Lazy Gardener's Little Town Farm

[CrealCritter]

Nope. Still in the bag. I've been so tied up with Dad's needs for the last 14 months, that I've not had time to attend to any household needs, my garden was neglected, very little of it harvested last season. But, now that he's in a nursing home, I will have time to tend to those details. Do you recommend that I subject them to multiple freeze/thaw cycles before planting them this spring??? perhaps the best thing to do would be to pot them up now (assuming that I can find them) and set the pot out to get natural freeze/thaw per our erratic climate this time of year.

Research those cherry seeds. I recall reading something about cherry seeds going through some kind of acid before they will be viable. This is why you see many wild black cherry seeds along fence rows. They've passed trough a bird first.

 

[R2elk]

Nope. Still in the bag. I've been so tied up with Dad's needs for the last 14 months, that I've not had time to attend to any household needs, my garden was neglected, very little of it harvested last season. But, now that he's in a nursing home, I will have time to tend to those details. Do you recommend that I subject them to multiple freeze/thaw cycles before planting them this spring??? perhaps the best thing to do would be to pot them up now (assuming that I can find them) and set the pot out to get natural freeze/thaw per our erratic climate this time of year.

If you can scratch out a row, I recommend planting them right now. The ones that I planted in the fall of 2018 came up in the spring of 2019.

I also planted some yellow chokecherry seeds. One of those had gotten to 3' tall by last spring.

 

[R2elk]

Research those cherry seeds. I recall reading something about cherry seeds going through some kind of acid before they will be viable. This is why you see many wild black cherry seeds along fence rows. They've passed trough a bird first.

They sprouted fine for me simply by planting them in the fall.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

If you can scratch out a row, I recommend planting them right now. The ones that I planted in the fall of 2018 came up in the spring of 2019.

I also planted some yellow chokecherry seeds. One of those had gotten to 3' tall by last spring.

Sorry.... couldn't resist laughing!!! Our ground is frozen, covered with ice and snow until at least mid April. Last spring, when the snow finally melted, there was an ice pack that was 6" thick covering the whole yard. IIRC, it didn't melt until sometime in May.

 

[R2elk]

Sorry.... couldn't resist laughing!!! Our ground is frozen, covered with ice and snow until at least mid April. Last spring, when the snow finally melted, there was an ice pack that was 6" thick covering the whole yard. IIRC, it didn't melt until sometime in May.

Even though the ground is frozen here, sometimes on a sunny day, I can scratch a furrow in a sunny place. Even a half inch deep will work. If it was fall, you could just broadcast them and some would come up.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Frozen tight here till mid April. Still getting single digits at night.

 

[R2elk]

Frozen tight here till mid April. Still getting single digits at night.

It was up to 37°F after an overnight low of 18°F today. It is now 23°F and dropping and the white on the ground that was almost all gone this morning is back.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

3.9*F this morning, with wind gusts up to 55 mph. Sounds like a freight train tunnel out there, and I can feel the wind blowing through the window beside my computer. Oh, Spring... Where fore art thou?

 

[R2elk]

3.9*F this morning, with wind gusts up to 55 mph. Sounds like a freight train tunnel out there, and I can feel the wind blowing through the window beside my computer. Oh, Spring... Where fore art thou?

That's what it normally sounds like here. It's 40°F this morning with an overnight low of 33°F due to a Chinook blowing through.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Last few days were a teaser. Now, we're getting back to some single digit nights. I shoveled the snow off a couple raised beds yesterday. Today, I scrounged up some plastic to lay down on the soil of one bed to speed the thaw/warm up for some early planting. W/O the extra TLC, the frost won't be out until mid April.

Chickens are laying A LOT. I either need to increase customer base, or sell some hens. Would prefer the former. No eggs from the ducks yet. I've been letting them out for some mud slurping outside their small winter house/pen. They have gone exploring through the snow. For the most part, they hang out in front of the chicken's sun room. Today, I let chickens out for a bit. They are intimidated by ducks, who like to nip at them to see them run.

I lost almost all of last season, and the garden harvest, dealing with hospice care for my Dad. Hoping that I can make up for that with gardening/harvest this season.