Mastodawn

BeetBear reminded me that a year ago today I had to be hauled away in an ambulance because my gall bladder had burst. My daughter stepped in and kept the garden stuff going for a week or so until I recovered. ANYWAY... We started bringing stuff up into the greenhouse to make room for more stuff in the grow room. First up is the cabbage and lettuce, which is looking pretty good. Tomorrow we'll make some decisions on what comes up next.
#BeetBear
#Gardening
#Allotment
#NewEngland
#Zone6b

Richard Rollinson 5d ago

We send greetings to all of our gardening friends, both north and south, on the equinox. For us it means more sunlight and warmer days ahead. BeetBear is taking the time to clean off his sign on our tool shed door. Two years ago he was posing with his violets and dandelions in the orchard, but this year we're a long way from that yet - it's been way too cold.
#BeetBear
#gardening
#Allotment
#NewEngland
#zone6b
#Equinox
#gardeningau
#gardeningNZ

Richard Rollinson Mar 14

"Let's get busy and prune the rose bushes" says BeetBear. It's on the sunny side of the house and out of the wind. They were out of control and overgrown so we gave them a good trim and will make them tidy as they leaf out later.
#BeetBear
#Gardening
#Allotment
#NewEngland
#Spring
#Zone6b

Richard Rollinson Mar 14

BeetBear and I went out this morning to see what could be done to get the season moving. First up he paid his respects to what he calls the "Bear Tulips" (crocus). They had a bad winter and are very sparse this year. We'll have to plant more this fall... He also checked on the rhubarb, which is just starting to emerge. Now we move on to business. More later
#BeetBear
#Gardening
#Allotment
#NewEngland
#Spring
#Zone6b

Richard Rollinson Mar 12

Well now.March has come full circle in the last 10 days. March 3rd. had 15F/-9C temp and ankle-deep snow everywhere. March 10th was 77F/25C & snow all gone with crocuses blooming.Today it's 37F/3C and starting to snow again. BeetBear is getting VERY impatient. Better news: We've had very good germination on the Everman Jalapeños & King Arthur green bell peppers. Everything coming along ok but will need greenhouse ready soon.
#gardening
#Allotment
#NewEngland
#Spring
#Zone6b
#BeetBear

Richard Rollinson Mar 11

For a long time, BeetBear has wanted me to tell the story of how our families met so here it is, all crammed in to the ALT Text to get past my character limits here. I'm not a very good story teller, but I had a go at summarizing the important bits. Please excuse my very bad Welsh.
#BeetBear
#Gardening
#Allotment
#Cymru

Richard Rollinson Mar 8

BeetBear wants to know how he is supposed to adjust the sundial for Daylight Savings Time if we haven't seen the sun for several days now. We'll just have to keep using last year's saved daylight for a while yet.
#BeetBear
#DaylightSavings
#Gardening
#Allotment
#NewEngland
#Zone6b

Richard Rollinson Mar 7

We got some more planting done today: more lettuce, Verbena bonariensis, beets (VERY IMPORTANT says BeetBear), and parsley. Each set of lights is the heat mat for the tray above and the stuff with the warmest requirements is on top, the shelves get gradually cooler as we go down.

Inside: warm and toasty. Outside: not so much, but at least it's melting back gradually.
#BeetBear
#Gardening
#allotment
#NewEngland
#Zone6b

Richard Rollinson Mar 6

Now that BeetBear has come out of his winter nap, he shares my overwhelming urge to get out and get going! If only all this rotten snow wasn't still covering everything. Time to melt already!
#BeetBear
#Gardening
#allotment
#NewEngland
#Zone6b

Richard Rollinson Mar 5

A look at my seed starting set-up. 4 shelves, each with room for 4 trays. Each shelf has it's own 4-bulb, 4 foot light fixture. I use the light fixtures as heat mats for the shelf above & adjust spacing as needed.
Today we planted tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage,viola, jalapeño, and bell pepper. Previously we winter-sowed cleome and butterfly milkweed, which is outside under the snow. More planting tomorrow.

#BeetBear
#gardening
#Allotment
#NewEngland
#zone6b