Slope 2026

This should be the year to finally bring the rest of this together.

Top Left- Veronica 

Middle Left- Catmint- Buy Walker's Low- (locally)

Bottom Left-  Penstemen (seeds) and Geranium Rozanne (buy 3) Bluestone Perennials

Center Top- Blue Mist Spirea (buy 2) Bluestone Perennials

Center Middle- Hydrangea- buy 3 locally? the mail order ones have taken a long time to                                   really get established 

Center Bottom- Lamb's Ears- maybe divide once more to fill in space

Right Side- may need to replant New Jersey Tea, were struggling last year

Fighting the Groundhogs

 Notes 2025

Damage

• Zinnias nibbled on and trampled
• Chamomile ate all the leaves, just left stems
• Comfrey ate all except the ones I put cages around- now inside the garden

No Eats! Plants that have Survived in my Garden

• Catmint
• Peony
• Hyssop- takes a long time to grow, the third year of the seedlings I started and they are finally looking like something!
• Monarda- trying a new, shorter Bradbury's Bee Balm in the wildflower garden
• Lamb's Ear- almost filled in across the base of the slope. Maybe next division, plant in the front of the perennial bed.
• Lavender
• Globe Thistle
• Coreopsis
• Cosmos- strangely, didn't eat these!

Try These (from CCExt.)

• Salvia- sage family, strong scent
• Pot Marigold- Calendula- try outside of the veggie garden
• Russian Sage- starting from seeds took so long, maybe invest in a plant or two?
• Snapdragon
• French Marigold
• Lantana
• Veronica
• Verbena

 

Spring Chores 2026

Issues

• Rhubarb- maybe that is just not a good spot? If you expand the Veggie garden, put the garlic and shallots outside the fence, maybe the rhubarb could go there as well? Still concerned that the whole thing looks neat and tidy in the yard. 
• Porch plants- Something that the rabbits, squirrels and groundhogs won't eat? Still a nice flower? Maybe Spotted Bee Balm? Weird looking, but cool. so far, so one has eaten the hyssop. 
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Chores

Veggie Garden

Irrigation

• Re-do irrigation for strawberries and carrot/ pepper bed. Use emitter tubing (6") in the bed. Put a shut off valve before strawberries so you are not watering them all summer.  Connect using barbed connectors. 
• Add 1/4" tubing and emitters for each pepper plant.

Planting Beds

• Raised bed for Cucamelons- 6'x3' raised bed $65
• Early spring- dig the carrot/ pepper bed. Must be dug down 8- 12" and loose soil. Remove ricks and sieve soil.  Good opportunity to add lots of compost. 
• Old tomato bed is still too high. After harvesting garlic and shallots, dig out the old tomato bed, remove soil and level.
• Move Lemon Balm to perennial bed, in a pot to prevent spreading

Perennial Bed

• Cut down trees in and behind compost pile
• Build compost bins
• Remove/move downed tree branch.
• Continue bed towards the compost pile
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Yearly Tasks

    Set up irrigation
    Amend soil
    Top dress with compost
    Mulch
    Fertilize perennials
   Add supports

• Set up drip irrigation. Roll out and connect hose. Attach water filter and timer. Replace broken emitters or split hoses.

• Amend soil two weeks before planting- mid-April. Replenish Veggie beds with Coast of Maine Tomato and Veggies Soil

• Top dress beds with compost. 
• Bagged compost from Schenectady County Conservation District. 
• Price 3 for $8 
• A 20 dry quarts package of potting soil is approximately 3/4 of a cubic foot.

• Mulch beds: Try pine shavings this year. Comes in bales in plastic from Tractor Supply. Or pine straw for strawberries and dried grass clipping for tomatoes. 

• Remove and store plant covers and wraps.

• Add plants supports before they start growing: Peony, Bells of Ireland, etc…

• Fertilize perennials: Hydrangea, Peony, Asparagus, etc…

Early Spring Chores

• Divide or transplant perennials: Aster, Balloon Flower, Bee balm, Black-eyed Susan, Catmint, Coreopsis, Dianthus, Echinacea, Hosta, Hyssop, Lamb's Ear, Phlox, Speedwell, Yarrow

• Rake up old wood chip mulch and put down 2-4 sheet layers of newspaper before replacing new mulch.

• Turn Compost. Sift and harvest completed compost and apply as top dressing for plants.

Veggie Garden

• Fertilizer Option 1: Choose a general All Purpose Fertilizer like Down to Earth
• Amend at planting- three beds are 96 square feet, 6 lbs fertilizer covers 110 sq. feet
• Use 2 types of Fish Emulsion: Tomato and Veg for the first few weeks, and Rose and Flowering for the rest of the season.
• Fertilizer Option 2: Heavy feeders like tomato and broccoli should receive 4.8 ounces per 100 sq. ft. Blood meal Recommendation: 0.5 ounces of 12-0-0 per 32 square feet
• Broccoli- side-dress 3 weeks after transplanting (side-dress broccoli a second time after central head is harvested to encourage small heads on side shoots).
• Tomato- side-dress when fruits first form.

