March 16, 2010 - Curses, Foiled Again!

So says Annie, the garden annihilating dog. The most important job was done today. The entire garden is now dog proofed once more!

Mr. Granny drove in the last of the T-posts, and I installed the fencing and the welded wire bottom barrier. One end is temporary, as son John has cut down the old kennel gate to the 3' height of the garden fence, and he'll be installing it for me on Sunday. There are still three old T-posts that are no longer used and need to be pulled. The important thing is, the dogs cannot get in the garden.

With no dogs in the garden, I finally got the peas planted. Cascadia Sugar Snap peas were planted to the left of the kennel garden entrance, while sweet peas (flowers) were planted on both sides of the entrances. The inside of the kennel was cleaned up, the bench moved, and a wood enclosure was placed diagonally in the corner. The morning glories will be planted there, as usual, so they can climb all along the back of the kennel. Sweet alyssum is volunteering all around the bench, and nasturtiums, lobelia and Johnny Jump Ups will be planted later.

The weather was perfect today. I worked outside from 10:00 AM until 6 this evening, not even taking time to come in for lunch. I had covered a small pile of composted cow poo with a tarp last fall, and it was lovely stuff to behold when I dug into it today. I enriched all the pea beds, and top dressed the celery that I'd planted yesterday. Please, Mother Nature, be kind and give me one more day like today so I can get the rest of those sweet onions and potatoes planted!

March 15, 2012 - Another Day in the Garden

It warmed up into the low 60s today, and the wind wasn't relentless as it has been the past few days. A storm was predicted for the afternoon, so I worked as fast as I could. I got another eight feet of the east garden done, and two more beds (a 2' x 7' onion bed and a 3' x 7' potato bed) prepped, measured, staked and raked smooth. I tromped down and raked 18" paths around the two beds.


I was planning on waiting until after Sunday, when I'll be getting a load of composted manure, to plant these beds, but I just had to take advantage of the decent weather. I planted this bed with 68 Walla Walla sweet onion plants, spacing them every 6". I'll just have to top dress them with the compost after I get it. That's what I did with last year's onions, and they were gorgeous.

I had a bit of compost left from last year, so I amended this bed and transplanted my entire dozen celery plants. I hope they aren't being put out too early! I've never grown celery before. I spaced them 10" apart in the row.

A short row (5 plants) of Parris Island Cos was added to the lettuce bed. That makes 14 plants total so far. It's covered with plastic mesh to keep it from being eaten by birds.

Since I had prepped this 4' x4' bed for peas last week, then found I had too few seeds to fill it, I decided to put in a few spinach seedlings (7), the puny little onion seedlings that didn't grow well for me at all (31 plants out of about 180 seeds planted!), and some of the beet seedlings (17). I'll not be starting beets in the house again, I think they do much better direct seeded. There is still enough room for a few more spinach seedlings, but they are too small to go out just yet.

With only 35 Lincoln pea seeds to plant, I decided to erect a tepee for them and put them in the spot I have planned for a future summer squash plant. I used an upside down tomato cage, and strung it with some green yarn I had laying around. The peas were planted in a circle around the base.

It's nearly dinner time now, and the rain never did come. The ground was really dry from all the wind we've had this week, so I had to hook up a hose to the house water to give the newly planted seeds and seedlings a quick drink. I'm hoping for a good day tomorrow, as I have snap peas and sweet peas to plant, as well as another Walla Walla sweet onion bed and 40 hills of potatoes.

March 14, 2012 - Do You See What I See?

The first tomato of 2012!

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Garden preparation is on hold until Sunday. Son John has volunteered to remove the canopy from his pickup and haul a load of composted manure for me! I was afraid I was going to have to buy it by the bag this year, so I'm happy John is so accommodating.

