Author Topic: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021  (Read 48633 times)

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #100 on: February 17, 2021, 03:48:26 AM »
Is anyone else trying to avoid peat?

I went to buy potting soil today to gear up for seed starting in a week or two and couldn't find anything without peat at my local garden center or the big box stores. sigh. I finally bought some mushroom compost and coconut coir and decided to mix my own. I'm even more committed to using my compost pile this year so I don't have the same problem next spring. I hate buying dirt and leaf mulch when I could be making my own.

Anyone have a favorite on the counter compost container?

Digging up peat is cheaper than creating good soil, so almost every producer does it. Using peat is bad for the environment, as peat is a long term carbon storage if you leave it undisturbed. I have had trouble buying soil without peat. But once we bought a whole truckload from a company that made soil from compost. I think they collected from the local garbage delivery, because I found some big metal things in it. But otherwise it was soil without peat. Having your own composting bin works very well and produces nice soil. The stuff I recently bought in a bag was called potting soil and stored beside the seeds. That didn't contain big chunks of peat.

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #101 on: February 17, 2021, 05:25:42 AM »
Anyone have a favorite on the counter compost container?

We've had this stainless steel bin for about 15 years -- still looks great.  It's simple and sturdy -- which is good if you're like me, and sometimes bang it on the edge of the outdoor bin while you're emptying it. 

https://www.gardeners.com/buy/brushed-stainless-steel-compost-pail/38-560.html?utm_campaign=PLA&utm_medium=googleshopping&utm_source=google&SC=GGLPLA&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvfiK7fPw7gIVC7LICh1_9gzcEAQYESABEgLN1vD_BwE

It's a one gallon container.  I wish it was just a touch bigger, maybe 1.5 gallon, but that is a small complaint.  All around it was a great buy. 
« Last Edit: February 17, 2021, 03:24:45 PM by Trifele »

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #102 on: February 17, 2021, 07:34:47 AM »
It is becoming more common here to find 'peatless' triple mix now.  We have very little peat so it is very expensive. People are now starting to consider it a now renewable resource because it takes so damn long to form.  Peat moss is different and some soil mixes are labeling the organic contents more clearly. Compost is much more readily and inexpensively available.

sixwings

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #103 on: February 17, 2021, 09:52:28 AM »
Yeah I'm looking to fill up my garden beds I'm building without peat, peat mining in northern canada just wrecks very sensitive and important eco-systems. Peatlands are the most carbon rich terrestial eco-system on earth, it locks away more carbon forests. We need to keep that stuff in the ground. I think just a bunch of compost and maybe some logs or something in the bottom will be just fine for me.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #104 on: February 17, 2021, 09:59:16 AM »
Trying to stay peat free, although it is more expensive. But I have bought some peat based seed mix the last few weeks, because everything outside was frozen solid, and all shops  (except for food and medicin) were closed due to covid. The garden centers are open again now, but I need to plan better for next year.

A problem with the peat free soil is that a lot are based on wood, which can lead to nitrogen deficiency.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #105 on: February 17, 2021, 10:05:39 AM »
Arugula germinates quickly - sown on the evening of the 15th - up this morning.

well rotted manure will take care of the nitrogen deficiency.  I find most seed starter mixes don't have long lasting fertility so I started adding a red hen fertilizer pellets to the 4" pots at the six week mark and noticed quite a difference in leaf colour almost immediately.

Roots&Wings

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #106 on: February 17, 2021, 01:34:56 PM »
Is anyone else trying to avoid peat?

I went to buy potting soil today to gear up for seed starting in a week or two and couldn't find anything without peat at my local garden center or the big box stores. sigh. I finally bought some mushroom compost and coconut coir and decided to mix my own. I'm even more committed to using my compost pile this year so I don't have the same problem next spring. I hate buying dirt and leaf mulch when I could be making my own.

Anyone have a favorite on the counter compost container?

I have an old countertop compost bin from IKEA, I guess this is the current version: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/hallbar-bin-with-lid-light-gray-90432194/ (this new one isn't overly attractive but looks functional) My preference would be glass for easier cleaning but it works fine.

That's good you're avoiding peat! I just dig soil from my yard for potting and bury kitchen food scraps directly, it makes great soil.

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #107 on: February 18, 2021, 01:27:56 AM »
Yes -- also avoiding peat here.  I just use whatever for starting plants -- mix garden soil with compost, break it up fine, pick out the critters before I bring it inside the house haha. 

Hey I just noticed yesterday that my garlic is up about an inch!  I planted two different kinds in the late fall, almost a month later than I should have.  I was curious to see what they would do.  Looks like they got right to work and are "on schedule" for garlic.  We have some ice and cold temps coming, but I don't imagine that would hurt garlic. 

Roots&Wings

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #108 on: February 19, 2021, 05:24:31 AM »
Speaking of peat, how do you acidify soil? e.g for blueberries. Organic sulfur?

