Planting and growing your own 2024

[Linea_Norway]

@Rosy

Have your tried growing mint in a pot inside your house? Last year, I sowed peppermint from seed and that didn't become a healthy plant. Then I took cuttings from a mint herb from the grocery store and those worked very well, in pots.

For pictures, click on the "attachments" option under this editor. The file shouldn't be too big, otherwise it won't upload. If you upload on an iPad, it often ends up up-side-down or sideways.

[Linea_Norway]

My chilies and bell peppers ar growing slowly, but nicely. One type (Jalapeno) is a bit leggy, but the others look fine. The extra seeds with bell pepper Yellow Californian Wonder didn't sprout.

The leeks are growing fine. The eldest ones got their "haircut" today. The second batch is also growing well.

I sowed all my microbush tomatoes, plus a baby aubergine. Many sprouted, so I have already reduced the smallest seedlings. But I still have many left. Of the aubergine, only one seed out of 3 sprouted, from new F1 seeds.

Upstairs we have a cold room with a south-east facing window in the roof. In sunny weather, when the snow has melted from the window, it is nice and light there. I put the low, wide tray there, filled with lettuce. Although I first had them in a warm bathroom until the earliest seeds sprouted.

The Thai basil has sprouted, as well as the Hablizia, the Siberian chives, the thyme, one violet aspargus and after long waiting I now see one green aspargus. I have overvintered a lot of aspargus plants at our cabin where the winters are extremely cold. I hope they survive, so that I can bring them here at home. I tried to let all the remaining seeds sprout, without soil. I soaked them for a few hours. But I either didn't soak them long enough. Or the seeds are just not so good anymore. I think I'll buy new seeds next year. We have one large aspargus plant that came with the house, and I hope that will provide some food in spring.

A few of the old spinach seeds have sprouted, and a few more are on their way. I am now soaking a new batch of seed, to test sprouting without soil. Just to see if those old seeds need to be replaced.

Today I just sowed normal basil, as we sometimes need it in cooking. There was room again on the heating rack. I am trying to sow as much as I can this month, because I expect it to be too busy on the heating rack next month.

The artishokes upstairs are doing well and growing. One is much bigger than the other. But I keep the other as a spare.

I really need to stop myself from not removing dry seed capsules from tiny seedlings. I tend to tear off the leaves. Today I sprayed them with water and then the leaves manage to remove the capsule by themselves. The problems occur when I sow in something without a roof. Or when seedlings appear a lot later then the others in the same pot and have removed the roof some time ago.

The kaffir lime is growing big new twigs and leaves. It is looking very healthy. I think I might need to trim it later, or give it a bigger pot. We grow it to get access to it's leaves. And I think we can harvest from it this year. Although we still have storebought leaves in the freezer, so there is no need to start yet.

[lhamo]

I bought seed starter mix, potting soil and some fertilizer at the independent garden center today.  They give 10% off for community garden members and I prefer to support them with my gardening dollars as opposed to various big box stores.

I also got my heat mats out.

Seed starting season is upon us.  Baby, let the games begin!

[Telecaster]

What independent garden store do you go to? 

I've been perusing seed catalogs but still contemplating my garden layout for this year. 

[lhamo]

I like Sky Nursery up in Shoreline.

There is a seed swap at Phinney Neighborhood Center on Saturday if you want to see what kinds of free seeds you can score.

https://kingcoseed.org/events/

The UW Urban Farm also has a seed library.  And there is a great one up in Richmond Beach run by a local lady if you are up that way.

I'll probably have extra tomato starts in a few weeks -- I usually start way more than I can grow.

[mspym]

The tomatoes are ripening and it turns out that Black Krim is our absolute fav. I planted out some more beans and parsley seeds.

[Rosy]

@Rosy

Have your tried growing mint in a pot inside your house? Last year, I sowed peppermint from seed and that didn't become a healthy plant. Then I took cuttings from a mint herb from the grocery store and those worked very well, in pots.

For pictures, click on the "attachments" option under this editor. The file shouldn't be too big, otherwise it won't upload. If you upload on an iPad, it often ends up up-side-down or sideways.

Thanks Linea!
I don't have any houseplants except the cuttings I grow on my kitchen window sill that get planted outside once they have rooted.
Now I wonder if Mints might like it in our bathroom in a hanging basket. 
Might be worth a try - thanks for the suggestion Linea:)!

I'm in the second week of a s-l-o-w recovery and I still am not allowed to garden - it is driving me crazy.
Worse I just found out I need vein surgery too which will mess with my mobility too. UGH

For right now I'm sitting in my "Queen of the Garden chair" inside the Potager, enjoying the sunshine, the bees buzzing around the basil and a few early cold hardy butterflies. Thankfully my early spring plantings are loving the cold weather we've been having - two nights into the 40s, imagine that.

The Potager is already a colorful oasis of spring flowers, fragrant herbs, and early veggies.
Maybe I can do a few light things next week and hopefully, Mr. R. is agreeable to spending what looks like a beautiful sunny weekend working in the garden planting and cleaning up beds in other areas of the garden.
I will sort seed packets tomorrow and see what else I can do...

