time to start over...grrrrr

[majorcatfish]

started my seeds last sunday,got both trays situated to the proper height for a consistent temperature of 75 degrees over both mats , monday morning good monday evening good all good till sometime wednesday night
one of the mats internal thermostat got stuck wide open, when i woke up there was a smell in the air.
thank goodness we were there the mat was just about to melt short of catching on fire.

needless to say both trays of seeds got cooked 130* and the other read 111*, so today did some digging around you could see seeds that tried to germinate but got fried from the heat.
the other mat was not holding a good temp either, so both mats went right into the trash can, ordered new seeds.
those mats where 10 years old. something has to give after awhile.......
think i will just go with a little personal heater this year and see how it does....
nothing like a little set back to a well laid out plan......grrrrr

 

[majorcatfish]

well after yesterday setback and of course my usual insomnia was on the puter researching seed starting soil last night
decided to switch up the 2 go a round of seeds with black gold seed starting mix, found a dealer close to us so after breakfast we drove out there and check them out http://fifthseasongardening.com/
very interesting store while there talked with the young man about home brewing and wine making, the wife was more interested in the wine making since we grow blackberries she wants to make blackberry wine this year.
we talked about hydroponics for a bit, someday would like to try it. told him that we would like to go more organic in our gardens he showed us everything they had from a to z. after about a hour there and only going in for a bag of black gold
we spent $78.35 ...8.99 on soil the rest was books..

 

[ErnieCopp]

Having a garden is like owning a boat. I had to stop keeping track of what i was spending on my boat, because if i had ever added it all up, i am sure i would gotten rid of it. So i do the same with the Garden. I am sure everything costs me twice as much to grow as it does to buy at the market, so i rationalize by focusing on all the fun it is to kill the bugs, and such.
Ernie

 

[w_r_ranch]

I lost 2 lime trees that were 7 yrs old... Oh well...

 

[majorcatfish]

Having a garden is like owning a boat. I had to stop keeping track of what i was spending on my boat, because if i had ever added it all up, i am sure i would gotten rid of it. So i do the same with the Garden. I am sure everything costs me twice as much to grow as it does to buy at the market, so i rationalize by focusing on all the fun it is to kill the bugs, and such.
Ernie

ernie you sure got that right on... boats and gardening go hand and hand...
for those of you who have never had the pleasure of owning a boat...
heres the acronym for boat.
b.... break
o.....out
a.....another
t......thousand
thats why i sold my boat.......

 

[ErnieCopp]

Major, I have owned one Sailboat for 9 years and the current one for 42 years, and I finally came to understand that spending money on a boat is exactly like spending money on a woman. If you love her dearly, you are happy to buy her new clothes or see her get her hair fixed up. But, it the relationship has run its course, you grow to resent every penny you have to spend on her.

I think I now have a suitable buyer for my boat, and finding one has been very much like choosing a son in law, although no one i know has ever got to choose one.

Ernie

 

[majorcatfish]

since being sleeted in again, figure share a photo of round 2 sprouts.
since i had my set back and the weather might be turning for the better in the next couple weeks decided to start some
bok choy and bibb lettuce...

tomato seeds showed up yesterday so started them again....

 

[Mike]

Looking good major!

 

[Rahab222]

Doing the same thing twice is my number one pet peeve; so sorry to hear about your heat mat experience. Nice boat, Ernie. Gardening is not cheap. I do it because it's the best therapy I've ever discovered. Usually just my garden dog, Lily and I - plus the birds, lizards and squirrels - minus the raccoons, opossums, etc. that usually venture toward my gardens at night. The food I grow simply tastes better than what you get in the grocery store and isn't sprayed with chemicals. If I need a salad, I just walk out and pick fresh lettuce. Lettuce from my garden lasts forever in the fridge vs. the store bought that wilts within two days of buying it. And on and on it goes with all the fruits and vegetables from my garden and the reasons I continue to spend the money.

 

[ErnieCopp]

Rahab,
I started gardening just so i could have a decent tomato. Then i added a few other things, but i am getting so old, i am eliminating everything that requires a lot of stoop labor to either plant or harvest. We have volunteer lettuce all over the garden now, so do not need to plant it anymore. I do have a nice crop of Winter Sweet oninos just coming out now, and will plant beets and carrots in table top containers this year.
Potaotes in container are sprouting, asparagus i harvest with a long handle pruner sitting on my tractor/scooter. Will plant one squash plant and lots of cantaloupe, Persian melons and Watermelons. Rest of it I can harvest standing up. Grapes, Kumquats, Oranges, Mexican Limes, Tangerines, Peaches, Apricots, Figs, Loquats, abd Black and Raspberries, I think i see some buds developihhg on the Avocado. If not this year, surely next year. Will also plant a few sweet pepper, and try Okra and bush beands from Wild Rose Ranch for the first time.

Where are you located?

Ernie

 

[Rahab222]

How old is your avocado tree? Is this the first year it will produce? I just planted a 7-year-old tree I purchased last fall and protected through the very abnormal, cold winter on the Texas Gulf Coast. The last cold spell nipped the leaves. I transplanted it three weeks ago and it is obviously in transplant shock, as it is losing all of its leaves, but putting on new ones.