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #109 on: February 19, 2021, 05:42:50 AM »
Speaking of peat, how do you acidify soil? e.g for blueberries. Organic sulfur?

Yep, I use a sulfur amendment.  I also mix composted pine needles into the soil for what it's worth. 

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #110 on: February 19, 2021, 07:22:11 AM »
Baby photos....
arugula, kale, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, basil

Arugula breaks germination in under 48 hours.  Still waiting to see how the oldest herb seed do.

Roots&Wings

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #111 on: February 19, 2021, 10:42:55 AM »
Speaking of peat, how do you acidify soil? e.g for blueberries. Organic sulfur?

Yep, I use a sulfur amendment.  I also mix composted pine needles into the soil for what it's worth.

Thanks @Trifele ! Found a sulfur amendment online at Lowes. Also ordered a soil pH test meter ($7), feeling like quite the plant geek :) But I want to get things right for the blueberries, proper prep and acidity is key!

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #112 on: February 19, 2021, 01:08:06 PM »
We just bought a house on 2.5 wooded acres so I am waiting for spring to see what kind of sunlight exposure I get and where to determine plantings. First order will be getting my compost pile established.... I do have a small pond with 2 islands that will end up planted in ferns and other waterloving plants.

Rosy

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #113 on: February 20, 2021, 06:14:39 PM »
Thx so much for continuing the garden thread in 2021 @Trifele

I was definitely over-ambitious last year, but I am benefitting nicely this year.

Tomatoes
I have six mystery tomatoes (from the compost pile that I transferred into big pots), three of them already producing like crazy and the other three looking like they will soon. 
The two Roma tomatoes I picked up as plantlings from the nursery are in full production too - we've just had our first batch of tomato sauce.
The cherry tomatoes are disappearing into Mr. R's lunch bags and the weekend omelets.

Unless I can get a hold of Seminole tomato seeds I'm already done - or - maybe I'll try one of the wild varieties I ordered seeds for last year.
Ten tomato plants for two people... a good thing all six of the African Blue Basil bushes are in full bloom buzzing with bees.

I definitely got caught up in the garden fever last year.
This year I'm concentrating on completing the many left-over projects, undoing what didn't work last year and tweaking my garden plans.
Next week will be my seed week - veggies and flowers. Tons of clean-up, weeding and cutting...

My first Kale - Russian Red, is absolutely beautiful, decorative blue and also some purplish leaves, very tasty in soup and salads.
Hopefully it will last into May.
Now I just need to figure out how to make Kale Chips.

All the herbs that I seeded in autumn are half-grown now and looking happy. Most are in pots, but several are living in the garden for the first time which is amazing. Looking forward to my own Chamomile tea harvest.
One of the rare medicinal plants practically naturalized in my garden, so I took some babies with the intention to maybe sell them later.

We love celery. I am already harvesting celery leaves for my soups and roasts - first time grown from seed, I'm impressed - everybody survived, I'll have enough for all year. I'll sow the rest of my celery seeds during fall gardening.

All the dill seeds are coming up too - from the seeds that I saved last year and planted in late January.
More nasturtiums, zinnias, and lettuce to be planted next week. One can never have enough nasturtiums or zinnias:).
Both my lemon verbena are sprouting new leaves and the lemon balm survived in the ground for the first time.
A (new to me) creeping Rosemary variety I planted in late summer turned out to have an intense flavor and wonder of wonders seems to like its spot.
A rooted cutting of my old Rosemary is struggling along a bit, maybe I should have planted it in a pot first.

Experiments
A new more delicate-looking fern leafed Parsley variety - easy to grow, looks attractive - now all I have to do is taste test:).
Mandarin scented (lemon) balm - didn't make it, but somehow I now have a minty lemon balm:).
I will be trying out some strange and hopefully wonderfully weird seeds again - overall I had a 70/30 success rate last year - not bad.

Successes
My two new plant additions two blue Salvias (will be five-foot tall and wide) and two Australian Mint Bushes were a fantastic choice - heat lovers extraordinaire. The dwarf Moringa from seed is doing well, I'm thinking of leaving it in the pot so I can move it around the garden. 

Failures
I killed a few things, cucumbers and melons always get eaten by UFOs and I was very sad that all three of my flowering tree seedlings died of a wasting disease. One day they looked fine and the next they started to dwindle away to nothing.
I'm done with cucumbers and melons forever - boo!
A couple of things never showed up at all - but who knows maybe they will pop up one day this spring.

Oh and the Papaya harvest is sweet and ongoing.

Hang in there in the frozen Tundra of the North - spring is just around the corner - HAPPY GARDENING everyone!

