March Garden Chores

Well, it is time to tackle our March garden chores. Get them over with at the beginning of the month so we can get our garden in as soon as possible.

March Garden Chores
February 28, 2022- March 6, 2022

Monday, February 28, 2022 - March Garden Chores

Even though today is still February, we are going to talk about March garden chores this week. Today was an extremely busy day here at David's Garden Seeds®.

First, David jumped in the truck and drove up to Lockhart, Texas this morning to get pecan firewood and some pecan treats to sell in our store from Swift River Pecans. This is a great place to visit and we love their products. So now we have a ton of pecan firewood out in front of our store. Right now, you can pick the pieces and pay $1.25 per piece while you are here buying our Non-GMO seeds. No, we cannot ship the wood. It is too heavy and we don't get a discounted rate from the post office. The wood is an in store purchase only. The pecans, pecan oil, and pecan treats that we are selling are also in store purchases only.

Our live plants are still in the greenhouse because it is cold, 31° this morning, but they are for sale at $3.95 per plant, not six pack. We do not have six packs. We do not ship our plants. They are in store purchases only.

We do ship our seeds and our David's Garden Seeds® trucker caps.

We had a birthday celebration for one of our newest team members, John.

Our Production manager, Jay, came back from being sick today. Our outdoor guy, Josh, is still out sick. We have a ton of orders to get pulled and shipped out and today is payday so I have a lot of checks to write and bills to pay.

Tuesday, March 1, 2022 - March Garden Chores

Good, happy Tuesday morning, everyone! I happily announce that six years ago today, on February 29, 2016 (because this date occurs just once every four years), I sent an email to everyone except for my direct supervisor that I quit. That woman had it in for me since her first day at the company I used to work for. She had sent me another nasty, complaining email that I opened at 6am. Back then, I was working from home to get away from her. She constantly harrassed me at work and at home when I was working. Well, that day was the day...

I kept thinking about it from 6am until 9am when I finally sent the email that I quit. I felt so free and light. I turned off all of the equipment and drove the 20 minutes over to David's Garden Seeds® at Tezel and Mainland. David had just moved the business out of our home less than four months before. I announced to him and everyone else that I had finally quit my job and I was on board full time. Let the party begin!!!

Now, six years later, I have been happy to be away from all of that nonsense of being yelled at because someone just didn't like me. Now I am Mrs. David's Garden Seeds® and I like being the boss lady who runs the Farm Store, does social media, and builds the website. Of course, everything has changed including two moves, adding a lot more staff and a lot more products. Our online sales have jumped up tremendously, first due to Covid and all of that and second due to our radio and TV commercials that we have been running for four weeks.

Happy March 1! Happy election day! If you haven't yet voted, go vote today. We voted early last week.

This morning, David and I both have dental appointments in San Antonio so I need to get ready and get out of here.

I was pretty regular in getting dental cleanings until covid struck. The dentist canceled my April 2020 appointment and after that I had not been back to the dentist until today. Things have changed up quite a bit in there. We drove into San Antonio where our store was. We found out today that there is another church there, New Spirit Church.

This is where David's Garden Seeds® used to be in San Antonio. I am so glad we got out when we did.

Last we saw, last February the pipes froze and burst during Snowpocalypse, causing everything to be pulled down including the drywall. At first, the landlord said we were responsible as we were still having to pay rent due to our lease. We moved to Poteet in June of 2020 and Snowpocalypse happened in February 2021. The landlord would not try to rent it out so we could get out of our lease. He also knew that we had moved lock, stock, and barrel more than an hour out of town. He ended up having his own insurance pay. No more leases for us. What a waste of over $36,000 when we were not even there for almost a full year.

So the dental rooms are smaller. They are all enclosed and they have hired more people. We had to wait out in our vehicle until they came to get us, almost 15 minutes after our appointment time. They now turn on an "air vacuum" while they are cleaning your teeth, just a lot of noise right by your face that cleans the air from your germs while they fly out of your mouth. That was weird. Anyway, it was okay and I got out of there with no cavities. My teeth look way better. They were starting to go brown in places so I am glad they have been taken care of.

