Mrs. David's Garden Seeds®

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April Garden Chores

There are many April garden chores to be done now that spring has sprung and the garden is partially in the ground. In some places in the USA, it can still snow.

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April Garden Chores - April 4-April 10, 2022

Monday, April 4, 2022

Happy Monday here from the farm! It has been overcast all day long. I woke up and watered all of the plants in my greenhouse and opened my greenhouse this morning.

I had four dozen eggs in the store fridge and a man came from San Antonio and bought them all. I have had others ask for eggs but they are gone. They cleaned me out on Saturday. I then read about Avian Flu about 50 miles east of San Antonio so I guess there is a run on fresh eggs now because of the bird flu.

We have had a lot of customers in today. Nacho is here cutting the grass and doing other jobs for David along with his helper. The plumber has also been here a few times today.

The wind is picking up at 3:35pm. It is 83°. Tonight, the low will be 69°. It looks like it could pour but I don't think it will. It has been this way all day long.

April Garden Chores

There are always April garden chores to complete, but the biggest of the April garden chores is to get all of your seeds and seedlings in the ground now that the danger of frost is past here in Texas. I realize that up north you can still get snow in the middle of April so I think you need to wait a bit longer. Check your Almanac for that or check with your local county extension agent or just Google it.

So we are trying to get everything we have planted. We have a lot. We did not sell all of the seedlings we grew because they are small. They are small because of all of the cold snaps we have had this year. Plus, I keep adding seeds that I want to grow. :)

Here are a few more chores:

Plant your seeds outside for roots, greens, and lettuce.

Plant your transplants if you have not done so already, but don't forget to harden off the plants.

Mulch your garlic bed that you planted last fall.

Plant potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Start winter and summer squash, melons, beans, and basil.

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Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Happy overcast Tuesday. It should hit 100° if the weatherman is right. That is crazy and it is only April. Way too hot, way too fast. I took two dozen eggs over to the farm store this morning. One dozen is gone already. We have had a lot of customers. One took 14 seedlings home with him, mostly tomatoes.

Another man just told me he wants to grow a garden and he has seven acres but he has many April gardening chores to do first. He needs to hurry or he will miss the whole spring growing season, especially on days like this when it gets hot fast.

My zinnias in the two beds out in front of the store are wilting so I have the water going on them. I think all of the porch plants need water as well. They were just watered yesterday. Now that we don't have any dedicated outdoor guys, Matt, David, and I are having to do a lot of it. The problem is we also have a business to run. Last year, some of our team members helped us outside a few times. This year, some have as well. One had the audacity to tell us that he will not work outside at all.

Really? When you were hired, you agreed that you would if we needed to get something done. Almost everyone is ready and willing to do whatever it takes, but there is always one who refuses. I get it about wanting to be in air conditioning but we do pay well, much better than what other employers have paid for sure. I am talking about someone without a high school diploma and no college, someone who should be glad to have a good paying job without any real education.

April Garden Chores

Today's April garden chores include remembering to water the plants you have plus the seeds you planted. Without water, nothing will happen. Where we are, there is no rain, so there are no vegetables or flowers without watering this year.

I noticed a few hours ago that my zinnia plants out in front of the store were drooping. Matt had to show me how to bypass all of the stuff hooked up to the hose out front so I can water. I got water on the zinnias and now they are looking good.

I went back to my greenhouse, yet another one of my many April garden chores. The door is open and the two fans are in allowing air to come in and go out and it is already 100° in there now. The air temperature outside is 95° now at 2:42pm. It is just hot and miserable but with grey skies. No chance of rain. Rain is what we really need right now.

David called some of the guys to fill the pool ladder with sand and put it in the pool. These four showed up to help. Thank you to Brendon, Matt, Caleb, and John.

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Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Happy Wednesday! It is now 1pm as I begin to write today. It has been a very busy day. Early this morning, David took the two new puppies to the vet. Pamela has a tape worm and has not been gaining weight. Sue Ellen seems fine and now weighs six pounds more than Pamela. The vet prescribed each puppy a white heart shaped pill.

As soon as David got home from the vet, he and I drove into Lytle to a pottery place and bought ten beautiful, large clay pots from Guadalajara, Mexico. I will be transplanting ten large plants in them and place them around the property, mostly around the gazebo and the store for looks. This shop in Lytle has a lot of beautiful items inside the showroom as well. The lady, Victoria, was so helpful. We will definitely go back.

After we ate lunch, I decided to give the heart shaped pills to Pamela and Sue Ellen on the back deck. Big mistake. Pamela took a taste and sent the entire heart pill down to the sand through a crack in the deck. Sue Ellen took hers in two bites. I had to call Matt to come and unscrew the lattice and climb under the deck to retrieve Pamela's pill. I got the pill and Pamela inside, wrapped the heart in a piece of deli turkey and fed it to Pamela. She gulped it down with the turkey. Problem solved and a huge thank you to Matt for doing all of that pill rescuing.

Aaron, Matt, and John have been working outside all day long, planting and burning holes in the weed barrier so they can plant a lot of plants that have been growing in the greenhouse. If you have been through our greenhouse but did not buy the seedlings you wanted, you are now too late. The seedlings are going in the ground. We sold several hundred over the past four weeks, but It is time to get them in the ground today. Hopefully, they finish up.