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #114 on: February 21, 2021, 02:25:23 AM »
Last year, I tried to grow lovage from seeds and failed as none of the seeds sprouted. This year, I put a lot of seeds (from the same box) on wet kitchen paper in a closed box on a warm floor. Now half of the seeds have sprouted a root. That was more than I needed, as I hoped 1 of 2 would sprout. Today I put all of them in a pot with soil under plastic, still on a warm floor. And we'll see how many will grow a plant. If there are too many, I will give them away on the local facebook group.

My chili peppers have developed their second leaves. Things are progressing slowly, but there isn't much daylight to speak of. The last few days have been greyish and the plants are standing in front of a kitchen window without extra light.

The kaffir lime seeds that I tried to grow on wet kitchen paper are doing as badly as the ones that I tried to grow in a pot. No roots are developing at all.

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #115 on: February 21, 2021, 02:44:40 AM »
Great updates @Rosy and @Linea_Norway!  Rosy you are letting all of us northern gardeners live vicariously -- thanks!

Things are mostly still brown here, with overnight lows about 23 F/-5 C.  But there are a few intrepid late winter/early spring things that are starting, like these crocus (croci?).  They make me happy every time I look at them:

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #116 on: February 21, 2021, 03:07:36 AM »
Wow @TassieFI your garden sounds super productive!  I'm sorry you have to start over soon at a place with just ornamentals.  That happened to me too five years ago.  But you'll have time to plan exactly how you want to do things!  And the timing is pretty good, right?  Instead of moving in, say, September or something?


Rosy

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #117 on: February 22, 2021, 01:05:57 PM »
Great updates @Rosy and @Linea_Norway!  Rosy you are letting all of us northern gardeners live vicariously -- thanks!

Things are mostly still brown here, with overnight lows about 23 F/-5 C.  But there are a few intrepid late winter/early spring things that are starting, like these crocus (croci?).  They make me happy every time I look at them:

I do miss all the spring bulbs - nothing like seeing the first green shoot poke through the snow. I used to walk out there every morning before work with my steaming hot cup of coffee ignoring the bitter cold, marveling at the wonders of mother nature.

Now I have Amaryllis:) and no more snow or work:), not sure which color my Amaryllis will be yet, a gift from my new neighbor. I think they bloom around Easter. No tulips here unless you buy some in a pot and watch it die in about three days.
I was so thrilled when I managed to grow some Chinese forget-me-nots (they do OK) - another favorite taken for granted in my spring garden in Germany.

I am happy that our climate at least allows us to plant violas (they are grown in cooler parts of the state) - every spring garden needs some Johnny Jump-Ups, I absolutely love the happy faces of the tri-color. Sadly I've never had any luck trying to grow them from seed and none ever come back either.

So violas have become part of my annual spring garden budget - although, I spotted a seedling this morning that looks like a viola - only bought and seeded five different packs in the fall and I'll try again this spring, I refuse to give up:), it's only been about 25 years.
Can't wait to see what color and variety it is. Maybe it is the Corsican Blue since that is the only new variety I tried last time. That means I will need to visit my garden center before they are all sold out of tri-color and Mr. R's favorite, orange (really?:) violas.

I'm not a fan of the big pansies, but I do admire them in other people's gardens. Florida actually has a small, wild, native, blue or white scented viola but it is hard to come by and I killed mine after three years. It is a shade lover. I was so upset I never tried finding one again.
Yes, well - plant addict.
 
We cleaned up about 25% of the veggie garden this weekend - yay, progress!
I had four baby geraniums that I had divided in the fall.
Now I have three new big red geraniums in one area and another red one planted with blue trailing flowers in the center of the veggie garden.
Total cost - one packet of flower seeds, $2 and some fresh soil to top off my own homemade with compost, maybe $3 worth plus some free fertilizer I scored online.
Five bucks - result: three fully planted big window boxes and one 16 inch pot centerpiece replanted. Not bad!

This morning I deep watered, weeded the remaining pots, thinned out/transplanted my celery which it didn't seem to mind too much.
So tripled the celery output - very satisfying.
Discovered a couple of lettuce and a couple of mystery plants - the last batch of seedlings never got any identifying markers last year:).

Sorted my seeds and made an overall planting plan for this year's spring garden.
Yesterday I cut back one of my basil and collected some African Blue basil cuttings for rooting. Today I set them all up wrapped in paper towels in empty spice jars. Hopefully, that will work as well as it did last year.
Soaking some Brugmansia seeds as I write this - golden yellow, scented Angel Trumpet and a white unscented one.

Other than that I plan to do some general putzing about (I love that word:) in the garden this afternoon, taking stock and moving stuff around.
HAPPINESS.....

Did I mention that I am drooling over the Logee's plant catalog? - I really shouldn't... but maybe, just one or two?

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #118 on: February 23, 2021, 08:16:23 AM »
Man I am jealous of those with land in warmer climes. 

