Author Topic: Planting and growing your own 2024  (Read 32209 times)

YttriumNitrate

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #100 on: April 10, 2024, 03:01:00 PM »
So far, this Spring has been super busy with planting and growing. A thousand bare root trees have been planted and over thirty ornamental Bradford pears have been grafted over to fruiting varieties. Rain is expected for the next two days, which is good because I could use a break.

grantmeaname

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #101 on: April 10, 2024, 03:34:00 PM »
Fantastic! Get rekt bradford pears, hello edible pears!

A thousand?

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #102 on: April 10, 2024, 03:39:39 PM »
That looks like some actual work!  Good job.

grantmeaname

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #103 on: April 10, 2024, 03:50:23 PM »
We have our red currant, raspberries, and blackberries in. Our persimmon goes into the ground today and our pawpaws are going to acclimate for a few more days and then they go in the ground too, maybe this weekend.

Our peach tree put out its blooms too early (lol, idiot) and there was frost the next night. But it was only down to 30 F and the blooms hung on. It's totally a matter of curiosity anyway since I want my two two-year-old trees to focus on themselves and not grow fruit this year.

mspym

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #104 on: April 10, 2024, 04:07:29 PM »
@Rosy i had some golden beets seedlings I bought and they were great. Need to buy some seeds for next year because it’s too expensive to grow the volume we eat from seedlings.

The elm leaves are falling so I am getting some additional OM to put into the compost bin and the new garden bed we are building up. I helped my mum with her garden yesterday - removed the last zucchini plant, cleaned up the rhubarb, harvested broad beans, tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers - but forgot to grab strawberry plants. Next time. Having an internal debate about where to put the strawberries and the peach tree, which really should get in the ground at some point along with the finger lime.

YttriumNitrate

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #105 on: April 10, 2024, 04:56:43 PM »
We have our red currant, raspberries, and blackberries in. Our persimmon goes into the ground today and our pawpaws are going to acclimate for a few more days and then they go in the ground too, maybe this weekend.
Good choice going with KSU and Peterson pawpaws. What kind of spacing are you planning between your pawpaws?

the lorax

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #106 on: April 10, 2024, 07:24:21 PM »
Just finishing processing over 5kg apples from one of our trees plus a few kilos of tomatoes :) yesterday I worked my way through a few kilos of quinces we'd picked up for free in the neighbourhood. Someone else was also giving away saffron bulbs so will be fun to see if anything comes up from those

mspym

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #107 on: April 10, 2024, 07:47:38 PM »
Just finishing processing over 5kg apples from one of our trees plus a few kilos of tomatoes :) yesterday I worked my way through a few kilos of quinces we'd picked up for free in the neighbourhood. Someone else was also giving away saffron bulbs so will be fun to see if anything comes up from those
Woot woot! Next year I plan to be a bit more active in gleaning quinces. I might even talk to the neighbours with the *other* quince tree and the chickens to see if I can take some of theirs in trade.

We planted the fingerlime and the peach tree and a spare rainbow caprosma and now they have a month to get settled in before we abandon them for nearly 4 weeks.

grantmeaname

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #108 on: April 10, 2024, 08:06:12 PM »
We have our red currant, raspberries, and blackberries in. Our persimmon goes into the ground today and our pawpaws are going to acclimate for a few more days and then they go in the ground too, maybe this weekend.
Good choice going with KSU and Peterson pawpaws. What kind of spacing are you planning between your pawpaws?
I think it's 16 feet. Didn't want to go too far apart for pollination reasons.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #109 on: April 11, 2024, 05:54:59 AM »
This week I put my excess tomato and chili plants out for sale on a local facebook group. Mostly micro bush tomatoes.
Eight people responded and collected almost all of the plants plants. I charged a few euros per plant to cover my expenses for soil, a name tag and fertilizer. But I didn't charge for time spent.

It did clear up the living room a lot. At least now I have space to take care of the plants I have left. One of each tomatoes and one of each chili. I put the chillies and 1 bell pepper in 3 very large pots, and the rest of the bell peppers in medium large pots.
I have 1 excess chili plant left, that I will donate to the Garden Club Perennial Sales in June, where they also welcome all kinds of other plants. I plan to also donate a number of other plants that I sowed in too large quantities.

This week I sowed everything that was on my list for sowing in April. That wasn't little. Some has already sprouted. For some of the plants, I needed the milk packs that the chilies were growing in.
I sowed parsley root and black salsify (Pseudopodospermum hispanicum) in milk packs, so that I can put the whole pack with the bottom removed into the raised bed. Like I do with carrots. Then the repotting isn't damaging the roots.

Yesterday I repotted the thyme plants that were standing too close together in small pots. I will plant some together with the strawberries. The rest of the access thyme will be donated.
I also repotted some of the Thay basil, but left a few together in the same cup for donation. I am running low on small pots and on trays to put them on.

I still need to repot the pumpkin Blue Hubbard which is growing very big already. I read about companion planting that Blue Hubbard can drag pests towards it, away from the other pumpkins and squashes. That only works if you sow it weeks before the other plants and plant it somewhere else. Hubbard itself is supposed to tolerate pests very well. And you need to check it very regularly to remove infected leaves.

We put some of the plants outside on the covered terrace, to get used to sun and wind. First day only an hour in the sun. Next day a bit longer. For the strawberries and peas that had been growing upstairs in a cold room, I just used a see-through curtain to shield them from too much sun. And for some warmth at night.

The Hablitzia Tamnoides (an edible climbing plant) in small pots has also been outside, including in the hard wind yesterday. They are looking well. Now it is rainy and cloudy and I just left the whole bunch outside. All these are quite hardy plants. I will take them back in when I expect below 0˚C temperatures.

In the garden, the rubarb that came with the house has sprouted after winter. Now at least we know where it is. I dug it up to see if I could divide it. But I didn't think the root was that big yet. So I'll do it at the end of the season. I did notice 2 worms while I was digging. That is positive. I gave it a lot of gold water fertilizer.

The asparges in the garden has not sprouted yet. I am very much looking foreward to harvesting from both the asparges and the rubarb.

The rest of the garden is still pretty dormant still, although the grass lane is becoming greener. The fruit trees are full of buds, but haven't sprouted yet. Some bushes are getting green leaves.

Raenia

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #110 on: April 11, 2024, 06:38:47 AM »
My tomato starts are not looking good - I popped them in the garden a few days ago, and it might have been too early. If they don't survive, I may have to buy plants from the store. Not ideal, but better than not having tomatoes!

It should be about time to sow seeds for just about everything else, but the tomatoes have scared me. Might wait a few more days.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #111 on: April 11, 2024, 01:53:12 PM »
I have the cold frame set up and nearly full. As in past years, I set it up on the driveway not far from an outdoor plug. It is handy to plug in a hose heater if the temperature is dropping. I arrange the heater on the asphalt, under the trays. I only plug it in if it is really chilly. I will cover the trays with the humidity domes as a second back up to the cold frame cover itself. The heater is the next back up. The last back up is a wool blanket over the top of the cold frame. I guess the true back up is carrying the trays back into the house overnight.

