Planting and Growing Your Own -- 2021

[Frugal Lizard]

@MudPuppy I got mine from a friend who was repatriating to the US.  She couldn't import her plant, even though, she had brought it to Canada from the US 8 years before and was moving to New England.  Apparently it was a threat to US bay leaf agriculture.

I tried (half heartedly) to root some cuttings last year, but without success.  Apparently it is not that difficult.  My plant is much bigger than I need so I wasn't very careful because I didn't want to end up a lot of them.  I should probably give it a go again for a lark...because what else am I doing?

@Linea_Norway - the plant itself is not that scented in the house - only right near it when picked.  My DH can not handle scents so it would have frozen up outside long ago.  We have had it for six years.

I'd happily take a cutting.  I'm sure many of your gardening friends would too.  I gave away a bunch of baby chive plants at CM*TO 2019, last I heard Okits' plant was still growing.

My MIL would for sure!  How would I get it to you still alive in time of Covid? 

[RetiredAt63]

@MudPuppy I got mine from a friend who was repatriating to the US.  She couldn't import her plant, even though, she had brought it to Canada from the US 8 years before and was moving to New England.  Apparently it was a threat to US bay leaf agriculture.

I tried (half heartedly) to root some cuttings last year, but without success.  Apparently it is not that difficult.  My plant is much bigger than I need so I wasn't very careful because I didn't want to end up a lot of them.  I should probably give it a go again for a lark...because what else am I doing?

@Linea_Norway - the plant itself is not that scented in the house - only right near it when picked.  My DH can not handle scents so it would have frozen up outside long ago.  We have had it for six years.

I'd happily take a cutting.  I'm sure many of your gardening friends would too.  I gave away a bunch of baby chive plants at CM*TO 2019, last I heard Okits' plant was still growing.

My MIL would for sure!  How would I get it to you still alive in time of Covid?

CM*TO?  If we have one?  Since DD is having a baby in June I expect once I have my vaccinations I will be heading sort of your way.

[lazycow]

Finally, after 4-5 weeks of waiting, my kaffir lime seeds have arrived from China. I ordered them from amazon.uk, but they were sent from China. They slipped through the toll system. I will plant several seeds today. If they become too many, I can always sell them or give them away as plants, as they are not for for sale anywhere else this winter.

We love to use kaffir lime leaves in home made asian type food. Only to be added at the very last moment as they loose their intense flavour very soon.

Thanks for the reminder: my neighbour has a huge kaffir lime tree in her backyard. She said I can take the leaves whenever I like.

Good luck with growing your seeds!

I spent a good couple of hours today digging out rogue raspberry suckers. The chickens love the leaves and I will dry some for raspberry leaf tea. My Mariposa plum tree is so heavy with fruit we had to tie up the branches to stop them snapping. They are not quite ripe, a few more days, but it is supposed to be scorching this weekend, so will need to cover them so they don't get sun damaged (lesson learnt from last year, and the year before). They are a blood plum variety and so juicy and delicious, and great eating plums, stewed with vanilla, or in plum and almond cake. I will need to give more than 1/2 away though as there are soooo many!

[Trifle]

Congrats on having a good plum tree @lazycow!  It sounds fantastic.

I'm going to be doing some apple tree field grafting this winter/spring.  This is a first for me, as before this I've only ever done bench grafting with bare-root rootstock.  So today I'm off to collect scion wood from my favorite tree.  It's an old, old tree -- a mystery variety living nearby on old farmland -- that is still going strong, bearing delicious apples.  I took scion wood from it three years ago and grafted 10 trees.  Those babies should be bearing any time now.  And I'm going to take one last batch of scion twigs to do this field grafting experiment. 

[Linea_Norway]

Finally, after 4-5 weeks of waiting, my kaffir lime seeds have arrived from China. I ordered them from amazon.uk, but they were sent from China. They slipped through the toll system. I will plant several seeds today. If they become too many, I can always sell them or give them away as plants, as they are not for for sale anywhere else this winter.

We love to use kaffir lime leaves in home made asian type food. Only to be added at the very last moment as they loose their intense flavour very soon.