[Telecaster]

I'll probably have extra tomato starts in a few weeks -- I usually start way more than I can grow.

How about I buy lunch in exchange for some starts?

[Linea_Norway]

DH and I trimmed about half of our apple and pear trees today. Afterwards we cut most branches into smaller pieces, so I can put them as the deepest layer in my raised beds. But we have so much left that we might need to drive it off to the communal garbage.

[mspym]

The rolling tomato and scallopini/patty pan harvest is continuing. I’ve cut back the squash leaves that were getting raggedy so more light should get to the capsicums now. I’m unsure whether the acorn and baby bear seedlings are going to produce any fruit - they were really slow to germinate and grow any leaves so I don’t know if they are going to fruit in time. According to my spreadsheet they ought to be harvestable in a month and there’s literally not a single squash on five vines.

I’ve also given up on my attempts to grow chives from seed - it’s been two rounds of seeds (fresh stock! New seed raising mix! Kept moist! Sunshine!) with zero success so I bought some chive seedlings and they’re just going in the ground. I am feeling a little personally attacked by every single seed that promises EASY TO GROW! on the packet. That’s a guarantee that they won’t germinate for me. We are talking chives, radishes, nasturtiums, pumpkins.

[RetiredAt63]

I've never grown chives from seed.  All my chives have been bought, or splits from other people's plants.  My chives flower but never set seed.

My garlic chives, on the other hand, set seeds even growing on a 4th floor balcony, and the seeds germinate well.  Too well, they can be a self-seeding nuisance in a garden if the winters are not cold enough to kill most of the seeds.  At least the seedlings are super easy to weed out!

Hmm, nasturtiums and pumpkins (all squash) germinate well here.  Not all the squash grow well though, our growing season is short.  Cucumbers can be especially unpredictable.  The exact same variety can be great one year and useless the next.

[mspym]

@RetiredAt63 I'll probably buy some parsley seedlings too. The one (1) nasturtium that did germinate for me - from the entire pack! - has made a lot of seeds so I am hopeful that they might work better, as the next gen of a plant that did sprout. I shouldn't complain - so many of my plants are doing so well and I'm glad I planted lavender and marigolds at the same time because there's heaps of bees all buzzing around.

[RetiredAt63]

@RetiredAt63 I'll probably buy some parsley seedlings too. The one (1) nasturtium that did germinate for me - from the entire pack! - has made a lot of seeds so I am hopeful that they might work better, as the next gen of a plant that did sprout. I shouldn't complain - so many of my plants are doing so well and I'm glad I planted lavender and marigolds at the same time because there's heaps of bees all buzzing around.

Your garden sounds lovely.

Your nasturtium seeds will probably do much better, since they are from a plant that likes your growing conditions.  Someone in my garden club saves nasturtium seeds every year for plants in a garden we maintain.  Those nasturtiums thrive.

[Linea_Norway]

Two years ago I grew Siberian chives (Allium schoenoprasum) from seed. I planted them out at the cabin in sandy soil, which was best for this type. They became small plants that I harvested from all summer. The year after I sowed garlic chives (Allium tuberosum). That is a bigger plant that grows faster. I planted it at the cabin as well. End of the season it was not easy to find back the Siberian chives between the very fertile garlic chives.

For pumpkins, it might pay off to soak your seeds for at least 6 hours.

For nasturtiums, I grew a bush variety last year, that I co-planted in large pots with squash and pumpkin, into pure composted horse manure. It did get flowers, but didn't turn out as a really pretty plant, like some of the other co-planting flowers.

[lhamo]

I used garlic chives as a border in one of my beds at the old house and they were fabulous.  Supposed to keep a lot of pests away, though I did eventually fence that bed because the rabbits were just TOO hungry especially early in the season.  If you let some go to flower the pollinators love them.  They reseed readily so once you plant them you will probably always have them.  I love me some naturally perennializing veggies...

Oh, speaking of rabbits did you know that one sign of rabbits eating your grass-like plants like chives is that they cut through the stalk at a 45 degree angle?  Learned that at a garden class this week.  And yes, they do eat regular chives despite many sources that say they won't.  Again, probably an early season thing that they will leave alone as other stuff they like leafs out.

[RetiredAt63]

Two years ago I grew Siberian chives (Thymus serphyllum) from seed. I planted them out at the cabin in sandy soil, which was best for this type. They became small plants that I harvested from all summer. The year after I sowed garlic chives (Thymus vulgaris). That is a bigger plant that grows faster. I planted it at the cabin as well. End of the season it was not easy to find back the Siberian chives between the very fertile garliv chives.

I'm confused.  Are you talking about chives or thymes?

Chives and garlic chives are Alliums (onion family).

Garlic chives are Allium tuberosum and chives are Allium schoenoprasum.  Regular onions, a close relative, are Allium cepa.