The hygienist kept talking to me with all of the equipment running while she was wearing a mask and a shield. I don't have a clue what she said to me. How could I? At the end of the cleaning, my bladder was very full so I told her I needed to use the bathroom badly. She made me put a mask back on and I asked her which way since everything was different in there. She told me it was in the same place it was before.

So I told her I knew that the bathroom was still in the place where it was an hour before but I had no idea where it was and I was about to piss my pants. Good golly. I finally found it and made it without peeing my pants. I think she is lucky I didn't stand there and pee after she said that to me. LOL! Maybe if I had some spare clothes with me but it is a long drive to have to sit in the car with wet pants.

The owner of the employment agency we are using called us to say she terminated the contact person who would bring checks out to us. She sent us the weekly bill, but no one came out to get the check or to bring employee checks to us on the three team members who we have through them. Interesting, huh? Also, my Saturday employee was not listed on the bill. I wonder if she quit.

Anyway, I am back now and I have waited on four sets of customers and checked a lot of orders.

It is turning out to be a beautiful, sunny day at 70° Fahrenheit. The mailman has arrived.

We had several customers come in, but there should have been many more due to the beautiful weather! By the end of the day, my feet were killing me.

March Garden Chores

March garden chores include pulling up any dead plants and roots, cleaning up plant debris left behind from last fall, and testing the soil pH.

Once the danger of frost is past, begin to transplant your seedlings outside. Make sure that you harden them off first!

Prepare and build more garden beds if that is what you were planning to do.

Buy new baby chicks if you will be adding to your flock.

Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - March Garden chores

Good morning. It was 38° when I got up this morning. It should get up to 76°.

Matt just called wanting to know if I have already fed my chickens. No, not yet. It turns out I forgot to go back out last night and put them away. I am so glad they are okay. No snakes got to them. They were in their house, but I never went out and closed the door to their run so snakes could have gone in and gotten them. This is what happens when you work too much and your feet are killing you. I fell asleep three times on the couch last night before I got up and went to bed.

Matthew reports that the expectant rabbit on the left pulled a bunch of her fur out last night so we should be getting some brand new babies soon. We got some about a week ago on the right side.

This morning, we have a job interview again. I wonder if the candidate will actually show up this time. It is already 60° by 8:30am which is amazing.

So the job candidate showed up about ten minutes early. Impressive. He was nice and understood the requirements. He interviewed for an outdoor position and accepted it. He is supposed to start tomorrow.

Comfort Commander is here to install the fifth and final split A/C and heater unit today. This one goes to the Production building.

Comfort Commander is here again today! This time, they are installing the split unit in the Production building. Jay is pretty happy.

It is a gorgeous day out. Matt is cleaning the rest of the algae up from the pond right now. It is 69°. He found a dead frog trapped in some of the algae. Fun times!

I just found out that my best friend from back in the early 1980s has passed away. I feel sad for her. She got upset when David and I got engaged back in 1986 and just stopped being my friend. When we got married, I asked her to play at our wedding. She used to play and sing for all of our church's weddings. She agreed to do it and then two months before the wedding she called me to say she did not have enough time and that was that. Neither she nor any of her family came to our wedding. I was saddened by that.

It is 3pm, 74° and I was just talking to some customers outside when I got stung by something on my jawline. I did not see what it was. All I know is it hurts.

It is now 4:30pm and still no baby bunnies from the mama on the left. The pond is filling with more water right now and, yes, I did de-chlorinate it.

The employment agency said she was sending another candidate over to be interviewed today but he never showed. She said he was having car trouble. Not a good sign when you need a reliable employee to show up.

It is now evening. No new bunnies yet, but the nest has the bunny hair. The second interviewee never showed so that is not a good sign. It seems no one wants to leave home to go to work since the great quarantine of 2020.

Matt was in the pond cleaning out the algae. Once he was done, we put algae powder in the pond and it got pretty nasty.

Matthew cleaned out the pond and then we put algae killer in there and the rest of the algae came up and sort of died on top of the water. I am hoping it looks better by tomorrow and that the fish are okay.

