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bookjunky4life

How late am I?

bookjunky4life
12 years ago

Here I thought I had the majority of my WSing done. Wrong. I thought I just had mostly tomatoes and peppers left to do. Wrong. Tons of annuals yet to do. Thought I was pretty much done with jugs and moving onto cups. Wrong. I don't have enough totes to store my almost 200 cups, so I will have to use more jugs.

Here are examples of the things I have not yet sown. Tomatoes and peppers, more cabbage and cauliflower, petunias, miscellaneous other annuals like cosmos. I have huge piles of seeds on my table and in my storage room. I am feeling overwhelmed. My goal is to get the tomatoes and peppers done this evening. I have 69 cups filled with dirt and just need wetted down with the hose and planted. I plan on doing about three seeds per cup, maybe four (they are 44 oz cups so pretty big). I got the pepper seed ID tags made on my lunch hour. I'll probably do one cup per variety of those and maybe 3 cups per variety of the peppers. Craziness!

Comments (15)

  • bookjunky4life
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I think Spring starting a month earlier than normal has really messed me up. I feel like I am SUPER behind.

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    12 years ago

    I don't think you are that *late*. You may FEEL like you are *behind* (and I know that feeling! I usually have 200 jugs done by now and I have 14 done!) but you're not late.

    I don't even usually start my veggies till the end of March (oops, that's now, isn't it, lol?) and even into April. And there's still time for annuals.

    I think you are right - the early warm weather really kind of threw me off too, and I am feeling quite behind. Well, I AM quite behind, but I'll just do what I can and hopefully make a push this weekend to get some major sowing done.

    Seems like you have a plan, which is more than I have, so go with it, and sounds like you'll do well.

    Good luck!
    Dee

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    12 years ago

    Well, I guess I'm not as behind as I thought. I just took a look at the container count. I was thinking I only had 14 jugs done. I was wrong. Turns out I have 19.

    Yes! Whoo hooo! I'm on a roll...!

    ;)
    Dee

  • kqcrna
    12 years ago

    I'm not much of a veggie grower, but I don't think you're too late for zone 5. Some years I'm just thinking about sowing annuals at this time.

    Karen

  • docmom_gw
    12 years ago

    No problem. I haven't done any of my annuals yet, either. The cosmos could probably be direct sown, if you have a spot without mulch. I usually WS them to get early germination in a protected spot, but then I have to transplant them. Both options have advantages.

    My approach to gardening is always to make it fun. I get enough stress from work and kids. If I'm getting stressed over the garden, my life has taken control of me vs the other way around. My gardening is my respite. Maybe you could recruit some help from a nephew or friend you haven't spent much time with in a while. That would lighten the load and accomplish some quality time with some one you've been missing. And you could teach some one else the wonders of WS!

    Best of luck. I actually haven't started my annuals because my pile of jugs form the perennials is almost at the overwhelming point.

    Martha

  • duane456
    12 years ago

    When I first read this, I thought maybe someone was pregnant. LOL
    Duane

  • bookjunky4life
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Duane, that is ironic because we are trying but no confirmation yet. That's also why I'm in a bit of a panic to get as much ahead on things as I can now.

    Martha, I've allowed my 7 year old nephew to help inasmuch as he rides on top of the wheel barrow to weigh stuff down on windy days when I'm hauling stuff to the compost pile. I guess you could say I use him as a human paperweight lol. Otherwise, I'm much too of a control freak to let anybody in my garden. Occassionally, the husband gets to till or pick corn but I've done all of the tilling this year so far. I tried to have my 13 year old sister help me weed last year when I was so behind but I have to say she wasn't very much help. I'd be stressing about yardwork even if I didn't have the gardens. I push mow everything and do all the weedeating. Nothing makes me feel more relaxed than a well-manicured (or as well-manicured as I can make it for living on a farm that's been neglected for decades) lawn. Plus, hey, on the bright side, I've probably already lost at least 5-10 pounds pushmowing.

