The completed hose reel

Today I had a little time to do some more work on the hose reel.  I had finished painting the vertical support over the weekend so I measured and cut curves into the front face.  It's more attractive now and should allow for smoother wrapping of the hose than if I hadn't cut it down.  Lastly, I sanded down the freshly-cut pieces.  It's all about the aesthetics.

All I need now are a few warm days so the ground can thaw enough that I can sink the reel into the garden.  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that'll be immediately forthcoming judging by the weather forecasts.

Tomatoes, Basil, Petunias, Bell Peppers are up

It's been two weeks since I started my tomato, pepper, basil, and petunia seeds.  The tomatoes are thriving (borderline needing transplanting), basil is doing very well, petunias are slowly growing, and the peppers finally seem to be awakening from seed-slumber. 

The peppers that have sprouted are of the Carolina Wonder (bell) variety.  I did a little careful poking around in the started Cayenne areas and have found that a few have started sprouting, barely.  I expected the pepper germination to be slower than the basil and tomatoes based on my experience last year, but didn't expect one variety of pepper to get started slower than its brethren.  Something to monitor.

Peppers

Basil

Tomatoes

Petunias

Continuing work on the hose reel

The hose reel progresses.  It's an easy project.  I finished the bulk of the construction of the reel today.  I also started paint application to the vertical support.

I may cut curves on the outside edges, but for now it's squared off.  I also plan to apply a water sealant to the entire thing once the weather stays warm enough for that.

Beginnings of the hose reel

Construction of the hose reel began today.  As far as projects go, it's a pretty simple one and shouldn't take long at all.  It would be a little simpler if I went and bought the hanging portion, but since I'm trying to salvage materials and enjoy working with wood I'm building everything from scratch.  The difference in cost between 28" worth of 2"x2" stock and a 1"x10" board vs a plain hose reel isn't much.  My way of doing it is slightly cheaper, but it's essentially a wash either way.  My way is more fun, though!

Today, I cut the vertical support, sanded it down, and marked it for painting.  I also cut, sanded, and mounted the backstop to the support.  I also cut the four crosspieces which will support the hose.

I'll mount those and the front piece to the rest of the assembly and paint the bottom the next time I get the time to do some more work.  Other than sinking it into the ground, it'll be finished.

Learning about plants - Petunias

Petunias are flowers.  That's the extent of my pre-research knowledge.  I've just never paid much attention to flowers.  I'm generally more interest in practical things.  I'm coming to realize that, thanks to companion planting, the pretty can also be quite practical.

As a Companion Plant
After doing a fair amount of reading, I'm coming to learn how handy petunias are.  They repel leafhoppers, the asparagus beetle, tomato worms, cabbage worms, Mexican bean beetles, and some varieties of aphids.  It's that note about being a deterrent to Mexican bean beetles that has piqued my interest.  After the scorched earth campaign they waged against my beans last year, I have my hopes up.  Multiple articles make mention of using petunia leaves in homemade a bug spray, as well.

In addition to the anti-insect benefits to planting petunias in the garden, some plants gain other benefits when petunias are in residence.  Tomatoes, beans, basil, corn, peppers, brassicas, and grapes all are said to thrive.

Aaaaaaand there's more (wow, I feel like I'm selling for an infomercial): petunias also attract a number of beneficial insects to your garden.  The scent from petunias attracts bees, butterflies, and moths. 

Growing Petunias
It's recommended to start petunias from seed indoors (or purchase transplants from a store).  Due to the incredibly small size of their seed, they get lightly dusted on top of damp seed-starting medium.  Cover them with a clear plastic top in a warm (70+ degrees) room and allow them to get some indirect sunlight.  Once they germinate allow them to grow a little, then remove the top.  Transplant as you would other plants.  Grow under a fluorescent fish tank/plant light setup until you're ready to take outdoors for hardening and eventual transplant outdoors.

It's recommended that petunias be planted at least 1' apart.  Once they grow beyond 4" tall and wide, they're prime candidates for deadheading.  As dead flowers are removed, new growth is encouraged and your petunias will thrive as a result (provided adequate sunlight, watering, etc).

Another source for inexpensive materials

My wife was reading a local newspaper and saw an advertisement that a new Habitat for Humanity Restore is coming to Columbia, MD.  Given that's where our garden plot is, that'll be convenient to find more reasonably-priced reclaimed building materials.  While I love The Forklift, there are a few downsides to it:

• It's closed on Mondays.
• Hardware (screws, nuts, bolts, etc) often comes in undesirable sizes or is rusty.
• Going to The Forklift requires a bit more planning for travel times.  It's a lot farther away from the house than the plot.

I'll still frequent The Forklift, but it'll be nice to have an alternative source when I'm starting from home.

Baby steps in project progress

I made some progress on a few projects today.  Nothing incredibly tangible, but a fair amount of prep work.

I made a trip to The Forklift during my lunch break today to buy some supplies.  I picked up some conduit and a few brackets for the watermelon trellis as well as some wood for an elevated hose reel I'll be constructing.  I plan to sink the reel next to the bench inside the gate.

After work, I painted the bottoms of the two tall vertical pieces for the trellis and touched up the paint on the short ones.