The algae was dying in this photo due to the algae killer powder that we put in once Matthew cleaned out the pond. I did not think it would ever clear up.

March Garden Chores

March garden chores can include stirring compost into your raised beds. Weed garden beds first and then add the compost. Some gardeners add worms into their beds as one of many March garden chores.

Thursday, March 3, 2022 - March Garden Chores

This morning, the pond was clear and pretty.

Good Thursday morning. My housekeeper should be coming today. My assistant, Linda, is off today so I need to get to the store early and get things done. I need to move things around in the commercial refrigerator. Since my eggs were moved to the top shelf, I have not sold one dozen. I have a ton of them. No one is buying them because no one can see them. They are the whole reason we got the refrigerator.

I moved the 12 dozen eggs down two shelves and people could see them again.

It is 49° at 6am and it should be 76° today. I went out to look at the pond and feed the fish. It looks really good. All of the fish are gathered together up at the waterfall. I wonder why. I fed them but they did not take the food. I guess because it is still so chilly out.

Our outdoor guy is finally back from being sick and the newest of the outdoor guys started today so maybe he will come back again tomorrow. There are coops to be cleaned. Matt cleaned out the rabbit coop this morning. No new baby rabbits yet but very soon now.

I need to get over to the store and move my eggs and get going on those orders. It is already 8:30am.

I moved all 12 dozen eggs two shelves down and put the Pepsi up top. Today I sold the three oldest dozen eggs. Tomorrow, I will have 11 dozen as I got two dozen more eggs this evening. So if you need farm fresh eggs, come on out to the farm tomorrow and Saturday morning. I have plenty.

My housekeeper did not show up as she was burying her ex-husand today. Two weeks ago, she told me he had passed. Hopefully, she can come sometime soon to clean.

We had another job interview this afternoon. The candidate showed up and we did the interview. We like this candidate. She works at a local hospital and has to give her two week notice. Her daughter is our part time Saturday helper. So she is scheduled to start on Monday, March 21. She only wants to work 32 hours a week.

This afternoon, I came to the house and let the dogs out in the backyard. Then I noticed the back gate was wide open so I had to rush out and close it in the muddy yard that our outdoor people made when they watered and left the back gate open. We have a sign. I do not understand.

This is our gate. I put the signs on all of our gates two years ago because our workers kept leaving the gates open.

One of our current team members is going to start taking off on Fridays and working on Saturdays from now on at the store but this will not start until next week. This Saturday, another team member will work and help out. Hopefully, there will be nice weather so we will have a big crowd.

We now have pecan firewood, canned carrots, pickled carrots, dehydrated carrots, canned green beans, basil powder, basil oil, strawberry preserves, birdhouse gourds, luffa gourds, vegetable seedlings for spring planting, David's Garden Seeds® caps in green or black, pecans, chocolate covered pecans, pecan oil, pecan brittle, farm fresh eggs, and over 2,000 varieties of vegetable, fruit, herb, and flower seeds.

We had two families with children visit us today. They both got tours. One family bought 18 of our tomato seedlings from the greenhouse, our first seedling sale of the year.

The pond looks great and the fish were still over by the waterfall at the end of the day. I also saw two frogs in there.

While Matt and I were feeding the fish this evening, our neighbor from across the way came over to visit. She said a lot of her friends are talking about our TV commercial which she still has not seen.

FedEx missed the loading dock and came to the house but when I have asked them to bring my dog food from Chewy to our door they have said no.

The bottom box is very heavy and it is for the business, not us. FedEx said they will deliver only to our loading dock and now that it is a business package, they brought it to the house.

Our loading dock in the parking lot attached to our Production building has 3 delivery signs. How could they miss it and bring heavy stuff to the house?

After work, when I was in the house, FedEx came to the house and dropped some heavy seed packages on my front porch. She passed up the loading dock and signs and brought a heavy box that I cannot lift to the house. So tomorrow, one of the employees will have to come over and take it to the Production building.

March Garden Chores

March garden chores include cleaning up from last years if you did not do that in the fall. For me, March garden chores include dead heading my rosebushes since I still have not done that.