    I planned on doing all my tomatoes and peppers last night, but I started out by doing "a little" push mowing and mowed for an hour, then "a little" tilling and did that for 40 minutes, then planted my 6 jugs of sweet william but I had to do some weeding while I was over there, then had to water all the ornamental grasses, and berry bushes and vines I just planted, etc. until all I got done was 15 cups of peppers. I like weekends where I can start outside at 10 am or so and basically work outside until 8 or 9 pm. Work day evenings seem so short by comparison. I also have baby chicks in my garage waiting for me to build them a coop and pen, so sketch that in for the weekend plans. I am a project addict.

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    12 years ago

    Phew! You are making me tired just reading about everything you do, lol! I wish I had the energy you seem to have! And I thought the 4 jugs I did this morning was an accomplishment...

    Baby chicks - how exciting! I've been thinking about getting a few chickens but haven't taken the plunge yet.

    Dee

  • bookjunky4life
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I know, right? No wonder I get overwhelmed and grouchy sometimes.

  • docmom_gw
    11 years ago

    I am laughing. As I read you describing your life--right down to the 7 year old nephew and neglected farm and chicks and control freak--I thought for a second you were my sister (my twin). I truly had to look up at where you were from to make sure you weren't her! We've run into each other online before and not realized who we were for a second. You and she are exactly alike. Though I think you have even more energy than she does. And I think her husband does the mowing on a ride-around. They have 22 acres and mow trails through the ancient apple orchards that are now overgrown and unrecognizable. Anyway, if you need therapy, I'll put you in contact with her and see if she can give you any suggestions.LOL!

    Martha

  • momsinthegardenagain
    11 years ago

    So, if I am reading these posts all right I can still winter sow annuals now? I have all sorts of annual seeds (nasturtiums, poppies, calendula, zinnia, marigolds +++)and I have tried the throw in the garden technique and even the direct sow method and they don't work well for me.

  • caryltoo Z7/SE PA
    11 years ago

    I've got about 30 jugs with lots of sprouts, but I'm still sowing. Got a late start this year because the weather was just too warm and weird and I didn't want things sprouting too early then dying. As it is, I've covered the jugs with a drop cloth a few nights recently when it dropped below 32. I don't want to risk losing my tomatoes, which are up earlier than ever before.

    But with a cutting garden in the works, and the need to re-do the perennial garden because it's been taken over by clover, I'm still going. Just ordered a bunch of see from Swallowtail Gardens, mostly annuals, but a few quick-growing perennials as well.

    About the perennial garden, I've had a few bad years lately (accidentally sterilizing a part of it and losing a whole bunch of hollyhocks and lupine) and I'll be leaving a couple of clumps of shasta daisies and obedient plant as well as a couple lupines, a malva and some primroses, but the rest is just a wild mess that I'll be tilling and replanting. I really need a plan this time. Some of you have such beautiful gardens, just crammed with lovely plants. I'll keep striving to get close to that. For now I'll settle for eradicating the clover.

    Caryl

  • mmqchdygg
    11 years ago

    I'm so late it isn't even funny. Digger, you're 19 jugs ahead of me.
    I've finally reached the point where I don't need to WS everything on the planet (hey, there's something new, different, & exciting!), so I'm doing just the items I love best: my veggie garden, and annuals.
    I hate to say that I've even downsized, and (gasp!) given DH part of his lawn back.
    Having said all that, I should really get going; I did get out my seed packets the other day, and there's quite a lot of them. Must find time between writing school papers this weekend.

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    11 years ago

    "....I've finally reached the point where I don't need to WS everything on the planet ..."

    Wait...what? What are you talking about? What do you mean? I don't understand....

    Dee

  • noinwi
    11 years ago

    Talk about late! I wasn't going to WS anything this season because we thought we were going to move...turns out we're not. So...I needed to WS something! A couple weeks ago I put about 9 plastic bathroom cups in a gallon ice cream bucket, sowed some blanket flower, mammoth basil, blue bedder salvia and dwarf cosmos(old seed, it may not even sprout). I topped the bucket with a clear plastic bowl(lost the lid)and put a large rock on top, set it out on the west side of the building and low and behold...today the blanket flower and basil are peeking out of the medium!
    Not much, but enough to deal with the WS withdrawals, lol.

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