Since I got back from my adventures, we have had several customers at the store.

It is a red flag day today which means it is windy and the wind is supposed to last through tomorrow so we may not start transplanting these large plants until tomorrow evening or even on the weekend. Right now, we have not even unloaded the pots from the truck.

The pots are now unloaded and will await the plants. The wind needs to stop blowing so I don't get dirt in my face when I transplant. All of my helpers have left for the day. It is 4:30pm. Tomorrow and for the rest of the week, I will have just one helper.

I had to restock the pecan goodies today. We are completely out of the pecan coffee and chocolate pecan fudge. There are just a few honey roasted pecans left. But don't worry. We will be getting more in. No, I do not make the fudge. I can but I just don't have the time.

April Garden Chores

Our April garden chores for today including adding compost to any garden bed areas that have not been composted. Then add mulch on top once the beds have been planted.

Our April garden chores also include planting any starts you have in your greenhouse, if it is warm enough in your area now.

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Thursday, April 7, 2022

This morning, we have several guys outside planting around the property. John is filling my big pots with soil so I can transplant those big plants we bought a few weeks ago.

It was crisp and cool when we got up this morning at 48°. I have three dozen eggs in the fridge and I have been loading the fridge and the snack areas this morning.

One man came by today to buy pounds of cover crops for his property about five miles down the road but we do not sell anything by the pound so he left. He said he wanted to amend his sandy soil. I told him we add compost to ours. That is about all you can do when you have acres of sand. Surprisingly, a lot of things will grow in the sand. Bloom and plant in whatever soil God has given you! You sure can't change it much.

All day long, we had one customer in the store which is kind of weird but at the same time, Fiesta is going on in San Antonio through this coming Sunday so it will be kind of low.

A man with Cox Media showed up to talk to David but he had to go to Pleasanton to get some emergency watering supplies because one of our guys did not do what he was told to do with what we had which meant things were not getting watered. It has been in the 80s and 90s each day so water is important. So David told the man to talk to Matt and Jay as he could not be here. Matt gave this man a tour and then the man left. He never even met Jay. This man found me in the parking lot as I was hurrying to go with David and he introduced himself.

The Cox Media person said he saw our TV commercial and wants to help us get to the next level. I told him we already have a media person we work with. That did not deter him. Matt said the guy wants to schedule an appointment when he can sit down and talk with us. But why? Again, we work with Marken Media and they have done a good job so far.

What people like this don't realize is that we are busy. We don't have time to idly sit around and chit chat with people who want to make money off of us. He saw the commercial of how nice the place looks and he wants to make money. I get that but again, we already have a media company we work with.

We are noticing that a lot of people stop by to chat about their business and how we can help them by selling their stuff in our store or how we can hand out their business cards. If that is something we want to do, then we will do it but just randomly having stuff in our store that is not ours is not something we want.

I ordered three underwater plants for the pond. They came today and are tiny for an indoor aquarium. LOL. I think I will see if I can grow them a bit bigger and add them to the pond.

This evening, I planted some daisy seeds in a large pot on my front porch. I have a lot of transplanting to do.

April Garden Chores

Your April garden chores for today include inspecting your growing plants, especially tomatoes and squash for bugs. When you see the tomato hornworm or those nasty squash bugs, smush them immediately. Look on the underside of the leaves to make sure there are no insect eggs laid on them. Remove the eggs if you find any and destroy them.

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Friday, April 8, 2022

It is already Friday and here I am, not ready for work yet. I had to clean up the refrigerator this morning as there was blood leaking everywhere or so it seemed. I got it all taken care of but I don't know where the blood came from.

It is 41° and feels amazing out there but it will get warm fast.

I need to get on outside and get things done. So many people coming at me from all angles, wanting to know why this or how that. I just want some time to think but there seems to be no time at all.

Some of our folks are outside planting this morning back in the largest raised garden bed in the state of Texas. I watered my entire greenhouse full of plants. I realized that I need more of those beautiful, big pots that we bought the other day to make the backyard nice. I added chlorine to my hot tub and the pool looks good. Unless there is a bad weather issue this afternoon, once everyone clears out of here, I am going in. It seems like someone is always on our property so I never get to swim.

So far, we have had just two customers today. What is going on? Fiesta? I am enjoying being able to get some computer work done. It is 77° right now.

An hour later, we were swamped with customers all at once. LOL!

The store closed at 5pm as always. I went to the house and started doing household chores. At 5:40pm, I took the kitchen trash out to the dumpster. As soon as I put it in, a black truck drove up to me by the dumpster. By this time, all of our people had gone home. There was an older couple in the truck. I asked if I could help. The man said he saw the commercial on TV and wanted to drive around the property. He wanted to know what was behind the wooden fence. I told him he could not drive around and that we closed at 5pm. He actually expected me to open for him.

He asked about plants and all of our animals and he wanted to see them. Then he wanted to continue on the driveway and go around to the store. There is no way to do that. It does not go around to the parking lot. I told him we would open on Saturday at 10am until 4pm. He backed up and left.