Thymus serphyllum is creeping thyme and Thymus vulgaris is common or garden or German thyme.

They are all garden herbs, all wonderful to grow, but very different in looks and taste.

[Linea_Norway]

Two years ago I grew Siberian chives (Allium schoenoprasum) from seed. I planted them out at the cabin in sandy soil, which was best for this type. They became small plants that I harvested from all summer. The year after I sowed garlic chives (Allium tuberosum). That is a bigger plant that grows faster. I planted it at the cabin as well. End of the season it was not easy to find back the Siberian chives between the very fertile garlic chives.

I'm confused.  Are you talking about chives or thymes?

Chives and garlic chives are Alliums (onion family).

Garlic chives are Allium tuberosum and chives are Allium schoenoprasum.  Regular onions, a close relative, are Allium cepa.

Thymus serphyllum is creeping thyme and Thymus vulgaris is common or garden or German thyme.

They are all garden herbs, all wonderful to grow, but very different in looks and taste.

You are right to be confused. I was talking about chives, Allium. But this year I also have two types of thyme (one for sandy soil, and one for chalky soil) and I stupidly copied the names from those from my spreadsheet. The Siberian chives were also very suitable for a cold regian. Corrected in the quote above.

[RetiredAt63]

Two years ago I grew Siberian chives (Allium schoenoprasum) from seed. I planted them out at the cabin in sandy soil, which was best for this type. They became small plants that I harvested from all summer. The year after I sowed garlic chives (Allium tuberosum). That is a bigger plant that grows faster. I planted it at the cabin as well. End of the season it was not easy to find back the Siberian chives between the very fertile garlic chives.

I'm confused.  Are you talking about chives or thymes?

Chives and garlic chives are Alliums (onion family).

Garlic chives are Allium tuberosum and chives are Allium schoenoprasum.  Regular onions, a close relative, are Allium cepa.

Thymus serphyllum is creeping thyme and Thymus vulgaris is common or garden or German thyme.

They are all garden herbs, all wonderful to grow, but very different in looks and taste.

You are right to be confused. I was talking about chives, Allium. But this year I also have two types of thyme (one for sandy soil, and one for chalky soil) and I stupidly copied the names from those from my spreadsheet. The Siberian chives were also very suitable for a cold regian. Corrected in the quote above.

Aah, I wondered.  ;-)

I have found chives and garlic chives to be very hardy, I've grown them where winter nights could easily be in the -30sC.  Of course we had better snow cover.   We planted garlic in my daughter's vegetable bed last fall, and we have had very little snow to insulate the soil so the frost may have penetrated deeper.  We'll see in April if the garlic survived.

[Raenia]

Starting my garden planning this year! It's our first year in this house, so a big year for the garden. The yard was totally empty, a big blank slate, so it's ripe for whatever we want to do. Trying to keep our plans modest this year as we're very busy and I don't want to over commit and waste a lot of plants.

Currently the plan is a big wildflower garden, a few black currant bushes, and a single raised bed for veggies. Maybe a bed of asparagus if we have the time/energy. Eventually I want a cherry tree, but that'll be for next year I think.

I need to clean out my garden pots and start some tomato seeds asap. Will also be growing salad greens - lettuce and mustard - basil, and some flowers for the pot by the door.

[papazita]

After a few brighter days it feels like spring might be just around the corner. We have quite a small garden with very little soil and a lot of shade so haven’t had much luck with vegetables beyond a few herbs. Instead we have gravel and a lot of pots and planters. Ferns and spring bulbs under the trees, and a tiny but surprisingly successful wildflower meadow in a raised bed in a sunnier area.

I’ve recently been trying to add more native (UK) wildflowers to attract bees, butterflies, etc.  I kept notes last year of when not much was flowering, so am excited this spring to see if the things planted last year start to fill any of the gaps. Similarly, this year, I want to add more plants that will flower later into the autumn. There are already some tiny Devil’s-bit scabious plants on the kitchen windowsill that can go outside in a few weeks.

There’s one sunny spot on the patio where I might try again with some veg in pots. I’d been thinking about more flowering plants, but maybe climbing French beans would be good instead or in addition.

[Linea_Norway]

Garlic:
Two days ago I removed the seaweed that I used as winter ground cover from the raised bed with my garlic cloves. Today, I saw a neighbour cat digging in the bed. I made some angry noises from the balcony and it jumped away. Maybe I should dig up the ground cover from the composting bin and put it back. Stupid cat!

I have heard that you can also grow garlic cloves in pots in spring. Maybe that is a good idea for next year.

Some time ago I received two bags of garlic seeds, which will be used to make garlic after 2 years. I will sow them directly later in the season.

The rest:

The celeriac seedlings have completely stagnated. Probably because they stood upstairs in a room with westward window, with not enough light. On the other hand, the artischoke growing in that same window is doing fine and growing. I am already making a plan B for what I will grow instead of the celeriac.