Thanks for the reminder: my neighbour has a huge kaffir lime tree in her backyard. She said I can take the leaves whenever I like.

Good luck with growing your seeds!

I spent a good couple of hours today digging out rogue raspberry suckers. The chickens love the leaves and I will dry some for raspberry leaf tea. My Mariposa plum tree is so heavy with fruit we had to tie up the branches to stop them snapping. They are not quite ripe, a few more days, but it is supposed to be scorching this weekend, so will need to cover them so they don't get sun damaged (lesson learnt from last year, and the year before). They are a blood plum variety and so juicy and delicious, and great eating plums, stewed with vanilla, or in plum and almond cake. I will need to give more than 1/2 away though as there are soooo many!

We also had lots of plums from the plumtree in "our" rental garden. We made 10 liters of plum wine, 2 plum cakes and lots of plum jam. The advantage of making wine is that you don't need to remove all the stones.

[Dreamer40]

I'm so excited for a 2021 garden! I just moved to a house in zone 8b with MUCH bigger raised garden beds than I've had before and lots of sunny space for whatever else I want to do. I plan to experiment with grow bags for whatever doesn't fit in the beds since I can already tell that I'm being overly ambitious, even with the extra room. The other thing I'm especially excited about are 3 baby fig trees I ordered from a local nursery. I plan to keep them in pots for at least a few years before deciding if I like growing them enough to put one or more in the ground.

So far, I've been spending January getting my new soil tested (too high in a lot of nutrients, low in metals), gathering equipment online and from gardening stores before they get crowded, ordering seeds, and trying to get a guy to help me troubleshoot my fussy sprinkler system.

[Trifle]

I'm so excited for a 2021 garden! I just moved to a house in zone 8b with MUCH bigger raised garden beds than I've had before and lots of sunny space for whatever else I want to do. I plan to experiment with grow bags for whatever doesn't fit in the beds since I can already tell that I'm being overly ambitious, even with the extra room. The other thing I'm especially excited about are 3 baby fig trees I ordered from a local nursery. I plan to keep them in pots for at least a few years before deciding if I like growing them enough to put one or more in the ground.

So far, I've been spending January getting my new soil tested (too high in a lot of nutrients, low in metals), gathering equipment online and from gardening stores before they get crowded, ordering seeds, and trying to get a guy to help me troubleshoot my fussy sprinkler system.

Welcome!  Oooh, zone 8b should be really good for figs ...  have fun! 

[Frugal Lizard]

Would this be of interest to the group?
https://guelphorganicconf.ca/?utm_source=guelphtoday.com&utm_campaign=guelphtoday.com&utm_medium=referral

I have tried to get to the trade show in the past, but haven't attended any of the talks.  I just might check out some of the panels this year.

[Frugal Lizard]

I enjoyed this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3waibCUoKo

[Raenia]

Ordered my seeds today!  I decided not to wait for the corn seed to come back in stock at my first choice supplier, since with shipping as iffy as it's been, I didn't want to risk not having the radish seeds in time for a mid Feb planting.  Fortunately my second choice supplier had the same corn varietal, and free shipping.  Those might not arrive as early, but they don't need to be planted until April when the radishes finish.

[Frugal Lizard]

A neighbour is getting new windows, so I now have five very large aluminum framed storm windows.  I am going to re-design my garden layout to accommodate five cold frames!  I could plant all my tomatoes in them or all my peppers.  So exciting

@RetiredAt63 - I will get researching on when to cut the bay leaf.  I might as look up rosemary as well. 
After your research into seed companies, I ordered a few more seeds (ones I forgot on my William Dam or that my Garden Landlord brought up after I placed the order) from a new seed company in town.  I ordered Monday, seeds were in my mail box Tuesday morning.

Now I need to go back to the drawing board because these windows are wider than my standard bed size.

[the_hobbitish]

Frugal Lizard, your cold frames sound exciting. I keep thinking I should build some to make it easier to harden off tomato seedlings.

I placed my seed order! : ) This year I'm going to try to grow some small watermelons and two types of winter squash on a Tstake and welded wire trellis.

