This
YAY! It’s officially
spring! Cue Mother Nature’s crazy mood swings! Over this past week, we’ve had
everything from beautiful sunny days to snow on the ground. Again! On one of
the nicer days I was able to get a bit of work done outside. I managed to do
some weeding, and sow dill and chamomile seeds. Hey, I even noticed some of my
California poppies had germinated! Woohoo! So in that case, the snow was a good
thing this morning. (I suppose. Sigh.) It watered all my seeds for me.
Speaking of seed
starting, it’s time to do the next round! I got some peat moss—finally!—and
have everything else to make a mix for soil blocking. If you are unfamiliar
with that method, rather than using plastic trays or peat pellets to plant your
seeds into, you mix up some very wet soil and pack into metal forms. When you
push the plunger, soil blocks are formed. Each has a depression in the top for
the seed. The ones I want to use this year are tiny—3/4” square is all.
However, I took a seed starting course from Lisa Ziegler—flower farmer and
author extraordinaire—and that’s what she uses for nearly everything.
I remembered to take
a picture at the last minute!
Just today I got my
snapdragons sown into the soil blocks, as well as the rest of my carnations. I
also got some gladiolus planted, in a tub. My son drilled drainage holes all
around the bottom of it first. Gladiolus are yet another type of bulb that
can’t stand our winters, so will need to be lifted out and stored. I’m not a
big fan of that. In a tub, I can just let the whole thing dry out and put it in
the garage or something over the winter. At least, that’s the plan!
That
I received the
results of my basic soil test. My soil PH is 7.5, which is alkaline—not a
surprise for this area. I learned that raspberries tend to like a lower PH, of
6.0-7.0, so I’m planning to mulch the raspberry row with pine needles and see
if that helps them thrive a bit more. Pine needles are acidic, so I’m hoping
that does the trick. They have really struggled!
My Phosphorus levels
were listed as “very high” and Potassium as “high.” Salinity normal. So, from
what I looked at, high phosphorus levels usually mean to much manure used on
the garden. I think we did use composted steer manure last year. Other than not
using that again, I’m still not exactly sure what to do about that reading.
I plan to order soil
amendments soon. I need them here, so I can get them spread on the garden and
then at the first break in the weather—Till, Baby, Till! In related news, it’s
supposed to rain and snow all weekend. So I may need to pinch back my sweet
peas again to last under the lights until I can finally get them outside.
The Other
It has been a great
week with the business side of things. I finally got some business cards
designed and ordered. For some reason, this has been a long, slightly
overwhelming process for me, but I finally got ‘er done! Part of it was some
advice from my brother, who is also an entrepreneur. He told me that it doesn’t
have to be The One and Perfect Card from the get-go. Get something made, and
order a lower amount (I got 250), knowing that as my business evolves, my
business card will too. It was the kick in the pants I needed to move forward
with it.
I also attended a
free business class put on by our Small Business Development Center here in
town. It was all about “Planning for Growth.” One big take-away for me was to
have a 3 year and 5 year plan and be very specific. You want a new workspace?
Great! How many square feet? What color will the carpet be? Put specific
numbers to your plan, otherwise it’s just a wish.
Another thing I’m
excited about is my email newsletter: Bluebird News! I chose an email marketing
site, and have started building my subscriber list. Yay! I have so much I would
love to share with you all! Bluebird News will go out every 2 weeks, and will
include tips for growing, harvesting, and arranging cut flowers. I published
the first issue this week and am already working on the next!
* * * * * *
On the home front,
we’ve had the stomach flu going around. My 6 year old came down with it
yesterday. So far me and my oldest are the only ones unscathed. Crossing my
fingers that it stays that way!
So, how has your week
been? Has spring truly sprung in your neck of the woods?
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