Pushing the season...beyond reason?

A

Anomaly 73

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I started my garden seedlings early...way early. We had 70's for several days two weeks back and I succumbed to my S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder). Winter had been hanging over my consciousness like a gray rag for months. The brilliant sunlight and warm breezes galvanized me into my gardening mode. Twenty egg cartons were filled with seed starter soil, planted and gently watered, wrapped in plastic, and deposited on a shelf under my desk above a small heater which keeps my room cozy. Within seven days, they were all outside under glass.

Everything was going well...then Winter returned:
Snapshot 3 (4-27-2017 10-26 AM).jpg Yes, that's snow. Here's some more: Snapshot 1 (4-27-2017 10-26 AM).jpg Notice the forlorn pool in the background?

The temp is 33F...I'll be lifting the sheets later (42F) today. We'll see if all the seedlings survived.
 

I really hope they survived with all the care you've given them. We're supposed to get some snow this weekend, but I suspect it to be the wet and heavy kind, mixed with rain....we'll see. I don't have any new plantings to worry about though.
 
Thanks for the well wishes. I think they'll be OK. Tonight, it's supposed to dip under freezing...I plan to deploy that same heater out there. I'll post pics.
 

I've been tempted to start the garden for the past month...with our mild weather...but the last time I did that we had a late frost and I had to start all over. Generally, I look at Mid-May as the best time to plant around here. We had been below average for the yearly rainfall, but this week, through Sunday, we may get up to 5 inches of rain, so the garden will be a muddy swamp for awhile.
 
Our last frost date in New Jersey is May 15th. I'll have most of my plants in the ground by then but will have a pot nearby to cover them if there is a hit of frost. Also news papers and clothespins for my hanging baskets. The only thing I will wait to put in are my tomatoes. They won't do a thing until they are ready, so putting them in early is useless.
 
Well, the heater worked. I forgot to get a pic before I tore down the temporary (cardboard) ductwork and heater. If I need the set up again, I'll get one. At any rate, they all survived. You're right Ruth...the tomatoes will just sit there till warm is 24/7...but they are here. It's only 48 degrees this morning so they are strictly torpid.
Snapshot 8 (4-28-2017 12-41 PM).png

I'll be planting the tomatoes and squash outside the yard where space is no problem:
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This...is what I'm really waiting for:
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Me too on the swimming, but, I want the ocean, so I'm already trying to figure out my escape back to Florida for a few weeks this summer. I don't want to plan for just an one or even two week visit just in case it decides to rain most every day. I was supposed to visit next winter, but, I'm already missing the beaches. Sigh.

Oh and your planting makes me want to start up a small herb garden on my patio. :D Something I used to try my hand at when I lived in Florida.
 
Great photos Anomaly. That pool look so inviting. Glad your plants made it through. I worked outside all day today. The hubby cut the grass so I got the weeds out of the garden and spread the grass around to keep new one from popping up. Tomorrow I'll plant some potatoes that have sprouted. I cheat and don't plant them as deep as recommended but keep them covered with a think layer of grass so the light doesn't get to them throughout the growing season. Much easier than digging to China when they are ready for harvest. AprilT I hope you get to Florida this summer. You must really enjoy the heat. Good luck with the herbs.
 
I'm gonna tell y'all One. More. Time. It's not snow. It's sNOw.

I grew up in it, got lucky and lived in Hawaii during the war, got hauled back to it, lived in it until I was 20 when I got lucky again and moved to New Mexico. Stayed away for more than 30 years and got sweet-talked into moving back for 16 years. Now I'm happily ensconced in the South where there are flowers year round. Frost sometimes, sNOw every now and then. Mostly warm and usually sunny.
 
Thanks for the responses. Glad to know I'm hanging out with garden freaks. It really does sooth my soul to push my fingers into the soil and commune with mother Earth.

Georgiaxplant, I see you made Wisconsin your home at one time...I live near the Dells. We have something else in common..."Catch 22" is my all time favorite book. Made me laugh to tears in the first half...but only to cry during the second.

