Monthly Archives: April 2013

Transplanting 02: Early Tomatoes

The weather prediction looks perfect for newly transplanted seedlings over the next week:  rainy or cloudy, never too hot or cold.  I had been “hardening off” the early tomatoes since Thursday, i.e. putting them outside in a shady spot so … Continue reading

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Spring Flowers

The hyacinths that were blooming two weeks ago are finished, but some other flowers are having their turn.  There are several azalea shrubs around my house that were planted by the previous owner, but the purple-flowered azaleas are the first to … Continue reading

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Fruit Tree Sale

The mail-order nursery where I buy fruit trees and shrubs (peach, cherry, blackberry, cranberry, and blueberry so far) is having a sale.  If you live in the eastern US and feel ready to grow your own fruit, you should check … Continue reading

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First Tomato Flower

One of my early tomato plants has flowered.  It’s probably because these tomatoes have grown so much that they’ve become root-bound (the roots have run out of space to grow); the plants can’t get any bigger so the only thing … Continue reading

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Daikon and mustard greens are up.

The daikon (asian radish), giant red mustard, komatsuna,  fun jen pai tsai, and mizuna that were planted on April 10th are coming up.  Behind them, you can see the asian cabbage and pak choi seedlings that were transplanted on April … Continue reading

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Flowering Peach Tree

If there was any frost last night, it was quite mild.  That’s lucky, because a hard frost would have destroyed the peach flowers and stopped them from setting fruit.  That happened last year, and my tree produced only a few … Continue reading

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Frost Warning

The temperature tonight is predicted to reach 29 to 32°F (-2 to 0°C).  To protect some plants, we covered bed number four (where the cabbages were transplanted; the other seedlings in that bed should be fine) with some sheets over the … Continue reading

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Flowering Lemon Tree

I have a lemon tree that lives in a large pot so it can be brought inside during winter.  It produces flowers every few months. I’ve tried “playing bee” with a small paintbrush, but have had no luck getting the … Continue reading

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Outdoor Seedlings

Some of the seeds that I planted directly into the garden beds have started to germinate. First, an update on the pea seedlings that I planted in garden bed number two on March 30th and showed sprouting on April 11th. … Continue reading

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Transplanting 01: Cabbages

I decided that conditions were right, so tonight we transplanted the asian cabbage and pak choi into garden bed number four.  Before transplanting, I spread lime in the garden bed and raked it into the area where the cabbages would … Continue reading

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