The first set of 2017 seeds are started

I had some time to get some of the seeds started.  I've started the San Marzano and Old Virginia tomatoes, the tomatillos, and the bell peppers.  Many more to go, but at least it's a beginning.

Some of the seeds have arrived

Last night, my seeds from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange arrived.  While I'm still waiting on the seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds to show up, they represent a very small minority of the total.

Depending on how chaotic things are around the house tonight, I may try to get some of the seeds started.  I have a Pinewood Derby car to finish up first, though.

The 2017 seeds have been ordered!

At long last, I've finally ordered the bulk of the seeds I plan to use this year.

There are a few seeds that I didn't order for the garden (namely Petunias) because I forgot.  There are also a few types of herbs and flowers I didn't order to avoid overworking myself this year.

Clearing out the front garden, part 3

Continuing the series from Part 2 that began here.

With some more warm winter weather the last few days and a bit of free time, we were able to remove another tree stump as well as that of a mounding juniper.

Only two more to go with one being a tall pine tree.

Kids vs Deer

Since I work for the government in an applicable area, I got the day off for the inauguration.  My family did some shopping and listened to the swearing-in on the radio.

As we drove into the neighborhood, a family of deer ran from the side yard into the woods behind our house.  Upon pulling into the driveway, the Boy and The Girl promptly hopped out of the car and started yelling at the deer.

It was adorable to listen to two voices -- my rapidly-maturing Son and his still-squeaky-voiced Sister -- chastising the deer for being on our property and all at the top of their lungs.

Kids: 1, Deer: 0

The first two garlic plants are up!

Since Tuesday, The Boy has been excited about showing me something in the side yard.  Apparently, he and The Girl had been checking up on progress in the garden boxes.  While doing so, they found that our first two garlic plants have come up through the leaf mulch.

With today being a rather mild January day, he finally had a chance to show me.

It's great to see that the kids are nearly as excited about our vegetable garden as I am.

Introducing citrus to the mix

Last year, Wifey got me lemon and lime plants set together in a single pot for something to do while the family was apart.  I really had no idea what I was doing and the lime died.  At least the lemon is still alive. 

As an early birthday present, she's trying again.  This time, she got me a larger but very much dwarf (maybe it'd be called "ultra dwarf"?) orange tree and another lemon.  

 

I also just did some research on how to pollinate the flowers indoor yourself.  Looks like it's a matter of getting the pollen off the "antlers" (that can't be the technical name, can it?) and put it onto the central node.  Based on the youtube video I saw from a plant nursery, they recommended doing it daily.  The orange plant has a few open flowers and the lemon has quite a few.  One day down....!

Surveying the resident plants

It's likely no coincidence that the year we had our most successful harvest, we also had a very wide variety of flowering plants to attract pollinators.  While this property isn't completely devoid of flowering plants, there is a lack of diversity or volume considering it's 3.25 acres in area.

When we purchased the property, it had lilac, butterfly bush, azaleas, camelia, roses, rhododendron, and crepe myrtle.  The butterfly bushes and crepe myrtles are largely in good shape.  The rest are either very leggy due to fighting for light at the woods-line (azaleas, camelia, rhodo) or grossly overdue of pruning (roses, lilac).  Most greenery on the property has been neglected for quite some time.

We have since added three varieties of apple trees, four varieties of highbush blueberries, and two daylillies.

We want to add a considerably larger number of flowing plants to what we intend to keep.   

Planning, planning, planning.....

Onions are up!

It's in the middle of the winter in Maryland so there really isn't a lot going on on the gardening front.  Other than trying to get in some time to continue removing bushes from the front planter beds on the rare occasion we have a few warm days in a row, most of my time is spent thinking about garden layout and figuring out how aggressive I want to get with plants this year.

Earlier today, I wandered out to the side yard to see if we had anything going on with the onions and garlic I planted in late November and early December.  While I didn't see any progress with the garlic, I'm proud to say that a fair number of the onions have peeked their sprouts up through the leaf mulch!  Yay!