Baby basil sprouts!

I checked my seed starting kits this morning to see if anything had sprouted and was pleasantly surprised to see that the basil has sprouted and seems to be doing well.

That is very good news.  While I have no concerns about pest-deterrence inside the house, the fact that basil is supposed to help tomato and pepper growth is an encouraging sign of things to come.

As expected, no movement from tomatoes or peppers.  Having never started petunias, I have no idea what to hope for on that front.  Regardless, nothing going on there, either.

The beginning of the watermelon trellis

As I mentioned before, I'm going to try trellising watermelon plants this year.  In my lean-to design, there will be two tall verticals opposed by two short ones.  Each will be made of 2x4s.  Diagonal pieces will be 2x2's.  The remaining horizontal pieces will, tentatively, be made of nested pipe to allow for a modicum of flexibility in the design.

Today I cut the two tall vertical and two short vertical pieces.  I also painted the short pieces.  As I did with the arbor, I wanted the bottom 1' to be sunk and next 1' above-ground to get some moisture protection.  The two tall pieces will follow suit when I have time.

Learning about companion plants - Nasturtiums

Continuing the theme of plants I've never grown, I present you with nasturtiums.  At least I've seen nasturtiums before.  They're pretty plants with rather rounded leaves and yellow, orange, and red flowers.  I decided to grow them after reading that they attract predatory insects. After what happened to my bean plants last year, I'll take any organic help I can get!

As a Companion Plant
It is a companion to radishes, cabbage family plants (cabbage, collards, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, broccoli and mustards), cucumbers, and can improve their growth and flavor.  It is said to deter whiteflies, squash bugs, striped pumpkin beetles, cucumber beetles and other pests of the cucurbit family.  It is a good trap crop for aphids (particularly the black fly aphid), especially the yellow-flowering varieties.  Studies say it is among the best at attracting predatory insects.  Problem insects include leafminers and flea beetles.

There is conflicting information on whether it is okay to plant nasturtiums nearby/with tomatoes.  Some sources say that nasturtiums can develop bacterial wilt as a result of being nearby to tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.  Others say that they're great together because the nasturtiums will deter a variety of insects which can plague tomatoes (and other plants).

Growing Nasturtiums
It likes poor soil with low moisture and no fertilizer.  Better soil yields more foliage and fewer flowers.  Nasturtiums may be potted among garden beds in order to isolate them into poor soils to encourage more flower growth.  Seeds may be direct sown after the last frost.  Can attract hummingbirds. 

Consumption of Nasturtiums
Edible flowers and leaves; commonly used in salads.  Has a peppery flavor similar to dandelions and borage.   Nasturtium seeds can be a substitute for capers.  Pick seeds while green, put in a container with vinegar and soak for 3 days.

I have had a hard time trying to find useful nutritional information on the nasturtium. A few pages pointed to watercress, however, information found on wikipedia state that that's a mistake.

Despite the Latin name, watercress is not closely related to the flowers popularly known as nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus).

As a result, the best I can do is to state that a number of websites all say that Nasturtiums have a considerable amount of Vitamin C and Iron.

First batch of seeds are started

With the weather being so mild this winter and considering I plan to experiment with row covers (supposedly they lengthen the growing season by 2 weeks at either end), I decided to start my first batch of seeds today.

I started both types of tomatoes, both varieties of peppers, the basil, and pansies.  In another month, there are a few other plants I'll start.  By then, all of the first batch should be transplanted and under my grow lights.

An Improvement to the Blog

I've slowly started developing a few themes to the blog.  Since today marks 1 month of its existence, I went back and created a few labels to better help anyone looking for information.

New labels include Learning About Plants, Past Mistakes, and Adirondack Chair.  As I do more things with the blog, I'll add more labels when appropriate to help anyone looking for information on certain themes.  If anyone has any requests, I'm happy to entertain them.

Learning about companion plants - Borage

I haven't grown borage before.  As with a few other plants I'm growing this year (ground cherries, for one), I've never even seen it.  I decided that I would give it a try after doing research on ways to expand my companion planting from last year.  Although my tomatoes and peppers had no problems, the beans were wiped out.  I sought out plants that would attract some of nature's predators into my garden.  Borage appears to be an option.  Since it also is colorful and has a number of benefits, I decided it was worth a try.  After doing a bit of research, here's what I've found.

As a Companion Plant 
Planting near tomatoes improves growth and disease resistance.  Also good for squash, strawberries, and most plants.  Supposedly enhances strawberry fruit flavor and yield.  Deters tomato hornworms and cabbage worms.

Possessing pretty blue star-shaped flowers, it is one of the best bee (honey bees and other varieties) and wasp-attracting plants.  Butterflies love it, too. 

Growing Borage

Barely cover seeds with soil (approx 1/4") and keep moist.  Plants grow to 18+" tall and spread approx 12"-24" diameter.  High phosphorous soil keeps them flowering.

Generally a gangly plant, the richer the soil, the bushier the plant will be.  It prefers protection from wind and is easily blown over so place plants together.

Consumption of Borage
Borage flowers and leaves are edible.  Eat leaves young because stalks and leaves develop a fuzz that is prickly. 

