Smartie's Bar & Grill #74

Try the 5-4-3-2-1 method of hardening off your seedlings.

Starting from inside, once your seedlings have at least 4 true leaves and 4 inches in height. Water from the bottom, do not let them get soggy. Your finger is the best way to judge moisture in soil.

5 days in shade with 2 hours of morning sun
4 days in shade with 4 hours of morning sun
3 days in shade with 2 hours of late morning sun
2 days in morning sun with 2 hours of late afternoon sun
1 day in early afternoon sun with 2 hours of late day sun.

Try to avoid mid day (12-3) sun for more than an hour or two until the plant has been in it's permanent home for a couple of weeks. It may require a sun dodge (Row cover would work too) but the better acclimated the seedlings are, the healthier the plant will be.

Think of it like hibernating all winter, then dashing out into intense sun for 5 hours of yard work.... regardless of your skin tone, you are going to get scalded.

 

Yours with barely discernible errors is better than my best on any day.

 

That my friend is true at any level.
But thank you.

 

For starters: I'm no artist.

With that out of the way; why are these two walls so close to the same tone, but a little bit to the left, another wall is much lighter?

 

I hate that I'm coming across as being hyper-critical.

There are some places where the perspective is off. The bridge, especially. It's like an Escher drawing. I can't tell if the main surface is the side or the roadway.

 

For starters, all criticism is welcome, I'm not prissy about my work, some come out good, some don't. If someone can see what's wrong then I learn something for the next piece.

The reason the left wall is lighter is that was how it was on the original. The left hand building is painted white, the barn that comes off it at an angle is stone.

I see what you mean there. And you may have hit the real reason the painting feels flat. Its a lack of contrast.
Thank you.
I really am going to take all these comments and see if I can fix this painting.
Please keep them coming.

 

Unfortunately I cannot add sheep to the hillside retrospectively, because you cannot paint lighter colours over darker ones in watercolour.

 

Going to bring all the broccoli seedlings. Going below 25 and possibly in the teens. I'll keep everything else in my " man cave". I am also drawing down my cement pond.

 

I have never had much luck with broccoli. Brassicas in general don't fair well around here because summer comes in way too fast and lasts too long to get a fall crop in and doing well.

 

I'm growing broccoli for the first time ever. It's going nuts. I'll post some pics. I need to figure out when to harvest it. It's getting crowded out by a rogue tomato plant that is also going nuts, but it seems to be holding its' own.

 

Most snow I've ever seen here! Had to enjoy it quicklt.. it's melting off rapidly. Drove over a "closed road" some 60 miles alng the River Road to find some wayward guest who got stuck in Lajitas.. didn't find them, but diod find word of them, they camped in their van in front of the store. Drove back.. the snow had mostly melted, altho' there where rocks in the road.. one the size of a basket ball.. did see a bobcat, and that Bobbie T had a burst pipe... so that's about all the excitement I can stand for this week!

 

Rogue tomato plant trying to shove out the broccoli. Broccoli is standing its' ground. Kohlrabi off to the left are doing good; carrots, too. Cucumbers were living on the red trellis, but the tomatoes took all of their sun and they died off. Lesson learned for next year.

 

Rogue tomato plants always have the best tomatoes for some reason must be the vigor from being where you aren't supposed to be.

 

They are like weeds. I've easily pulled 100 sprouts from other parts of the garden, just in the last two months. One of the tomato plants just showed up. It's not one of the varieties I planted this year, but I did grow it last year. It was in a completely different part of the yard.

 

Try Sun King broccoli. It takes the heat better.

 

Bobcats are neat to see from a distance. We see tracks where one has been down by the branch. We were down by the branch and our dog got very tense and kept looking towards the woods with his back bristled up. Whatever was in there he wanted no part of it. We did find this hiding in the azalea one morning. Oppossums are fun little animals.

Did you know the weather was going to get that bad? At least you still have power. Around here it looks like a cloud fell, kind of dark and dreary with thunder. The temperature is still fairly high about 60. The temperature is going to be in the 20's tonight or that is what the forecaster is saying.

 

Does it take insects better? That is the other part of the problem. With the heat comes the bugs.

 

How is the weather where you are? Very overcast here with rumbling thunder still in the 60's range.

 

We have one who roams through our backyard at night. Cute lil' fella. We see him about once/week.

 

A lot will depend on the actual broccoli. Some have heads on the smaller side, and some to the larger side. The key is letting it mature, but harvesting and eating prior to the flowers actually opening. Depending on the seed house, they may provide the 'days to harvest' on the packet. My personal experience, subtract a week from their time, and start checking everyday. then harvest early. If you wait too long, it can be bitter.

 

Been raw chilly since Friday. Nashville got the nasties, so far we've gotten rain, more rain, and some more rain after that. Running in the 40s during the day, 30s at night, and then later this week, I'll be putting my ice skates on for the commute to work.

 

A couple things to try, if you are inclined.

Row cover provides bug protection and sun protection (scald)

Screening with hoops is also effective, or just tent it over the plants and bury the edges in the soil, as long as it stays an inch or so away from the head.

 

Haven't noticed a difference in bug damage. I usually get some good heads. Soak in salt water after harvest helps.

 

That broccoli is past pickin. Notice the loose flower heads. Sometimes they form small main heads called buttons. And some broccoli doesn't form large heads.

 

Cold, hard freeze warnings. Wet right now.