Lots and lots of onions, leeks, shallots, scallions have just germinated. They are going to be great this year.

Rosy

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #112 on: April 15, 2024, 08:48:19 AM »
HERBS - PEPPERS - ORNAMENTALS
This weekend and today
Planted various cuttings I propagated like African Blue Basil. Divided a very cool-looking Begonia from the shade garden and a few airplane plants. Hung-up two big baskets this morning that I re-planted in early spring from the plant babies, about to plant the third big basket and will plant a few of the current babies in pots too.

Seeded Rumball Heirloom tomatoes, dwarf, 60 days - hoping I'm not too late in the season to be successful.
Added in spicy globe basil as a companion plant seed to help it grow better and because it is one of my favorite basils.

Sprinkling a few different herb seeds here and there.
There is a parsley called Green Dreams that is so pretty it looks like an ornamental fern, does a bit better in the heat/sun than regular parsley and tastes great - awesome for culinary presentation too.

TEMPTATION WON - obsessive, compulsive plant collector, that's me.
Somehow I caved and ordered three intriguing kinds of basil online - all of them new to me (mostly Asian/Chinese so I hope they can tolerate our weather).
Hoping they will arrive today so I can seed them out pronto. The heat has arrived but we still have cool mornings. No rain in sight for at least a week.

AJI Peppers
Trying out heirloom Aji pepper seeds (mild) and another heirloom kind - we'll see if something comes of it.
I ordered the seeds last year as they are always sold out (expensive too for just a few seeds).
Since they are peppers I don't think it is too late to seed them out now but I will keep a few seeds back for next spring.

Overall - five of the eleven peppers I had last year are already producing and looking very healthy.
Three got diseases in late fall that I didn't want to spread so I carefully cleaned the pot and removed the infected plants last fall and the remainder simply didn't make it although two looked promising but then just dwindled away.

THE END IS NEAR for 2024 spring gardening - the potager is full to bursting and I'm running out of pots.
I may well be done with planting/replanting and the last of the seeds by the end of next week.
I'm ready to organize the few remaining pots and garden things and messes everywhere and move on to summer watering.
 
Of course, there is plenty to do in other parts of the garden like cutting, weeding and composting/mulching which hopefully will be done by the end of the month. That is the ultimate goal for this year's gardening season.
Projects will still happen here and there depending on the weather and how I feel (time-energy-health).

ORCHIDS
Did I mention that all my orchids have begun flowering?
I'm thinking of adding one more at this year's visit to the Green Thumb festival coming up soon.
They are thriving - hanging in the Viburnum bushes currently in bloom too, along with the glass bottle art between the Spanish moss.
The ferns underneath have naturalized and I elevated a few pots of the airplane plants in between.
I love it when a part of the garden comes into its own and everybody looks happy.

HAPPY GARDENING EVERYONE!

 


tygertygertyger

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #113 on: April 15, 2024, 09:02:57 AM »
So far, this Spring has been super busy with planting and growing. A thousand bare root trees have been planted and over thirty ornamental Bradford pears have been grafted over to fruiting varieties. Rain is expected for the next two days, which is good because I could use a break.

Any resources you can point me to about grafting fruiting varieties onto bradford pears? We have a Large bradford pear in our yard, super close to our garage. (From the previous owner).

We're planning to get rid of it, but if we could use it's intact root system to get us other stuff that we like, that'd be even better. I'm happy to look up my own sources too, but if you've found something helpful, I hope you'll share it!

Now that we've rid ourselves of many invasives, we're moving on to new stuff. My partner planned what will become our hedge of sorts in our suburban backyard. We've got 5 hazelnuts and 2 or 3 huckleberries back there now. Yay!

Our serviceberries and blueberries are starting to bloom, which is lovely and exciting.

And because the last few days have been nice, I've been taking out the tomato and pepper seedlings every morning and bringing them in in the evening. Potatoes are in their bags on the driveway.


mspym

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #114 on: April 15, 2024, 01:47:24 PM »
I didn’t make it to crop swap (surprise friend visit instead!) so I didn’t get rid of all my spare broccoli rabe and mizuna seedlings but I did give one of each to my friend and our neighbour and I’m taking one of each to the woman who gave me apples and tomorrow I’ll take some mizuna to my mum’s and get strawberry plants from her. It feels good.

Contrary to all the “don’t water, you’ll rot the broad beans!” advice, mine have all started coming up after three solid days of rain. We also have misc seedlings showing up from the seed scattering, and I *think* that some beetroot seeds I planted 2 months ago are actually germinating.

The elms are shedding so that’s going all into the new bed. Sadly the boxthorn up the hill that we chopped with a chainsaw and inserted a whole lot of poison into is sending up new shoots so we’ll have to get back to trying to clear that out. We have a pohutakawa sapling that will eventually go into that clearing but I’d like to get it a bit less box-thorned. Our other menace is kikuyu grass just going crazy after the rain.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #115 on: April 15, 2024, 03:49:04 PM »
Broadbeans - I should sow my tonight. Thanks for the reminder @mspym

I got great germination on all the alliums - including the collected seed from 2022. I am surprised.

I don't know anything about strawberry varieties. Last year DD picked a couple of flats of the most delicious and huge berries. I thought - what the heck - I will save seed and see what happens. I winter sowed them. I didn't worry about spreading them out. All the seeds germinated. Hopefully they breed true.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #116 on: April 15, 2024, 04:32:26 PM »
Broadbeans - I should sow my tonight. Thanks for the reminder @mspym

I got great germination on all the alliums - including the collected seed from 2022. I am surprised.

I don't know anything about strawberry varieties. Last year DD picked a couple of flats of the most delicious and huge berries. I thought - what the heck - I will save seed and see what happens. I winter sowed them. I didn't worry about spreading them out. All the seeds germinated. Hopefully they breed true.

If they were a species, started from seed themselves, they should be fine.  Otherwise . . . .

I spent a summer working at the Central Experimental Farm (Ottawa) in fruit breeding (my boss was doing strawberries, raspberries and apples - apples take forever to get to the point of being tested).  Part of the job was taste testing.  Some tasted OK, some tasted great, some were absolutely horrible.  Plus then there are all the other factors, to consider - yield, hardiness, disease resistance, etc.  Good luck in getting a good plant, you should register it if you do.  Or at least clone it.  Macintosh apples were first cloned in the late 1800s.   ;-)

But its fun to try.  I used to do the same thing with peonies, get seed from the Canadian Peony Society or save my own, and grow out the F1 generation.  Some were great plants, some were duds (anything from ugly flowers to super weak flower stems to just not healthy plants to ugly foliage) - and it was 5 years from sowing to flowers.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #117 on: April 16, 2024, 09:41:45 AM »
Today I repotted beans. Most beans sprouted well. And for once, I didn't sow more than I needed. But one variety didn't sprout at all. I sowed 6 seeds after soaking them for a few hours. And nothing happens. I will try again, as the seeds won't get any fresher by waiting for next year. These seeds are two years old and kept cold, by me at least. What happend before is not under my control. Otherwise I will sow more of the others.
I ended up putting the beans upstairs where they stand colder than in the living room. The are growing so fast that I don't have large enough pots to handle them indoors.