Also, for me, March garden chores include weeding the flower beds out in front of our Farm Store. There are weeds and also little zinnias growing in the flower beds. I will not pull up the zinnias but I do need to pull up the weeds. After the icy freezes we have had, I did not think anything would come up.

Other March garden chores include taking care of the plants in my greenhouse. Some need to be replanted while others need to be divided and put in other pots.

Friday, March 4, 2022 - March Garden Chores

Good Friday morning, Everyone! I have been in major foot and leg pain in the night. My arthritis is acting up big time. It is 6am and 60° so it was a warm night. It should hit 80° today.

Our outdoor crew needs to clean my chicken coop and guinea coop today. Josh and Gabriel were outside all day yesterday doing March garden chores, one of which is watering existing plants.

David just had me put together a Hardening Off document to hand to our spring customers so they know how to transplant their seedlings whether they buy them from us or grow their own. You can also read about Hardening Off Seedlings here.

Well, when we killed the algae two days ago, it took too much oxygen from the pond water. This morning, three fish are dead and the others are staying close to the falls, gasping for oxygen. I added chlorinator and new water and we scooped some of the water out. I don't know if that will be enough to save the others. I am pretty upset about it but I have done all I can do for the time being. So what did we learn? Algaecide does kill fish even when you only use 1/4 the recommended amount of it. So sad...It is all an experiment and this did not work.

We will add cleaning up the pond as more of our March garden chores. Also, Nacho and his new helper built three more raised beds along the driveway in the front so they did a lot of March garden chores. They also filled them with dirt and added the irrigation to them.

Well, we ended up losing five fish today, all koi. I am sad. It is now 5:15pm and I had to stay late because the roll of paper in the cash register was empty. The red light came on and I figured out how to change it. This is a fairly new cash register to us. It is part of the Shopify pay system. So I am going over the day. My feet and legs are killing me from all of the back and forth to and from the pond.

anymore snakes. Then we got the rest of the fish and they were fine. However, as the koi got bigger, they ate the waterlilies, causing us to get algae. We did not have an algae problem when the waterlilies were spread out all over the pond. Goldfish do not eat the waterlilies, just the koi. So there is a lot to figure out now logistically.

My bee sting is still hurting my jawline. I think the stinger is still in there. It is currently 80° and I need to go get eggs and take care of the animals out back.

Our outdoor guys started emptying the pond with buckets so we could put some fresh water in.

Then one remembered there was a sump pump in the back. That did it very efficiently. Talk about March garden chores if you have a garden pond!

The outdoor guys started emptying the pond with buckets. Then Josh said we had a sump pump in the back so he hooked that up and pumped a lot of water out. I added de-chlorinator and had fresh water flowing in from the hose. The fish finally started swimming around and they appear to be fine now, what is left of them.

The morning started out finding two floating. We can't find one and the other one, the giant yellow one, died during the process. So now we have the two original goldfish, one original koi and five of the newer koi. Out of 17 fish, we have eight. To be fair, the first five fish of the original batch of nine were killed by snakes. After I got the solar snake repellent, we did not had anymore snakes. Then we got the rest of the fish and they were fine. However, as the koi got bigger, they ate the waterlilies, causing us to get algae. We did not have an algae problem when the waterlilies were spread out all over the pond. Goldfish do not eat the waterlilies, just the koi. So there is a lot to figure out now logistically.

My bee sting is still hurting my jawline. I think the stinger is still in there. It is currently 80° and I need to go get eggs and take care of the animals out back.

I got another big egg haul.

Saturday, March 5, 2022 - March Garden Chores

Good Saturday morning! It is overcast but 65° so it should be a great day over at David's Garden Seeds®. We are set for business.

Early this morning, I did some March garden chores in my greenhouse. I picked eight herb plants and one mother-in-law tongue plant and cut off all of the dead or brown parts and took them to the store.

We set the plants out and I sold three, a mint, a thyme, and a rosemary. Everybody wants plants unless you have them. Then they don't. We sold a lot of eggs and canned foods as well as seeds. Even sold some rabbit manure, which is great for the garden. It doesn't burn plants. We pulled and closed a lot of orders. Because of the overcast day, we had less than we normally have on Saturdays but there was still a good amount of people and I think we gave seven tours. The temperature got up to around 85° but there was a lot of wind.

