It's almost seed time!

Missouri weather can be fickle this time of year; and "fickle" is putting it mildly. Just this week alone, we had ice and sleet on Sunday, then 70 degrees on Wednesday and we are back to snow and 40 degrees today (Saturday). Soooo...starting seeds indoors and moving to a greenhouse will yield a nice early, and hopefully long lasting and long producing plants. 

Preferences vary, but most Missourians will start seeds inside at the beginning of March and into April. The Old Farmers Almanac is a good resource for specific dates for starting various seeds - find the Missouri section HERE, and everyone else can look up their info by state HERE. 

Last years garden produced very well, we had tons of tomato and buckets of peppers. I hope to improve production of green beans and cucumbers, though - last year they didn't do as good as they should have. The brussels sprouts were a waste of space, in my opinion. We waited until after the second frost, hoping they would get bigger - but they never grew larger than a nickle around.  

I don't normally plant seeds for the vegetable portion of my gardens, aside from minor things. I intend to plant everything by seeds first, so this will be an adventure. 

My garden photos are from June of last year. 

Product Review: Le Gusto Kitchen Shears

Product Review: Le Gusto's Heavy Duty Kitchen Utility Shears

Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N6DYYRL

My product test video: HERE

These shears...or scissors, as they could be called - have various uses. Firstly, the micro serrated edge gives you a textured "blade" to scale fish, which will come in handy while using the scissors to cut off the fins and whatnot. Also, a bottle opener is built into the non-serrated blade (see below photo). 

On the handles you can find a nut cracker/bottle opener, as well (see photo below). 

I tried these shears on everything I had in my kitchen...and some stuff laying around my house. Check out my VIDEO for more of that.  They work great at cutting items you would normal not want to touch - like raw meats and chicken - and hot peppers! 

I also used them on cardboard (opened the evil packing tape on a package), I cut plastic bottles, used them on various other tasks around the house. Then, I went back and cut more veggies -- and they are still just as sharp! 

*photo above*...how annoying is it to open the bacon packages!?!? These shears win just for that one purpose, honestly! Haha!

Everything in the baggy in the above picture was cut with Le Gusto's Shears. It's a snack size ziplock back - and its the veggie filling for a calzone! 

Be sure to check out my video for 'show and tell' of these great utility shears!  Then run over to Amazon HERE, and get yourself a pair...or two! They aren't just for the kitchen - use them everywhere - even in the garden!

*Also, stay tuned for a recipe using these shears, coming soon!*

The 'maters are gettin' tall.

In just a matter of days....

We have had some nice mild weather, with temperatures around the upper 80's. I have had to water more than I like, but that is also to wash off the tiny red tomato bugs that invaded. With the Sevin dust and the washings...those bugs have been relatively harmless, though. 

We have lift-off!

Greetings everyone! The garden is now growing and producing in full force. Nothing harvested yet, aside from a few beans and strawberries...but it's all growing rather impressively. 

    

No real problems to report. I did have to apply some Sevin Dust to the entire garden, as we have random bugs invading from all sides!! But a sprinkling or two of "the dust" and they subside within a day or two. 

I have also found that washing the leaves and bits (top and bottom) on the tomato plants keep the lil buggers away between 'dustings'. 

Okies...that's it for now...later gators!

Garden Update

With the torrential downpours of May over, we have finalized our garden layout and have a current count of what made it. The majority survived, which I was very happy about. I also realize my pictures are not as good as they could be, but I have been taking them with my phone...as I can't find the batteries for my camera. Soon, though...soon. Heh.

So,  in the main garden we have:
15 green bean plants, 2 bell pepper plants, 4 habenero pepper plants (but I think 2 may not make it, it could go either way), 2 ghost pepper plants, 14 tomato plants (very healthy ones too), 8 jalapeno plants, 24 Brussels sprouts, 8 cabbage, 4 lettuce, 2 zucchini and 2 cucumber.

Randomly around the yard we have:
2 strawberry plants, and the sunflower plants (which seem to live through anything), Cilantro, Basil...and some other random things.

So here's some pictures to show off...

The tomato's...

Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cucumber and zucchini... 

The sunflowers...

Strawberries...

Cilantro and basil.

Garden Watch 2017....update.

Well...it took forever...but the garden is just about ready. We used mulch from a friend who simply shredded a tree for us.....and applied it lightly only around the plants themselves. 

Here is a head count as of now, after a bit of flooding did some damage. Some may or may not make it...we'll have to do another head count in a week or so to be sure. 

----

14 tomato plants (2 varieties)

2 ghost peppers

2 habenero 

2 more habenero that may not make it

2 green pepper

10 (or so) green bean plants

8 jalapeno ?

6 cabbage (I think)

4 lettuce

24 Brussels sprouts 

...and still to plant are the strawberries, zucchini and cucumbers.

What we lost for sure, the radishes. This was mostly my fault for not planting in time. :( 

The Garden...In the beginning....

*cue dramatic news-at-9 type music* ....Welcome to The SugarHigh Lounge's Garden Watch...2017....*bah bahhhhhh bammmm* ...

Heh. So...it began at the beginning of May. Today we finished putting up the fence to keep out any critters that think our veggies look tasty, and also our dog...and cat. So far we have planted green beans, jalapeno, tomatoes, green peppers and habenero peppers. 

Oh, there will be more. Hahaha.