• Harvest Asparagus more frequently (every day when they get going, once spears are 6-8", width of spread hand) and continue for six weeks, June 1 -14. Note when this falls this year for future reference.

• Dig cover crops in at least a month (early to mid April) before sowing or planting.

• Use fish emulsion for tomatoes and peppers. For determinate tomatoes, once in mid-June. For indeterminate tomatoes and peppers, apply monthly in the growing season: mid-June, mid-July and mid-August.

Fertilize Perennials

• Peony- An annual application of compost mixed with a very small amount of fertilizer around the base of the plant is all that is needed. When you do feed with compost and fertilizer, do it just after the plants have finished blooming.
• Hydrangea Macrophylla- For optimal growth, bloom production, and quality, fertilize three times:
• In early spring when plants are just leafing out
• In early May to boost their flower production for summer
• In late June/early July to help your plants finish the summer strong

Garden Layout 2026

• Get rid of sage in the center, you never use it anyway. Replace with rosemary and thyme.
• Chinese peppers seemed to work great on the squirrels, they fruited early and looked great with the different color peppers. Continue to plant them in the corners.
• Move lemon balm to it's "final Resting place"! Plant it in the perennial bed in a pot to prevent spread.
• To keep a cohesive look, plant marigold on right side of garden and calendula on left side. Still considering if I want to continue borage. It comes up early and looks great, but it needs to be staked. Might be better off putting it in the perennial garden.
• Make a new raised bed for the cucamelon that matches the strawberry bed.
• Construct cover for strawberries. Ideally, it should come apart easily, because you only really need the cover for the spring. Take apart and store the rest of the year.
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• Peppers want to be planted 18- 24" apart.  Peppers like partners, so plant two together in each spot.
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Additional Rack Office

 

Additional Rack in office

Buy an additional rack and some more lights for seed starting. Even though on paper I have enough space for all the plants I have planned, in reality, the seedlings are not ready to be planted up in time for the new ones to be started. Maybe I should move both racks in there? It would free up space in kitchen. I would have to do something to protect the carpet from the dirt and water that would fall down. And I would also be farther away from the sink and water. Also when bottom watering, there would be a lot of back and forth to the kitchen anyway.

Searching around on Greenhouse Megastore and found that the plastic tray that professionals use are not that expensive. It is very frustrating to keep tipping those cups when moving the plants. The downside is that the tray have holes int he bottom. I would have to find watering trays to go underneath.

• Barrina Grow Lights- $100- 6 lights, three shelves worth
• Wire Rack 48W, 18D, 72H- $90 (sale!)
• 4 Fans- $60 (three for new rack, one for existing)
• Epic Cells 24- two trays worth- $90
• Bins- 15qt Storage Bin with Latches- $6 x 12 = $72
• Prevent tipping of seedlings- Make spacers out of recycled elections signs cut with 3" circles for cups. Here

Total- $412

Winter 2026 

Seed starting

Sundial Lupine- grow 12 for Lisa Reittenger, give up on using them in my wildflower space, the soil really isn't suited for it.

• Good idea to use corrugated plastic signs inside the bins to keep plants from tipping. Don't really need them in every bin because they are pretty tightly packed and don't tip. The only ones you really need are the large bins for the tomatoes. 
• Tomatoes- put a plant tag in every tomato, mix up between the cherry and paste last year.
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Additional Rack in office

Buy an additional rack and some more lights for seed starting. Even though on paper I have enough space for all the plants I have planned, in reality, the seedlings are not ready to be planted up in time for the new ones to be started. Maybe I should move both racks in there? It would free up space in kitchen. I would have to do something to protect the carpet from the dirt and water that would fall down. And I would also be farther away from the sink and water. Also when bottom watering, there would be a lot of back and forth to the kitchen anyway.

Searching around on Greenhouse Megastore and found that the plastic tray that professionals use are not that expensive. It is very frustrating to keep tipping those cups when moving the plants. The downside is that the tray have holes int he bottom. I would have to find watering trays to go underneath.

• Barrina Grow Lights- $100- 6 lights, three shelves worth
• Wire Rack 48W, 18D, 72H- $90
• 4 Fans- $60 (three for new rack, one for existing)
• Epic Cells 24- two trays worth- $90 (sale!)
• Bins- 15qt Storage Bin with Latches- $6 x 12 = $72
  4.7 out of 5 stars with 217 revi
• Make forms out of recycled elections signs cut with 3" circles for cups. Here

Total- $412

June 2025

June 2025 

This has been the coldest and rainiest spring I can remember! It definitely did a number on my hardening of plants and I put the tomatoes out a whole week later than usual.

But the folks at school were very gracious about the tomato plants. Chris Gravelle and Alexa, said that my tomatoes always do the best. Laura Carrol as well, I gave some to Tom and last year Connie said they did well for her mom. Maybe I should get another rack and start more seed in the office.