One of the pumpkins I sowed (2 seeds), didn't sprout either. All the others sprouted with both seeds. I have been brave and killed one plants of each pair. I really don't see how I could manage more squash and pumpkins indoors than I have already planned. I will try that one type again. Maybe I was just unlucky with the two seeds.

The microbush tomatoes are flowering. Today it was very sunny. And something in the living room, probably the tomatoes, was producing a strong floral scent, which we noticed when entering the living room. Later it was gone. Maybe tomatoes do that when they produce flowers, to attract insects. I am playing insect by just shaking the flowering plants. It is the first time that we have tomatoes that get flowers indoors.

Yesterday I collected another trailer load with horse manure to top the remainder of the raised beds. I had planned to use my own compost for that, but it isn't finished yet. I gave the lady of the horse manure my last excess chili plant, which she appreciated. The strawberry beds, I just topped with soil from commercial bags. All beds should now be ready for planting out seedlings from their pot with soil. Now just waiting until night frost is definitively gone, usually after the 17th of May.

My compost is turning into a slight headache. With have one very well insulated composting bin where we put the kitchen scraps. To add some more brown, I have added pieces of carton, some leaves, some sawdustand some twigs every now and then. Last autumn, I also dumped some of the damaged apples in it, although the majority of the fruit from the garden was dumped into the other bin, which is larger, and less well insulated.
When I took a look behind the emptying-door in the bin with kitchen scraps, it had a lot of not composted twigs, and quite a lot of still whole apples in it. Those apples were not sprayed with anything, but maybe they produced some anti rotting component by themselves. Those apples also stored for months downstairs in a cold room.
I obviously added too many twigs and won't do that next year. I put some of the material from the bottom back into the top of the bin.
A few days ago, DH brewed beer. The used malt, still warm, usually kickstarts the composting bin very well. So I hope this works, combined with all the sun during daytime. At night it freezes a bit this week.

I still have one crate standing, to make another raised bed. Still not sore what to do with it. Maybe make a cold frame with the old window. Or I could use that window on the strawberry bed and plant out the new plants now.

Today I saw something green beside a tag with garlic on it. That would be the first garlic sprouting. That was about time. If I'm wrong, it is just some grass from the horse manure. This garlic it supposed to be really hardy, so I find it hard to believe that it would have rotten away.

YttriumNitrate

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #118 on: April 16, 2024, 11:14:48 AM »
I think it's 16 feet. Didn't want to go too far apart for pollination reasons.
Back in 2017 I planted pawpaws at about 12 foot spacing at my house. Since pawpaws grow rather slowly where I am, I'm kicking myself for not interplanting peach trees between them. I probably could have gotten five years of peaches before it was time to remove the peach tree to make way for the pawpaws.

YttriumNitrate

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #119 on: April 16, 2024, 11:39:58 AM »
Any resources you can point me to about grafting fruiting varieties onto bradford pears? We have a Large bradford pear in our yard, super close to our garage. (From the previous owner).
For grafting over a large Bradford pear you're going to want to do something called a rind graft. Here's a video of the process being done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrE2CkQHudI&t=15s

Rather than using a fancy grafting knife and sealing compound, I just use a utility knife with disposable blades and a toilet bowl wax ring. For securing the fruiting sticks to large Bradfords I found that a staple gun is useful. In December through February, this Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/scionexchange) is a great place to find various varieties of fruiting pear wood that you can use for grafting.

grantmeaname

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #120 on: April 16, 2024, 11:41:54 AM »
Back in 2017 I planted pawpaws at about 12 foot spacing at my house. Since pawpaws grow rather slowly where I am, I'm kicking myself for not interplanting peach trees between them. I probably could have gotten five years of peaches before it was time to remove the peach tree to make way for the pawpaws.
We've got some low 1-3 foot wildflowers in between, but you're right - maybe blackberries or a little cranberry raised bed would have been a good fit there.

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #121 on: April 21, 2024, 08:20:50 PM »
In the grow room: four trays of 36: tomatoes
Two of eggplants, two of peppers.

I started germinating flower seeds on Friday night:
72 tray of nasturtium ,
Tray of tiny soil blocks with all the smaller seeds

I have a great number of pale and orange sweet potatoes but all the purple ones are doing poorly so I started over with a potato from storage the has started to sprout on its own.

Out in the cold frame the alliums are coming along slowly. I am going to have far more than I  can possibly use.

Out in the garden last years kale is leafed out and the asparagus is going to be amazing.  Today I planted peas and fava and lima beans. And an old package of parsnips.  It could be a bust. Radish spinach and arugula are up.

Garden soil is looking really good. 

There are some garlic scattered about that were missed in past years. What is the consensus?  Leave it in the great clumps in inconvenient locations or transplant it into rows at proper spacing asap?


RetiredAt63

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #122 on: April 22, 2024, 10:30:16 AM »

There are some garlic scattered about that were missed in past years. What is the consensus?  Leave it in the great clumps in inconvenient locations or transplant it into rows at proper spacing asap?

I had that one year - moved everything into the garlic bed and split them as I planted.  They did not yield as well as the ones that had been properly planted, but they did yield.  The sooner you move them the better, I imagine.  For an experiment you could leave one just to see what happens when the whole bulb grows in one place and the cloves are competing with each other.   ;-)

mspym

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #123 on: April 22, 2024, 01:47:21 PM »
I’ve planted out all the strawberry runners I got from my mum in the front garden bed. If only half of them survive, we’ll be rolling in berries. All this talk of garlic is reminding me I should pop some cloves in the ground. I know I should do it properly but it might just be from the bulb that’s been chitting away in the kitchen.

Now that it’s cooled down and rained a bit more, most of the trees in the front are starting to put on new growth, which is a relief. We had three manuka and one kowhai die over summer, which was disappointing. The big task before we go is plant the pohutakawa tree up the slope and get it established before we disappear overseas for 3 weeks.

Rosy

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #124 on: April 25, 2024, 03:22:04 PM »
1. Seedlings
Dare I say it out loud - the Rumball Tomato, the heirloom Aji Pepper and the Spicy Globe Basil all sprouted beautifully and abundantly.
Thrilled!:) because that never happens to me, especially with edibles.