I will chit my potatoes in the dark, which is supposed to produce more potatoes than chitting them in a sunny window frame. But I am a bit unsure how long in advance I should start. Last year, my potatoes got medium long sprouts already in the fridge that turned out to be quite warm. (The fridge did not contain our food). Currently, the potatoes in the extra fridge have shriveled a bit, but not yet sprouted. So far, I put half of each type of potato in a slightly warmer place (the cellar), sprayed a bit wet. Then I will do the rest a few weeks later.

The chilies and bell peppers are growing very well. They stand in the living room, in front of an east and south facing window. And we are now getting quite a bit of sunny weather.

I killed another eggplant seedling by trying to tear off the seed capsule. Luckily I had 2 and the other one survived. I did spray them with water, but didn't leave them to solve their own problems.

I sowed the large tomatoes that I want to grow this year. We don't have a green house, but I want to grow them on the balcony, which is protected from wind from 3 sides. Only not from the side where the south-eastern wind comes from and that can be really hard wind. I also have a whole bunch of micro bush tomatoes that I sowed earlier. Hopefully I get some small tomatoes early from those. They can just stand inside.

My basil plants are growing slowly, but steadily. The thyme is growing very slowly and still occupying a seed tray. Next herb to be sown is the mint. I drilled holes into the bottom of a large zinc tub and I made a platform that covers half the height. The plan is to put cloth pots with herbs in there. Zinc is not healthy to grow in, but there won't stay any water in the tub. And the plants grow in their own environment. This tub will be standing on the balcony, close to kitchen, under a roof, so easy to reach without outside shoes on.

I drilled holes into another zinc tub, that I plan to filled with soil and sow flowers in. I have 2 bags of seeds with bee friendly flowers that I would like to start using.

The wide box with lettuce upstairs is looking lousy. The plants have stretched out. I have cut away 3/4 of the seedlings, because I had sowed way too much. I put the box in the room with westward facing window, but in second row behind the artichoke. The alternative is to move it downstairs into a very warm room. Or outside under the balcony, which I did for 2 days. But maybe I should just wait with this. It is difficult to be patient.

The new aspargus seedling just had their first transplant and are growing well. Also in the living room with good sun.

I sowed the Blue Hubbard pumpkin, two weeks too early. I put it in the cellar (cold and dark), in the hope that it won't sprout yet. It is hopeless to have such a big plant in the house for too long. This pumpkin is supposed to attract all kinds of pumpkin/squash plagues. It needs to be grown two weeks earlier.

Otherwise I have sown garlic chives and two types of rubarb.

In the garden, I have been digging to find the rubarb that followed with the house. But so far, I didn't find it yet. It hasn't sprouted yet, and I want to divide it. But while digging, I found horseraddish roots that were also supposed to grow in that area. I pulled out as much as possible, as it is supposed to be a very invasive plant.

I am a little concerned about the squash and pumpkins I am planning to grow. My raised beds are going to face south-east, and I am affraid there will be hard wind at occasions. The big leaves might catch a lot of wind. I did moved them a row backward in my plan. I plan to grow another squash onto a pot in the balcony. And maybe another one placed somewhere else with less wind.

With the house came also a parabole antenna, which we haven't manage to sell. We will turn it into a bird bath/drinking place. The zinc tubs were too high for this purpose.

[the lorax]

We have really strong winds here but they don't seem to trouble our squash and pumpkin too much so maybe you will be fine

Today was a really productive harvest day from our garden:
Breakfast - I had a handful of strawberries and rasperries from the garden
Lunch - Soup made from tomatoes, herbs, onion and chillis all from the garden
Dinner - two types of sweet pepper stuff with spiced mashed potato, with deep fried battered beans and courgette, plus cucmber raita all from the garden :)
Even the breadsticks I made had garden grown poppy seed on them and I bottle 1.5l of pureed tomatoes and made oven roasted cherry tomatoes with roasemary. I tried to make beetroot crisps but they didn't work. 

It's not like that all year but it is great when it happens!

I also managed to make yoghurt from a starter - it's a bit of a hit and miss process for me but worked this time.

[Linea_Norway]

We have really strong winds here but they don't seem to trouble our squash and pumpkin too much so maybe you will be fine

Today was a really productive harvest day from our garden:
Breakfast - I had a handful of strawberries and rasperries from the garden
Lunch - Soup made from tomatoes, herbs, onion and chillis all from the garden
Dinner - two types of sweet pepper stuff with spiced mashed potato, with deep fried battered beans and courgette, plus cucmber raita all from the garden :)
Even the breadsticks I made had garden grown poppy seed on them and I bottle 1.5l of pureed tomatoes and made oven roasted cherry tomatoes with roasemary. I tried to make beetroot crisps but they didn't work. 

It's not like that all year but it is great when it happens!

I also managed to make yoghurt from a starter - it's a bit of a hit and miss process for me but worked this time.

That sounds like delicious food.

About making yoghurt. It goes fine if you use the correct temperature and don't stir the yoghurt.
I noticed that it takes 2 liters of fat milk to make 1 liter of yoghurt. A pack of yoghurt from the shop costs less than that. So it is not a great deal if you don't have access to cheap milk.

