Little tiny hairs.....growin' on mah plants!

Okay, so it's not exactly on the plants as the title states, but I have issues with fuzzy mold growth on my soil for the seed starters.

Fuzzy dirt = bad

I had this same issue last year.  I had done a little bit of reading last year and found that it's largely due to minimal to no air circulation.  Because I have some tendency toward laziness when I can't immediately think of a good solution (in this case, the right fan), I did nothing last year.

This year, while I didn't plan ahead and get a good fan or two for my plants, I have done some research.  From what I've read, a good solution to "curing" my problem (since I didn't head it off in the first place as I should have done) is to scrape away the top layer of affected soil and dispose of it.  Today, I removed approx 3/8" of soil.  Then you're supposed to apply some cinnamon to the soil.  From what I've read, it's supposed to help deter further mold growth.

I guess I also need to look into getting some very small low-flow fans to attach to my wire shelving, too.

Cinnamon scented plants

My First Customer

So the wife was outside yesterday afternoon talking to a neighbor of ours who's into gardening.  She was admiring the elevated garden box that I made last month and said she had been looking for a box like that without any luck and wondered if I'd made it.  After being told that I had, she asked if I'd be willing to make her one and said she'd pay for the lumber and time it took.

Since I've pondered starting up a small side business for woodworking, I'm excited at getting my first customer.  I fully intend to make a few modifications to the design for greater efficiency.  That includes purchase a router so I won't be cutting the leg slots with my Dremel as I did with ours.

Looking forward to branching out into furniture making.  I have a number of ideas bouncing around in my brain for farmhouse-style tables as a few other projects.  Fun stuff.

Spring has sprung!

The family went out to the garden plot after retrieving the Adirondack Chair from where the water sealant had been curing.  The Chair is in place now and I completely forgot to get a picture of it in its new home!

Without any time to do any work, I was content to take some pictures.  The snow peas are approximately 1" tall, the Egyptian Walking Onions (bottom right picture) are doing very well, and the "surprise onions" (bottom left picture) continue to amaze me as I recall what they looked like when I found them in the basement.  Remembering their mummified husks, I can't help but wonder if maybe they should be called "Egyptian."

The Adirondack chair has been sealed!

With temps this week well north of 70 degrees, I decided to apply the water sealant to the Adirondack chair before things get inevitably get cooler.  Thankfully, I had the time during my lunch break to get that done today.

The whole thing took a little less than an hour with the only problem being that my inexperience led to some sealant splashing on my pants legs.  Good thing those pants were on the way out, anyway.

Regardless, I'm very pleased with how it looks.  I'm also looking forward to using my experience with this chair to improve on this design with the idea being to make others for sale.

 

More seeds started

Nothing too visually stimulating, but I had some time this morning and started my second batch of seeds.  Cosmos, Watermelon, Ground Cherries, and some more Basil are all planted more or less on schedule for transplant around the time of the last frost.

Cosmos, Watermelons, Ground Cherries, and Basil starters

Hose reel is in and snow peas are coming up

The weather was pleasant yesterday so the boy and I went over to the plot to get a few things accomplished.  We dug a hole approx 2' deep and sunk the hose reel.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my bubble level so I had to use my calibrated eyes (ha) to ensure that the post was vertical in two planes.  Should be pretty close.  I'll adjust later, if necessary.

We also were happy to see that the surprise onions and walking onions are all doing quite well.  Most notably, the snow peas are all starting to come up in their respective boxes.  I'll be making a trip out there again this afternoon to spread out some blood meal to deter critters from snacking on my fledgling snow pea plants.

More transplanting of starters

It took me a few more days to get around to doing more transplanting, but I did some this evening.  I transplanted the petunias as well as some peppers (Cali Wonder and Cayenne).  I still have the entire large flat to transplant as well as about 8 plugs of tomato starters.  Hoping to do some more tomorrow.