The new Blue Basil and Chinese Sweet Basil seed packets arrived along with Greek Mountain Mint - I'm seeding them everywhere, hoping I'm not too late and that they will thrive in at least one spot.
Greek Mountain Mint is Mr. R's favorite - it tastes slightly sweet and flowery not really minty at all but I guess it may be in the mint family. A container of dried herb incl flowers and stalk and leaves (whole) runs $5. - so this one would definitely be a huge win to succeed in growing ourselves. We'll see.

I have high hopes for the Blue Basil based on the glowing reviews. People are making everything from liqueur to perfume and lotions, the bees and butterflies love it and there were some intriguing recipes too - definitely not your usual culinary basil - so right up my alley. 80% fell in love with the scent and couldn't get enough of it but 20% said it stank.

2. Garden Herb Surprise - yes, I'm officially a plant nerd always looking for new tastes and flavors or medicinal or other uses.
I have a Costa Rican mint bush that I acquired for ten bucks for a tiny plantling three years ago. Primarily because I reasoned that's a great deal considering that no mints really like my garden, with luck the occasional mint makes it to the following year - no matter what I do. So every year I buy different mint plantlings to the tune of around $30.
At least I've learned that they will do fine until late spring then I have to start harvesting because that's all I'll ever get - which is the reason there are bundles of mint hanging in my kitchen right now.

But I digress - having a mint bush would solve all my problems and I'd be fine with only buying one chocolate mint for culinary purposes and a pineapple mint (if I can find it) for summer drinks.

SURPRISE - the mint bush has decided it's time to branch out from one sad-looking stick and become a bush after three years! It is blooming for the first time, quite pretty, unusual lavender and yellow in an umbel form.
The leaves taste somewhat citrusy, a bit like lemon verbena but there is a hint of mint and something else too - we'll see if the tea is a success. I think this one would be great used for dessert with ice cream or in whipping cream or in a cream pie frosting.
Then I'll test it for ice tea and later try it in a mix of herb tea.
(I vaguely remember that it may have medicinal uses too I'll have to research that.)

3. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
I rarely say that when it comes to the garden but I'm feeling my age and coming to grips with the fact that I have to shut down some garden activities. Something I included in my original design plan and started to put into action in the last five years even if it doesn't look or sound like it.

THE DESIGN PLAN
I will eventually only garden in the potager and if I can't handle that anymore it is designed so that I can easily turn it into a simple formal garden with four huge pots already in place, a low stone garden wall surrounds the potager. The wall is intended to hold a window box at the right height to easily garden whether it is a box of geraniums or herbs... One can always buy a pot of spring flowers at the garden center and voila.

The entrance to the potager is a big solid archway covered in jasmine that blooms in the spring.
There is perennial greenery on three sides from the outside only. (Like flowering shrubs and bushes arching over - into the potager from the outside.)
The corner seating area is in the shade by the time the heat arrives, but I/we can enjoy the sun during late fall and spring.

Of course, the best and crucial part of the design is the interior layout.
It is a 10x10 foot square with a cross-walkway of stone all set in gravel, which creates four equal garden spaces and a spot for a center pedestal.
Each corner square holds one huge pot - plantings can be changed at will.

The ten by ten has a low wall surround of its own, but since it isn't set with mortar I can easily lower or increase the height - which I do all the time because every garden year is different and I like to play and have options.

This ten by ten layout is surrounded by gravel on all sides, about three-plus feet wide on three of the sides.
The fourth side faces a large shed and is much wider - about six feet wide.

The wider area is my potting station, a large table and a tall shelf next to it. It is mostly hidden by a big shrub.
On the other side of the table is a large pot for compost and next to it a big bush surrounded by either container planting and the odd table or chair or sometimes nothing at all - depending on the time of year.

So you see how easy it is to change it all from an overabundance of containers and decor, with plants everywhere to a serene easily managed formal garden.
BONUS you can actually convert the potager into a wheelchair-accessible garden if you needed to. Just remove a few pavers and lower or increase the height of the wall - it is only stacked, not set with mortar.   
 
The entire garden, every other area - can be brought into shape by hiring help twice a year for about five days max.

LAST WEEKEND
We divided the peace lilies, Mr. R. took half out of each pot and planted them in the ground with the other peace lilies that have long since naturalized. I think that will be the final time I'm doing that - in essence, this area of the garden can now remain as is.
We had a monster Bougainvillea there that I couldn't keep up with the care of it any longer, too tall and vigorous for me to cut and too expensive to hire someone to do it properly.

That meant two years of changing what's growing there, standing back and observing what mother nature seemed to want to do in that space and this year it is "done" as much as one can ever say that about a garden.
I splurged on some fun garden furniture and a nice fountain last year and this spring so I'm enjoying the sound of water languishing in the swing chair.

Yes, I (actually had to) added plants to enclose and separate the space to keep most of the Secret Garden feel it once had. Mostly the gardenia bush spread into that area, the exotic looking tropical Lobster Claws were allowed to spread more and a few plants from my own propagation plus garden gifts, like a couple of wild palms.

SO
At the Saturday Morning Market I spent ten bucks on a hanging succulent that I've been wanting to try - called a string of bananas. 
BUT
The fun part was the opportunity to re-design a part of the garden.

THE BEST PART: Happy accident!:)
I ended up with a lovely art project which turned into a useful, functional table.
Ollie's had a metal side table in the clearance section for like ten bucks. But after I set it up in the garden I discovered the top of the table being a tray - it filled with water every time it rained and attracted mosquitoes. So it sat in the carport until I happened to need a surface to try out a stencil.

I planned to just spray paint it white again since my intention was to test the stencil aka play with it then use that intel for the 'real' stencil project
on the bathroom wall.
Serendipity - the project turned into a multi-media project and came out beautifully, so I never used it on the wall.

Except, what to do with the tray top since now since I really couldn't use the table top without destroying my art.
Enter my stash of glass table tops (everyone has one of those n'est pas?:). Looks perfect, like it was meant to be.
The glass table top increased the size of the table which is now perfect for use and miraculously it keeps the water from the inside tray - I wasn't so sure it really would do that. I still need to spray it with a sealer but the only one who had the right kind was Walmart and it took me three weeks to go there.

I'm still planning on a couple more art projects but my priority is finishing up the important garden chores, like planting and staking, weeding, ...
Nevertheless, I have been hard at work so I may get a chance to do the column I want for a new garden border (yeah, well we're talking about using some big branches as a border-already done) and creating a column from a couple of concrete blocks to be topped by a big ceramic skull (think Day of the Dead) which is actually a small Chimnea. I will use mosaic (tile) or whatever pops in my head to decorate and then paint the concrete blocks.

Anyway - the garden smells wonderful and looks better with each passing day. Confederate Jasmin rules!:)

HAPPY GARDENING EVERYONE!

