Landscaping and House Projects Long Term

• Tree Removal- Remove fallen dead tree and remove second large tree in order to make room for the nice Red Maple trees for shade on that side of the house and a hedge screen from the street, possibly continue forsythia across for unifying look.

• Decommission exterior well-

• Decommission Interior well-

• Basement Water Proofing- 

• Remove concrete walk (side of house and front) and steps $1,000

• Replace kitchen window with French door $1,500

• Patio and back stairs (curved concrete pavers), sidewalk to driveway $4,500

• Electrical Upgrades- replace old wiring, add exterior outlets, add exterior lighting

• Renovate front porch into screened porch
• Replace rusted footings
• Replace columns, railings, floor
• Add wooden steps and screen door
• Add ceiling and additional electrical, overheard light

Seed Starting Master Post

Seed Trays

Six- 1020 Bottom trays

One- Small cells 50 (5x10) 

Four- Medium cells tray 36 (4x9) = 144 

One- Large block seed tray 32

One- Deep pots-3 1/2 x 3 1/2"- 18

Four- Half trays (16)

One- Epic Four Cell deep- 32 (4x8)

Two- Epic 6 cell- 72 each (6x12) = 144

Five- Sure Root deep cells- 50 cells each

Seedlings in Bins- Kitchen

• Four shelves
• 16 seedlings in cups per bin
• two clear bins per shelf, 32 seedlings per shelf
• Total = 128 seedlings

Seedlings in Bins- Office

• Four Shelves
• THREE clear bins per shelf
• 48 seedlings per shelf
• Total = 192 seedlings

Total Upstairs= 320 seedlings 

Seedlings in Bins- Downstairs

• Four seed starting shelves, NO top shelf (ceiling)
• 16 seedlings in cups per bin
• THREE clear bins per shelf
• 48 seedlings per shelf
• Total = 192 seedlings

• Work Bench can hold four extra large bins (ones you use for hardening off)= 64 seedlings

• Basement window with extra grow light hanging, cool season plants only, 24 seedlings 

• Total maximum 280 seedlings on four shelves, window and workbench

Max Number of Seedlings = 600

Bins- Room Essentials 17" x 11" x 6"

Kitchen - 10 bins max

Office- 15 bins max

Downstairs- 12 bins regular, three large bins on work bench (tomatoes)

 Garden Layout 2025

Adding plants to unused spaces in the garden

• Adding peppers to discourage squirrels. Five color Chinese peppers are ornamental and colorful! Put them in the free spaces, move the hose hookup to a less conspicuous spot. 

• Jalapenos to make salsa.

• Give the cucamelons another try with a little more attention. Perhaps the soil was much worse than I thought in the zucchini bed.

• Rosemary and other "dry" herbs to available space. Work the ground fully, add some gravel for drainage. Extend this to the corner and put thyme there. Thyme also needs drainage.

• Perhaps this is the year to try to restrain the lemon balm a little. I barely use it, even though it smells nice, do I need three large plants? Maybe try to pull one and replace with Chamomile.

Globe Thistle

 Globe Thistle

I have been growing this since 2022 and have nothing really to show for it.

Cucamelon

Cucamelon or Mouse Melon

From: The Greedy Vegan

When to Plant Cucamelons 

When you grow cucamelon from seeds, sow them in April. I have had mine for a few years now, so I have tubers, and I just need to make sure to move the pot with the tubers out when the first spring heat hits and the temperatures do not fall below 3°C (37°F). If you are new to this and grow them from seed, then do not expect a huge plant like mine in the first year. A plant grown from a tuber will grow at a much higher pace than a seedling, but you should still expect several handfuls of fruit from one plant in its first year.

Make sure that you do not disturb the tubers when you cut the foliage off during the autumn. I've noticed that any tubers that I dug up quickly rotted. I found that simply keeping them in the soil does the trick. I have had great success moving the whole pot including the cucamelon tubers into a shed to overwinter them. The radish lookalike tubers will stay underground and wait for the heat of next spring. I start watering them as I move them outside, but it is important to never over-water them as they will quickly rot. Less is more in this case.

Where to plant Cucamelons
Cucamelon plants prefer full sun to some shade. Ours grows well in a southern facing position, but I have also grown them successfully on an east facing a wall. They will fruit right up until the first frost so you will happily be picking these until November or even December in England. This is one of the reasons why they are rated so highly by gardeners.