I was so excited to see my broadfork was on it's way to me from Quebec.  And a zipper hoe.  Then I checked out Wm Dam Seeds.  They updated their website covid update.  Pick up orders are inconvenient and soil is not going to be in stock until mid-March.  Oh how I wish I hadn't bundled my order.  And had opted for pick up.  I

But interesting:  They had more seed orders in January 2021 than all 2019.  Wow.  2020 was a good year for seed production, so they think they have stock to meet all their orders, but packing materials, staffing, space to pack, accessories and materials, such as seed starting mix - are in shorter supply.

I was also planning on using paper pots to start onions, beets, beans and greens this year for my storage crops.  I arranged with a market gardener friend to use their stretchers and dibbler, put I would need to purchase the seedling trays and liners and buy some of their paper chains.  However, the demand is so high, the company is not shipping to Canada.  Direct from the paper pot co is the only way to get the projects in smaller quantities.  And even the smallest quantity is still a large commitment to the system.  And all my lighting is set up for the slightly smaller size of the greenhouse standard.  And I wouldn't be using this system for 100% of my seed starting - only about 30%. 

So then I went down a research rabbit hole
- soil blockers.
- Soil blockers soil recipe without peat moss.
- Coir fibre
- Canadian suppliers of the soil block makers.

Lee Valley is supposed to get stock after March 19 but they also stock coconut coir blocks.
Johnny Seeds is not taking home gardener orders right now - and anyhow, the blockers are not in stock.

Looks like I need to just sit tight a little longer.  In the meantime I am scheming a method of making troughs of soil divided with cardboard to plant a double row of onion seeds at the final spacing.  Three cardboard troughs would sit lengthwise in the open mesh trays.  I would get three rows of onions in each trough.  To plant out:  dig a row at the width and depth of one trough. Lift trough from tray. Place along the edge of the row. Fold down the side of cardboard. Use a wood plank the length of the trough to slide the whole soil mass into the row.  Hopefully that will be relatively easy to plant a "sod" of onion seedlings enmass instead of the single seedling torture of last year.

But none of this can happen until I get my soil and seeds.......

Nothing happening in the greenhouse, but my first flat of seedlings is mostly coming along well.  I need to pot up the cabbage.  But alas no soil. 





RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #119 on: February 23, 2021, 11:52:37 AM »
I have 3 peppers up, and the dwarf tomatoes (wow they are vigorous, 9 planted, 9 up).  And the clementine seedlings.  Everything else is on hold.  As it should be, it snowed yesterday, it is snowing now.  Winter in Ottawa.  Trivia, did you know Ottawa and Moscow have about the same bad winter weather?  They could have filmed Dr. Zhivago here.    ;-)

I check my mail once a week - today is the day.  I wonder if any more seed orders are in?  I ordered big stuff from W. Damm (row cover) so not expecting anything from them.  Stokes has sent an email that they are preparing my order but not one that it has shipped.  So all I expect in the mail is tax stuff.  My 2 really small seed companies did much better.

@Frugal Lizard, I have seen some You-tube videos where the onions were planted really close together, several per small pot, and their roots came apart really easily at transplanting time.  Given the size of your crop that may not work for you, but it is what I am going to do.  There is only so much window space and I am not planning any grow lights at the moment.  My onions from sets didn't do that well last year, and really I have never had great results from sets, so I am trying from seed this year.  Hmm, do the tomatoes or the onions get the 1L cream cartons?  Those let my plants grow the deepest roots, deeper than any of my planting-on pots.  Of course this year I have a garden bed ready for them, last year at onion seed planting time the powers that be were debating whether to even allow the community gardens to open.

flyingaway

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #120 on: February 23, 2021, 12:34:10 PM »
I like to grow fruit trees. Currently I have some Asian pears trees. I would like to graft some apple trees to my pear trees so that they produce pears and apples on the same trees.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #121 on: February 23, 2021, 12:52:51 PM »
transplanting 2-3 hundred tiny onion and leek seedlings tested me last year! Was hoping that I could do something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHThKr2swhc but with onions. and in shorter lengths so I can just slide them sideways into the row.

Rosy

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #122 on: February 23, 2021, 02:11:02 PM »
Incrementally I am testing perennial veggies in my new garden area but it takes a lot of effort and attention - seeding in place is really tricky, so I wanted some dissolving pots for this year, I forgot I even bought them at the dollar store and a starter set at Big Lots on clearance.

I think I have just enough pots for
1. Dwarf Tamarillo (tree) - tried to seed in fall but none came up, so this is round two, maybe they will like spring weather better or the fall one will pop up.
2. Edible Hibiscus - two kinds, tried in the fall, big fat fail.
3. Olive Tree

These will all go into the new garden area (first in pots then into the ground).
4. Perennial Spinach
5. Schwartzenbeeren - (a type of black Berry)
6. Amaranth = Chinese Spinach with attractive leaves
7. Hyssop  (Apache Sunset) - Rosemary (French Heirloom)
8. Parsnip (Parsley-Hamburg Rooted) and I might try carrots - my boxes are not deep enough so the ground it is.
9. Cardoon - I tried Artichoke in the past but it is too hot here and I had no seeds for fall, but I read Cardoon (a wild Artichoke) might be more forgiving.
10. Kale (Dinosaur) - not sure what to expect there, but willing to give it a whirl.