Nutritional Information on Raw Borage

Borage is an "excellent source" (20%+ RDA) of Vitamin A.  Amazingly, it's listed as providing 75% of the RDA of Vitamin A.  It is also a "good source" (10-19% RDA) of Iron, Manganese, and Magnesium.  There are also notable quantities of Calcium (8%), and Copper (6%), Phosphorous (5%), Potassium (9%), Riboflavin (8%).  All assume 1 cup is consumed.

Other Info
As it breaks down, it adds trace minerals to the soil and is a good addition the compost pile.  Borage also makes a nice mulch for most plants.  After it has been planted once, this annual will self seed.

Early Feb Plotting

I had to take the afternoon off from work to take care of a few things.  Once those items were addressed, the boy and I went to the plot.  We finished applying newspaper and mulching under the arbor, checked out the onions and garlic, and did some meandering around the site looking at other plots.  The onions are a bit taller, but not so much so that they warranted a picture.

The arbor is ready to accommodate the Adirondack chair once it's sealed.

We also evaluated the box the watermelons will eventually be inhabiting.  Because there isn't a ton of space available for something as immense as watermelon plants, I'll be attempting to encourage them to grow trellised.  I have designed something, purchased half of the materials, and will start work on that shortly.

3'x5' box awaiting a May planting of watermelons

The plan is to plant three watermelon starters along the bottom (Northern) side of the box.  The trellis will be shaped like a lean-to with the high side of the trellis on the opposing (Southern) side of the box.

It's debatable if my plan will work.  I've seen people trellis squash plants and gourds before.  Regardless, it should be a fun challenge for the summertime.

Pursuing Organic, non-GM Gardening

As I touched on in a previous post, I'm exploring the world of organic, non-GMO gardening.  I don't recall any one thing that really pushed me toward that.  I think it was a number of things.  I watched a few videos (quite a few are available, streaming on Netflix), read a few articles (printed and online), talked to some people who are educated (doctors and whatnot), and did a bit of critical thinking.

I also noticed that when I ate only whole (unprocessed) organic foods, particularly over a duration as long as a week, that I felt better.  Less congested (a problem for me at this time of year), clearer-thinking, less bloated, slept better, was more awake when I was awake, and lost weight.  Would I get similar results from whole, non-organic foods?  Probably, but since we're trying to avoid chemical-laced products and foods that have been genetically modified, organic is the focus.

My world view has shifted to one where I really came to realize that what goes in our bodies all affects how they operate.  The cleaner, more pure version of what goes in the better off we are.  The way I see it, chemicals, pesticides, hormones, and genetic modification to food sources all have a trickle-down effect on how our bodies operate and also deter them from effective operation.  And that's before we eat junk food and/or overeat.

My family's not to a point where we only eat organic/non-GMO stuff, but we're slowly working our way there.  I figured that starting a garden with that methodology is a great way to start.  It also helps us on our way toward the goal of having a small-scale homestead at some point in the future.

The Garden
A lot goes into gardening: the soil, the vessel (boxes, pots, etc), means of fertilization, pest control, fungicides.  That's not including water, sun, wind, and any climbing structure that may be needed.  All of those tangible aspects to the garden can and will leech unwanted chemicals into food crops. 

Are your seeds safe?
I very recently stumbled across an article detailing some companies that have taken a "Safe Seed Pledge," meaning that they don't sell genetically modified seed.  I'm happy to see that the two companies that I have bought my seeds from, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, are both on the list of having made that pledge.  Johnny's Selected Seeds, a company I know a lot of people use, is also on that list.

What's all this mean?
It means that it's harder than ever to lead a healthy lifestyle.  I think it's still worth the effort, though.

So close to completion....

I had some time today to work on the chair.  I evaluated a horizontal support on the back legs and decided against it.  I used a rough toothed rasp to round out the edges of the boards then followed up with coarse grit sandpaper in the pad sander.  In the end, everything was sanded down nicely.

Once all that was complete, I washed everything down to remove the fine layer of sawdust that coated the chair.  It was at that point that I read the application instructions on the water sealant and learned that I need 50 degree temps for 48 hrs after application and a well-ventilated area.

Looks like the chair will be shelved for a few months until the temps rise enough to seal the wood.  In the meantime, I'll take measurements to create drawings to replicate the final product should that ever be necessary.

Less is more for the Adirondack chair

Today was the first day since Monday that I was able to work on the chair some.  I attached the mid-back support to the upright pieces, measured and cut the curves for the armrests and back, mounted the top-back support, and chopped and dropped the whole thing 4".

When I was at the plot Tuesday, I measured the maximum possible depth under the arbor that could accommodate the chair.  Thankfully, when I sat in it today, I found that I had a similar (but less pronounced) problem as my dad had: my feet were on tip toe when seated.  Thus: by lowering the height to what is more comfortable, I also shortened the base.  As a result, the chair is now 39.5" long which fits in the allowable space with an inch to spare.

Now that the armrest and chair back work is done, the only other piece to make is a horizontal support to join the rear legs.  Once I've sanded it and applied a water sealant to the whole thing, the chair is finished.