I'm impatiently waiting for the weather to be 50F or above. I need to prune my climbing roses and baby apple trees (so nervous about the later). I also should get around to putting down weed barrier and mulch between the raised beds. Grass-like weeds were a huge problem last year. I can't bring myself to contemplate a weekend of garden work until it's no longer freezing and windy.

[Frugal Lizard]

I got out and started planting.  I am trying winter sowing this year. It was bright sun shine albeit the high was only -6C. Inside the greenhouse it was 2C.  I puttered around for 90 minutes and folded all the floating row covers. Cleared away all the old stems and worked the soil.  Dill, parsley kale chard and buttercrunch lettuces were making a go of it already. I seeded arugula spinach and mesclun mix. It feels good to garden!

[CodingHare]

Frugal Lizard, I am intrigued by your winter sowing!  That's something I'd like to do next winter.

I just ordered some more lettuce seeds and some native flower mixes.  More excitingly, I also ordered two apple trees!  I live in Washington State, so I'm getting a head start on planting a Cosmic Crisp, with an Ellison's Orange Apple to cross-pollinate it.  Cosmics really live up to the hype for eating, hoping they grow well too.

[Frugal Lizard]

@CodingHare - it looks pretty easy to do on the smallest scale.  A friend doing her master gardener training was doing it two winters ago just using some jugs as shown in this explanation.  https://getbusygardening.com/winter-sowing-seeds/
Since I have access to an unheated greenhouse, I thought I would give it a go.

This morning DH and I brainstormed a new seed starting rack.  Since he is using that area of the basement this year for his work from home office, he doesn't want my sprawling seed starting mess to be his main view for all of tax season. He is going to search up some lumber this afternoon.  My seed and potting soil is not ready for pick up until the February 6 so next weekend will be assembly and set up. 

I am hoping for space for 12 conventional trays, four per shelf.  I have heat mats for 6 (a large one for four and 2 single tray mats) I have six smaller light banks and one monster powerful pot grow light that can do 600 watts.  It needs to be shielded, so I am thinking the lower shelf will have more vertical space for this one.  I have four very cheap 48 LED's I picked up a Canadian tire.  They seem to be bright enough when spaced really close together so I think I can get away with using these for the earliest days of germination or perhaps in combination with the light banks that I got from costco two years ago.

Last year, when we had a lot of electrical work done, I got a circuit installed just for growing seedlings so burning down the house won't be such a worry anymore!

[RetiredAt63]

I've done all my seed orders.   Found a place with several different sweet potato varieties,  ordered 3 varieties.   Minimum order is 5/variety,  so 15 plants.  I know where my extras will find good homes, since unless I get the extra plot I only have space for 12.

Orders included bush and pole beans, peas, tomatoes (lots of tomatoes), peppers, onions, and summer and winter squash, plus buckwheat and forage radish for soil improvement. 

Most are open pollinated, so I can save seed, but a few are F1 for disease resistance.

I used to love Lunch Box tomatoes.  I ordered some to see if they are still as good as I remember.  They are F1s so no seed saving, alas.  I could but no guarantees for the next generation.  I ordered semi bush squash to take up less space.  I ordered Shepherd peppers from Stokes to see how they compare to my "saved from the grocery store and 3 generations later" Shepherd peppers.  That will be a fair trial, I will start them the same day the same way, grow the same, transplant to same conditions.  Label well, record production, whole bit.

[MudPuppy]

I’ve got all my seeds for the year, probably. I might order some more tomato seeds, since I neglected to save any and the ones I have left over might be old. I’ll do a test germination.

This year, my gardening endeavors will be more limited due to anticipated increase in family needing attention. I’ll have most of my beds tossed with some pollinator favorite flower seeds. Will grow salad greens, tomatoes, and peppers for sure. Might grow beans and zucchini. I am undecided on sweet potatoes.

[Trifle]

I still have a few fall carrots in the ground (planted in August) and I pulled a couple up yesterday to make some minestrone soup.  These two beauties are Danvers variety.  They were super sweet and not at all woody -- yum. 

