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MARCH:
Received soil analysis from USU Extension: Very high in Phosphorus, high in K+, no value given to N+. Recommendation: add Nitrogen 30-0-0 to garden area. Decided to only add it to the corn and squash area in the garden outside of greenhouse (non-raised bed area).
March 9th: Purchased the following plant starts: Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Red Lettuce Sails, Butter Lettuce, Swiss Chard. Covered northeast plot with hoophouse March 8th, spread 2 cubic feet steer manure, 6 cubic feet NVigor (Kelllogs Company) and 4 cubic feet clay buster mulch on March 10. Gets full sun right now. Will plant broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower in this plot on March 11. Soil is getting warm.
March 10: on southeast plot spread 2 cubic feet steer manure, 6 cubic feet NVigor and 4 cubic feet clay buster mulch. Ground is frozen solid, gets no sun at all except for small amount on the west end. Built hoophouse frame. Will cover with plastic on March 11, see if the soil can be warmed up.
Went to Master Gardening training session: pruning trees and bushes.
March 11: Volunteered for two hours at the Home and Garden Show USU Garden Extension booth.
March 12: placed 50 ft soaker hose (flat, with one side that allows water to soak out and one side that doesn't) in northeast plot. Had to remove all of black plastic and all of hoophouse to do it. Soaker hose very difficult to use due to it wanting to role over to non-soaking side. Planted Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts in plot and started Brussels Sprouts seeds and Kale seeds in planters to transfer when ready. Replaced black plastic and hoophouse.
Planted Oregon Snow Peas (approximately 15-20 feet) along fence on north side, north of where corn will be. Will use small plastic fence for support.
Placed lettuce starts and swiss chard inside small hotbox (cloche) under hoophouse.
March 13: Master Gardening class.
March 14: Purchased soaker hose and attachments from Home Depot, weeded corn stalks from last year, weeded small strip along side of house where water source and iris plants are. Weeded underneath grapevine. Set up dripper system from the water source: regular hose from source, goes to brass 4-way manifold, hooked up "funny hose" from one manifold outlet to northeast plot (funny hose did not work when used from water source to manifold because of high pressure-too many leaks, but seems to work well from manifold to raised bed). Use adjustable pressure regulator at point of connection of water hose to manifold. Pressure is at 10 ppi. No pressure adjustment on pea watering soaker hose for the time being.
Purchased NVigor 3 cubic ft, 2 bags per raised bed, clay buster 2 cubic ft, 2 bags per raised bed, and steer manure 1,5 cubuc ft, 1 bag per raised bed. Temperature: upper 60's.
March 15: Pulled old sage plant (10years old) out of corn plot due to root rot. Cut down wild roses (two) along the grape vine area. Cleaned up area along grapevine. Jerry pruned 90% of grapevine back. Temperature today: 70
March 16: Weeded perennial area. Weeded area between perennials and bean poles where chicken coop will go. Also weeded bean pole area. Tilled the southwest and northwest raised beds. Temperature today: 62
March 17: Weather turning stormy. Removed all debride from grape vine area where we pruned, cleaned up corn patch and removed debride, picked up all scraps from the perennials bed that were left from cleanup. Layed down soaker hose (round hose vs. flat; it seeps out better). Covered northwest, southwest beds with black plastic. Yard cleanup is complete, all beds covered but still need to put soaker hose in southeast bed.
March 17, 18, 19: Snow! Temperatures down to lower 30's, up to upper 40's. Studied up on how to plant, prune and string up tomatoes. Decided on Early Girl and Better Boy indeterminants as they are hardy, good producers and good to grow in a greenhouse as long as they have good support.
March 18: Planted 2 pots off of patio with tomato, cilantro, swiss chard, lettuce.
March 20: Master Gardening class.
March 23: Bought Early Girl and Better Boy tomato plants, 3 Hollyhocks to replace the three that didn't make the winter, planted by the greenhouse, and 2 bleeding heart plants at Millcreek Garden Nursery. Master Gardener Conference at Thanksgiving Point. Made Tufa Trough. Brought home tomato plant: Burt's best tomatoes. Also a couple more tomato plants. Also brought home two 6 packs of bell pepper plants, and two 6 packs of cucumber plants.
March 24: Master Gardener Conference at Provo City Government Building.