[mspym]

@the lorax that all sounds delicious. We make yogurt from milk powder and 30g of frozen yogurt from a previous batch and it’s been consistently good. Brings the cost down to $1.17 a litre for very good yogurt)

In our garden, we finally have one (1) baby bear pumpkin and one (1) acorn squash. They were just very slow to get started and to grow. Next year I’ll plant them a bit earlier. I still have hope for additional fruits! The peppers got knocked over in the blustery winds so now I’ve tied them up and it looks like there will be a decent pepper crop this year. Because of the winds and water restrictions, I’ve been pulling off tomatoes as soon as they break so now every surface in the kitchen is covered in tomatoes of different stages of ripeness. We will not plant 40 tomatoes next year. I need to get a few more seeds started for winter veg - broccoli rabe, beets, and leeks.

Getting very close to the time when we’ll expand the beds, empty the compost bin into the new bed and let it get settled over winter.

[lhamo]

Started 3 trays of seeds this morning.  About 1/2 of them were tomatoes, the rest spring greens of various sorts. 

Question for the hive mind: how many tomatoes are too many tomatoes?  I have about 20 varieties and will have over 100 plants if they all germinate.  I will probably give away at least half. 

[YttriumNitrate]

Question for the hive mind: how many tomatoes are too many tomatoes?  I have about 20 varieties and will have over 100 plants if they all germinate.  I will probably give away at least half.

Clearly this is a trick question. There is no such thing as too many tomatoes. After you eat, dry, freeze, and sauce your tomatoes you hold your own La Tomatina festival.

[YttriumNitrate]

There is a rather sizable mouse/rodent population at my property, so I decided to implement a "death from above" strategy against those critters. Hopefully there will be less damage to my trees and vegetables this year.

[the lorax]

Thanks for the powdered milk suggestion @mspym , I'll try that - that should be cheaper. I get more of a return on milk investment than that when I make yoghurt @Linea_Norway but when I make paneer it takes a lot of milk for not much paneer, however, I've not found a convenient place to buy paneer here.
Had our first batch of jalapeno poppers from the garden today, they were great :) I lovely the early season ones as they aren't too spicy for me!

[Linea_Norway]

Started 3 trays of seeds this morning.  About 1/2 of them were tomatoes, the rest spring greens of various sorts. 

Question for the hive mind: how many tomatoes are too many tomatoes?  I have about 20 varieties and will have over 100 plants if they all germinate.  I will probably give away at least half.

I have 32 small pots with microbush tomatoes. I sowed 3-4 of each kind, but have trouble killing the access ones. I only killed the ones that sprouted really late. DH counted them the other day and commented that it was way too many tomatoes. I have heard that people grow microbush tomatoes in 1 liter (2 pints) pots. But last year, I grow them in an 8 liter pot, together with basil and tagetes. They got a lot of tomatoes. Unfortunately I needed to give the plants away when we moved, full of green tomatoes.

I also sowed large tomatoes, 5 types. One type is a freeland tomato for in the garden. The rest is supposed to stand in a large pot on the terrace, together with the microbush tomatoes.

[Linea_Norway]

Birds:
We also hung up bird nesting cages. One we even moved to a less sunny spot. In a previous house we had it on a northern, dark brown wall, but where morning and evening sun could shine on. The nesting was also dark brown. The young birds never grew up. I think they got cooked. Now I hung it on the northern side of an apple tree.

We saw some new coastal birds that are back from overvintering elsewhere.

The rest:
I sowed lots of carrots in carton 1.75 liter milk packs. The idea is to precultivate them now. Then plant them out in the milk pack, with the bottom removed and maybe one side cut open.

I also sowed sugar peas and soaked the seeds. They grow really hard. I sowed 5 seeds in one milk pack, but I think that is too many. They will get entangled.

The first type of rubarb had already sprouted. Many days later the syrian rubarb also sprouted.

The normal chives have sprouted.

Today I repotted all the chili and pepper plants into a milk pack each. There are 16 plants. I am not sure I will keep all chili plants. Last year I had way too many. Chilies can be quite effective and produce lots of fruits.

[mspym]

We’re definitely feeling a bit more like Autumn here so I’m thinking about the next season’s crops. Probably late but I was busy with my tomato forest. Direct sowed another 10 beet seeds, to follow up the ones that are filling out nicely. I sowed broccoli rabe and leeks in seed pots so they can be warm and sheltered and sunny until they germinate. I think the seeds from the bolted coriander is starting to sprout, which is pretty exciting. The third round of chive seeds is actually maybe slowing sprouting, as are the parsley seeds.

We’re getting rhubarb and cucumbers from my sister and mum’s gardens. I’m letting the last of the beans dry out for sowing next year. I’ve harvested some jalapeño seeds for next year as well.

In non-productive gardening, we got some harakeke plants from our friend which we’re planting in the soggier parts. I’m also giving some away in my ongoing attempts to meet people in a small town. Some of the tomatoes will also be given away, in the same quest.

