Homestead Happenings 24.5
Homestead Happenings is a weekly-ish update about what’s going on at The Northfarthing.
The weather has not been amazing – even cold enough that I haven’t wanted to carry more flats outside and shock them. So I’m just packing the inside greenhouse to the gills.
But that’s all changing this weekend because everything that can go out, is going out.
Why?
It’s pepper and tomato starting time.
This is when I feel like this:
This is the big dance around here. Hundreds of each are going to be down, pricked out, then finally, up-potted into plastic cups. These are our main sellers so the kids get super excited.
(Even when I try to grab mine first I still end up with a garden full of cherry tomatoes which is fine but honestly you can only eat so many so it has just become a running joke around here. )
Other new things include:
-pinching off snapdragons (at the advice of a very green thumb) and seeing if I can get them to root
-now I obviously want to do this to everything because my favorite thing is making more plants out of the plants I already have
-trying to start ginger and turmeric – it’s going a lot slower than the directions would have led me to believe but that’s life
-trying to keep everything watered
-pruning elderberry bushes and taking cuttings to hopefully grow more elderberry bushes
-there’s probably more I’m not thinking of
Things I should be doing but I’m not:
-clearing out more of that brambly area so I can get beds in (I just don’t think I’ve touched it in weeks)
-weeding (man do I hate weeding so much)
Things I want to do this weekend while it’s sunny and mid 50’s:
-absolutely everything I can
-but I have a 20 month old
-so I’m hoping to get my greens out, peas in, snaps planted,
and MAYBE get the potatoes started
-I want so much dirt under my finger nails that I need a hair wash day just to get it all out
-but mostly I just want to be outside
-ooo maybe I’ll get a sun burn!
-include my kids but also let them play
-push the toddler on the swing which is his fave
-start more plants I’m sure
Lest you want to panic whilst thinking that this Northfarthing is in, well, the north – fear not! We got row covers from Farmer’s Friend that are good down to 28 degrees F! Everything will be lovingly tucked in and covered up and will just grow, grow, grow without the worry of frost, frost, frost.
Oh and for anyone following this strictly for my new found love of flowers, all but two of the peonies in the main peony bed have poked their heads above ground. In the overflow area, only 2 of the 7 have come up. We still have lots of time but I would have guessed this would have been right on. I was going to fill my landscaping with filler flowers for the bouquets but I’m starting to wonder about this because we know the soil isn’t awesome. But frankly I won’t have room anywhere else. So that’s probably still where they will go.
Dahlia tubers (which I wasn’t going to try this year) are on their way. And I’m still waiting, waiting, waiting for my ranunculus corms which look so cool and are taking so long to come.
Off to plant!