You're right up Front!

"ALAS... The Swan has been replaced"

Let's All pray this is the last wave for Covid. It takes the steam out of a lot of people, who have had their worlds turned upside down. I have had my first vaccine, no reactions, looking forward to receiving the second. I would love to be able to socialize to some extent this summer. I could ramble on for pages on this topic… but it's time for something more important… Gardening 101 with Doctor Brown Thumb!

I have broken this blog into 4 sections, so I can focus on all the different gardening that I have been doing. I have become more aware of many things that I can do to help nature. Guilty as charged, I do try to keep dandelions from our front lawn, But for now the backyard is a sea of yellow, although many people believe that bees do not feed on dandelions. I am using a homemade weed killer of vinegar, salt and dish soap, so no harm will come to animals choosing to nibble on the weeds.

I have installed a hummingbird feeder, but have not seen any hummingbirds yet. I also put a bird bath in the backyard for birds to use. Kudos to the Town of Milton, It looks like they have planted nearly 200 trees along a street not far from where we live. Every little bit helps, now we need everyone to take tree planting seriously and see if we can help reduce the erosion of the ozone.

On the Garden Front

Last winter the raised garden that housed the “Sea of Sedum” succumbed to the elements. This gave me the opportunity to move the Sedums to the newly created garden behind the pool. It also left a good spot for me to place the new raised garden that I purchased last year. I lined the garden and installed a “Wicking Watering System” . I have great success with this method. The reasoning is that by watering from below, it allows the nutrients that you put on your garden to release more slowly than they do if you water from above. My goal this year is to put entirely full sun perennials in the garden behind the pool. I hope to move a number of plants from the garden near the side deck, and plant primarily different varieties of hostas. The 2 planters that I used for my vegetables last year are going to be on both sides of the side deck. One will get mostly sun, while the other is primarily in shade. Will plant some perennials, but will compliment them with annuals. I should put a couple of pictures of what plants I have already purchased. I will again make 2 planters for both sides of the garage and the fireplace grate in the magnolia garden did well last year so i will again use it there. Speaking of the magnolia, I am trying a propagating ball , wish me luck. The small garden under the dining room window will not change much, I may introduce a couple of new perennials to give this garden more colour.

The galvanized tin near the dining room garden is already showing good signs of the perennials I planted last year coming back, will still need a couple of additions here too. The new raise garden is a blank slate, not sure what will show up here. The back corner garden is going to be for experiments. I have already sowed seeds for a number of flowers and gourds. Will be planting my sunflowers here this year. Nothing much will change with the gardens in the front. The peonies and hydrangeas are coming along well and the few other flowers that are there seem to be coming along just fine.

On the Grow Front

I planted far more inside this winter. I have grown Zinnias, Crocosmia, Poppies, Sunflowers, Purple peppers, Cucamelons, Gourds, Squash, and of course Marijuana. The Zinnias are still quite small and may be best planted in the new raised garden, The Crocosmia seem far more hardy and I will put some in both the new raised garden and the pool garden, the poppies and sunflowers will both go to the garden in the back corner. The squash and gourds will also go into the back garden.

On the Veggie Front

Keeping the veggies very simple this year. I will use cloth containers and plan on only having 1 tomato plant, 1 Cucumber plant, and the Cucamelon. I will plant peppers in the small raised garden, but will only plant 4 varieties, 2 hot (Jalapeno and Ghost), and 2 sweet (Purple pepper and yellow Big Daddys) I am going to keep the veggies on the side deck. On request, I will also make a small planter for basil.

On the Marijuana Front

As mentioned above, after germinating the seeds, I have planted the seeds under lights. It looks like I will be able to have 4 different strains growing this year. The strains are Alien Piss (this is a clone that Will,the guy that helped me greatly with preparing the canabutter, oil, and cream, gave me), Train Wreck (also a gift from Will) Gorilla Glue, the autoflowering I grew last year and Great White Shark ( I have grown this every year) My goal this year is to top the plants, never done this before.

After the plants have been harvested, I will again distribute to my testers and assemble the results. I would like to again make Canabutter, but after that I am not sure, maybe gummies? This is my third year of growing marijuana and I think it is time to try my hand at growing something new. Suggestions welcome.