PS - I'm always so impressed and downright jealous when I see the guys using the big machines like in the pic at the top of the page - alas -
I have a body-builder garden dude that rips up everything I need to, using sheer muscle power, not a bad pic either:).
Then again, I do wield a fierce chainsaw (small electric:) that I've been told is impressive for an old lady - LOL.
Just thinking out loud... 

Oh and on another note - I found a new snake in my garden - a Florida brown snake, although it looked sort of muddy orange.
Non-poisonous if you are wondering.
It seems like every year we acquire a new critter in the garden.

Oh and I just encountered a new bumblebee that is black with a beige shield on its back, strange. Wondering what kind it is.               

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #125 on: April 27, 2024, 01:14:37 AM »
For the past weeks, I have let several groups of plants (strawberries, thyme seedlings, carrots in milk packs, aspargus seedlings, climbing plants, berry branches for donation) get used to sunlight and wind. Last night, they spent the night outside for the first time, in their growing pots.

Next week, it will be really warm and I plan to plant out these strawberries with thyme in between.

The micro bush tomatoes are flowering. The chillies are also developing flowers. I have put these plants outside only on the warmest days for a few hours.

Today the kale seedlings are outside for the first time. A bit late, as they could have been planted out early.
Today, I also need to start putting all plants outside for an hour. And more hours next week.

Tomorrow it will be the best weather and I will spend it in a kayak all day. So I don't have the time to manage outside training for plants.

Rosy

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #126 on: April 28, 2024, 12:09:59 PM »
Well, the Earth Day - Green Thumb Festival was fun and productive.
Came home exhausted with the first sunburn of the year. We went together with our neighbor who was on the lookout for native and butterfly plants and we met up with another couple. It was totally crowded so I'm glad we went early and we got most of what we wanted before the rare and good stuff sold out.

Picked up Everglades tomato
which is supposed to be easy and go wild/perennial in our hot and humid Florida garden - tried it once, didn't work out - so here we go again.

Pink something tomato - wasn't planned, but it just looked so adorable this one just called my name:). Who knew a tomato could look adorable?:)

An Orange Jasmine bush - this will be the perfect candidate for a privacy screen, the birds love it for hiding and nesting, I know because I already have a huge one that I let grow wild. This one will be trimmed. It is evergreen and the white flowers appear all year long off and on giving off a strong orange blossom/jasmine fragrance.

Blackberry - giving it one last try. Between the lawn guy whacking it out of existence and me not watering it enough to get well-established this is my third  try.

Herbs
Motherwort - love this plant and since it is too late to grow it from seed, I was happy to find one at one of the many herb vendors.
Tobacco - unplanned. The kind that gets huge and was grown for ceremonial use. I'm hoping it has a lovely scent...
Lemon Verbena - one of my favorite herbs. One can never have enough lemon verbena for all sorts of concoctions, tea and culinary uses.
Sweet Atzec or Stevia - I do use it for sugar and this one in particular has the sweetest leaves I've ever tasted.

Kaffir Lime tree - the one big splurge already planned, we do enjoy growing our own citrus in the garden. 

Of course, then there were the just-for-fun splurges like colorful Macrame plant hangers for my airplane plant collection.

The "I really shouldn't" purchase:) - A Bamboo Fern called Golden Zebra.
At five bucks it was actually one of my cheapest indulgences. The ones online are $20 to $30 (not that I knew that at the time) I just wanted the cool-looking fern.
Somehow, over time I acquired a passion for interesting fern varieties.
Last year I picked up a Peacock Fern (Rainbow Moss) - amazing how it turns a metallic blue Peacock color when a ray of sunshine hits it.

Anyway, that's it for spring gardening for 2024
 - now it's down to organizing my pots for next season, finishing planting and the last bits of maintenance by the end of next week.
The heat is here, I'm hovering over the seedlings every day and then it is just watering and the occasional project if and when I can manage.

It has been one of the best spring gardening seasons in years and I'm happy with the outcome.
Maybe there will be sweet potatoes too...:)
Happy gardening everyone - may your spring season turn  out as well as ours has this year.

mspym

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #127 on: April 28, 2024, 06:55:41 PM »
It's really interesting seeing the change in sunlight as we change seasons. In summer the main bed basically gets light all day long while the side bed gets morning sun and then is in the shadow. Now, the side bed is still getting morning sun but the main bed is in shade all day, hopefully it will get some more light once the leaves finish dropping! Meanwhile the front lawn has pretty solid sun, which the saplings we have planted seem to be appreciating. I'd been thinking that we might not plant up the front so much but given the sunlight patterns, that could be where our winter produce comes from.

I pulled the beetroots today and thinned the capsicum plants. If they haven't fruited by now, they won't before it gets too cold. Out they come. I'm trying to not plant much more since we're away for nearly a month soon. Hopefully everything looks after itself. It's getting pretty cold overnight - 4C.

oldtoyota

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #128 on: April 28, 2024, 09:30:56 PM »
I was looking at the 2023 thread and concerns about seed saving.

So, I wanted to share this link to the Living Seed Company. I appreciate their heirloom seeds.

https://www.livingseedcompany.com/

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #129 on: April 29, 2024, 07:05:47 AM »
Asparagus is coming on strong.
Started up potting my tomatoes. I am not at the stage of really short on space. I need to move plants out to the cold frame as I have no room under lights left. This is a good problem. IE everything is growing!

Sowed another bed in the kitchen garden. (there are 14 beds, 22'x2.5') I transplanted all the garlic to the middle. Some of the clumps were single cloves two growing seasons ago. Hopefully the added spacing results in larger bulbs. The outer sides of the bed got snow peas, round 2 of spinach, lettuce, kale and arugula. The greenhouse beds are now seeded with greens, basil, parsley and cilantro.

If I have time tonight I will work on the tomatoes some more. I will move the 5 flats of allium out of the cold frame and start loading the tomatoes in. They are currently in 5cm soil block cubes. As many as possible will go into 4"plastic pots, the rest will have to do with 3"pots. They are lovely sturdy plants.

Rosy

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #130 on: April 29, 2024, 11:25:47 AM »
I was looking at the 2023 thread and concerns about seed saving.

So, I wanted to share this link to the Living Seed Company. I appreciate their heirloom seeds.

https://www.livingseedcompany.com/

@oldtoyota - thanks, I ordered six seed packets. Not a huge selection but it appears to be well-curated and selective.
One can never go wrong with heirloom/organic seeds:).

mspym

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #131 on: April 29, 2024, 04:00:55 PM »
Inspired by something I had heard about not wasting a good potato hole, last night while making dinner I took all our sprouting garlic cloves and poked them in the holes from pulling the beetroot. Hopefully something grows and if it doesn't that's ok.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #132 on: April 30, 2024, 03:08:44 PM »
Today we had the warmest weather for this year. Forecast for the rest of the week is also good.
Therefore we planted out all plants that have climatized for a while: carrots, new berry bushes and grapes, hablizia hapnoides (climbing plant). I forgot to plant out potatoes, which I will do one of the coming days.