March 25: Planted all tomato plants, put wall o waters around them. Transplanted kale sprouts under northeast hoophouse. Pulled down old, dried Virginia Creeper vines off of east side of house. Cleaned up flower beds, planted bleeding hearts and hollyhocks.
March 26: Brief snow storm came through; covered up containers of veggies off patio steps. Pruned more pyracanthus bushes down to the roots. Jerry pruned the apple tree (1/3 to 1/4) and the pear tree (just a central water sprout).
March 27: Master gardener class. Chicken coop arrived. Moved it back to north fence, next to bean poles.
March 28: Bought chicks 2 - 3 days old: 2 Auracana, 2 sex link, 2 Orpingtons. Cucumber seeds in flats are sprouting. Put chicks in dog kennel with 250 watt light outside wire door.
March 30: Kale sprouts that I transplanted don't look like they made it. Everything else looking good. Planted 4 Verbenas into hanging planters , ordered from specialty nursery: Superbenas from "Proven Winners". Transplanted the Venus Fly Trap into vermiculite/perlite mixture in larger planter, covered with a 2-gallon glass cloche. Chicks all surviving. Oregon snow peas coming up. Brushed off Tufa trough and scraped off sharp edges; re-covered and stuckit under the outdoor bench. will retrieve it in three weeks.
March 31st: Pulled up black plastic from the southeast bed; placed soaker hose, replaced black plastic. Planted spinach. Replaced 8 wall o waters that the wind blew over; place wall o waters over the planters with tomatoes. Planted two tomatoes in the planters out front, covered them with wall o waters. Planted three rows of cabbage. Re-covered the bed with plastic. Planted Hops: Brewer's Gold - to the left of the lilac bush in the perennials bed along the back fence. April 2: moved Hops over to left side of fence by chicken coop.
April 2: Purchased 4 Buddleias at Millcreek Gardens (Bloomtastic Flutterby Petite Snow White Nectar Bush, and Flutterby Petite Lavender Nectar Bush "Buddleja Podaras), 40% off because they were last year's stock. Two white and two pink dwarf bushes. Planted them in the perennial flower strip behind the house.
April 3: Master Gardening Class. Jerry began working on replacing the greenhouse cover; ordered 6 ml UV protected plastic.
April 4: Waterfall fixed, working now.
April 5: Cherry tree in full bloom now. Frost came March 31st; not sure if there was any frost damage.
April 6: Planted 4 Anise Hyssop bushes in shady area off of patio; moved three Hostas from that area and moved them in between the bleeding hearts on the east side of the house. Planted 2 Anise Hyssop in the shady patch on the northwest corner of the house by the water hose.
April 8: Planted wave petunias and pansies in front pots on front porch with a cherry tomato plant in the middle of each. Covered tomato plant with wall-o-water for a few days. Trimmed the Japanese Maple Lace tree in the front of the house; took out curved and twisted branches and overlapping branches (approximately 1/3 of the growth). Took out lower branches. Cleaned off patio.
April 10: Master Gardener class. Bought beets, kale, swiss chard, cabbage, bell peppers, onions, eggplant, from Millcreek Gardens. Planted kale, swiss chard, replaced the damaged cabbage with the new cabbage, planted swiss chard.
April 13: Millcreek Gardens delivered a cubic yard of forest mulch.
April 14: Hail and snow. Took tufa trough out of the plastic.
April 15: Put down mulch in front yard beds, and back beds. Chest pain!
April 18: Chickens moved outdoors. I put a plastic cover across the opening of their upstairs so that they were cooped in, and put the heat lamp in their coop, along with their food and water, and some hay. They seemed happy.
April 19: Took the plastic separator out of the coop and taught the chickens how to go up and down the ramp. Perla the dog really wants those chickens. She tried to open the cage door with her mouth. I reinforced the doors with wire.
Picked up herbs from a freecycler: lemon balm (Melissa officianalis), tarragon, French sorrel (Rumex scutatus), oregano, and rue. Put oregano, tarragon and lemon balm in the tufa trough and placed it in front of the water meter by the front door. Placed the rest of the herbs in three rectangular planters by the fence on the east side of the house.
April 20: Jerry painted the pvc pipe in preparation of placing the UV resistance plastic over the greenhouse. All plants are doing well. Visited two gardens in South Salt Lake on Blair STreet that have about an acre of land and artesian wells on both. Collected a dirt sample for the UVU soil study, as part of my volunteer hours for the Master Gardener course.
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