When I lived in zone 4b I could keep carrots in the ground until the beginning of December or so with heavy mulching.  Down here in 7a looks like I can keep them year round.  Nice! 

[Poundwise]

Wow, those are some beautiful carrots!!

Taking advantage of the unseasonably warm winter to get an early start, today I think I'll soak some Austrian winter peas and coat them with inoculant, to improve the soil before we get the real veggie garden started.  Then I'll ask my son to sow them in our new garden beds.  He's been on quarantine for almost a week and has not been outside; he needs a change and some sunlight.

[Trifle]

Just got my favorite seed catalog -- Seed Savers Exchange!   I absolutely adore it.  It's one big, beautiful love letter to gardening. 

It does make me want to go crazy though and GROW ALL THE THINGS.   Time for some self restraint.

[Linea_Norway]

Just got my favorite seed catalog -- Seed Savers Exchange!   I absolutely adore it.  It's one big, beautiful love letter to gardening. 

It does make me want to go crazy though and GROW ALL THE THINGS.   Time for some self restraint.

I have decided to grow only what I have of seeds in the fridge, which is still a lot. Apart from the kaffir lime that was new, as we need the leaves for dinners.

I am constanly inpired to grow lots of other things. But living in a rental house where we need to grow all things in pots on the terrace, it is limited what we can grow. I need to wait to move to a house with a good garden before I can go more bananas.

[Frugal Lizard]

I had all these best intentions of not going overboard on ordering seeds. 

I have now ordered seeds from three suppliers and still haven't bought any seed potatoes. 
The slip started with wanting to support a new small local company with the best Facebook promotion videos, and I had forgotten to order spinach and snap peas on my big seed order.  Then I hadn't been able to source calypso aka orca aka ying yang beans, nor had I collected enough seed from these beauties so I did another order - this time West Coast Seeds, the only place I could find them.  And since the shipping was a flat rate, and I have really wanted to grow popcorn, I expanded the order.

@RetiredAt63 is growing sweet potatoes - I like sweet potatoes!  I might just place another order......danger danger.

[RetiredAt63]

I had all these best intentions of not going overboard on ordering seeds. 

I have now ordered seeds from three suppliers and still haven't bought any seed potatoes. 
The slip started with wanting to support a new small local company with the best Facebook promotion videos, and I had forgotten to order spinach and snap peas on my big seed order.  Then I hadn't been able to source calypso aka orca aka ying yang beans, nor had I collected enough seed from these beauties so I did another order - this time West Coast Seeds, the only place I could find them.  And since the shipping was a flat rate, and I have really wanted to grow popcorn, I expanded the order.

@RetiredAt63 is growing sweet potatoes - I like sweet potatoes!  I might just place another order......danger danger.

I have ordered 15, 5 each of 3 varieties. There are a lot more varieties available for Canadian growing than the last time I bought slips.  And before I found that supplier, I had started a Canadian grown sweet potato in a glass of water.  That is how one of my fellow allotment gardeners had started her sweet potatoes.  The sweet potato now has some roots, but no shoots yet. 

[gaja]

I'm sure I've started far too many seeds far too early, but I don't care! All those green little sprouts make me happy!

So far:
Peppers are up to their second true leaves, tomatoes just started their first. Leeks, onions and pink celeries are growing slowly, but surely, and the artichokes are getting rather large. The first purple coneflowers just sprouted, and I'm waiting for the aubergines to do the same. There is no more room under the current growlights, but I'm getting more in the mail soon. Got some old tiger nuts from a friend, and am hoping they are not too old to sprout.

The focus so far has been on vegetables, but last summer some roses and lavender snuck into the garden, and we have plated tons of tulips and crocus. There will probably be more blooms this year: Currently I'm binging youtube videoes featuring dahlias, and the youngest kid has bought several packs of flower seeds.

[the_hobbitish]

@gaja I love dahlias. I have about 3 varieties that I saved from last year. They were surprisingly easy to grow, but definitely start staking early. I bought some bishops children seeds this year that I hope I can coax to take over my side yard.