I also got all the plants from upstairs and put them in the sun for a while. The indeterminate tomatoes looked not so great after and hour in tye sun, so I got them back inside. The massive pumpkin and all the beans need to spend the night outside. I threw a see through curtain over them aftrr an hour in the sun.
The smaller pumpkin plants are back inside, as they are easier to carry in and out every day.

Some of the microbush tomatoes have already small, green tomatoes. That is why I sowed them in February already, in the hope to have fresh tomatoes soon. The oldest microbush tomatoes are growing pretty big now. The tallest one is 50 cm high.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #133 on: May 02, 2024, 10:24:05 AM »
Today I put my seed potatoes in the ground. These are all my own potatoes from last year, free from sickness. Five different varietirs in the garden, pluss 3 additional varieties that I will grow at our mountain cabin, as these varieties are vulnerable for sickness.

I also sowed lots of garlic seeds in the strawberry beds. I had forgotten that I would plant some together with the potatoes, but I can transfer some later. We did plant out the new strawberries a few days ago, together with some thyme plants that are supposed to give better taste. We have had fake red strawberries laying the the bed for some time, to teach the crows that strawberries are not edible.

I also direct sowed chard. And I sowed radishes and turnips in the same beds as the potatoes. They are supposed to be ready for picking before the potatoes have any size. What I didn't consider was the cover for the potatoes. Maybe that would also cover the other plants. Luckily I don't need to use cover for a while yet.

Our fruit trees are getting leaves. I am looking foreward to the blossoming and so do all the humble bee queens and other pollinators that roam our garden (and shed) every day.

Today I filled a tin vat (that came with the house) with soil and planted out flowers that I sowed: sunflowers, busknellik (Dianthus barbatus) and blue salvia in there. That will just be for the flowers and the bees.

I filled the other, bigger tin vat with a wooden platform that I made earlier and put my herb plants in that vat, each in there own cloth pot. That vat will be right outside the dining room.

I think I might leave the tomatoes, bell peppers and chilies outside tonight. We have such nice weather.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #134 on: May 04, 2024, 10:03:00 AM »
Today I planted out the leeks, the parsley root and another root plant. As well as the kale and the kohlrabi. The brassicas got a curtain folded over them, to prevent the little plants from getting eaten.
Yesterday I also planted out beet plants, and sowed some more.
I planted some beneficial flowers with the potatoes (Tagetes) and with the pumpkin (Borage).

We have several bird houses and only two of them are occupied to far. Finally one house is taken by a sparrow (chaffinch), rather than by one of the tits, which we usually get.

Raenia

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #135 on: May 06, 2024, 05:26:08 AM »
Planted out the tomatoes last week and over the weekend sowed seeds for lettuce and arugula, as well as some flowers in pots. I hope the flowers have time to bloom, since I got going to late this year. Might not get as much out of the lettuce either, as the hot weather approaches, but better to try and risk a short season than miss the whole spring season! Have enough seed left for a fall planting as well, if the summer weather comes too soon.

I went ahead and sowed some flower seeds I had left over from past years. Don't know if they will come up, or if they are too old, but I had nothing else to put in those pots, so it can't hurt.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #136 on: May 06, 2024, 09:28:00 AM »
Started hardening off the tomato seedlings. Out for the day on the porch. Back in for the night. 8 flats.

Started pre-germinating all the pumpkins, zucchini, squash, cucumbers and melons. I have an old rusty cookie shhet that fits the heat mat perfectly.  Damp paper towels. Humidity done on top. An amazing number were sprouted by Sunday morning. 

I have flats of soil blocks ready as they sprout. I will give them a week on heat mat and then start hardening them off. I don't plant in the ground until the first weekend of June.

Asparagus harvest is bountiful.



Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #137 on: May 06, 2024, 12:13:09 PM »
Our aspargus has only one shoot yet, a very thick shoot for a green aspargus. Maybe it should have been treated as a white aspargus, covered by a bucket?

Two days ago I sowed bok choi in the lettuce sow tray upstairs. I hope it stays a bit coolish there, so that we can eat it in a couple of weeks. It is suppoed to be one of the fastest veggies.

The wind was very hard today. I put my tomatoes and peppers/chillies and eggplants outside to get used to the wind. But I have some damage on the leaves. I took them back in just before the wind reduced.

I am reconsidering to have the plants outside all sommer. I might need to keep them indoors in hard weather and when we are not home. All tomatoes and chillies have flowers. Most bell peppers have flower buds.

The sweet cherry tree in the garden is flowering. One of the pears has flowers in buds, ready to be opened at the next nice weather period.

The rhubarb is growing, but slowly. Not yet big enough to harvest from.

the lorax

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #138 on: May 12, 2024, 12:13:37 AM »

opposite season here in NZ! I had a big harvest-all-the-things afternoon last week just before a cold snap (went down to -6oC where we are!). Harvested a couple more pumpkins, a few kilos of Jerusalem artichokes, a handful of limes, 2 kg capsicum, $4kg apples, baby aubergines and a few kilos of red and green tomatoes.

I made soup from the artichokes and have made fried green tomatoes, green tomato jam (not a success), hubby made green tomato hot sauce and then I roasted the remaining green tomatoes with some of the capsicum and garlic and turned it into pasta sauce. We had a lot of green tomatoes ;) I'll make applesauce out of all the blemished apples tomorrow.

The capsicum and tomatoes gre really well here this season although weirdly the chillis were terrible. Punpkins and squash were disappointing - I really struggled to get them going as seedlings and the plants I bought to replace the seddlings don't seem to have great flavour.

I tried a few heritage varieties this year- some were great but others not. Not sure if that was just the weather though.

Sowed two beds of garlic today - three varieties in total and the veg garden is now pretty much ready for winter :)


Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #139 on: May 13, 2024, 08:43:00 AM »
Another successful weekend in the gardens.

Indoors:
all the melons, pumpkins, squash, cukes and zukes are in 5cm soil cubes. Some of the pumpkins have their first true leaf already.
made up a flat of soil cubes (36) and planted bulls red, chiaggo, touchon gold and avalanche beets. 3-4 seeds per cube. I am hoping the four plants can push themselves outward as they grow.

Greenhouse:
basil, dill, arugula, kale, parsely and masses of volunteer tomatoes.

Cold frame on driveway: is full of tomatoes. I sorted everything into some semblance of organization. I have two and a half extra flats of tomatoes. I am going to fill the greenhouse with cherry tomatoes one night this week.

City kitchen garden:
eating rhubarb, kale, asparagus
planted more greens
peas - snap, shelling, snow, favas, spinach, lettuce are up.

