What have you done today in the Garden?

Planted 2 rows of Egyptian Walking Onions. I had dug them out of their prior location and left them sitting on the ground. I noticed they are growing new roots, so I planted them. Half were topsets. They'll have strongly flavored scallions before anything else starts growing.

 

Hey, what about that ! I haven’t grown those for ages.
There’s always something going on there.

 

It was a good job a couple of days ago, I'd turned off the water supply to the garage from the tap below the kitchen window.

After I'd cleared all the leaves from the patio this afternoon, as it was a bit warmer, I decided to clear the ice and put fresh water in the two bird baths. So I turned on the tap below the kitchen window. I walked down to the side door of the garage and when I opened it to fill a jug from the tap over the basin, I found a jet of water coming from the joint that connects the water to the water heater's tap. So I quickly turned it all off again.
Had I not turned off the main supply tap when I did, that burst could have happened 24 hours ago and I wouldn't have been aware of it until today. In the event, there was no damage as not a lot of water escaped and the "freezer room" which has a decking floor will soon dry out.
Tomorrow I'll visit my local plumber's wholesaler and get a new control valve. The Santon water heater was second-hand when I acquired it in the late seventies, but they are pretty much "bulletproof." The valves are of a pretty common type, so they should have a suitable replacement.

 

Had a dusting of snow this morning and the ground is still frozen.

 

My

My Egyptian Walking Onion colony is about 22 years old now. My grandmother's sister grew them in the 1950s and 60s. They are fun, and we enjoy the scallions.

 

The ones we grew for two years we got from the neighbour lady at the garden complex. She was lyrical about them. We tried them, enjoyed them but in the end they had to make room for larger onions types. — it is the downside of having limited space in which to garden. But you on the other hand have space. Cor— twenty years in one bed, plus the history of your relatives growing. Mate, it is a tradition there. I am sometimes envious of folks with their own land. That would be great. You sure make the most of what you have. Chapeau.

 

@Sjoerd, I tried to revive some family traditions when I bought this property. I do have Sempervivum from my dad and his mom, and garlic chives from my mom. Other than that, the traditions are knowing what they grew and finding them on heirloom plant and seed sites - old bearded iris varieties, old peony varieties, potato onions, and a few others. It gives a connection to my long gone family.

I own this property because I had worked way too hard, lived frugally to the point of embarrassment, and then there was a real estate crash and this property was up for sale at one third its listed value. I enjoy the big garden and orchard very much, although there are down-sides too.

As for the garden today, I started clearing a large garden bed for next year's squashes. It had re-wilded which was not my plan. My plan was a bearded iris garden but I couldn't keep up with the tsunami of mostly grassy weeds this year. So I'm digging out most of them, which are being moved to different locations. I pulled and piled up what became the Mt. Everest of weed mountains. I might lay a weed barrier to keep the area clean for next Spring, or if I have energy will plant a cover crop.

 

Nothing today it's still very cold and ground is frozen.

 

Last time I purchased onions at the grocery store, I didn't use them fast enough, so I planted the 3 leftover onions that started growing in the bag in my garden. Since they did so well, and the garlic and shallots do very well, I figured I'd buy some good seed onions to plant in the coming spring.
I bought these.
What do you think?
Next year, I might buy the Utah Yellow to have two varieties to compare.

 

Cor those walla walla ones look interesting, Zigs just said they remind him of the kelsae ones he has grown (they are huge) You must let us know - with pictures of course
We always replant the ones that aren't very big, and they do well. I think our onion harvests are among my favourite crops as they're so useful and easy to store. I even learned how to knot and hang them

 

I like Walla Wallas. They are a long-day type, which I imagine would be good in New England. I've grown Spanish, and New York Early with good results. Also Ailsa Craig, which were gigantic but watery and bland.

 

It was too cold for me today. I looked at my vegetable garden, then returned to the house.

I did order a big bag of organic vegetable fertilizer today. It took a while, pricing by pound for similar NPK numbers.

 

Nothing today it's raining and cold

 

Spread coffee grounds on a vegetable raised bed.

 

Tried to get a bamboo pole 12’ long out of the down spout that is14’ long from the roof. Accidentally dropped it down when trying to push out all the gooey debris stuck in the downspout. ‘Gardener thumbs’- no grip left. We get all the needles and leaves from the forest next door stuck in the scuppers and gutters. I usually climb up and rake and sweep them off when it’s wet and rainy. Or use the blower when it dry. But to cold today the roof was too icy. Tried to use a hose to push the bamboo pole up thru the to the top of the down spout on the roof area but the hose was frozen, wasn’t bending enough from 4” up from the ground up into the downspout. It was 22’ today . Will bring the hose in to thaw out and try tomorrow. If not I guess I’ll have to drill holes in the down spout for the water to drain so the roof doesn’t flood at cause a leak.. yikes..It’s always something.

And the garden mower had a flat tire a acre out from the house. Had to drag the heavy compressor on wheels out to the mower to fill the tire. Then tied it to the mower and dragged it back. Couldn’t find the portable compressor.

While inside warming up grabbing a cup of coffee my neighbor called and said my horse was in her garden. I went out with a bucket of oats and yelled for him across the 2 acre pasture and he came running up the road ran right past me and back thru a open gate into the barn. Didn’t want to explain how he opened the gate. We call him the magician. He can open anything with his nose like fingers and teeth.

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