Despite the weather diffidently taking a cold turn the seeds jumped, especially the broccoli. About the time I think I am really doing better at getting the seeds planted thin they come up in bunches again. The bunches are scattered but still I have room for improvement. So far no tomatoes in the paper peat pots are up. But I don't doubt but what they will.

The horseradish is breaking ground now all over the old patch, haven't seen any in the new patch but it should soon. Some of last years perennials are up, hyacinths are showing color and the tulips are ready to bud. Again last fall I forgot to dig and divide my newest lily so will do it this week. It is not the evasive kind like daylillies but still has to be divided. Have a lot of older daylillies to get rid of yet, don't ever plant them where you don't want them to take over because they will. If you want them contained bury a tub and plant the bulbs in it. Make sure to leave the rim of the tub above ground a couple of inches. You will still want to thin them out every couple of years.

By the time I get home from having a wonderful fun time spoiling three of our grandchildren Monday, I will be surprised by the changes spring has brought to my garden and flower beds for sure. Hopefully they are all good ones. Will let you know next time. For now I hope the hubby is watering the coldframe daily and Mother Nature keeps the sun shining!

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Well that might be a little presumptous on my part but the cold frame is planted. I did get lazy and left last years soil, just gave it a good boost with more compost and sand. It is packed full with tomato, cabbage, broccoli, summer squash, two kinds of cucumber, basil, jalapeno and another kind of hot pepper I can't remember the name of and morning glory seeds. Some of the tomato seeds are in my homemade newspaper pots, last year I had some trouble with shock when they were transplanted so thought I would try something a friend suggested. The paper will disintegrate letting the roots spread out as needed. Check out hot they are made on my site http://ramblinannie.wordpress.com

With 200 onion sets and two rows of radishes planted we are well on our way. The hubby helped me put up the panels for the peas to grow on and hopefully the soil will warm up enough in the next couple of weeks they can be planted.

The rest will have to wait until we are sure Mother Nature is in her Hawaii mode for sure or they might get their topnotches frosted. Waiting to be planted are carrots, beets, koli-rabi and beans at least.

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March 23 ~ ~ Now I officially am ready, ordered the seeds a couple of days ago, have the hubby on a compost run as I type. Spread the wood ashes around that we had dumped on the snow all winter hoping we hit the garden area, and yes we did hit the garden, thank you.

Looked at the cold frame, pondered, looked some more, hmmm, maybe I can get by another year without digging it out. But remember old girl you weren't real happy with the horse manure you got last year and the hubby did offer to get you some this year instead of you getting it. All you have to do is dig out the old and start with new so get with it, take his help when you get it silly.

Don't you hate it when you listen to those little devils when they cause you more work? In the long run it will be worth it and I will be glad I did so right after I get done here it's a digging I will go. The seeds should be here any day and we want to get them in the soil as soon as we can now. Our weather has made a turn and with our light bulbs in the cold frame and Mother Nature's help the seedlings should be sprouting in no time.

Oh by the way we have a new nephew Jaxson Danial Butcher was born March 22 to the hubby's neice Cari and Jason. They waited so long and had several miscarriages so this is a real Easter miracle for them.

Images:

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Today is the first day of spring, YIPPEE, now if Mother Nature will just remember and no one upsets her this year. Here in Nebraska we have had our share of winter. It started early and continued to be cold and snowy all winter. The last decade has been so much warmer and so much less snow that we were beginning to think Mother Nature forgot where we were; well she woke up and remembered what she used to do to us. Even at that we were so fortunate compared to many other parts of the country. I for one am all for keeping her on our good side so be good to her I will!

Now with spring brings gardening and the yearnings to get my hands in the dirt. Last year I built a coldframe, I can’t say it was a total success but it did very well and I certainly was pleased with the money I saved. Overall we had the best garden we have ever had for several reasons. I will get into that later for now I want to encourage you to try starting your own plants. Whether you build a coldframe or not you can save so much starting your own plants over buying them. The nurseries have to make money to stay in business and that is to be expected, we can’t grow everything so we are glad. I love roses and I can’t start them, believe me I have tried starting with slips time after time and just can’t seem to get it right. So I buy them but I save planting everything I can.

Last year I grew everything in our garden and shared plants with several other families, this year with good luck I plan on selling some of my extra plants to a store also and paying for my seeds that way. I did have some trouble with shock on my tomatoes last year so this year I will transplant the seedlings when they are about 5” tall into pots I made from newspaper then later transplant right into their place in the garden when they are around a ready. I will post my pots on Thrifty Fun for those of you who may want to use them. I could have purchased peat pots but there goes some of my savings again and I have a friend who makes all of his own pots from newspaper with great success.

Another thing I learned last year was to hold down on the number of seeds I plant. I purchased good seed from mail order companies such as Gurneys and the quality is so much better that every seed must come up. Their seed is no more expensive and they have sales in every catalog, great quality of the seed and money back guarantee on everything that I can attest to they stand behind. The only trouble I had was on a grass plant I ordered, it wasn’t in the best shape when it came and then I had to be gone for a few days and forgot to plant it, when I got back it was beyond help. I contacted the company and they replaced it no questions asked even after I admitted I hadn’t watered the somewhat questionable plant.

The variety I grew last year was 4 kinds of tomatoes, 2 kinds of cucumbers, giant sunflowers, (see the photo of a squirrel sitting on one in my photo album) peas, beans, koli-rabi, 2 kinds of carrots, onions, beets, and 3 kinds of radishes, cabbage, broccoli and summer squash.

I have posted several pictures of last year’s garden to show you just how bountiful it was. We have a heavy black soil so we have added sand the last 4 years, compost the last two and a fertilizer made locally the last two. Our local sanitation department (trash pickup) makes compost and sells it for practically nothing. If you are planting grass sprinkle it on your area and then seed it, your grass will jump. My favorite way to break up a heavy soil is wood chips from a horse barn; that combination of horse manure and those wood chips is the best I have found to loosen up hard soil. Top that off with a load of sand and you have a soil that can’t be beat in my estimation. I use weed free grass clippings for mulch as deep as 6 to 8 inches. Friends are glad to have somewhere to go with their clippings and deliver it to me for nothing but I share my garden bounty with them and they love it.

This winter we have not had to purchase any vegetables other than fresh such as lettuce, tomatoes and radishes otherwise we are still eating from what was grown in my garden. Green beans are the one thing I don’t freeze, we prefer them canned but otherwise I freeze everything else. Of course we have canned tomato juice and stewed tomatoes, preserves from wild chokecherries and plums and apples from my tree. We have a horseradish patch and each year we have a “grinding” party where we put up around 100 pints of horseradish that we share with all. We get requests for it all year long and each year new people show up at the “grinding” party. There are lots of tears and laughing as the memories are made and the horseradish gets prepared for another year.

So as you can see I am really glad spring is here and I have an excuse to play in the dirt again. My seeds are ordered, my hubby is going after the manure and compost first of the week and aplanting I will go! You really should try it, it is so rewarding.

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