Welcome to Magnolia Gardens
April 2026 Update
April 22, 2026 - I was able to get to the cold crop beds this afternoon and do some much needed weeding. I was surprised by how much the broccoli, collards and cabbage have grown in the last few days. I found two cabbage worms on some broccoli, despite my netting, but all the other plants seem do be doing fine. I also planted 10 Chieftain potatoes and 10 Eva potatoes. This finishes up the potato plantings. I was a bit concerned with the Norland Red potatoes, which had some wilted leaves due to the early morning front on Monday.
Inside I transplanted some peppers as they have come along extremely well. The tomato seedlings are almost a foot tall, basil, parsley, cukes and pickles are all now showing real leaves.
This next week looks to be fairly cool, meaning that the peppers, tomatoes and basil will stay inside for a while longer.
I will be able to do some more weeding and spreading of mulch, in hopes of keeping the weeds under control.
April 28, 2026 - Although the weather was cool, compared to how it was a week ago, I was able to continue doing some prep work, some weeding and some other garden chores in anticipation of warmer weather coming soon. The biggest issue has been keeping the “green worms” off the broccoli and cabbage, despite these vegetables being covered by netting. So far, I have found about 14 of these sneaky worms, as they are the same color as the broccoli leaves. I also spotted two good sized rabbits hopping around the backyard, not at all concerned that I was walking towards them, until the very last moment, when they took off for the pond area. My tomatoes, cukes, pickles, basil and parsley have all been outside during the day, acclimating to the outdoors, so they will not suffer transplant damage. Some of the tomatoes have very strong stems and are beginning to flower. I have prepped the area where they will grow, putting down plastic to keep weeks away and make the soil warmer. Finally, the potatoes are beginning to show leaves. The first ones out of the box, Norland Red, had some frost damage, but new leaves are already coming up again.
Inside I transplanted some peppers as they have come along extremely well. The tomato seedlings are almost a foot tall, basil, parsley, cukes and pickles are all now showing real leaves.
This next week looks to be fairly cool, meaning that the peppers, tomatoes and basil will stay inside for a while longer.
I will be able to do some more weeding and spreading of mulch, in hopes of keeping the weeds under control.
April 28, 2026 - Although the weather was cool, compared to how it was a week ago, I was able to continue doing some prep work, some weeding and some other garden chores in anticipation of warmer weather coming soon. The biggest issue has been keeping the “green worms” off the broccoli and cabbage, despite these vegetables being covered by netting. So far, I have found about 14 of these sneaky worms, as they are the same color as the broccoli leaves. I also spotted two good sized rabbits hopping around the backyard, not at all concerned that I was walking towards them, until the very last moment, when they took off for the pond area. My tomatoes, cukes, pickles, basil and parsley have all been outside during the day, acclimating to the outdoors, so they will not suffer transplant damage. Some of the tomatoes have very strong stems and are beginning to flower. I have prepped the area where they will grow, putting down plastic to keep weeks away and make the soil warmer. Finally, the potatoes are beginning to show leaves. The first ones out of the box, Norland Red, had some frost damage, but new leaves are already coming up again.
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Blooming Magnolia treesApril 10 - It seems as if, perhaps, the freezing winds from the northwest have subsided some, bringing some much needed warmer night temperatures. All the cold crops planted over the last few weeks have survived the cold snap “frost on the grass” . In the last two days I have done more work around the yard, fixing the netting, weeding and planting. Yesterday I planted 86 more onions and 18 lettuce seedlings (mostly Nevada). Today, I cultivated the potato patch area with my new Ego cultivator, as I got tired of trying to get my Mantis tiller to work properly. It probably needs the carburetor cleaned out, but I don’t like the fact I have to keep cranking the pull line to try and start the engine. The Ego cultivator is cordless, starts right up and digs down nicely, saving me from going on my hands and knees pulling out weeds, one by one.
I planted 10 potatoes from the last of the 50 lb potatoes I bought at Byler’s last November. We will see if they grow. I still have two more rows of potatoes to put in, Eva and Alaska, I think it is called. I have tilled those two rows, so they will go in soon. -
Apple pieMy second attempt at making a home made apple pie. This one weighed 6 lbs and it took 3 days to disappear. -
Ego cultivatorApril 12 - Celebrity tomatoes seeded on March 23 were transplanted into solo cups on April 12 (4). More tomatoes will be transplanted tomorrow.
April 15 - Hot times in Magnolia as temperatures went up over 90º for the last two days. I was able to spread mulch over the rocks around the property and bought one more yard as I was running out of mulch. Watering is necessary, as the veggies are growing rapidly.
April 18, 2026 - I started basil, parsley, some more tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce in the sunroom. -
Campari tomatoesA collection of Campari tomatoes grown in my sunroom starting December 26, 2025
My Walking History
Walking Log
I started keeping track of my daily walking miles since May 2, 2021. The spreadsheet provides a list of the miles by week, month and year.
Daily Updates:
04-29-2026
Weather in Magnolia, Delaware
John B. Lindale house, “peach baron” of Magnolia, Delaware. The farmhouse is of a Victorian design built in 1886. Magnolia is called the “Center of the Universe”.
A Collection of March, 2026 photos
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Plastic and netting experiment to protect broccoli plants -
Prepping second “greenhouse” for collards and cabbage -
12 broccoli plants going in, waiting on clips for netting -
Magnolia tree starting to bloom -
My first Campari tomatoes, started late December
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Lots of Campari tomatoes in the sunroom
There is still a lot of clearing of weeds to do prior to planting, but the strawberries are free of weeds for the most part. This will be the first time I have tried plastic to help slow down weeds.