Plant in container with drainage, 12" deep and width per plant. When it comes to the soil requirements of the cucamelon, I would advise a pretty nutritious mixture. Make sure to add some grit or bark for drainage as the tuber tends to rot if left in soggy soil. If you do it like this, you can also just move the whole pot into the shed during the winter, and it should be perfectly happy to grow again next year in the same medium, albeit with some added manure or nutrients.

How to harvest Cucamelons
Harvest your cucamelons by simply picking them off without ripping the plant apart. If in doubt use small scissors. They keep growing for quite a while if you harvest carefully.

So to summarize on how to grow cucamelon, make sure that you sow them early enough, give them plenty of support and a nutritious compost and they will be a very steady plant that produces a lot more than you would think. Store the tubers in a frost free, cool and dry place for a much larger crop next season.
Storing Cucamelon Tubers Over Winter

Cucamelons are tender perennials, which means they are sensitive to frost but, if cared for properly, can live for several seasons. Throughout the season, cucamelons develop an underground tuber. At the end of the season in cold climates, remove the tuber to overwinter in a sheltered location.

Digging cucamelon tubers is easy. Once the plants have been hit by frost a few times, it’s time to dig them up. The fibrous root ball will be in the top foot of soil, but the tubers can extend a bit deeper. Don’t try to harvest the tubers by pulling the plants out. In my experience, this has resulted in damaged or broken tubers, which will not overwinter.

Instead, place a garden fork or shovel about a foot away from the main stem and dig, gently lifting to expose any tubers. Don’t see any? Dig deeper or use your hand to move the soil out of the hole to locate the tubers. Handle just-harvested tubers carefully to avoid bruising or damage. There’s also no need to wash them off as the tubers will be stored in soil.

Once you’ve gathered all the tubers, it’s time to store them. I use a 15 inch diameter plastic pot and a high-quality, pre-moistened potting soil. Add about 3 inches of soil to the bottom of the pot, and place a few tubers on the soil surface. Space them so that they do not touch. Add another layer of soil and more tubers, continuing to layer until you have no more tubers left. Be sure to sure to cover the last layer with a few inches of soil. Store the pot in a cool, frost-free spot for winter; an unheated basement, a modestly heated garage, or a root cellar.

Small-space and container gardeners who grow cucamelons in pots can also overwinter their plants. Just snip off the dead foliage and store the pot in a cool, frost-free area for winter. Come spring, the tubers can be removed from the pot and replanted in fresh containers.

Planting Cucamelon Tubers

It’s time to re-plant the tubers in early April, or about eight weeks before the last expected spring frost. Gather your supplies; eight to ten inch diameter containers and high-quality potting soil. Fill each pot about two-thirds full with the pre-moistened soil. Place a tuber on the surface of the potting soil, and cover with another inch of the soil. Water well and move the pots to a sunny window or place them under grow-lights. Continue to water when necessary and fertilize with a balanced liquid organic food every few weeks.

Once the risk of frost has passed, harden off the plants and transplant them into the garden or in larger containers for deck growing. Cucamelons appreciate a sunny, sheltered site with compost-enriched soil.

Doing Battle

 with Squirrels

• Scents around the border of the garden or specific bed
• Human Urine- easy and cheap to get!
• Human and cat hair
• Cat poop in small Tupperware bowls around the garden
• Used coffee grounds
• Organza bags with Irish spring soap
• Blood meal sprinkled around garden
• Fox urine- may work on ground hogs too

• Owl Decoy- move it around every couple of days
• top of the shed
• corner pole in garden
• above kitchen window
• in the apple tree

• Small Red Christmas tree balls hung early in the season

• Cheap pin wheels and wind chimes from the Dollar store

• Hawk kite- also cool looking

• Mulch beds well to discourage digging

• Floppy chicken wire on top of fence- support at intervals with pieces of irrigation tubing

• Shiny tape or old CD's on a fishing line strung around the perimeter at about 3" off the ground

• Cover area around new plants with pieces of wire mesh to discourage digging

• Five Color Peppers as a sacrificial plant in the empty space in the garden

• Water and food station across the yard

• Stay more on top of cleaning out bird bath every day

• Put a radio in the garden  and leave it on all the time

• Mousetraps, anchor them solidly to the ground in the area where the squirrels have been digging. Cover them with newspaper, and sprinkle a little dirt on top. When a squirrel comes to dig, it will set off the traps. As the mechanism snaps, it will scare and throw dirt at the squirrel. Once it’s scared enough times, it will find another digging area. Be sure to anchor the traps just in case the wind blows the newspaper off them. If the trap is anchored, the squirrel will not get hurt.

