SPRING: Mason Bee Hatchlings and Flowers
04/06/2019: The weather is fantastic and will maintain for quite a few more days now. The sun was hot, there were the perfect amount of fluffy clouds, and my mason bees really began hatching today in full! I was able to hear one of the bees chewing through her cocoon early in the morning and was lucky enough to catch the entire thing including her taking her first pollen poop and her first flight. I know she was not the only one to have emerged today so it's very good to know we've got our little pollinators out there working away.
I was nervous that without having much pollen in our yard, these ladies will just fly elsewhere to build their homes. So I went to the Home Depot and got a few flowers to help make the yard feel welcoming. I don't know that the flowers are very bee friendly, but they should help a little until my plants are ready to go outside.
I was nervous that without having much pollen in our yard, these ladies will just fly elsewhere to build their homes. So I went to the Home Depot and got a few flowers to help make the yard feel welcoming. I don't know that the flowers are very bee friendly, but they should help a little until my plants are ready to go outside.
I also got 3 potatoes planted in pots which I put in various areas around the yard. I chose to use a fully potted method instead of the "potting up" our mounding method because seeing the full size plants in the garden is something I'm looking forward to. I chose a first early variety called Purple Majesty as I love purple potatoes the most.
Pruning and Tiny Critters
04/05/2019: Yesterday I was home sick so I took advantage of the chance to do some pruning. I cut back the hedges on the north side about a month ago and since then there's been enough spring growth to easily spot the unproductive branches. These guys will be like entirely different plants this year, fully managed and shaped, allowing more sun to fall to the ground. Which is important because I was pleasantly surprised by this!
Sure looks a lot like Hyacinth which is pretty exciting. This was the second bulb I nearly killed thinking it was invasive grass. There are quite a few little plants growing so hopefully we have some fun Easter blooms.
Today was also the day to top my Indica plant and start it growing more branches. To do this, you snip off the very top terminal leaves, leaving two fresh young leaves that will then develop into two strong central branches instead of just one.
I hadn't noticed, but my kale plants have been chomped on and I don't know when. I put this cover on them about 3 days ago and just noticed the bites this morning. This netting fabric is incredibly fine and won't hold up to an animal pushing on it. I will be switching to a white cover cloth instead so critters can't see in and moths can't fly in. The damage certainly looks like a worm laid by a moth. I checked the plant last night but didn't see anybody which makes me thing it's gone for now. Once I have my cloth I can plant the spinach with less worry.
New Plants
04/04/2019: Yesterday I received my shipment from White Flower Farm. Above is my Lupinus Masterpiece, the flower I was most looking forward to. Below is an image of what it will look like fully grown.
Grow Setup
04/04/2019: I've built a 3-story grow light system using the Stack & Grow Light System from Gardener's Supply. The top level was an add-on and is using LED lights which the other two levels are not. I would purchase LED overall next time only because they do not get hot. The other lights don't heat the plants, but if you touch the lights, they'll burn a little. The size of the shelves could be slightly bigger as most standard growing trays are around 10" x 20" and are a little too long to fit exactly. I just recently started using these wonderfully sturdy growing trays from Bootstrap Farmer and they are an incredible space saver. Because they extend past the sides of the shelves slightly, I can put plants out far out to the sides enough where they still get plenty of light. I was full on my shelves completely and starting to get nervous about where all of the new seedlings would go. Suddenly I had extra space!
Outdoor Garden Design
I've done a bit of work on the backyard space over the past month and am now just waiting for the month to pass so I can start planting into the ground. My tomatoes, broccoli, and Indica are now so large they're a bit too big for the grow light setup and I've needed to add more clamp lights to provide enough light for their leaves. Today I put the Indica and tomatoes outside and will bring them in at night.
Here's the Squirrel Garden which will be home to a mixed bed of flowers and veggies on the far right, watermelon and cucumber on the trellis, many many flowers all over, and two cherry tomatoes on either side of the path entrance.