I may have just enough compost ready for these areas.
I already cleaned up the two beds I want to plant first back in January and mulched both beds with leaves.
The third bed needs prep/weeding and the fourth bed in the back is fine, it will just be planted in one small area, the rest is either planted already or I need good access to harvest bananas and papayas.

Peanuts will go into the ground elsewhere.
Herbs and flowers will be direct sowed here and there or go to live in larger pots in the potager instead.
The goal is to reach a point where I've got enough goodies in the garden growing all on its own.

That still leaves me with plenty of different veggie seeds to plant in the fall. Next year I'll take stock and only replant our surviving favorites.
This spring I'm again trying out as many different herbs and flowers as I can find time and room for. 

I accidentally discovered Valerian last year - where has this been all my life? I'm officially in love - I googled different Valerian varieties and ordered seeds for all. The Valerian and some interesting Zinnia and Cosmos varieties I found last year are what I am most looking forward to as hopefully perennial flowers - we will see.

One of my white salvias (seeds) from last year already turned out to be a winner - a true perennial and practically non-stop bloomer, incredibly heat tolerant. It stayed green and blooming for an entire year.

I still have a few rare salvia seeds that I haven't tried yet from a couple of years ago and I'm giving the Paradiso Mix-Echinacea from Baker Creek a try this year. Next up for seeding is a scented sweet pea and climbing nasturtiums.
I'm marking my calendar to sow some sunflower seeds later in the year I missed the planting timeframe the past two years.

Anyway, that is my garden plan for 2021 plus a ton of garden clean-up, weeding, cutting, and maintenance for the next two months.

Wishing you all great garden weather or at least some drool-worthy catalogs that actually deliver.
...which reminds me I need to order gravel and border stones from Lowes for delivery...

Rosy

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #123 on: February 23, 2021, 02:31:25 PM »
transplanting 2-3 hundred tiny onion and leek seedlings tested me last year! Was hoping that I could do something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHThKr2swhc but with onions. and in shorter lengths so I can just slide them sideways into the row.

Ah, that explains why my peas were not as happy as they could have been - I only planted three to six seeds in one very large window box:).
Mr. R. will be very happy with the next pea crop in the fall.
I was already subscribed but hadn't seen this video yet. Tidy gardens like that scare me:) but I did intuitively give them some branches at the very bottom and a trellis of course:).
I'm definitely not a great veggie gardener but we do like peas.

The rain gutters might work very well in shorter lengths for your onions. You could try some extra seeds too for a larger harvest like suggested.

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #124 on: February 23, 2021, 03:03:03 PM »
transplanting 2-3 hundred tiny onion and leek seedlings tested me last year! Was hoping that I could do something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHThKr2swhc but with onions. and in shorter lengths so I can just slide them sideways into the row.

Great video @Frugal Lizard!  Thanks.  Interesting watching him set up the A frame.  And important to know how tall your pea variety is going to get.  I was caught off guard by my sugar snaps in the fall.  I had set up a hardware cloth fence with 7 foot steel t posts, and it wasn’t big enough.  The vines wanted more height (!) and got very heavy. This spring I’ll be using 10 foot T posts with the hardware cloth.  If that doesn’t satisfy them, then I’m out of ideas haha.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #125 on: February 23, 2021, 03:48:42 PM »
You could make an arch/tunnel and let them grow up and over.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #126 on: February 23, 2021, 05:25:54 PM »
Huw Richards has a great gardening YouTube channel.  Since he is in Wales a lot doesn't apply here, but I wish I had brought that left-over piece of gutter in my garage to the apartment.  Who knew pea planting could be so easy on the back?

I ordered all shorter peas this year since I knew I couldn't get a trellis set up high enough for Sugar Snaps.  I've grown snap peas since the first Sugar Snaps came out, love them.  But now I am growing the 18"-3' varieties.  I ordered some that are heat tolerant; I am hoping they will give me a fall harvest with a late July/early August planting.

trashtalk

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #127 on: February 23, 2021, 07:12:12 PM »
Haven’t been on this forum in like a year but I feel the need to track our financial (and other) progress again. I look forward to hearing about all your gardens and growing projects.

* Started some tomato seeds today; timing, seed-eating mice and other troubles are possible, even likely, but there’s no real downside and who knows if a bunch of things line up I might get some Cherokee and Sunrise Bumblebee tomatoes out of it.
* ate a homegrown salad — chard, baby collards, arugula, mint, et al
* knocked down a European paper wasp nest before they really get going for the year in hopes of protecting the monarch caterpillars and making room for other, native wasp species
* neighbors gave us a box of Meyer lemons; going to juice them and make some “lemon syrup” for the freezer so can have fixings for homemade lemonade on hand

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #128 on: February 24, 2021, 03:02:37 AM »
Haven’t been on this forum in like a year but I feel the need to track our financial (and other) progress again. I look forward to hearing about all your gardens and growing projects.

