All the Loves

AN ODD MARRIAGE
I finally got to combine two things I love, quilting and gardening. This is a wee bit sick but I actually made a quilt for my plant babies. I know you all get it! Most everyone else thinks I'm a nutter. Heh. I used to work at a major sports apparel company (my DH still works there) and they frequently go though samples and get rid of them when they're done. So one day Guy Gamine came home with a roll of reflective material - like the kind they put on back packs and such when you're biking so cars won't squish you flat for not being able to see you. Anyway, it's been floating around my sewing room for a few years now and I never really knew what to do with it. UNTIL! I finally connected the dots that I needed to put something up around the plants because there's a draft in our basement and they get a wee bit cold down there. Purple plants are stressed out plants. I don't want any more purple plants this year! So *obviously* I needed a seedling quilt!

With all that in mind I rummaged through my fabric and found a nice "earthy" fabric for the back that no one is really going to see anyway. Though I suppose I could use it as a table runner in the fall.

Truth be told it'll probably never make it off the nursery rack once it goes on.


The "front" of the plant quilt. The silver is reflective and should help bounce light around and is softer and prettier then tin foil. I'm such a girl. Ha!


Here's the whole thing in place and just waiting for plants!

BABIES
Which brings me to why I was about a week late in starting my seeds this year. I was busy making the quilt as I didn't what to be messing with seedlings while trying to install it. So far so good! I managed to get artichoke, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce (head), onion (seeds) and parsley all in starter trays. I even have had a few beginning to germinate. Oh yay, little spring in my basement!

The broccoli - came up after only 36 hours. It must be the power of the seed quilt!

PEACH TREE
It's time also to spray the tree. For those of you who have been around a while you know I did battle with peach leaf curl last year. Well this year I'm a little more on top of it. I finally got out in the garden and sprayed with a fixed copper spay. I hope that helps. I may try a second application. Though I'm not sure I got to it in time. I can see the leaf buds starting to form already. I really need to be more vigilant about the poor peach tree. I did get 10 peaches off it last year though - not bad considering the curl and it's only two or three years old! Hopefully I at least put a damper on things.

ONE FOR THE ROAD
I was at the nursery (buying spray for the peach tree!) and of course this means that I have to walk around and look at and drool on everything. They even provide little cups there for us droolers.;^) Anyway, they have a little display garden up in the far back and the corner posts for these beds are the prefab plastic kind. In each one of them was a swarm of ladybugs!

I thought this was pretty cool... now if they'd just come move into my garden in these numbers!

PS: Feeling much pressure as I still haven't pruned my blueberry bushes - it's getting late!

THINGS TO DO IN THE GARDEN THIS WEEK FOR ZONE 8:

• START SEEDS: Artichoke, broccoli, cabbage (chinese), cabbage (head), cauliflower, kale, lettuce (head), mint (seeds), onion (seeds) and parsley.
• PRUNE: Apple trees and blueberry bushes.
• SPRAY: Peach trees for fungal diseases like peach leaf curl. I use a fixed copper spray safe for an organic garden.