March 13, 2012 - Digging Up the East Beds

It was windy and cold today, so I didn't last very long outside. Just long enough to rake the remaining roots and garden debris from the east garden, and begin the layout and digging of the beds. This area is going to be a bit narrower than it was in past years, as well as a bit shorter. A 3' path along the fence line between us and the neighbors is necessary, due to a buried irrigation line on that side. It also serves as a barrier where I can attack the neighbor's Bermuda grass as it creeps under the fence. I plan on putting in three beds of potatoes, each being 3' wide by 7' long, and two beds of Walla Walla sweet onions, each measuring 2' wide by 7' long. That should give me enough room to plant the 60 hills of potatoes and 112 onions I have planned for the 10' x 22' garden plot, with 18" paths between the wide rows. I may decide to cut the path width down to just accommodate the width of the rake. This area of the garden has yet to be fenced, so I'll plant it first to determine just how much room I'm going to need.

After I got the entire area raked clean, I dug the first potato bed. Three trenches, about 9" deep, were then dug. Well decomposed cow manure and a bit of 5-10-10 organic fertilizer was scattered along the bottom of each trench and scratched into the soil. I placed a Dark Red Norland seed potato every 12" along the bottom of the trenches. I had 20 seed potatoes, so I had to cheat just a tiny bit to get them to fit in three rows. They were then covered with the soil, and the bed was raked smooth. Planting the first onion bed will be the next project, hopefully tomorrow.

Quite a few seedlings have been hardening off on the back patio for a few days, so I decided to go ahead and plant out a few lettuces. I have several batches of the lettuce seedlings growing, so if these don't make it, I have others to take their place. The varieties are mixed, so every salad will be a surprise this year.

March 10, 2012 - More Spring Cleanup

Weather in the 60s today meant the seedlings got to spend the day outside. I was expecting some fairly strong wind gusts, so I didn't take the tomatoes out today. I really need to devise a little sheltered spot for them. Since the wind gusts didn't happen, I wish they had gone out after all. It was a perfect day for more garden and yard cleanup, not too hot, not too cold.


I finished removing all the dead morning glory vines from the kennel garden, then raked it all out. I did burn a tiny pile that was left after filling a large garbage bag, but it's basically ready for garden preparation. The inside perimeter will get a good application of composted manure dug into the narrow beds to get it ready for Grandpa Ott morning glories, nasturtiums and Johnny Jump Ups. The columbine that was moved there last spring from the fern garden, where it was being crowded out, is really enjoying its new home. It is already putting forth lush new growth.


The sod was hauled off yesterday, just a few small pieces are left to be removed. Mr. Granny spent the day burning the smaller roots and garden trash that couldn't be composted. Tomorrow he'll begin cutting up the large roots so we can do who knows what with them. We'll probably have to just put a few in the garbage can each week, until they are all taken to the landfill.


The yard still has the "winter uglies". I should have taken a before photo, it looked much, much worse before I removed all the dead Four 'O Clocks, alyssum and tons of leaves.


"The "servants' entrance (LOL, it's just a pet name for this side of the house) was a real mess of pine needles, boughs, pine cones and sycamore leaves, plus the winter killed foliage of all the ferns that thrive here. I probably spent 2-3 hours just cleaning up this area alone, including trimming back the bushes that want to bite me every time I walk through here. This will be "tomato alley" again this year. Mr. Granny has been asked to find a better place for the concrete blocks and the metal pipe.


Mr. Granny was really very helpful today, he even cleaned off the patio for me! Methinks I need to do some patio decor this year, it's looking quite dated and shabby.....just like Granny and Mr. Granny :-)

March 9, 2012 - Planting the Garden, Day One

Both triangle beds were amended with compost, which was scratched into the top few inches and then leveled. Then the first seeds of the 2012 garden season were planted. Just a few radishes, along the edge of triangle bed #2, that will be pulled long before the space is needed for summer squash. Hopefully I'll find a spot to put in a short row or two every couple of weeks for a continuous supply this spring. The remaining garlic was moved from the east garden, and a dozen plants filled the allotted spaces perfectly. The soil isn't as dry as it looks, it was nice and damp an inch or two below the surface. I did, however, carry out several 2 gallon watering cans to give the seeds and transplants a drink. I'll have to hook a hose up to the house water soon, as our irrigation water won't be turned on for at least another month.

The garlic I moved earlier in the week seems to be surviving just fine.

It was actually 69F in the shade today (32F when I got up this morning), so I treated the seedlings and the tomato plants to a day on the front porch. I forgot the onions in the laundry room window. They need to start going outside to harden off, as it will soon be time to plant them.