[Linea_Norway]

Today I collected a whole trailer full of horse manure, for free, from a person at the gardening club. It is hamdy every nowand then to have a car that can pull a trailer. And we still have the trailer that we bought when we were moving.

After that, I placed a lot of my raised beds in the garden, carefully in a straight pattern. I am not finished treating all of them with cooked linseed oil. At least those that I wanted to fill with the manure are now in the garden. The potato beds will need to wait. I will probably oil some more when I finish drinking tea.

Filling:
- I filled them first with a thick layer of carton, our moving boxes. That is to discourage grass and springtails (Collembola) from entering the raised beds.
- On top of that, a messy layer of fruit tree cutoffs.
- Then a layer of autumn leaves that I had stored in plastic bags since autumn.
- Then a layer of seaweed and some grass.
- Then two layers of the horse manure, which also contains a bit of straw.
- And on top, a layer of vermaculite, that I massaged into to horse manure, to prevent it from blowing away.

Several neighbours and other people on the public walking path along the garden chatted to us. They are quite curious, especially about the grapes that DH has planted. It is not so usual/sane to grow grapes at 63,9 degrees north.

We gave all the grapes and berry bushes a few handfulls of manure.

[lhamo]

Re: the horse manure -- hopefully this is not an issue where you are, but in the UK Charles Dowding is warning people about using horse manure in the garden as a compost  because a high percentage of the hay that horses eat is contaminated with aminopyralids, a herbicide commonly used in hay fields that destroys many vegetables.  There are ways to bioremediate if you do get contaminated with it, but it is really tragic when it happens.  So if you haven't dumped the manure in yet, maybe try planting some stuff into a sample and make sure you are safe.

Here's a link to one intro video about it -- he has more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7vr-GlzuZs

[Linea_Norway]

Re: the horse manure -- hopefully this is not an issue where you are, but in the UK Charles Dowding is warning people about using horse manure in the garden as a compost  because a high percentage of the hay that horses eat is contaminated with aminopyralids, a herbicide commonly used in hay fields that destroys many vegetables.  There are ways to bioremediate if you do get contaminated with it, but it is really tragic when it happens.  So if you haven't dumped the manure in yet, maybe try planting some stuff into a sample and make sure you are safe.

Here's a link to one intro video about it -- he has more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7vr-GlzuZs

I know about it. It prevents beans and tomatoes from good growing, it gives curly twigs. I just hope that this gardening horse owner doesn't use it. She has a farm and I think she doesn't buy horse food elsewhere. The horse just eats gras outside.
I already dumped the stuff into the crates. I just need to take a chance here, as this was my big chance for a shitload of free compost. I plan to grow beans together with the squash plants (in the bed with manure), so we'll see soon enough how that works out.

Pyralids are also in Norwegian biological fertilizer, as these ingredients are allowed in biological gardening, for ununderstandable reasons. I have therefore bought seaweed based fertilizer for the potting plants.

[Captain Pierogi]

This is the earliest I've tried direct sowing my spring garden, but the weather seems favorable!  Spinach, arugula, and peas.  Garlic planted in the fall is starting to sprout.  Getting some kale going indoors.  I peaked at my strawberry pots to see if they've overwintered, and they've got green leaves.  Off to a good start.  My biggest fear is the wrath of the bunnies.  They've been doing all sorts of damage to the bushes in my yard this winter.

[lhamo]

Not sure if your bunnies are the same as ours, but a local gardening expert recently mentioned that they can't jump over 3 feet.  She also recommended extruded plastic netting (the thicker stuff -- it is usually green) as a good deterrant.  I have found it works well in my yard -- YBMV*

*Your Bunnies May Vary

[mspym]

It turned into Autumn very quickly here AND we have no guests or pre/post-guest tasks to take care of so I have some energy to do more than managing the daily harvest. Yesterday I spent a good couple of hours clearing out some of the beds. I haven’t cut down all the tomato plants but did clear some that had finished cropping and spread out the branches of the remaining plants to try maximise access to sun. I don’t think we’ll get any more cucumbers than the two currently on the plant. The last good three bean pods are left on the vine to dry and I’ll plant them later. (I nearly said next year but it’s later this year because southern hemisphere)

The lettuce and broccoli seedlings are about to go in along with some leeks.

[Captain Pierogi]

Not sure if your bunnies are the same as ours, but a local gardening expert recently mentioned that they can't jump over 3 feet.  She also recommended extruded plastic netting (the thicker stuff -- it is usually green) as a good deterrant.  I have found it works well in my yard -- YBMV*

*Your Bunnies May Vary

This matches my experience last year completely.  I have 2.5' raised beds, and they managed to get into them.  But I suspect they were doing some sort of bunny parkour off a nearby pot.  So I moved the pots and wrapped two of the beds in thick deer fencing.  Annoying, but necessary.  I'm trying to expand my useable space for growing food without investing in more barrier equipment, so I'm seeing if it's true that rabbits are not fond of zucchini, tomatoes, and potatoes.  I figure I'll put some of those behind fencing and some not and see what happens.