Farm pantry garden:
The soil is amazing. There are a lot of huge weeds, but they pull super easy, exposing beautiful moist soil.
Garlic looks good and is surprisingly, not too weedy.
Planted: rainbow and chantilly carrots, snow, shelling and snap peas. Hopefully I can get more peas in next weekend. First the cattle panels have to be moved. I will plant peas on one side and then, first weekend in June, all the paste and slicer tomatoes on the other side.

The Jeng seeder makes planting a piece of cake. Unfortunately it didn't occur to me to surface plant the carrot seed. Maybe it will come up, maybe not.

sixwings

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #140 on: May 13, 2024, 09:51:50 AM »
Well I think so far this year I might end up with more than a handful of radishes and a lot of garlic.

For background, I am in zone 9a and I've been trying since 2021 to grow food and I have been extremely unsuccessful. I've spent a lot of time and money on soil, garden beds, etc. and so far I've got A LOT of garlic, and a handful of radishes and kale/lettuce.

This year I think I've finally reached a self-sustaining garlic supply! Last year I grew about 120 bulbs, replanted 20, gave away about 20 and ate the other 80, I still have a few left until I harvest them in july/early aug, and I had another 120 come up from the planting last year. So this is a BIG win for me because I use garlic in just about every non-dessert dish and the garlic I grow are varieties that are VERY flavorful, some are spicy, some are mild, they are awesome! I find the difference in taste between my garlic varieties and the ones I can buy in the grocery store to be very significant.

SO far I've planted carrots, fennel, beets and spinach, all look to be growing well so that's a win! Last year I moved 2 of my rhubarb plants into a new spot and the plants are HUGE, the rhubarb I left alone also is really big so I'm going to harvest a bit of that over the next few weeks and leave the other rhubarb plants to grow, very excited about that. My peas are actually coming up and growing and looking good, and the lettuces and kale are also growing nicely, I should be able to start harvesting lettuce for salads and such soon.

mspym

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #141 on: May 13, 2024, 10:06:01 AM »
@sixwings that’s a huge garden victory! Your persistence is paying off.
@the lorax my garden snap-froze! I harvested the green peppers but don’t know if the silver beet will recover. It’s a relief to hear someone else had a rubbish year for pumpkins.

We’re overseas for nearly four weeks and the garden will need to survive by itself. There should be enough rain for the plants. I should have got some chicken manure and straw and sorted that before I left but I didn’t so that will be a job for when I return. There’s mustard greens growing as a green mulch so I’ll chop that down when I get back and feed it back in assuming we don’t eat it. If the freeze killed all the plants, that’ll be more mulch so I’m telling myself it’s not so bad.

grantmeaname

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #142 on: May 16, 2024, 07:16:03 AM »
Last week we got four rainbarrels from our soil and water conservation district for $40 each - two for one each at our two downspouts, and two for my FIL and MIL who live a couple miles from here. They're really nice - even with volume pricing the county government must be kicking in at least 2/3 of the cost. We've got them about a foot up in the air on pavers to provide a bit more water pressure and let us still use the bottom foot of the barrels' capacity. We've had rain every day but one of the last 10 or so and they're filling up fast.

Next up I need to get potting soil and fill up the planter lids. The nearby CSA where I do my master gardener volunteering gave all the volunteers a nice potted pansy this spring so that will go in one of them, and then I need to find something shade-loving and totally unkillable for the other because it will see very little sun.

ItsALongStory

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #143 on: May 19, 2024, 10:13:24 PM »
Quick intro from a new joiner.

While not technically FIREd I was on an open ended sabbatical for the past 3.5 years; my wife retired from a county government job. I'm kicking off a small property management business in the area but still have plenty of time for gardening. Initially my wife and I planned to travel around for several years but rather quickly we felt like we needed a home base and decided to re-settle in central Italy back in the fall of 2021. The new place has a nice (mostly flat) lot where I've started some veggie gardening and planted about 10-15 fruit and nut trees.

While my experience level in gardening is relatively low I am fortunate to be in a very forgiving climate with mild winters and limited 100F/40C type days. As you might expect I am primarily focusing on mediterranean staples such as peppers, tomatoes, zucchini etc but have acquired quite a collection of seeds I'm hoping to play around with.

My newly found passion for olives is also taking up quite a bit of my outdoors time. We own about 25 trees (plenty for our own olive oil needs) with plans to acquire an additional 80 abandoned trees as a side project that will initially yield more firewood than olives or oil. I'm planning to go back and re-read this year's thread so I can sort of figure out what everyone is working on and see how I can fit in.

ItsALongStory

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #144 on: May 19, 2024, 11:04:07 PM »
SO far I've planted carrots, fennel, beets and spinach, all look to be growing well so that's a win! Last year I moved 2 of my rhubarb plants into a new spot and the plants are HUGE, the rhubarb I left alone also is really big so I'm going to harvest a bit of that over the next few weeks and leave the other rhubarb plants to grow, very excited about that. My peas are actually coming up and growing and looking good, and the lettuces and kale are also growing nicely, I should be able to start harvesting lettuce for salads and such soon.

I have one rhubarb plant that I put in the wrong spot so I should also move it. What time of year did you move yours? Also, how are you keeping slugs off your fennel? I planted about 10 seedlings last year and the slugs just destroyed them instantly. I have tried beer traps but it seems there is simply an endless supply and I obviously can't have my chickens in the garden during the growing season.

lhamo

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #145 on: May 20, 2024, 07:45:56 AM »
Quick intro from a new joiner.

While not technically FIREd I was on an open ended sabbatical for the past 3.5 years; my wife retired from a county government job. I'm kicking off a small property management business in the area but still have plenty of time for gardening. Initially my wife and I planned to travel around for several years but rather quickly we felt like we needed a home base and decided to re-settle in central Italy back in the fall of 2021. The new place has a nice (mostly flat) lot where I've started some veggie gardening and planted about 10-15 fruit and nut trees.

While my experience level in gardening is relatively low I am fortunate to be in a very forgiving climate with mild winters and limited 100F/40C type days. As you might expect I am primarily focusing on mediterranean staples such as peppers, tomatoes, zucchini etc but have acquired quite a collection of seeds I'm hoping to play around with.

My newly found passion for olives is also taking up quite a bit of my outdoors time. We own about 25 trees (plenty for our own olive oil needs) with plans to acquire an additional 80 abandoned trees as a side project that will initially yield more firewood than olives or oil. I'm planning to go back and re-read this year's thread so I can sort of figure out what everyone is working on and see how I can fit in.

Ooh -- fun!  My brother and SIL own a house the renovated in a small Italian hill town about an hour outside Rome, and recently bought another piece of Land that they plan to build on (current house is four stories and not age-in-place-able).  It has an olive grove on it and I have offered to become their estate manager ;)  IIRC once their Italian citizenship/residency comes through (they have a court date in a few weeks -- they are eligible for citizenship based on SIL's family heritage) they need to apply to become registered as farmers before they can do anything with the property.  If you have been through that process might be good to get some tips!

