing weekend. Got down to 34 again last night. I hope to get to the installation within two weeks.

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  3. I hear ya Bo! Our beds were prepped weeks ago but this crazy weather has done us no favors. We started the seedlings out and I think that since we were stalled so many times... The container gardening just wasn't enough. Being from the South, I've never ran into this problem before but we're figuring it out. Like I said earlier... This is FAR from my first garden but it IS the first time in this environment. I've never seen such crazy ass weather. It snowed here last Friday and when I say snow.... I mean it was SNOW! I think that we're through with the freezing temps at night but who's to say WHAT'S gonna happen while we're in Charleston. BTW...... We're super excited about getting back down there. To be quite honest... It's not that I really miss ANYTHING about the place. It was a good move for me to come up here and be around a normal family. I shed a lot of baggage when I left from down there and it's made me a better Man for it. A change of scenery is always nice so I think THAT'S what I'm looking most forward to. We're leaving either LATE Tuesday or EARLY Wednesday. I've ruled out staying at my house because at this time of year.... It's nothing but a fuckin' Zoo around that place. It's one layer of skin that I don't miss shedding.

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  4. *** Early Wednesday*** Even.

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  5. So...in Intercourse, do the folks that come in and out of town a lot have more fun? ;-)

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  6. Steve?! I know that's you, Steve!

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  7. It's Steve... Howard would blab out some kinda crazy shit like.... "I love boobies!!" (Or something along those lines.)

    With a name like "Howard Feltersnatch" (I guess that you can figure out the rest.)

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