[Frugal Lizard]

Got back from a five week trip on Thursday. Sunday (Easter) I got going on seed starting.

Planted into 72-hole trays: leeks, fancy onions (shallots, walla walla, cipollini, white spanish), four types of hot peppers, sweet peppers, tomatillos, ground cherry and eggplants.

Made labels for the tomatoes while I planned the amounts I will sow. And I did some culling of the seed stash.

My dearest husband kept the sweet potato slips alive while I was gone except for some of the purple type. They are looking good.

I feel so strange leaving garden prep for so late in the season!

[lhamo]

I'll probably have extra tomato starts in a few weeks -- I usually start way more than I can grow.

How about I buy lunch in exchange for some starts?

Ooh -- I missed this earlier, but just potted up some VERY small starts and need to get rid of a bunch (I have over 100 plants...).  If you have a place to grow them on (don't need anything fancy -- I'm just using a 4-shelf plastic covered greenhouse with a couple of heat mats, though I do move them out on sunny days so they won't get too leggy), you'd be more than welcome to some. 

If I'm remembering correctly that you did a rain garden installation recently I'd also love to see yours (if you are ok with that -- understand if not) and get your contractor's name -- I discovered I have a poorly done French drain system too close to my foundation/where I want to put a deck on my new house, so I would like to at least get going on a design to redivert the water so that when I am digging out the old one I know how far away to pile the dirt and rocks....

[Rosy]

Well, I'm back in action trying my best to do as much as possible in the garden before the heat arrives. Mr. R. sacrificed his weekends rather willingly as we finished cleaning up the gazebo area and had Easter brunch in Party Central. Followed by drinks in the evenings in the finally fully functioning Secret Garden area.
Now it needs only minor changes, re-potting, transplanting /cleaning up... before I'm moving-on to the Tropical Garden to finish up there.

POTAGER - best spring garden I ever had! Colorful, scented and productive - what more could one want?

EVERYTHING is in bloom and scenting the air. Spring has sprung in our yard. The Jasmine, the red Passionflower, the Geraniums, the pretty Blue African Basil everywhere, the blue-violet Sky-Vine, the Viburnum bushes, the red Amaryllis, the Elderberry bushes, even the succulents...

MY NEW ADDITIONS THIS YEAR
1. A sweet Almond bush - I already have one and love the scent and the incredible variety of beneficial insects it attracts in the wildlife corner of the garden. (Similar to the Moringa - strange and wonderful insects, lots of wasps that appear to be singular and non-agressive too).
2. A small blue Butterfly bush which I'm totally thrilled about because the regular larger kind do not survive in our zone.
The first bud opened yesterday and it does indeed smell heavenly.
Fingers crossed it will survive. It is supposed to reach only two feet or so tall and wide and it looks like it is there already.
I'll be watching to see if it really attracts any butterflies.
3. I somehow walked out of the nursery with a Pineapple Guava too and it seems to be quite happy in its spot so far (two months in it has grown a foot) but I guess it will be a while before I see flowers or fruit.
4. FIG -looking good so far. I planted it facing south, we'll see if it likes its spot.

NATIVE - possibly a garden thug?
One long-awaited bloom is a tropical ginger-like plant, I think it is called a false cardamon, that has suddenly decided to explode with fat - gorgeous white flower spikes - after two years!
Lovely scent and it looks like it may acquire a few other shades like pink. It is six feet or so tall and wide and you can use the leaves for (food) wraps. It is a Florida native and I'm beginning to think this one may be a garden thug or maybe it just likes its spot in the back habitat - makes a nice hedge too.
 
ZINNIAS
I tried different zinnias this year and they have all sprouted. I'm particularly rooting for an all-red variety that changes from Ferrari red to a beautiful deep Rouge red - not muddy maroon.
Last year was so hot that even the zinnias died mid-summer which has never happened before.
FREESIAS
Freesias are actually a bit outside my zone but I adore their scents and pretty colors, so I just buy a packet of bulbs every now and then. Only once have I had repeat bloomers for a few years following. The weather has been agreeable with quite a few cooler days so all my bulbs sprouted and are already about a foot tall.
FORGET-ME-NOTS
They are a childhood favorite of mine and I've discovered over years of trying here in Florida that the Chinese variety will do fine for about a month or two if I get lucky. Of course, I have to seed them anew each year instead of enjoying the bountiful self-seeding you get in Germany.
I haven't had any luck growing them at all the last three years but this year they have come up in one of my window boxes.

HERBS - YAY - All of them except the mints and a sweet lime basil from China survived from last year. That does not happen often. I attribute that to finally finding the right spots in the garden and providing better shade. Even the lemon verbena, Italian oregano, all the basil and lemon balm incl the mint bush from Costa Rica made it.
Somehow I missed seeding out more of that sweet Chinese lime basil but I plan to do that today - fingers crossed that I'm not too late. It was my favorite new discovery/experiment last year.