* neighbors gave us a box of Meyer lemons; going to juice them and make some “lemon syrup” for the freezer so can have fixings for homemade lemonade on hand

Welcome back, @trashtalk!  Or -- limoncello?  Mmmm.  :)

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #129 on: February 24, 2021, 03:15:53 AM »
You could make an arch/tunnel and let them grow up and over.

Thanks, @hobbitish!  Hmm.  I am putting my thinking cap on for how I could do this . . . The bed faces south southeast, so maybe "half an arch" might work?  Once they get to the top I could coax them forward and provide them with a surface to go out and down.  (I don't think it would work to let any go backward.  They'd be in full shade.  I'll have a look online to see how commercial growers do it.  These guys are a bigger challenge than short peas, that's for sure! 


the_hobbitish

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #130 on: February 24, 2021, 05:38:52 AM »
I've read about using t stakes and cattle/hog panels for the arch for runner beans and even squash. Seems like most people make them between beds to not shade out other plants and then pick the beans or squash that hang down from the arch. I've thought about doing this with some of my run away cucumber varieties.



Green_Tea

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #131 on: February 24, 2021, 06:51:22 AM »
@Frugal Lizard: Charles Dowding multisows onions (6-7 seeds) and transplants them with a desired 4-5 onions in a clump (https://charlesdowding.co.uk/multisowing/)

I've started my first seeds yesterday :)
- peppers
- coriander (for leaves and green seeds)
- parsley
- radishes
- cape gooseberry (2 varieties, one self collected, don't know if they turn out the same with a different variety having stood at the other side of the house?)
- peas (2 varieties, possibly a bit too early))
- broad beans (probably too early)
- Columbine flower (different varieties gifted to me, self collected by someone else)

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #132 on: February 24, 2021, 07:02:40 AM »
@Green_Tea - interesting. 
I am trying to grow onions for storage, hence why I am using seed, not sets.  Every seed guide I've ever come across prior to this says transplant 3 to 4 inches or for large varieties - 6" apart.  I think I shall have to do some more research - the photos show pretty small onions - I would have to peel about five of them for the way I like to cook.  But maybe they are a shallot type.

I think all this warrants more data.  I shall design a trial once I get my seed order as it is likely that I shall have way too much onion seed and can start some indoors in a couple of different ways and see how long they take to transplant and do some direct sowing and then compare yields and how well they store.

Green_Tea

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #133 on: February 24, 2021, 08:10:46 AM »
Ah, I see. Well I've seen multisown onions of maybe 2 inch in videos of his, but he also multisows beetroot (which might be more your like your onions in size?) with 4/clump. They seem to grow at different speeds in a clump so I think you'd take them out one after the other, at least that's what I noticed him doing in videos.
I don't have first hand experience yet, but I'm trying the method this year :)
Good luck with your experiments - sounds like fun :D
« Last Edit: February 24, 2021, 08:12:57 AM by Green_Tea »

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #134 on: February 24, 2021, 08:47:33 AM »
Out of laziness I already multisow many seeds in my kitchen garden - because I am harvesting/thinning on a daily basis.  I just didn't have a name for my method.  It is super cool to be validated. 

I have a very large patch of land at the family farm for my pantry garden, where I grow storage crops and fully manifest my style as crazy farmer tending toward prepper.
(It took me 18 hours to dig the potatoes last fall - I just donated another 40pounds to my favourite food pantry last week.  Way way too many potatoes. Like 15 times more than my family can eat)

Planting out five or six flats of onions, shallots and leeks in cell packs will still be pretty time consuming. But if I could get a three or four two inch onions from each cell, this is looking doable. 

Last year I got heat stroke teasing a flat of tiny seedlings out of the mini plug tray and then dividing them apart.  I decided that day that I hated onions.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #135 on: February 24, 2021, 10:46:44 AM »
Onions - good video on dense planting.  The actual transplanting starts at about minute 7.  He is just across from Windsor, I think, for an idea of his growing climate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyyZ67CTHvc

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #136 on: February 24, 2021, 12:43:27 PM »
Thanks for the pictures @hobbitish!  I like those arches.  But I have to think about where I could put such a thing and how to orient it to the sun . . . Hmmm.  It would also be good for cucumbers if I can figure it out.  I usually grow them straight up the deer fence, but have to harvest very regularly so the weight of the fruits doesn't become too much for the fence. 