March 9, 2012 - Busy Day & Another Blogger Problem

Recently my name is showing up as Annie & # 39 ; s Granny ( I have to use spaces, or it changes to a comma when I save it), rather than Annie's Granny. It just started, so Blogger must have changed something in their HTML code. It's not a new problem with Blogger, complaints go back several years but the threads all end up being closed without an answer, just an admonishment to stop trying to respond to an old thread and start a new one. Well, people have started many, with no answers from Blogger. It looks like I'll have to change my name to "The Granny of Annie", "Annies Granny" (which is just wrong!) or just plain "Granny" and confuse everybody. If any of you know how to fix this, I'll be forever grateful!

Yesterday was a hard work day! My son-in-law couldn't make it to pick up the sod (he'll be here later today), so I had to find something else to keep me busy. I had wanted to move the dog kennel over about 3-4 feet, until it was right up against the neighbor's fence, so I raked out all the leaves and pulled the dead morning glory vines off of the chain link, and then I pushed. And I pulled. And I leaned my entire body into it and pushed with all my might. It didn't even budge an inch! I guess the kennel stays right where it is.

I moved on from that chore, and double dug a 4x4 raised bed, thinking I would soon find time to plant it with peas. I amended the bed with composted manure, raked it all nice and smooth, then dug five nice straight furrows with the hoe. That would have given me the equivalent of a 20' row of shelling peas. I went in and pulled out my two packets of peas, planning to soak them overnight, but when I opened the packets, there weren't very many peas in there! Actually, there were only 36 peas between the two packets, which wouldn't have planted even one of the four foot rows. Plans changed, furrows were raked smooth again, and I'll likely plant a few radishes right away and in May a couple of cucumbers in a bucket, surrounded with a ring of green beans.

I turned my back for a second and Annie scooted under the unfinished section of fencing, and made herself comfortable right smack dab in the middle of the freshly raked bed. I shooed her back out, and pulled a couple of large bags of leaves over to the opening, but it didn't take her five minutes to figure out how to get around them and back into that garden bed.

It was time to finish the fence, even if it was only temporary. Of course, that entailed moving the big pile of tree roots out of the way, as well as one large roll and several smaller, but heavy, squares of sod. The corner T-post was leaning a bit, but there wasn't time to dig it out and set it in concrete so I tied a rope to it and pulled it as tight as I could, then tied the rope to the chain link fence. That kept the T-post straight enough to attach the fencing, even though it's just a temporary fix until I can do it right. I went ahead and attached the welded wire dog barrier to the bottom of the permanent installation, then used folding wire fence along the bottom of the last (temporary) section. There....the garden was now Annie proof! And I was exhausted!

It was still too early to start dinner, so I mixed up a bucket of compost, peat moss and vermiculite so I could plant some seeds. Yes, I made my own mix. You may have guessed I was rather upset over some of the comments I got when I mentioned I had purchased a small bag of Miracle Gro for my first seedlings, as the store shelves had not yet been stocked for spring. Yes, I know how to make my own potting mix, and yes I had all the ingredients needed to do it, but it was January, it was cold out in the garden shed, and all the lawn furniture was stored in front of the shelf that held the supplies. So I bought a bag of what was available, and it grew some lovely plants. So, to those "Anonymous" people who left some very nasty comments, your words were not worthy to be published. I do moderate the comments on my blog, so don't expect to have yours published if you can't play nice.

While I'm on the subject of rude people, yesterday was garbage pickup day and I had an old broken plastic container, filled with trash from cleaning the garden shed, sitting at the curb. There were some short pieces of the welded wire fencing, too small to do anything with, in the bottom. Somebody came by and dumped the contents onto the driveway, took the fencing scraps, and just left everything else scattered all over. I already picked it all up once, I wasn't happy about having to do it again. They were certainly welcome to the fencing, but they could have returned the other stuff to the container.

Anyway, I got all of my peppers, early cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts planted, placed under humidity domes and on the rope lights to germinate. The grow shelves are filling up fast. Now that I have the garden shed cleaned out, I can get some lights up in the mini greenhouse and move the cool weather seedlings out there.

