Fertilizer

I read about this a while ago, and have been excited to try it. The idea is to make a tea type fertilizer for your plants from dandelions. Apparently you can also use comfrey and horsetail, but I don't have either of those so I stuck to the dandelions. Which thanks to my no weed and feed policy we have plenty :) Dandelions are full of vitamins, and minerals and apparently all this stuff seeps into the water during the tea process and then can easily be added to your plants.

I set out with my new favorite garden tool, the dandelion picker, with high hopes of filling one 5 gallon bucket about half way. Needless to say, I filled nearly 2 and I did not even get all the dandelions I could see. I figured I'd leave some for next time.

So after the weeds are in the bucket, I weighted them down with a rock and covered with water. This first batch got to sit an extra long time because it was rainy and the soil did not need any more moisture added.

So after about a week I took out the rotting weeds and added them to the compost pile and what was left was a foul smelling grey-ish liquid. Believe me when I say it was foul smelling, for the next day every time the kids would walk in the back yard they would ask what stunk!

Admittedly I wondered if I was doming my garden to death by pouring this stinky stuff all over it, but I did not have enough for the whole garden and I figured that even if I did kill most of it I would still have a few tomato plants left. But after about a month, it looks great. I have another batch rotting, and I plan on using all my dandelions this way.

There are so many things I love about this. First I love that we are making something use full out of something that is most often though of as a nuisance. Second  I love that it is free! Third I love that it is earth friendly. Although I am not sure if it is considered organic, I like that it is not chemically prepared!

So sorry to my neighbors if I am stinking you out!

Snow!

Hopefully the last snow of the year! It is almost June after all. Good thing I elected to cover the garden. I am still not sure if the cold weather will have stunted the growth of the tomatoes. I guess only time will tell.
This pic was taken on Monday, and today I looked out there and sure enough I have seeds starting to poke out of the ground. The rest of the garden seems unaffected.

Cold Spring

 Well, last week I planted my garden. It was 80 degrees and a week later in the year than I normally plant. I thought my plants would be safe. Then March returned with nightly lows in the 40's and this is just too cold for my precious little tomato and pepper plants. It has not been cold enough to freeze, but I am concerned that it has been cold enough to stunt their growth through the season.

This is the my solution to the cold weather, haha. I only have 3 walls of water. So I rounded up every trash can, Homer Bucket, and old ice cream bucket I could find, and I have been covering them all every night. All twenty-four of them! Very aesthetically pleasing right? Well I hope it does the job.

This is the first year that I have started my tomatoes from seed. So needless to say I am a little overprotective of these little plants. I mean after all the time I spent moving them into the sun and protecting them from dogs and kids; I really want these plants to live. Not to mention the cheap side of me dreads the thought of the wasted  money if I let them die at this point, and the running around to find the varieties that I want to plant. Yikes!
Funny to think of the things that scare me these days!