We're having a super warm sunny day (65F/18C) and I just spent some time in the garden.  (Angels sing!  Happiness!) The first few dandelions are opening up, my currants and elderberries are budding, and I saw a butterfly.  :)  Also!  I mowed the paths with the push mower, and it felt light.  (My garden is hilly and I usually struggle to mow it with our old heavy pusher).  I'm so happy about that.  I've never been as strong as I'd like, and this past fall and winter I lifted weights religiously for the first time in my life.  It's totally paying off!  More strength for more gardening! 

I also went into my bees today, and they look great.  They lost their queen last July, nearly died, and I re-queened them.  The new queen has been a champ.  She brought them back from the brink and their population now looks big and healthy.  I won't be surprised if this hive is strong enough to swarm this spring, so I have to figure out if I'm going to try to split them or what. 
I also have another extra empty hive body, so I'll be putting out the swarm trap in a couple weeks.  See if I can convince some nomads to live here.  :)

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #137 on: February 25, 2021, 01:34:27 AM »
Some of the lovage seeds have already grown a stem above the ground. After only 4 days.

Trifle

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #138 on: February 25, 2021, 02:57:15 AM »
Some of the lovage seeds have already grown a stem above the ground. After only 4 days.

Congrats @Linea_Norway!  I didn't know what lovage is, and just looked it up and read about it.  Sounds like a very useful plant.  Thanks for the education!

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #139 on: February 25, 2021, 03:46:53 AM »
Some of the lovage seeds have already grown a stem above the ground. After only 4 days.

Congrats @Linea_Norway!  I didn't know what lovage is, and just looked it up and read about it.  Sounds like a very useful plant.  Thanks for the education!

We used to have one in the garden when I was a child. It smelled like what the brand "Maggie" sells as aroma in small flasks. https://www.nestleprofessional.nl/maggi/maggi-aroma-fles

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #140 on: February 25, 2021, 08:53:30 AM »
@Green_Tea

Spent more time on multi-sowing research last night.  In the YouTube video dedicated to onions, he does show decent sized onions from multi-sowing. I did note that he did do quite a bit of thinning through some harvesting some as green onions.  And in the earlier part of the video he mentioned sowing less seed for larger onions.

But since I don't have any potting soil or fresh onion seed I have lots of time to devise my trial for this year.  I am going to definitely multi-sow green onion scallion type using the multi-sow method.

In other garden news:  My zipper hoe and broadfork from Dubois Agrinovation got delivered yesterday.  They look heavy duty.  Now I just need to be patient for spring.


RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #141 on: February 25, 2021, 11:06:30 AM »
@Green_Tea

Spent more time on multi-sowing research last night.  In the YouTube video dedicated to onions, he does show decent sized onions from multi-sowing. I did note that he did do quite a bit of thinning through some harvesting some as green onions.  And in the earlier part of the video he mentioned sowing less seed for larger onions.

But since I don't have any potting soil or fresh onion seed I have lots of time to devise my trial for this year.  I am going to definitely multi-sow green onion scallion type using the multi-sow method.

In other garden news:  My zipper hoe and broadfork from Dubois Agrinovation got delivered yesterday.  They look heavy duty.  Now I just need to be patient for spring.

Yay deliveries!

For onions I'm going to sow really densely in some large square pots and transplant to a 4" spacing.  I may try planting some with 2 together and 6" spacing.  If I get big onions with 1 flat side I will be happy, since having a flat side makes onions easier to chop.  I don't require perfect roundness.

When I grow basil I usually buy the little pots at the grocery store.  If I put the whole root mass in water for a while it falls apart a bit and it is easy to separate the plants for the garden.  I figure I can do the same with the onions.

Dreamer40

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #142 on: February 25, 2021, 11:58:21 AM »
Yay spring is coming!!!

I planted my earliest seedlings almost a week ago and most are germinating pretty well: a bunch of green onion seeds in a cup, oregano, hot peppers, and fennel. My parsley and cabbage seedlings aren't doing anything yet. I've never grown either from seed so I hope that's normal, but I'll find out soon enough! I will start another bigger tray of warmer weather seedlings in 3-4 weeks.

I also ordered more fruit from a local nursery: multiple figs trees, male and female arctic kiwi vines, and a sudachi hybrid yuzu. I'm putting myself on a plant no-buy after this. I'm trying so many new things this year and have so much sunny space that it's easy to get carried away.

trashtalk

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #143 on: February 28, 2021, 09:23:06 AM »
* Found Jersey Giant asparagus and Victoria rhubarb at Home Depot yesterday; planted rhubarb behind a little-used gate and added the asparagus roots to the asparagus bed I started last year.
* I scattered red Russian kale seed and planted purple-podded snap peas all around the garden and both have sprouted and look incredibly healthy. We have both mice and gophers and I’m always delighted when I outwit them.
* our irrigation system seems to have broken down after all the digging involved in fencing off the front yard; the sprinkler guy will come with this week and we’ll level the front yard and convert it to drip irrigation. I think the sunny half will be devoted to native and pollinator-friendly plantings. The shadier side will start out as wood-chip mulch, and then maybe some kind of lawn but eventually have edibles around the edges at least.