• Motion activated Sprinkler- $50 plus new hose

 Seed Starting Notes 2025

Containers

The 16 cell square flat with the green flexible bottom is okay, but seems to stunt the growth of the seedlings. The veronica sprouted well, but then stopped growing. The 6 cell packs that are a little larger are good. I even left some of my seedlings in them the whole time and they did well. Maybe next year, start in the small ones and use these for the potting up. (Not of deep rooted plants like tomatoes...)

The new super deep cells didn't really work for the broccoli, but seemed to work okay for the New Jersey Tea. Maybe only native seeds will work in these cells? Lupine did terrible in these and only one seedling made it. Also, these are difficult to handle. If you are going to do one whole flat of all the same, these would be great, but starting a variety of seeds that germinate at different rates doesn't really work with these.

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.

• Get rid of roll away bed
• Barrina Grow Lights- $100- 6 lights, three shelves worth
• Wire Rack 48W, 18D, 72H- $130
• 4 Fans- $60 (three for new rack, one for existing)
• Epic Cells 24- two trays worth- $70
• Standard 4" pots- 440 pots - $100
• Trays for round pots- holds 15 4" pots- 20= 300 space for 300 pots- $55
• Make your own out of recycled elections signs cut with 3" circles for cups. Here

Total- $515

March 30

I was able to pot up the scallions, the blue hyssop (probably shouldn't have, too small, not enough roots yet) and the pearl yarrow and bring downstairs. Lettuce also went down too. 

Next year, buy more of the smaller Epic cells. Right now, the shelves are really full. The 10x20 trays that only hold 36 cells are really taking up a lot of room. The smaller 72 per 10 x 20 tray take up less space. When they are too big for those, then I can pot up and bring down stairs.

Not sure the deep root cells are worth it. They take up a lot of space. and you can't really break them up and move them around when some plants are ready, and others are still sprouting. I'm even thinking of repotting the broccoli into the Epic 4 Deep cells and getting rid of those altogether. 

March 13

Sowed many seeds today.

The first sowing of Bells did not germinate well. only one cell germinated, but it is coming on well!

Lupine that were scarified and cold stratified in the fridge were germinating, so I have high hopes for them again this year.

March 1

Started the first crop of Bells of Ireland. They were in the freezer for 2 weeks, then soaked seeds for 5 days. Use the new Sure Root deep cells to accommodate tap root. Two seeds per cell. Some were a little gloopy with mold or something on them. We'll see how they do. I probably should have direct sword anyway from what I've been reading.

Use the vermiculite on top of all cells. It seems a little coarse. I was expecting it to be finer. We'll see how it work! Hopefully it prevents damping off. 

February 23

The scallions came up almost perfectly, 17/18. Looking spindly, but I think that is how they are supposed to look?

As I am messing around with my numbers, trying to grow as many of the cool, interesting plants as I can with my space limitations, I just keep wondering why I am starting seeds for plants where the recommendation is direct sowing. Next year, focus on growing larger numbers of plants that need to be started from seed, and direct seed all the rest. 

Next year direct sow: Bells of Ireland, Scallions, Lupine. 

Fall sow: Purple Coneflower, Lupine (early spring or fall), Rudbeckia

This will enable you to grow 60 more seedlings!

Vermiculite- bought a bag at Gade Farms after one of the classes. Will use it this year for seed starting.  Let's see if it prevents damping off.

January 11 

And so it begins! I decided to re-do the seed starting calendar acknowledging the new zone, so I moved things back two weeks. Let's see if I have a basement full of too large plants this spring!

Gave the New Jersey tea the boiling water treatment. As I am doing this, I notice that the seed packet says do boiling water OR 60 days cold stratification. The webpage says nothing of that. I hate it when there are not clear instructions. 

Experiment:

• 12 seeds with the boiling water followed by cold stratification- Jan. 11
• 12 seeds with the cold stratification- Jan. 11
• 12 seeds just do the boiling water treatment- March 13
• Sow multiple seeds in cells, mark well and see which ones germinate best

Also, the packet does not really say the timing of all of this, so maybe I am starting way too early and I am going to have to re-pot into deep pots to make it to the spring.