Thanks for the tip Ruth...central Wisconsin is 'tater country.

April...you don't have to have a big garden. I used containers before I got serious.

Don, I understand about the rain...midwestern monsoon.

Shalimar...yes we are.:)
 
Less than a month, and my balcony garden goes in. I miss the hanging garden of Babylon effect I had when I lived in an apt, but the condo Nazis are weird about the number of plants we are permitted to have. Each year I sneak in a little more. I note others copy. Loll. Forgiveness is always easier to get than permission. Make them say no!
 
Shalimar said:
Less than a month, and my balcony garden goes in. I miss the hanging garden of Babylon effect I had when I lived in an apt, but the condo Nazis are weird about the number of plants we are permitted to have. Each year I sneak in a little more. I note others copy. Loll. Forgiveness is always easier to get than permission. Make them say no!
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Last year, I planted squash and cantaloupe in containers on a roof allowing the vines to extend to the ground. I know how your "hanging garden" must have looked...wish I'd kept a pic. Condo Nazis...yeah, give 'em hell. I love my woods and seclusion. Freedom reigns here.
 
Anomaly 73 said:
Last year, I planted squash and cantaloupe in containers on a roof allowing the vines to extend to the ground. I know how your "hanging garden" must have looked...wish I'd kept a pic. Condo Nazis...yeah, give 'em hell. I love my woods and seclusion. Freedom reigns here.
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Oh, how lovely it must be where you live! Here, on southern Vancouver Island, we are never far from nature. I grew up directly across from the beach. What a cool idea to grow squash and cantaloupe on the roof. Yes, I resist "tyranny" where I can. I am small, but stubborn! Loll.
 
I spent time in the Pacific northwest. My ideal location would be Idaho...the Snake River canyon to be exact. I wandered the country for a while and actually panned gold there...it was incredibly beautiful (as is Vancouver Island). I spent a week eating crayfish and greens while pulling wealth from the swirling estuaries of the river. It wasn't much wealth...about $30.00 in 1971 (just enough to fill the tank, stock some food...and run).

I'm fearful of my country's future course regarding nature and beauty. The current powers to be are not what I'd call "Conservationists". I'm afraid we've elected a fatal mistake that sees everything as exploitable resources.

And no...I don't want to interject politics into a garden thread. I'm here because I enjoy the peace of the topic. The situation just wears on me.
 
I have never eaten crayfish, but panned for gold up north when I was a teen. I love the variety of nature accessible to me here, particularly the rivers, lakes, and my beloved ocean. I have a friend who owns a houseboat, I love house sitting whenever possible.
 
Two things come to mind:
1. I remember frost and snow (or sNOw, if you prefer). Didn't like them
2. My local grocery store sells tomatoes. The last time I tried to plant a garden was 1978.
 
Hoot N Annie said:
Two things come to mind:
1. I remember frost and snow (or sNOw, if you prefer). Didn't like them
2. My local grocery store sells tomatoes. The last time I tried to plant a garden was 1978.
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If I lived in paradise (Hawaii) with independent means....I'd live in my garden. You have volcanic soil (the best), perfect climate, and all the time in the world...I'm sorry you can't appreciate the pleasure of growing plants.
 
The container plants are pushing through the soil. I put salad makings in containers for daily access...radishes, spinach, scallions, lettuce, and a couple roma tomatoes. I'll have to cover them tonight...frost warning (the last I think). Tomorrow I'll be planting squash and green bush beans...in the garden. I'd better be right about the frost.
So good to sit out in the sunshine.
Snapshot 1 (5-7-2017 3-38 PM).png
 
I enjoyed "listening to" all the garden conversation. I don't plant a garden, because just the maintaining of the property is more than enough for me to do. At retirement, hubby used to put in a large tomato garden every year and then take most of the tomatoes to the Senior Center. They called him "The Tomato Man".
 

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