The weather has been so nice here lately in Mid-Coast Maine that the HH and I have been working outside practically every day this week. We’re a bit sore, and move a little a little slower, but it feels SO GOOD to be outside again after basically being cooped up indoors all winter.
More of My Weekend Projects
The HH busted out his chainsaw to thin out a cluster of pine trees in the backyard. The whole area was overgrown and such a mess. It took him nearly an entire afternoon to get everything cut down.
It looks so much better than it did before and now maintaining that area will be much easier.
Ticks are a big deal here in Maine and it seems like the best defense against them is to keep the spaces that you use on your property as clean and tidy as possible.
While the HH was busy working on the trees, I was busy collecting birch branches and cutting them up into smaller pieces with the sawzall for this winter’s kindling pile.
We had two trees topple over this winter, so while I’ve got my work cut out for me {HA HA HA} at least I know we’ll have plenty of kindling.
In other outdoor news, remember last summer when I planted that packet of lupine seeds in a bunch of recycled nursery pots? Well, a little over half of the plants survived the winter and so now I have a nice stash {around 18 or so}. That I’ll be able to plant up by the road for a splash of mid-summer color.
After I get all the lupine planted, I think I’ll grow some Shasta daisies or purple coneflowers in the pots next. Purple and white is a winning combination, don’t you think?
My big weekend projects though will be transplanting all my pepper and tomato seedlings. There are around 150 of them in Solo cups.
Since it’s not safe to plant tomatoes and peppers outside here until the end of May, I figure moving the seedlings to larger containers. And burying them up to their first set of true leaves will help their root systems get a little more established before I transfer them to the big garden.
Filling the pantry with homemade salsa and pasta sauce, that’s my main goal this summer.
How about YOU? Is it finally starting to warm up where you are? Are your peppers and tomatoes in the ground yet?
Here’s to a warm and productive weekend,
~Mavis
Elle says
I’m all in with you on the salsa and pasta sauce although my pasta sauce is this: https://www.salon.com/2010/08/07/ratatouille_recipe/
Hence, my garden is 95% tomatoes, a variety of peppers, zucchini, eggplant. Every year I attempt a few plants of something else with mixed results.
Like you, the high Idaho desert doesn’t support plants in the ground until late May. My portable greenhouse is stuffed! This year’s experiment is brussel sprouts. I think 24 of 32 came up-Yippee!!!
Happy weekend!
Diane says
Spring has been pretty erratic this year. At this point, I just hope it settles down so my fruit trees aren’t effected in terms of pollination and fruit production. Sort of feel I can play catch up with the veggies.
Mel says
We’re skipping peppers this year, but our tomatoes have been in the ground a few weeks now. I typically plant them now, but we ordered seedlings this year instead of starting from seed, so they went in early.
When we do start from seed, we repot and bury the stems a few times to help them develop roots, but some fish emulsion also really helps—they seem to double in size almost overnight.
I also still have 70 lbs or so of tomatoes frozen from last year that I need to turn into sauce.
Debi says
We’ve had unseasonably warm weather the last few days and it’s supposed to be in the high 70s and may hit 80 next week. So I moved all of my seedlings out to the outdoor greenhouse this week knowing full well that I may have to move them all back in after next week. That’s how spring rolls here in northern NY.
Cindy says
Nothing in the ground yet until closer to the 29th. Blueberry plants and dahlia bulbs in the ground next weekend. Welcome tics and black flies, right? Not.
Happy Mothers Day!
Julie says
I highly recommend selling those Birch branches and not using them for kindling!
Cathy says
Try to save as many needles as you can from your pine trees because blueberry bushes love the acid from them. We put small triangle fences around ours and load them with needles. The fences also keep the bunnies from eating all the leaves.
Dana harris says
Found one pound of butter at Target for 3.31 and Walmart 3.98 here in Sunny Cali.
I’m doing container gardening this year in anticipation of moving to the beach in the Fall.
I’m doing well with two tomato plants and two pepper plants plus my cilantro, oregano and rosemary. Bought some onion bulbs and going to give them a try.
Wanted to try your pear jam but there still 1.99 a pound here.
Mavis- how many pounds of pears are needed for your jam??!!?
I will probably have to buy my tomatoes at the farmers market to make sauce this year. Nothing better than homemade canned sauce.
Dana
Jamie says
1/2 my tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, beans, and all of my peas, lettuce, collard greens, cabbage, radishes, lovage, and arugula are in the ground. My herb garden is also potted up and ready to go out. The other 1/2 of my warm weather plants and the seeded ones will go out next week/weekend. This weekend I am cleaning out my starter trays and getting ready to get my late summer starts going in a few weeks.
Athena says
We moved to TX 2 weeks ago and it is HOT here! Yesterday the high was supposed to be 106. We came from Idaho where just a few weeks before we moved we had snow! We were no prepared for the TX heat.