You've probably seen it already but the episode of the docuseries Salt Fat Acid Heat that focuses on Italy is really fun, and includes footage of an olive harvest, among other things.  I think it was the "Fat" episode.  Also great stuff on cheesemaking and learning recipes from village elders.

ItsALongStory

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #146 on: May 20, 2024, 10:59:12 AM »
Quick intro from a new joiner.

While not technically FIREd I was on an open ended sabbatical for the past 3.5 years; my wife retired from a county government job. I'm kicking off a small property management business in the area but still have plenty of time for gardening. Initially my wife and I planned to travel around for several years but rather quickly we felt like we needed a home base and decided to re-settle in central Italy back in the fall of 2021. The new place has a nice (mostly flat) lot where I've started some veggie gardening and planted about 10-15 fruit and nut trees.

While my experience level in gardening is relatively low I am fortunate to be in a very forgiving climate with mild winters and limited 100F/40C type days. As you might expect I am primarily focusing on mediterranean staples such as peppers, tomatoes, zucchini etc but have acquired quite a collection of seeds I'm hoping to play around with.

My newly found passion for olives is also taking up quite a bit of my outdoors time. We own about 25 trees (plenty for our own olive oil needs) with plans to acquire an additional 80 abandoned trees as a side project that will initially yield more firewood than olives or oil. I'm planning to go back and re-read this year's thread so I can sort of figure out what everyone is working on and see how I can fit in.

Ooh -- fun!  My brother and SIL own a house the renovated in a small Italian hill town about an hour outside Rome, and recently bought another piece of Land that they plan to build on (current house is four stories and not age-in-place-able).  It has an olive grove on it and I have offered to become their estate manager ;)  IIRC once their Italian citizenship/residency comes through (they have a court date in a few weeks -- they are eligible for citizenship based on SIL's family heritage) they need to apply to become registered as farmers before they can do anything with the property.  If you have been through that process might be good to get some tips!

You've probably seen it already but the episode of the docuseries Salt Fat Acid Heat that focuses on Italy is really fun, and includes footage of an olive harvest, among other things.  I think it was the "Fat" episode.  Also great stuff on cheesemaking and learning recipes from village elders.

That's brilliant, we live about 2 hrs north of Rome and 2 hrs south of Florence. Fun fact; we were fortunate enough to find some MMM house sitters that looked after our house, cats, chickens and garden last week.

Great news about their citizenship appointment, just make sure they also consider the tax implications of that when they eventually become Italian residents. I have a European passport and was able to sponsor my American wife for a visa, thankfully avoiding any of those tax implications.

I do not have the status of a farmer but know some people who are working with what's called an 'Agronomo' to manage some of their construction permitting which is indeed more lenient if you're going to be running an agriturismo type business. Beware that some of these building permits may come with a 10+ year requirement for an agritourism business to be run after the permits, this requirement also transfers to any subsequent owners so it certainly hinders a potential sale.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #147 on: May 20, 2024, 03:12:57 PM »
SO far I've planted carrots, fennel, beets and spinach, all look to be growing well so that's a win! Last year I moved 2 of my rhubarb plants into a new spot and the plants are HUGE, the rhubarb I left alone also is really big so I'm going to harvest a bit of that over the next few weeks and leave the other rhubarb plants to grow, very excited about that. My peas are actually coming up and growing and looking good, and the lettuces and kale are also growing nicely, I should be able to start harvesting lettuce for salads and such soon.

I have one rhubarb plant that I put in the wrong spot so I should also move it. What time of year did you move yours? Also, how are you keeping slugs off your fennel? I planted about 10 seedlings last year and the slugs just destroyed them instantly. I have tried beer traps but it seems there is simply an endless supply and I obviously can't have my chickens in the garden during the growing season.

@ItsALongStory
I have been told that rubarb can grow anywhere (in Norway, that is).
Moving it is best done in the dormant season, before the first stilks appear. Make sure you plant a sign at your rubarb plant, so you will know where it is exactly. I tried to find a rubarb early spring and couldn't locate it. Now I need to wait until last autumn to digg it up.

Rubarbs like lots of fertilizer. If the plant is a couple of years old, you can divide the root. That will stimulate new growth. That was the reason I wanted to locate my rubarb.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #148 on: May 20, 2024, 03:33:35 PM »
We have had a couple of weeks with very warm and sunny weather. All fruit trees are blossoming. The cherry has already finished. We decovered that we have a Syringus vulgarus in the garden. That plant was on my wish list, so that was comvenient. It is now in it's last period of blossoming and still smells great.

We ate our first 3 aspargus stalks. And new ones are growing. I repotted the seedling asparguses to bigger pots. They had filled up their pot with roots already.

I harvested the first two stalks of the eldest rubarb. I planted out 3 new rubarb seedlings. They are now growing nicely. The well established plants is in a bad lication with only afternoon sun. It is growing slowly, while other houses in the town have fullgrown flowering rubarbs already. At the end of the week we will visit our cabin. There I have some more rubarbs that I hope I can harvest.

The first potatoes have sprouted. At some potato beds, I direct sowed radish and turnips. They are supposed to finish development before the potatoes need to get more soil. At the cabin I will place the potatoes outside when I am there. There is a very short season. Here where I live, we are apparently 9 days ahead of normal gardening climate this time of year.

The pumpkins and squashes are blossoming. I used a male pumpkin flower to pollinate a female squash flower. As long as I don't collect the seeds, the fruit should become like the mother plant.

My chili peppers are developing peppers.

All tomatoes are outside, even the big ones. Even the latter are developing flower buds. All microbush tomatoes already have many green or even dark tomatoes.

The herbs that I planted together in small pots in a large tin basket, are doing well. Today I had to cut them shorter. The period with lots of mint and lots of sage is starting. I have sown more basil and cilantro.

The strawberries have their first flowers. Mostly in plants that we had from last year. We have had fake strawberries in the bed for a while in the hope that the birds learn that these red things are not edible.
Beside the strawberry bed we made a bird bath/drinking place. It is also for insects to drink from. Some birds visut it daily to drink.

Today I removed the sheets that I hung over the kale and cabbage plants. It seemed that the plants were not growing. Rain doesn't get through it and maybe sunlight doesn't either. I hope they won't get eaten by deer. The neighbours said we can get deer here in summer.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Planting and growing your own 2024
« Reply #149 on: May 20, 2024, 04:58:25 PM »
Some progress in the garden this long weekend.  Planted out: 2 flats of onions, sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos , nicotine, straw flowers, some strawberries. And sowed one half of the bean trellis.

Getting tomatoes, eggplants, all the peppers zucchini and pumpkins hardened off.

 

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