[Trifle]

Unlike my poor relatives and friends up north, we've been having pretty nice weather here in 7a.  We had a lovely warm day yesterday so I spent quite a bit of time down in the garden.  My bees were out and working!  The first few deadnettle flowers are starting to open up, and the bees were finding them.  Also these tiny little blue flowers which I haven't identified yet.  Man those little late-winter "weed" flowers are tough.  We're still having some cold overnight temps, and they're just going for it. 

And hey y'all -- I found a nice big praying mantis egg case in the garden.  I'll be watching it daily to see if I can see those little buggers hatch out.  So cool.  I read online that their egg case is called an "ootheca".  I guess the ending "theca" must mean 'sac' or 'case'?  (Queen bees have an organ called the "spermatheca" which stores the sperm they collect on their mating flights, which they use through their laying life.) 

Spring feels close!  Can't wait!

[Linea_Norway]

My chili peppers from seed are doing fine, although only 3 of the bunch of seeds started growing. This is why I started with many.

My kaffir lime seeds however have done nothing at all for a couple of weeks. I planted 3 new seeds from the same batch. All are standing on a heating rack.

[goat_music_generator]

Unlike my poor relatives and friends up north, we've been having pretty nice weather here in 7a.  We had a lovely warm day yesterday so I spent quite a bit of time down in the garden.

Oof -- you must live in a different 7a from where I am. We had snow this past week and are supposed to have it again tonight :-)

I'm trying to start a few seeds for the first time -- basil, parsley, and mitsuba. Started them on Sunday, so far no signs of life. I'm very new to this and have no idea what I'm doing... we'll see what happens...

[Frugal Lizard]

Tonight overnight is predicted to be -18C (zero in F)  We keep getting more snowfall as well.  At least it is bright sunshine this morning.

Still nothing from Wm Dam seeds.  I really want my full order to be ready.  I included soil in my order.  They have updated their website saying 5 days to respond to emails and high volume of ordering means that they are still packaging seed and curbside pick up will start mid February and be patient.  GACKKKKKKK!  Patience is not one of my virtues. 
West Coast seeds has shipped. 
Seed starting table is ready.  My dearest has done a fantastic job. He constructed it to be disassembled at the end of the season.  It will hold 12 flats. I am pretty sure that between my better planning and the increase in space, I should have the right amount of space up until the greenhouse is warm enough.  Just needing soil.
Some of the research I have been doing suggests that I should be starting seeds inside in the cool basement in July and August for late fall crops of spinach, beets and other winter greens.  I will probably try a few flats to see if I can overcome the summer heat for these crops.  Late august direct sowing have been really mixed results.
Oh I want to start gardening.  Sprouting has not been satisfying enough.

[Raenia]

My seeds arrived!  Of course we still have several inches of snow on the ground, and more to come in the next few days.  Farmer's Almanac says I could plant my radishes as early as Feb 8, but obviously I'll have to wait until the snow melts.  Hopefully before the end of the month, as I will need to harvest by April in order to get my other planned crops in on time.

[Frugal Lizard]

I got some seeds - Calypso beans - these are so beautiful and pink popcorn.  I haven't grown popcorn since I was a kid.  This is going to be so much fun.

[Trifle]

Unlike my poor relatives and friends up north, we've been having pretty nice weather here in 7a.  We had a lovely warm day yesterday so I spent quite a bit of time down in the garden.

Oof -- you must live in a different 7a from where I am. We had snow this past week and are supposed to have it again tonight :-)

Yeah, we're in western NC.  We had snow last week too, but this week we luckily just missed out on the really cold temps.  I don't think we're out of winter quite yet though.  There are some cold nights in the 10 day forecast ( ~ 16 degrees F/-9 C ) . . . That's why it's so amazing to see those little flowers opening up

[RetiredAt63]

My seed orders from both small Ontario seed suppliers are here.  No sign of delivery from either William Dam or Stokes.  I bought potting soil and seed starting mix at Canadian Tire last fall, just in case I couldn't get any now.