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #144 on: February 28, 2021, 10:19:34 AM »
Anyone done potatoes in grow bags? I won't have space in my garden for potatoes but I love fresh potatoes and am thinking of giving grow bags a shot. Any advice? I bought some kennebec potato starters, and I think I'll get a variety pack as well.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #145 on: March 01, 2021, 03:08:10 AM »
Yesterday I sowed 3 pots of parsley, which will take 4 weeks to grow.

I am giving my remaining kaffir lime seeds a last chance. I soaked them in water. They all floated, which a professional on TV said was not promising. I put them on wet kitchen paper towel with plastic over to prevent drying out.

The chili peppers are growing fine, as well as the many lovage plants.

MudPuppy

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #146 on: March 01, 2021, 05:25:08 AM »
@sixwings inhabe and the effort isn’t worth the reward imo

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #147 on: March 01, 2021, 06:27:21 AM »
Yesterday I sowed 3 pots of parsley, which will take 4 weeks to grow.

I am giving my remaining kaffir lime seeds a last chance. I soaked them in water. They all floated, which a professional on TV said was not promising. I put them on wet kitchen paper towel with plastic over to prevent drying out.


I soaked 5 clementine seeds overnight in a glass full of water.  4 sank overnight, and all 4 germinated.  The 5th was still floating and I threw it out. 

How long did you leave your seeds in the water?

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #148 on: March 01, 2021, 10:29:32 AM »
@RetiredAt63  - I did some research on the bay leaf tree cuttings.  Unfortunately, I really cut the tree back last fall so that I could bring it inside.  And it is only now sending out some tiny leaves of new growth.  Cuttings are supposed to be taken on flexible wood, (mine has none) at six inches of length (definitely none).  I will see how quickly it grows, but I fear that I should have kept the cuttings last fall when I harvested leaves.  I probably would have had two dozen new plants. 

Wm Dam is shipping 98% of my order.  I asked for pick up and they refunded the shipping a couple of weeks ago.  I do not want to pay for shipping on the items remaining on back order - promix seed starting soil.  Hopefully someone will call and sort this out. I really wanted an excuse to go for a long drive somewhere.  Right now I pretty much go no where.

In the meantime the urge to garden drove me to the TSC store for a bag of miracle grow. (Highlight of the weekend - going to the tractor supply company and the vacuum store - my life is really glamorous)

I now have potted up a dozen 4 inch pots of seedlings that had gotten too big for the cell plug tray - arugula, Chinese cabbage and bok choi.  I refilled those empty rows in the 72 hole tray with more herbs.  The rows that were sown at the same time as the speedy plants I potted up already, are just starting to come along.  But there was a setback last week -  I got things too hot and cooked the middle part of the flat.  The spinach, kale and arugula appear to be recovering.  The outer edges were fine. Some old basil and parsley seed have germinated.  Fresh herbs are in my near future.

Also started a 144 plug tray with more arugula, spinach and lettuce and some collected chard seed.  I am not sure how viable the chard is or if the arugula is even arugula.  It could be a mustard or kale. Hopefully the greenhouse will be warm enough by the time they need potting up. 

I read the instructions on my soil temperature monitor and hopefully have got that figured so no more cooking the baby plants.

I ordered seed potato from Vesey's along with strawberry plants (ever bearing) and Ann (gold) and Royalty (purplish) raspberries.  Out at the farm we have a lot of raspberries, but not these two varieties.  By the end of the month I hope to have them all pruned and thinned for a good harvest and the new canes will fill in two rows that were incomplete last summer.

I am really enjoying watching gardening youtube.  Charles Dowding and Huw Richards are my favourites.  I started cutting up cardboard for my multi-sowing onion experiments.  I can't believe how much I still don't know about growing food!  I really wish I was retired so I could go (more) nuts on gardening and storing food.






RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021
« Reply #149 on: March 01, 2021, 02:51:11 PM »
Frugal Lizard, don't worry about the bay cuttings.  I will try to find a local source, but if I don't I have been using dried bay leaves for decades, I will survive.    ;-)

I'm also growing things I never bothered to before - I think the pandemic has triggered some survival instinct in me.  Or maybe now that I don't have a whole yard to look after I am thinking more about my vegetable garden?

For general interest, I tried the starter pots from toilet paper rolls and don't like them.  The cardboard grabs water from the potting soil so I am watering more, but then the cardboard dries out in my dry winter air and I am watering again.  I lost one tomato seed to what looks like damping off, which hasn't happened to me in decades.  So I am going back to plastic starter pots/trays, if treated carefully they last for years.  I am sure the petroleum used is less than the gas I burn going to the garden   ;/   I ordered some starter trays and a little grow light from Canadian Tire this morning and my curb-side pickup is ready - more ready than I am, I won't be able to go until tomorrow.





 

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