September 30, 2009

Novel Workplan Spreadsheet

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From quick word count calculations all the way through final editing process, this is a year-long planning tool to take you all the way through editing. I'll most likely be making some changes myself as time goes on, but it's a bit of an outgrowth of the old word count schedule spreadsheets. This sheet has a writing count, but then walks through various stages of a revision process with the schedule and helps to keep you on track with weekday or every day scheduling capabilities, etc. Hope you enjoy it. As always, leave any comments you have if you have questions or find bugs. Format is Microsoft Excel 2007 .xlsx file.

September 29, 2009

Bell peppers!!!


Some of the blooms falling off now and leaving small peppers behind. Here they come!!!

September 24, 2009

Harvest - Tomato

Got our one tomato off the vine last night. It's a little bit green still, but good enough to finish ripening on the counter instead of outside where the bugs can get to it.

Blooming - Bell Peppers


Bonnie Green Bell Peppers blooming this morning - the red ones have been blooming for a week now, the green ones just noticed this budding bloom this morning.

September 23, 2009

Blooming - Jalapenos

Jalapeno plant blooming like crazy this week.Looks like two peppers from a prior bloom are growing, but I have a whole bunch of blooms on it this week.

Blooming - Heatwave Tomatoes

Have two Heatwave tomato plants caged in the back yard - one of them had a small tomato on it when we planted it (you can see a hint of red through the leaves). The other has had a bit more vigorous growth and is now flowering (see small yellow flowers in foreground). Flowers have been around for about a week. Will see how long it takes for new tomatoes to appear.

Have had a few days of cool and wet weather, so not sure if that is going to affect the plants at all.

September 22, 2009

Current Vegetables/Fruits/Herbs

Since I didn't have this journal started by the time I planted these, I don't know the exact planting dates. But I'll give some high level guesses as to when we planted what we've got growing. Sorry for the dark pictures, didn't have enough light this evening. Also - missing pictures probably have their own post...

Herbs:
Basil - planted in Spring 2009 - having trouble of late - will die out and need to be replanted in 2010 (below in pot)
Oregano - planted 2007 (below in pot)
Rosemary - planted 2007 (below in pot)
Sage - planted 2007 (below in pot)
Thyme - planted 2007 (below in pot)

Lavender - planted 2007 (trimmed way back in Spring 2009)




Vegetables/Fruits:
Jalapeno Peppers - Planted Spring 2009
Red Bell Peppers - Planted August 2009
Green Bell Peppers - Planted August 2009
Heatwave Tomatoes - Planted August 2009
Yellow Onions - Planted 9/20/2009
Turnip Greens - Planted August 2009

Simpson's Green Leaf Lettuce - Planted September 2009

Radishes - Planted September 2009

Broccoli - Planted August 2009

Butternut Squash - Planted August 2009

Citrus:
Navel Oranges - I think the fruits showed up around May

Satsuma Mandarin Oranges

Improved Meyer Lemons - existing fruits in May
Key Limes
All Citrus Trees planted in 2007

Other Plants:
Cascade Hops - planted rhizome Spring 2009

Spring Planning

March

none yet

April

none yet

May

none yet

Summer Planning

June

none yet

July

none yet

August

none yet

September 21, 2009

Winter Planning

December:

none yet

January:
Planting:
Perhaps grow a pineapple?
Grow Pineapple Link

February:
none yet

Fall Planning

September:
None left this year

October:
Planting:
Garlic and Pansies.

Other:
Clean, drill holes, and prep large pot for spring

November:

Other:
Bring in citrus trees before first frost

Texas A&M Horticulture Page

Click for Link

Link to Texas A&M's resources for Texas gardeners. Pretty thorough with various items.

Neil Sperry

Click for Link

The definitive source for Texas gardeners for years, Neil Sperry is host of a weekend radio show in North Texas and has magazines, etc. all geared towards Texas gardening.

Local Harvest

Click for Link

Website that directs you to local agriculture and farming resources - local CSAs and producers.

Squeezepenny Sustainable Farm

Click For Link
Local McKinney, Texas based CSA that offers four twelve week produce and agriculture plans to local North Dallas area residents. Pickup locations in Plano, Frisco, McKinney, and Allen.

Very interesting to me, though I see some duplication with stuff I would like to grow myself, this could be a good supplement.

Onions

Planted some texas sweet onions this weekend (9/20/2009) along the north side of the house (in the grotto) and some in the flower bed in back by the greens.

Garden Journal

I've been keeping random notes on things for a while, so I thought I would actually start to write stuff down so that I can keep track of what goes on with flowers and vegetables and all sorts of stuff in the garden. I also can use this to keep a nice consolidated set of resources for myself and others on Texas gardening...

September 20, 2009

NaNoWriMo Report Card 2009

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Updated for 2009 - not a lot of new bells and whistles, though I intend to put some new stuff out for this NaNoWriMo as well...Keep your eyes peeled. This is my version of the original report card (created by Erik Benson) with a few enhancements.

Please notify me or leave a comment if you have any issues with the spreadsheet.

September 16, 2009

45ish days until NaNoWriMo

So, while this year I am trying to actually build a few things out (editing one novel, writing another one of a longer length outside of November), I can't neglect NaNoWriMo, which is coming up in a mere 45 days or so.

Keep your eyes peeled, as I will, most likely, update my tracking sheets (for myself if nothing else) and will look for ways to help out where I can. Unfortunately the change in the way I host the site is not convenient for some of the nifty tools I used to provide, but I'll see if there are things I can do otherwise.... utilizing Google and whatnot where I can I may have some neat ideas.

In the meantime, I'll devote a good part of my brainstorming sessions to NaNoPlanning....