I had Matthew, Angelica, and Esme to help me throughout the day. I had 11 dozen eggs and I sold all but four so I was pleased.

The last customer left at 4:20pm. There is always a final straggler who comes to shop just before 4pm. The gates close promptly at 4pm so I had to go outside and let the last shoppers and two of my assistants out. Then I went out back to take care of the animals. I got 26 eggs.

Apple blossoms on one of my apple trees.

Cherry blossoms are so pretty. Only one of my cherry trees is blossoming. The cold is coming next week again.

I walked into the orchard to see all of the beautiful apple blossoms and cherry blossoms as well as bees and butterflies pollinating them. All of my citrus trees look dead but possibly some are still alive. From now on, citrus will stay in buckets in the greenhouse. In the upcoming week, we will need to do more March garden chores as the freezing temperatures are coming back.

The grape vines have not come to life yet. The fig trees look completely dead.

Our next door neighbors got a beautiful horse today.

I have always wanted a horse. Our next door neighbors are now living one of my dreams. Isn't he pretty?

The Svengoolie movie was Dracula's Daughter and they did not play our commercial at all last night. David says it gets played three days a month. Today was the first Saturday of the month so I wonder why they didn't play it. It was a strange movie. I fell asleep and missed the end.

Sunday, March 6, 2022 - March Garden Chores

Good Sunday morning! It was 69° when I woke up. It is currently 76° at 10:30am. The skies are cloudy and there is a good breeze.

I finally did some March garden chores today. I dead headed my roses today and I transplanted a mini rose from the backyard to the rose bed. The mini rose turned out to be three mini rose plants all planted together. I replanted them in three separate areas inside of the rose bed out in front of our home.

This is what rosebushes that need to be deadheaded look like--ugly. One of the March garden chores I did today was deadhead my roses. I also transplanted three mini rosebushes.

Use some good clippers and cut off the dead stems.

Then I went inside to work on David's Garden Seeds® on the computer and to fold about eight loads of laundry that have built up all week long.

Our sweet neighbor, Carolyn, called at 12:30pm and wanted me to meet her at our gate. I did and she had baked us a delicious chocolate meringue pie! What a sweetheart she is!

At 2pm today, our accountant is coming out to the farm to do our taxes. How depressing! I hate tax time. I know, a lot of you love it because you get nice refunds. We find out how much more we have to pay after paying all year long. Tax time for businesses is not fun!

Our accountant did not show up until after 5pm. We thought our tax bill would be more but it was less than we thought. After all of that unpleasantness, we gave George a tour since we have added a lot since the last time he was out here on the farm.

George and David out by the greenhouse after our 2021 taxes were figured out. We gave him a tour so he could see all of the changes.

Starting in the coming week, I am going to be in the store less and outside tending to plants and working in the greenhouse more. There is just too much not getting done. Our team members will need to step up more as I get more things done outside of the store.

Well, it was 5:03pm before the accountant got here. During the afternoon, I did a lot of laundry, washed out a tub and washed the shower curtain and bath mat and did a lot of other chores.

One of our silly chickens is laying her eggs in the chicken's drinking water each day. Of course, the egg is no good if it goes in cold, dirty water because the cold water passes through the porous egg shell. You have to wash eggs in hot water, not cold so it does not pass through.

We had two brand new baby bunnies, but this morning, one was dead. So sad.

Most of our orchard is looking good except some of the citrus trees are totally dead and we are supposed to have another freeze this coming Friday. Unbelievable. Another of the March garden chores to be done is to trim dead parts off of orchard trees if you have not done that yet.

I have more March garden chores. First, I have a flower bed in the backyard that needs to be cleaned out of old dead flowers. I cannot believe I have not done that yet. Second, I have to clean up some of the plants in my greenhouse and get them fixed up and ready to sell.

I picked out a bunch of seeds to plant in my beds. We will be building more garden beds around the property so that is more March garden chores. Yes, March garden chores include building new raised beds if you don't have enough.

Sunset with our truck in the driveway.

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