Aren't these pretty! There are two clusters of blossoms, and several clusters of buds on the largest tomato plant. I shake it several times a day, hoping they pollinate.

The large tomato plant grew too tall for the grow shelves, so I moved them all to the laundry room, where I removed the middle shelf to make room. Then I broke the double 2' shop light, so now all they have is a single 18" light on the shelf above. As soon as I move the cool season seedlings out to the shed, I'll get Mr. Granny to help me remove a shelf from the wire rack to make room for these plants to grow.

March 8, 2012 - Thank You, Mother Nature

She was nicer to me than I expected on Tuesday. It was supposed to be cold and windy, in the low forties, but it turned out sunny and calm and perfect weather for the new garden project. I donned my coat and gloves, but the coat soon ended up over a fence post, rather than on the gardener.

It took most of the morning to get 40' of the fencing installed, and 24' of the welded wire dog barrier put on the bottom of it.

The afternoon was spent raking smooth the first 12' x 36' section of new garden and staking off the first four beds. I marked 20" pathways, which will be wide enough for my rake, and tromped down the loose soil on the walkways. The first four beds were marked off, visible small bits of root removed, and each was leveled and smoothed out with a rake. It was quite an easy job in that soft soil.

I tore down one of the three old half barrels that was rotting out, hauled that out of the garden, then raked the soil from it into a bed by the back fence for pole beans. The other two barrels will also be removed, and the Fortex beans will be planted in all three new beds next to the fence. Amy T., from Issaquah, WA, is sending me some fresh Fortex seeds! I had asked her to watch the seed racks in the Seattle area to see if she could find me a packet, as the seeds I had saved in 2010 turned out to have crossed with my nearby Kentucky Blue pole beans. I really wanted a new supply to grow for seed saving this year, but I was hesitant to pay about $14 for a few seeds and the shipping charges. This year, Fortex will be the only pole bean I'll grow, so unless my neighbors grow beans on the other side of my fence, the resulting seeds should be true Fortex!

I raked up and hauled out the pile of sod and roots that were in the middle of the garden. The largest roots of all were there, and impossible to remove, so I will move the bottom half of the old compost bin to set over the top and plant the butternut squash in it. The vines should grow down to cover its ugliness, so I think it will work out OK.

The new area of garden is beginning to take shape. The old fence line was right up against the raised beds in the background, so I gained about 12' of extra planting width. The triangle beds were necessary, due to the TV/phone/internet cable that is buried just beneath the surface. It will make an interesting visual arrangement! I have to make the best use of some odd spaces, so the top half of the old compost barrel, in the background, will hold a hill of cantaloupe.

I reused the plastic mesh fencing that I had installed last year. I really like this stuff, it stretches tight, never sags or bends, and is practically invisible, allowing a good view of the garden. The welded wire fencing was also repurposed from the old east garden. I cut the 2' high fencing down to 1', and used cable ties to fasten it to the bottoms of the fence posts. That keeps my nosy garden dog Annie from pushing under the flexible plastic fencing.

My preliminary garden plan for the first four new beds. After I went through all the work of planning this, I discovered I'd made the triangle beds a foot deeper than they really are. That means a do-over, but it will still be similar to this original plan......or maybe I'll just plant everything a tiny bit closer together.

I still have all this mess in the old east garden! My son-in-law is supposed to come over today or tomorrow to load the sod and take it to a new home they are sodding in their mobile home park. I have no idea what we'll do to get rid of the pile of roots, as they are too water logged to burn and too large to put in the garbage can for pickup.

Once the mess is cleared, this area will have to be refenced (red lines). It's too bad we dug out the posts last weekend, but the original plan was to sod this entire area. Now I've talked Mr. Granny into letting me keep most of it in garden, minus the area around the lilac tree (a source of multiple suckers, which cause me so much extra work to control). I want to set the corner posts in concrete, as I'm having trouble keeping the T-posts straight in this soft soil. This area will be perfect for planting corn, potatoes and onions.....the garden space hogs. There is still a long section of welded wire fencing, waiting to be cut for the final installation.

While I'm waiting for it to warm up enough to get outside and start working, I'm going to have my morning coffee with my nose buried in these lovelies, the first sign of spring at Granny's house.