I started a few pepper seeds in damp paper towel in the oven for warmth.  2 have sprouted.  They are my experimental plants, I've made seed starter containers from TP rolls.  We'll see how well they work.  I have also seen some videos about pruning peppers for greater yield. I have pruned tomatoes for decades, but never peppers.  These early starts are for playing with pruning.

I bought a Canadian grown sweet potato at the grocery store and have it half immersed in water (supported by toothpicks).  It started roots about 2 weeks ago and today I saw the first tiny red nubs that will be leafy growth I can use as slips.  I have more than enough slips on order, but this was a very nice sweet potato that I thought would be a good source of slips.  I really need to get that second half plot at the community garden.  :-)  Since demand is high,  I think my chances are pretty poor.

I also ate a Clementine a week ago that had seeds, so I am seeing if I can grow them.

I am obviously desperate to garden. 

ETA Planted the pepper seeds, 3 had sprouted, all 3 of the 3 King of the North I had started.  Also planted 4 Clementine seeds and some ginger I had started (from the grocery store). 

[Trifle]

I am obviously desperate to garden. 

LOL I'm right there with you @RetiredAt63 !  This time of year I get happy seeing anything growing, even the potatoes sprouting in the cupboard.

[horsepoor]

But nah, I'm going to start some seeds this weekend. I think I might try throwing a few seeds in trays outside and see what happens, then I'll start my eggplants and peppers indoors. Started clearing out garden beds this afternoon, and need to see about procuring some composted horse poo.

[Trifle]

hahahaha @horsepoor!  Just choked on my coffee laughing at that . . . 

[RetiredAt63]

hahahaha @horsepoor!  Just choked on my coffee laughing at that . . .

Yeah, that is me!  I wants to, and I will plant you, my precious seeds

[Frugal Lizard]

hahahaha @horsepoor!  Just choked on my coffee laughing at that . . .

Yeah, that is me!  I wants to, and I will plant you, my precious seeds

Me three.  I totally wants to get a little potting soil under my finger nails.

[RetiredAt63]

I just got an email from Stokes seeds that they are preparing my order now and will email me again when it is shipped.  So, not super fast but at least it is coming. 

I wouldn't mind the slowdown so much if I weren't waiting to start my pepper seeds.  I want to start them all at once in the same conditions, to compare them to see which ones will be best for my garden and growing conditions.

[Anette]

I must admit I am not a very successful vegetable gardener but that hasn't kept me from trying. Here in Germany it is still -5°C and there is show on the ground but in a few weeks when our lockdown will hopefully be over and the garden stores open....
I usually get so excited seeing all the seedlings, plants and even the seeds that I spend more than intended.
Mostly I lack in doing enough watering and fertilizing. It does get quite dry here in summer and the soil in very sandy.
Flowers and herbs work best for me, rosemary and sage survives well and often gets used in our cooking.
Some of my favourite flowers are peony, hydrangea and dahlia and I also grow hollyhock, roses , sunflowers and lavender

One of my questions is:
How do you fellow - and a lot more accomplished - gardeners keep the cats from turning your flower or vegetable beds into their toilets?

We have a lot of cats in this neighbourhood and they especially love it when I buy some gardeners earth to help my sandy soil to loosen...

[Trifle]

I must admit I am not a very successful vegetable gardener but that hasn't kept me from trying. Here in Germany it is still -5°C and there is show on the ground but in a few weeks when our lockdown will hopefully be over and the garden stores open....
I usually get so excited seeing all the seedlings, plants and even the seeds that I spend more than intended.
Mostly I lack in doing enough watering and fertilizing. It does get quite dry here in summer and the soil in very sandy.
Flowers and herbs work best for me, rosemary and sage survives well and often gets used in our cooking.
Some of my favourite flowers are peony, hydrangea and dahlia and I also grow hollyhock, roses , sunflowers and lavender

One of my questions is:
How do you fellow - and a lot more accomplished - gardeners keep the cats from turning your flower or vegetable beds into their toilets?

We have a lot of cats in this neighbourhood and they especially love it when I buy some gardeners earth to help my sandy soil to loosen...

