We got the 'tater bags. Great big things, I think they are about 10 gallons or so, with grommeted drain holes in the bottoms and handles at the tops to move them with. Dark green and made out of the kind of stuff you see those blue tarps being made out of. I figure it'll take about 2 cubic feet of dirt to fill each one so I can cut up some taters and drop 'em in the dirt.
I started breaking ground for a couple planting spots with that "garden claw" gizmo. It breaks the ground down for about 6", and does a fine job of it if you put a little bit of "oomph" into the twisting of it. My problem is that there is a black walnut tree just across the fence from where I'm planting, and it's sending roots into the yard, and I'm encountering those tree roots in some places. Due to that, I may have put a little too much "oomph" into twisting the garden claw gizzy, The result of that coupled with the fact that I bought the cheaper one turns out to mean that I've bents the claws a bit, but it's not unusable.
I also discovered that 84 degrees F is a bit more than my old ass likes to break ground in. I'm surprised it didn't leave me sore as a boil, but I reckon maybe the heat didn't allow me to break ground long enough to get sore.
Using that thing, I found that the first twist is the hardest, and if you only take about half a bite with it as you go along breaking dirt, that makes it a lot easier, and only a little slower if any.
Bell peppers are still sprouting, and there are 4 or 5 starting to sprout now. Likewise the tomatoes, and I have 4 seedlings fully up and 5 more breaking the surface. Only 3 of the cayenne peppers are breaking dirt, but I still have hope. About 4 sage seedlings are above the surface now, and growing fast.
If any of the "test" tobacco from the sprouting tests of the seed I harvested last fall survives, I think I'll use it to experiment and see if topping and suckering it like commercial tobacco improves leaf size and yield. That way I can learn from it while at the same time making sure there is no cross-pollination of the plants from the "true" seed this year.
Now I've just got to figure out what I'm going to do with the herbs before they outgrow the greenhouse domes.
When I plant the corn, I'm just going to put it straight into the ground around the first of May. The way we used to do that was to plant 3 grains of corn per hill to insure that at least one sprouted per hill, and at the same time we'd put 3 beans in the same hole with the corn. As they grew, the bean vines would twine around the corn stalks so we didn't have to stake the beans. That's for "pole" beans without cutting poles for them. I reckon it wouldn't matter so much for bush beans, However, the only bean seed I have to plant is pinto beans out of a store bag, and I don't know if they'll sprout or not. The batch I tried last year didn't.
Something is hanging around the yard that the indoor cat doesn't like. She'll sit in the window, and when she senses it outside, she growls like a bear and makes that "Imo get in a fight" yowl that cats do. It's not the outdoor cat, because when she shes him out the window, she just ignores him. Sometimes, the outdoor cat seems to be pretty keen on being an indoor cat for a little bit, so there is something hanging around that he don't like, either. It might be Old Bob the bobcat still hanging out here, but I dunno why he would since spring is here and there are much easier pickin's for him out in the woods.
Then again, Old Bob might really be Old Roberta trying to hook up with Tom the outdoor cat. Who knows? Tiom seems to be having none of that, though, if that is what's going on.
ETA: the other 24w LED grow light bulbs I'm using are made by SGLED, but I couldn't find the Amazon listing. They look exactly like the Sansi grow lights I linked to above, though, right down to having the same cooling fin housing and arrangement. I also have a Pronor single light made like a ring which is made for clipping to individual plant pots. [url=https://www.amazon.com/Yadoker-Growing-Spectrum-Adjustable-Automatic/dp/B08NCR9S1D/ref=sr_1_21_sspa?crid=3RJ9HN134SKZQ&keywords=pronoro+grow+lights&qid=1680801731&sprefix=pronoro+grow+lights%2Caps%2C289&sr=8-21-spons&psc=1&smid=A1XRZFV7426CV&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyRUhXOVNTOVNJS0lIJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjA4MzcxOURSWlZTWEVGNzVMJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwNzk4NDYyOEY2UzVKRENGTUFWJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==}It's made and looks and acts just like this one[/url].
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I started breaking ground for a couple planting spots with that "garden claw" gizmo. It breaks the ground down for about 6", and does a fine job of it if you put a little bit of "oomph" into the twisting of it. My problem is that there is a black walnut tree just across the fence from where I'm planting, and it's sending roots into the yard, and I'm encountering those tree roots in some places. Due to that, I may have put a little too much "oomph" into twisting the garden claw gizzy, The result of that coupled with the fact that I bought the cheaper one turns out to mean that I've bents the claws a bit, but it's not unusable.
I also discovered that 84 degrees F is a bit more than my old ass likes to break ground in. I'm surprised it didn't leave me sore as a boil, but I reckon maybe the heat didn't allow me to break ground long enough to get sore.
Using that thing, I found that the first twist is the hardest, and if you only take about half a bite with it as you go along breaking dirt, that makes it a lot easier, and only a little slower if any.
Bell peppers are still sprouting, and there are 4 or 5 starting to sprout now. Likewise the tomatoes, and I have 4 seedlings fully up and 5 more breaking the surface. Only 3 of the cayenne peppers are breaking dirt, but I still have hope. About 4 sage seedlings are above the surface now, and growing fast.
If any of the "test" tobacco from the sprouting tests of the seed I harvested last fall survives, I think I'll use it to experiment and see if topping and suckering it like commercial tobacco improves leaf size and yield. That way I can learn from it while at the same time making sure there is no cross-pollination of the plants from the "true" seed this year.
Now I've just got to figure out what I'm going to do with the herbs before they outgrow the greenhouse domes.
When I plant the corn, I'm just going to put it straight into the ground around the first of May. The way we used to do that was to plant 3 grains of corn per hill to insure that at least one sprouted per hill, and at the same time we'd put 3 beans in the same hole with the corn. As they grew, the bean vines would twine around the corn stalks so we didn't have to stake the beans. That's for "pole" beans without cutting poles for them. I reckon it wouldn't matter so much for bush beans, However, the only bean seed I have to plant is pinto beans out of a store bag, and I don't know if they'll sprout or not. The batch I tried last year didn't.
Something is hanging around the yard that the indoor cat doesn't like. She'll sit in the window, and when she senses it outside, she growls like a bear and makes that "Imo get in a fight" yowl that cats do. It's not the outdoor cat, because when she shes him out the window, she just ignores him. Sometimes, the outdoor cat seems to be pretty keen on being an indoor cat for a little bit, so there is something hanging around that he don't like, either. It might be Old Bob the bobcat still hanging out here, but I dunno why he would since spring is here and there are much easier pickin's for him out in the woods.
Then again, Old Bob might really be Old Roberta trying to hook up with Tom the outdoor cat. Who knows? Tiom seems to be having none of that, though, if that is what's going on.
ETA: the other 24w LED grow light bulbs I'm using are made by SGLED, but I couldn't find the Amazon listing. They look exactly like the Sansi grow lights I linked to above, though, right down to having the same cooling fin housing and arrangement. I also have a Pronor single light made like a ring which is made for clipping to individual plant pots. [url=https://www.amazon.com/Yadoker-Growing-Spectrum-Adjustable-Automatic/dp/B08NCR9S1D/ref=sr_1_21_sspa?crid=3RJ9HN134SKZQ&keywords=pronoro+grow+lights&qid=1680801731&sprefix=pronoro+grow+lights%2Caps%2C289&sr=8-21-spons&psc=1&smid=A1XRZFV7426CV&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyRUhXOVNTOVNJS0lIJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjA4MzcxOURSWlZTWEVGNzVMJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwNzk4NDYyOEY2UzVKRENGTUFWJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==}It's made and looks and acts just like this one[/url].
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