At this point, I still had not even gone to collect eggs and take care of my outdoor animals, not to mention my hungry crew inside. Plus David and I need dinner as well. I am not sure what people think. If they will go to our website, our hours are clearly posted. I am not sure what would have happened if I had not gone to take the trash out at that time.

A lot of people don't realize that we live here on the property. They think the whole thing is a business. We moved our home here before the business. At 5pm, it becomes our private property and I am not opening for anyone. We work long, hard days plus we are working in our home in the evenings and early mornings as well. We are not desperate for money so that I will be out in the store when we are closed.

April Garden Chores

April garden chores include planting flowers or flower seeds among your vegetable plants. This encourages bees and other pollinators to visit your garden and pollinate your plants. Marigolds and Nasturtium keep undesirable insects off of your vegetable plants. Wild Bergamot, chives, oregano, and mint, which are herbs, are loved by bees, as well as  sunflowers, bee balm, daisies, and dahlias.

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Saturday, April 9, 2022

Good Saturday morning. It got down to 45° and it is now 8am. I have to go feed the outdoor animals. The fish got fed when I unlocked everything so Shay could start work.

Today is the final Saturday of Fiesta in San Antonio. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday already. David says that we will not be closing next weekend. Normally, we close on Good Friday but this year, we will be open on Good Friday and next Saturday. So come and visit us. Of course, today we are open from 10am until 4pm. Shay is here working already but she will not take customers in the store until 10am.

Sure enough, the parking lot had three cars in it by 9:57am. I was trying to get things situated inside when they all started coming in. The sign said "closed" but that did not stop them. We were busy almost constantly. Shay has done six tours and it is now 3:25pm.

My waterlily tubers came today in the mail so I will be potting them and putting them in the pond when the store closes.

We ordered lunch today from a local restaurant. They delivered two lunches but not mine. I paid and then went to the house to eat leftovers. Definitely not happy. The delivery girl called them and told them. She did not even apologize for the oversight. I won't be ordering from them anytime soon. You should always apologize for the error.

The customers pretty much kept coming all day with a few short breaks in the afternoon. The last one left at 3:50pm so we were able to leave on time.

The couple who wanted to tour the farm last night at 5:40pm never showed up today.

I tried to put the waterlily pad tubers in pots. I did and then when they hit the water, almost all of them came out so they are now floating around the pond. Hopefully, Matt can fix them on Monday.

We had rotisserie chicken for dinner while watching the Svengoolie movie, The Werewolf, which we have seen before. It was good. Then I fell asleep on the couch for a while.

April Garden Chores

April garden chores today include (if you have not yet planted them), direct sowing the following into your garden beds:

• melons and watermelon
  
• squash, both summer and winter
• all beans
• corn
• cucumbers
• Swiss chard
• greens,
• Southern peas
• okra
  

Hopefully, you did not plant any of these seeds into little pots because they all hate to be transplanted.

If you have a pond, like we do, April garden chores can include adding new waterlily tubers to your pond.

I transplanted three of my large plants today and made a muddy mess out by the farm store. I did that after I put lilypads in the pond and then refilled the pond.

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Sunday, April 10, 2022

Good Sunday morning. I woke up early. The dogs and cat are now all fed. I still need to go outside but I do not want to. It is currently 65°, sunny, breezy, and will get up to 95° today. I have so much to do but I have to feed animals and get ready for church. Today is Palm Sunday.

Next Sunday is Easter. Every other year, we always give our team off on Good Friday and we are closed on Saturday as well. This year, we are working on both days. So come out and see us because we will be here.

We went to church and did not know the new three songs. Each week it is three songs. Sometimes we know them, sometimes we don't. Today, the leader was singing words different than what was on the sheet they gave us. You can't learn songs like that...

After church, we went to Walmart. Stopped in the gardening area so David could think of more April garden chores while we were there. I got some groceries and things and then we got in a line. This cashier was very young and needs training. He kept putting things in bags by him but would not swing them over to us so we could load them in the cart. He mumbled to himself the entire time, like he was rapping. In the middle of checking me out, he asked another cashier where he could get tickets. Then he walked off with her without saying a word to me. After a few minutes he came back. Not a word to me.

At the end, after I paid, it turns out that he had two full bags of ours and he started the next order.  I just happened to turn and look as I left and I went back and got my bags. I told him he needs to turn the grocery bags so customers can get them. He asked, "I need to?" I told him that was his job. He was incredulous and he did not say anything else, no apology, no trying to assist me. He won't last long as a cashier unless he changes his way. I did tell whoever it is that stands at the door of Walmart. She probably doesn't care at all.

No wonder so many people don't use Walmart. They hire just anybody and apparently don't train them well. Of course, there is no Target out here. But since Target thinks it is fine for men to go into the ladies' room, I don't go there either. We have to buy groceries somewhere. There is an HEB but it is in Lytle.

I have many April garden chores left to do, including transplanting and more planting to do. However, my Sunday is almost done. More April garden chores will have to be done tomorrow.

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Return from April Garden Chores to Business Growth

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