Hi @Anette!  Maybe some simple fencing?  Chicken wire/hex grid fencing is cheap and simple, plus it's a bit flexible and wiggly, which cats won't like to climb.

I've never tried any smell/chemical deterrants, but this article says diluted essential oils work to repel cats:  https://brownthumbmama.com/cats-out-garden/

Or you could try the classic "provide something even better" strategy.  Make a "litterbox" area that's so delightful (with soil, catnip, etc)  they'll leave your beds alone?   

[Anette]

Thanks Trifele!
I will definitely give the essential oils a try.
Last year I did use coffee as a fertiliser and against massive amounts of ants and I now realise I haven't seen any cats in that particular flower bed. But the article says not to use coffee so I will give the oils a try.

Today I looked out the window and saw one of the cats using an old Ikea bag full of lavender cuttings as a litter box! I have been waiting to have space in my green cuts trash bin for the contents of this bag. Now I know to be careful.

And I guess also no need to use lavender essential oils for the flower beds...

[Linea_Norway]

I bought a bag of potting soil and put my delicate thin chili peppers in bigger pots, one each. Still standing on the heating rack, covered by a plastic bag to prevent drying out.

[Trifle]

Hey I identified those little blue flowers I've been seeing opening up -- it's Speedwell (veronica).  From what I read it's viewed as a lawn nuisance plant, but my bees seem to like them. 

[gaja]

85 tomato plants is perfectly normal, right?

[Frugal Lizard]

85 tomato plants is perfectly normal, right?

perfectly...but why would you need to ask?

[Frugal Lizard]

Last night I planted stuff.  It was snowing hard outside and I just couldn't stop myself.  I know it is early.
I found a very small amount of potting soil in storage and was able to get it into the house to defrost.  The lid of the bin shattered when I picked up the bin.  Too cold for that type of plastic.
I spent a good chunk of Sunday getting my lovely grow shelves fully operational. It is kitted out with the new grow lights and heat cables.
I couldn't wait to actually plant so I sowed a bunch of collected or old or plentiful greens and herbs. I used a 72 hole plug tray so they will have a little more soil than a typical flat.
I also had enough soil to fill two more flats of the more traditional depth with soil.  Into them I sowed the seeds I collected from native plants.  I then packaged up the rest of the seed to donate to two folks in town that were looking for native seed.  I put the flats out into the screen porch - protected from squirrels, to continue to cold stratify.  I did one flat last year and got a number of seedlings for my garden.  This is way more economical than buying native plants and the bonus - I have all summer to figure out where to plant them in my garden!  The bergamot seed smelled amazing as I tore apart the seed heads to spread on the soil surface.

And my seed order from William Dam will be ready before the end of February. 

Anyone know if chard can set viable seed in a greenhouse?  I had one plant overwinter last year, and it bolted very quickly so I just let it go to see what happened.  It had lovely huge bracts of seed - which was totally cool, and I saved some.  I might try germinating some on a paper towel.

[goat_music_generator]

Got my chili peppers started today.
Last years went reasonably well, considering the late start and poor setup.

Planted months earlier. Will build platforms to get the plants up near the balcony railing for maximum sun exposure, may upgrade to artificial lighting.

Four types: Fatalii and Sarit Gat for myself, Takanotsume for my japanophile friends, Zou-Pi for the acquaintance with the chinese restaurant.
Should make for a colorful arrangement when they're bearing fruit

Nice, I'm also planning to grow Takanotsume!

Seeds haven't arrived yet though......

[Roots&Wings]

Harvested the last of the oranges and sweet potatoes; starfuit and bananas are still going strong.

After 2 years of trying, cape gooseberries are flowering and starting to fruit!! Surinam cherry is also flowering.
 
       

Wish list for this year:
- native evergreen scrub blueberry hedge for front sidewalk
- turnera diffusa (small evergreen bush w/ yellow flowers and fig like fruit)
- "Pollen buddies" - get a second plant as a pollen buddy to help with pollination/fruiting
- Community fruit trees/edibles to plant around the neighborhood...moringa will be first

[the_hobbitish]

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?