Play Ball

Old Man Winter seems to have slept through basketball season missing all the fun we had with Sam, Luke and Tommy playing for the Ponder Athletic League.  We've had a wonderfully mild winter with several long soaking rains. The pessimist in me half expects he'll show his blistering power in baseball season about a week after the tomato plants are in the ground. That being said, spring is an exciting time of year and like each year I am filled with hope for the growing season ahead.





The bees are buzzing around and soon it will be time to work through the hives. Sam and Luke are starting their own hives this year. Last year they sold my honey to have money to buy their own hives and equipment. The sun was shining and Shotgun Willie and I opened the hives for a peak inside today to see if we need to feed them. They are actually putting up honey already and seem to be very strong. 

Transplants

Willie's Jalapeno Plants

I'm trying a few new things that I am excited about this year. Our  family loves Salsa Verde (especially me) and so I am going to try to grow Tomatillos this year. I don't usually see these in the nursery as transplants because they are not popular in gardens in North Texas.  I decided it would be fun to try to grow some plants from seed this year. I bought 3 varieties of Tomatillo seeds; Gigante Tomatillo, Cisineros Tomatillo and Grande Rio Verde Tomatillo. I also purchased BHN 444 tomato seeds from Reimer Seeds.  I picked up Big Boy and Better Boy seeds one day while wandering through Walmart. I had hoped to get these planted a few weeks before I got it done.  I would love to have a green house and will probably build one someday, but for now I am hauling these in and out of the house in styrofoam boxes.  I just planted them last week (middle of February) and they haven't germinated yet but I take them outside during the day so the sun can warm them up. When they start to grow, I plan to haul them in and out to give them the sun they need and  protect them from harsh weather.  Hopefully they will grow large enough to transplant by the end of March. Shotgun Willie and I planted these Jalepeno plants in some small starter cups last year.  It was too late to put them in the fall garden but they have been surviving in our kitchen window sill. We finally repotted them today and will move them in and out until time to plant in about a month.

 As previously discussed I decided to replant all of the same varieties of fruit trees that I had originally planted. I again ordered bare root plants from Womack Nursery.  Right now I have my tomato cages around them to protect them from the deer rubbing on them. 

Onions and 3 Rows of Red Potatoes

 I planted onions the first week of February. I like to get them out sooner but I've been behind on everything so far. I planted 10 15 Y instead of Yellow Granex this year at the recommendation of Dennis Farm Store. I planted more white granex than I usually do because I read in a magazine article that they make better salsa than yellow. And, out of stubbornness, I planted purple even though we've never had very good luck at growing them.



 Last night Feb 21st I finally got my red potatoes in the ground (again 1 week later than I wanted to).

Practice starts this week and I look forward to many nights under the lights of our crummy little sandlot style Ponder Baseball fields watching Sam and Willie take the plate.  Willie is putting on the cleats for t-ball for the first time this year. Luke and Tommy opted not to play this season.  I'll try to sneak out for garden time between baseball practices and games or on the occasional Saturday that I'm not committed elsewhere. Play Ball!