Lunar cycle

Cloudy Moon

I admit I don't follow this concept meticulously. For a complete lunar calendar, I visit this site regularly. I ran across the concept a few years ago.

The idea is basically this: root plants are placed in the soil during waning moon and leaf plants are placed in the soil during waxing moon.

Some words to understand:
waxing simply refers to growing
waning simply refers to shrinking
new moon simply refers to when you can't see the moon in the sky
full moon simply refers to when the moon is all there

I have to write these out because I get so easily confused by these four words that it makes me frustrated.

According to this year's lunar cycle the planting dates are:

Mar 1-15 Waxing Moon = Above ground plants
Mar 16-29 Waning Moon = Below ground plants

Rocks Are Expensive - Who knew

Thankfully, the big rocks came with the yard. The previous owner had them in a huge pile in the back yard. The little rocks are another story. We saw it pretty pricey to spend money on rocks. Compared to mulching this area every single year, it looked a bit more frugal.

Well, the local farm that sales rocks mentioned $80 a ton and $40 for delivery.....don't quote me on the exact price, but it's a close estimate. I went online and saw a great "deal" cheaper than $80 for a certain amount of pounds......boy, did I not know what I was getting myself into.

I never considered the fact there were different sizes of rocks. I never considered having to match the color of rocks if you bought from two different places. How deep they should be to keep out weeds, ect. The box of rocks, <ha! actually boxes came in. I excitedly opened them and my jaw dropped.

There in front of me was stones and they only covered maybe 6 square inches of the front garden. We went to Home Depot instead and bought some more tiny pebbles that sorta matched the color we had bought. There in my front yard sits a daily reminder of how not to cut corners.....what was supposed to have saved us money ended up costing close to $200.....yea.... all for rocks.

This wasn't the end of our follies. When we went to lay the black paper down, to prevent weeds....well, we laid dirt on top to hold it down.....it was a windy day. Yes, we basically destroyed the whole purpose of that black paper, ha, ha.

This year when discussing the front garden, we opted to weed out the top weed covering and just leave those pebbles. The next owner can deal with how to keep it low maintenance.

Tulips!!!!

Spring 2011

I spied a whole cauldron of tulips this year. I cannot describe my excitement!!!!

I fell in love with our house because of the yard. The yard was complete mess of weeds. The grass was so bad that the neighbors were begging us to cut it before we even bought the house!

In the yard was this cute wooden cutout of a sunbonnet girl. Her face was hidden by the bonnet and she was in a bent position of smelling the flowers.

My husband insisted on throwing out the garden specimen, but see.....Growing up, I secretly wished for that one garden ornament to be in my home yard. I saw that little wooden figure in the yard, saw my husband's delight over the open floor plan and knew in my heart of hearts this was going to be our home.

That coming spring, I peeped out the kitchen window to discover the first blooms. These beautiful red tulips were bravely flourishing in the 30 degree weather. We had considered throwing out that wretched cauldron when we moved in! Well, as any novice gardener would do....that coming spring I promptly added fertilizer. I accidentally dumped a lot of bone meal in the pot. I was so sad.....for three years I've waited, trying to decide whether to throw out the pot or what.

Then last week I spied a ton of leaves bravely unfurled. I am impatiently waiting for some flowers to appear any day now!

Check List

I am overwhelmed by gardening alone on 2 acres. I have to keep in mind "an elephant gets eaten one bite at a time" I have been out in the yard daily for about 45 minutes chipping away at each thing.
So far all I have done on my list is:

1. burn fallen limbs and trees
2. weed dead weeds from gardens
3. hoe edges of garden
4. cover edges of garden with baking soda to prevent grass and weeds (this is an experiment)
5. mulch garden beds
6. clean out compost piles
7. prune bushes and trees
8. mulch trees

next garden bed project

.....yea, not much, but I do have a lot on the list partially completed. :) Moral of the story, I guess, take heart. Something done is better than not a thing.

War of Roses

Remember those history chapters about the wars between the two English houses? An ongoing family feud dispersed throughout their kingdom. So I'm being melodramatic when I compare my view point and my husband's viewpoint on ideal yards.

Information books

Actually, my favorite aspect of gardens is the diversity. I personally don't believe in "black thumb" growers. You just haven't found the type of plant to survive your personality, lol. Whether you over water, under water, or just plain lack knowledge: the beauty of gardening is that you grow along with your endeavors.

I have to confess, I am not a great vegetable gardener. Even when I was on my native Texas soil, I had a hard time growing veggies......or maybe it was the weeding. I have been focusing on vegetables. Now for a few blog posts about my favorite topic - Flowers!

I am not a native of NC and I miss my azaleas and bluebonnets, but NC flowers are pretty amazing too. I have found irises, tulips, crepe myrtle, ....pretty much bulb plants love NC soil.

I have found a garden consists not only of planting but also considering harvest. On the other hand, flowers depend mostly on sunlight, water, and soil's ph.

Irises prefer semi-shade or they get too hot. I like to plant Irises as borders for our wooded areas and our shaded part of house. There is no special soil for them here in NC. I have just plopped in the ground and they have flourished. The key to transplanting them or planting them is to do it in the fall when it is 60 degree weather.

Blueberry bushes are a must in NC. Obviously, that is strictly my opinion; but I say plant blueberries!!!!! I planted ours, going on two years ago, directly in the ground. They're not fussy about being watered or anything, and we harvested a pint off a 2 year old bush!

The terminology for flowers is simple: annual, biennials or perennial. In other words, will it live a year or up to two years?

I love flowers. There is no need for obsessing over how consistent the weather will be for a certain period of time.  My advice when starting out working in soil, plant flowers!

Indoor Planting

Jiffy Pellets

I typically start indoor plants in jiffy pellets. These pellets I had in a two gallon water jug, with the side cut away to the handle. Made for a great greenhouse! I was going to post a picture, but can't seem to find the jug.
Starting seeds indoors is simple.

1. Fill the container, the pellets are going to placed in, a 1/2" thick in water.
2. Place pellets in water to soak it up.
3. When pellets puff up from water, plant your seeds in the hole.
4. Set the container of plants in sunlight.

My only complaint with this method is they grow too fast. I believe when plants grow very tall, it is because the seeds were not planted deep enough, but I'm not 100% sure on that fact.

Hardening off plants is another story. This year I finally dished out the $10 for an official indoor greenhouse and planting soil.

To harden off the plants, you set them out during the warmest time of the day in spring. Bring them in after 30 minutes to 2 hours. Keep lengthening the time by 2 hours. When they have made it through a night, plant them in most soil. I always keep their pellets with the plant, for a boost of nutrients.
 

Planting Mix $4.82

greenhouse $4.47

What's the difference?

It can become confusing when it comes to seeds. So many names to describe a seed! This is what I have come to learn about all the different labels.

Organic - simply means a plant that has not been grown with chemical aid
Hybrid - is when you take a plant and mix with another plant to the point that it may be disease resistant, have certain traits, ect. the problem is after planting them, their seeds are not so dependable to produce.
Heirloom - is simply a plant whose seeds have been taken and replanted for hundreds of years. It was not cross-pollinated or messed with.
Annual - dies after the end of a year life-cycle.
Biennial - takes two years to complete its full seed to flower to seed cycle.
Perennial - takes longer than two years to complete its life-cycle.

Hope my rough understanding of the terms helps a little bit.

seed labels