A whole lot of planting going on

The new job responsibilities have been challenging and have given me a new reason to go to work each day.  Sometimes there is some frustration.  There are long hours.  A greenhouse alone is long hours in the spring, but the City of Milwaukee runs a nursery operation on 160 acres as well.  I came into the job and work was almost a month behind.  I know will will never catch up now, but each day priorities were set and reached.  Some days fell short due to weather and breakdowns, but we just move on and do the best we can.
I got some amount of gardening done in between the work hours and a spring cold.  The lingering cough has kept me from going "balls to the walls" with gardening on the usual Memorial day blitz.  I have been doing a fair amount of plant eviction and getting things acclimated.  The weather is running about 2 weeks or more in Milwaukee with bloom times so far.  It postponed moving many plants out, but I had done so much more late seeding that the timing is working out beautifully so far.
The veggie garden is about 50% planted as I have several cold crops going.  It has been a good season for those.  I have tomatoes and peppers in the basement yet.  I am waiting another 2 weeks for planting out of those.  I am doing a little soil solarization on the tomato bed right now.  I was fortunate to have a 3' x 20' piece of clear plastic on hand to lay over the bed after pulling out the weeds and snatching up a few of the reseeding annuals from last year's flowers.  I am swapping out the two planting spots this year and putting the tomatoes in the back yard and enjoying a little bloom along the driveway.
I have pulled up liner and filled in my little pond this year.  I did not feel the desire to scrub the algae off the stones and fish out the leaves.  I have another pump set up for falling water, I just have to put it together.  I will have the option to move it around then and put it away from the leaf and petal fall as the season's dictate.  I now have a nice pile of pretty rocks to do something interesting with.
I am also trying to initiate the mushroom growth on my spruce logs.  I innoculated them with chicken-of-the-woods mushroom spawn.  It will take about 6 months to know if I have been successful.
I think I have caught up on my journal for the time being.  I promise, pictures of the new work area soon.

Another grafting session

I spent some quality time with my new grafting knife.  After I took my grafting class in Mike Yanny's Nursery School last month, I took some scion cuttings from my neighbor's Golden Delicious tree.  I wrapped them with moist tissue and bagged them in the frig to hold until the time was right for outdoor grafting.  Mike had explained to us that it takes a week of temperatures in the 60's to get a good graft.  The tree or shrub has to have expanding leaves on it (growth has been initiated for the season) as well.  This week provided the temperatures that popped my espalier apple tree this past week.  Saturday morning I went out with the necessary tools and supplies and made my grafts.  I had taken four cuttings, three went on to my Goldencrisp apple which I am trying to turn into an espalier.  The fourth I grafted to my Snowdrift crabapple as an experiement in ornamental to fruiting apple tree.

Besides my new grafting knife, I also had my Felco pruner, grafting paint, masking tape, and an old toothbrush.  I made my cuts like Mike taught us and fixed three grafts at an upper level of my espalier.  Hopefully, two will take on opposites sides to make my life easier.  The grafts are held in place by pressure and tape.  The grafting paint covers the whole scion and I found that the tooth brush worked well for applying it and was disposable besides.  Time will tell now.

In addition to my grafting, I transplanted a bunch of seedlings to trays indoors, seeded a few more things, and set things to order in the yard.  The lawn furniture came out and the snow blowers were drained and put away.  By the end of the day I was tired but pretty happy about what got done.  

Time is running short on seeding indoors.  I will just do my cukes and squash from this point now.  I soaked my sweet peas for my flower trellises so those have to go in today.  The Thunbergia will also have to be transplanted for indoor sprouting.  It is a little late for those, but I will just have to wait a little longer for their bloom.  I guess I better get out and drop those sweet peas in the soil before the day gets away from me.  Happy Mother's Day to the rest of you mothers out there.

Life changes

Life has changed at a rapid pace.  10 to 12 hours at the office are the norm with spring in full bloom at the greenhouse and nursery.  I do not mind the change or the hours as they have been interesting and challenging days.  A far cry from the code enforcement days of winter.

I laugh to myself to think that last spring I was debating where to put the two fruit trees I bought at the garden center last spring.  This year I have 5,000 trees to think about where they have to go.  Last spring I was stretching my space by staggered seeding so I could fit it all in my basement.  This year I am working with a crew to get everything done at the same time so it is ready for shipping by the end of May.  Life has changed indeed!

Whether you are working with a large operation or enjoying your own hobby the concepts are still the same.  Light, water, food, and sanitation are still the key ingredients for growing plants.  You have to watch for insects and disease and decide what is your acceptable threshold before you do something to try and stop the pest from devouring your hard work.  It requires daily attention and tender loving care.

When life settles into a rhythm, I will share some shots of the larger operation.  Until then, we will depend on sunshine and a dedicated team to bring the crop into full season.  I am lucky to have such capable people to work with to reach for that goal! 

Fitting in the spring tasks, a photo tour

My basement greenhouse is full with overflow to the kitchen window and south facing upstairs window.  I have many transplants to fit soon, so I have to come up with a plan for all the large pots occupying space here.

I have been cleaning out the gardens so I start with a clear base to start this spring.  This is my herb garden with several perennial herbs and reseeding herbs.  I added additional cilantro seed in a larger plot than normal for an early spring harvest.

My potted stock from my grafting class is coming along.  It has been super exciting to see that the grafts are taking and sprouting.  I am keeping my fingers crossed for great success.  I do have the small greenhouse set up this year.  It is a low tech design, but with my husband home during the day he can vent the front for me!

Tomatoes, peppers, and many flowers are close to getting true leaves which means I have lots of transplanting ahead.  I have cabbages and baby pak choi rooting for transplant into the garden.  I think I will have to toss them to the wolves in the outdoor greenhouse soon to make space.

Potted fruiting bushes are a direction I have started to move in last spring.  I have honey berries which have overwintered and are sprouting.  I will be able to take these with me if we have to make a move.  I can't say the same for the peach tree, apple, or kiwi.

I got small variety blueberries from Jung's this spring.  I potted them up to straight peat moss yesterday.  It is my plan to keep them as potted stock so they can go wherever I need them.

Two out of three raised beds are planted.  I have carrots germinating under the cloth (it helps to keep the bed moist) as well as lettuce seeds.  I also have several varieties of kale this year, half a bed of storing onions, a row of bunching onions and radishes.  Some radicchio overwintered, my new crop I am growing as a fall crop this year.  The garlic is also up 6 " already.  Peas were also put in last week but no sprouts as of this morning.