MISC: Egg Carton Contraption Revisited ...again

Good news. I've determined that my egg carton seed-sowing contraption has been a success! Every Beet seed has sprouted and now the Cilantro is coming through.

To improve upon this type of seed-sowing planter, I will use an egg carton composed of recycled paper.

MISC: Seedling Contraption revisited

As of yesterday, only one of the seeds have sprouted through; a beet sprout. A delay in sprouting may have been a result of my resolve to ensure proper moisture. Each cup of soil is shallow and dries out quicker than it should.

So far, I see mixed results with the use of this former egg container.

MISC: Seedling Contraption Created

Today I took an empty egg carton and created a contraption to grow seedlings in. I cut out the cover and replaced it with Saran Wrap to allow sunlight during the day and to repel frost at night if the temperature drops.

In each egg holder I punched a pen sized hole to allow water to drain; and then filled each cup with potting soil with a single seed.

In six cups reside 6 beet seeds and in four cups reside 4 cilantro seeds. We'll see how this fairs. In one to two weeks I should see something popping through the soil. I'll cross my fingers. I'm not certain if these egg cups are deep enough or contain enough soil for the seeds to flourish.

Backyard Planting Bed Layout

MISC: Lawn Care / Full Sun Bed Water Schd'l

I have reduced the watering times on the sprinkling system for the Winter Season. The morning dew and the rain keep most of the beds and shaded parts of the lawn overly moist. However, on extended periods rain is lacking, the sunny planting bed and the full sun sections of the lawn are overly dry. I'm implementing the following schedule.

new Winter times for lawn and plants...

Zone A (all lawn) - Mon, Tues, Fri, Sat. (0min @ 9am) - NEVER ON

Zone B (Herbs and plants) - SUNNY PLANTING BED ONLY (B4) 3x weekly (4min @ 8am)

Zone C (full sun portion of lawn) - C3 on timer. 1x weekly @ 8:30am for 4min.

Arugula and Carrot Seeds Planted

Today I planted arugula and carrot seeds in seedling containers. The two larger containers on the right contain the Arugula seeds (5-14 days to germination / 20-40 days to harvest), and on the left carrot seeds are planted in a six-segmented container (14-21 days to germination / 60-70 days to harvest).

The Arugula is Runaway Arugula; John Scheepers origination.

The Carrots are Royal Chantenay; John Scheepers origination.

Prepped beds and planted spinach

Today I cleared out all old debris from my tomato plants and planted spinach in the sunniest part of the yard. The tomatoes did well here. My only concern is that the soil isn't the sandy soil that spinach thrives in. We'll see....

Cauliflower nearing harvest

This cauliflower plant is nearing harvest. It's one of three plants first planted from a seedling in November '08.

MYSTERY QUASH ANSWERED...

The mystery squash turned out to be Butter Squash. Unfortunately, the longer I left the squash on the vine, the more of a likelihood that a pesky squirrel would take off with it. Considering how large these fruits got, those squirrels are mighty strong!

QUESTION: Mystery Squash..

Does anyone know what type of squash this is? When I purchased the seedling at Orchard Supply garden center the label stated this was a Yellow Crook Neck squash. It tastes good; however, it's not yellow (more of a light green), nor is it a crook neck. Identification expertise on this variety is requested.

MISC: Lawn Care

Ok, another change to the lawn watering times. Even though the lawn is looking better (the fungus infected areas are healing), the shaded area of the lawn has noticeably grown and the daylight hours have deceased, creating overly soaked sod in the shaded areas. The herbs and bushes need their times reduced as well. The new watering schedule is as follows:

Zone A (all lawn) - Mon, Wed, Fri (7min @ 9am)

Zone B (Herbs and plants) - Sun-Sat. (7min @ 8am)

Zone C (full sun portion of lawn) - Tue, Thu, and Sat @ 8:30am for 7min.

MISC: Lawn Care

Finallly, the lawn looks like it's coming back after applying the Bayer fungicide treatment. However, the shaded parts of the lawn continue to be over watered. I'm reducing the watering times once again for the overall lawn. I'm also reducing the number of minutes for the Herbs and plants on the drip system from 12 to 10min. I will be applying another dose of the Bayer fungicide treatment today or tomorrow for good measure.

new times for lawn and plants...

Zone A (all lawn) - Mon, Tues, Fri, Sat. (7min @ 9am)

Zone B (Herbs and plants) - Sun-Sat. (10min @ 8am)

Zone C (full sun portion of lawn) - No Change; Tue. and Thur. only @ 8:30am for 7min.