GARLIC - ONIONS - CARROTS
All doing well - I didn't seed or buy any onions or carrots just planted the roots from organic produce for spring onions and carrots. Ready to harvest and plant a few more before the heat arrives.
I don't really have garlic, just garlic chives that never bloom and Society garlic which has pretty flowers (which for the longest time I thought was only an ornamental:). Both have a wonderfully strong flavor and need no attention despite our hot climate as long as they get shade and water.

TOMATO - well...
All I have at the moment is a volunteer mystery tomato from the compost, a big bushy cherry tomato - we harvested the first two red ones yesterday :) and a patio tomato that looks good so far, producing mid-size tomatoes that should be ripe in another week or two.
Not sure what I'll do - maybe I'll just seed the Roma and Rumball tomatoes and hope for the best or pick up a plant at the upcoming plant festival.
Between the weather and my recovery I dropped the ball this year.

CABBAGE
Wasn't entirely happy with the cabbage variety taste and flavor, too bitter but we harvested some at St. Patrick's and I just harvested the rest. They did not make a head and they tasted more like one of those southern greens.
The Savoy cabbage I had in the past was so much better.
I may have to seriously start seeding out my own cabbage in the fall. I did that once and the cabbage turned out great.

CELERY  is doing great, I've been cooking with it and even drying some.

PAPAYA
I finally have one that is resistant to that fruit wasp that has been plaguing everyone's papayas. It had self-seeded from the compost and I'm finding that it is holding up well in the fridge too.
There will be more smoothies in our future.

FENNEL is doing great - I may try to roast some this year, mostly I'm growing it for the butterfly caterpillars - Eastern swallowtail.

DILL - doing fine, although I wish I had the giant dill. I just need to get better about seeding in the fall. Anyway it is easy to dry - we haven't finished up last year's bounty yet and I shared a bunch of seeds with a garden friend. They make lovely bouquets and great wall art too:).

EXPERIMENTS - RESULT
For the first time - last year:
1. I seeded out Dahlias that bloomed pretty from seed but are supposed to produce bulbs the following year - and voila - it worked!
We have new Dahlia bulbs coming in.
2. One variety did very well, the other one that looked more tropical with pretty dark foilage never did nothin'!!!
I still have seeds so I may try again - we'll see.
3. Definitely planting the Chinese sweet lime basil again. I loved it, what a great plant, great taste and great scent. Just a small light green plant that may just work as a filler plant too.
4. Trying out one toad lily bulb this year - just for fun.
5. I'm hoping the Stargazer Lily bulbs from last year will re-appear. I spotted only one bulb emerging so far - so there is hope. I thought they would bloom by Easter but nothing happened yet.
6. The castor oil plant variety I seeded last year turned out to be a wonderful exotic, tropical landscape plant. Breathtaking.
7. Ginger edible and medicinal and
8. Turmeric edible and medicinal
- all were a big success. I'm hoping to harvest maybe a few small clusters this year. They are perennial and easy to grow in our climate.

PROJECTS
1. We tackled the center area of the garden and opened up one of the Viburnum bush clusters which gave us a circle that is partially open only on the front or one side if you will.
It has a solid ground cover of native ferns. We let the Viburnum grow wild so it is probably close to 16-20ft high.
It is blooming now, smells good and the bees love it.
Since it is about 14 feet long on the sides I'm thinking of simply adding a bench/bed/swing chair for contemplation/quiet relaxation.

Envision a living green fully covered dome.

I moved an old terracotta urn into the center with a plant on top but it looks out of place somehow and a seating area seems almost sacrilegious.
It has a woodsy forest feel so I'm thinking I might keep it simple and unadorned.
What do you guys think?

2. I'm keeping the projects to a minimum this year but I still plan on setting up the rectangle gazebo we bought three years ago, need to sand and paint a few more pieces of outdoor furniture (only half done because unfortunately I discovered that the dining chairs have rusted in places). I thought I was done except for a couple of small touch-ups, BOO!, get two solid iron chairs outfitted with new slats, fix an old mosaic project and build a couple of columns from blocks.

OVERALL I'm quite happy with the garden this year. The trouble spots have been dealt with and the new areas are now in their fourth season and for the first time no longer require extensive changes or in truth too much time and maintenance.
The 'new' tropical garden and habitat area has come into its own.t
All that is left is normal upkeep, clean-up and the remainder of this year's spring gardening which should be accomplished by hopefully the first of May.

There is a huge annual plant festival around Earth Day which for us usually marks the end of spring gardening and I always come home with interesting things, herbs, trees or other cool garden stuff. Looking forward to that next.
Happy gardening everyone!:)

[Frugal Lizard]

@Rosy I am so jealous. Outside we have cold rain- almost snow temperature.
Inside on heat mats I have planted tiny soil blocks with all the tomatoes I could possibly need. About half the number as last year. Hopefully I can do a better job of getting enough but not way too many sturdy starts.

I need to figure out how to repair my mini soil blocker. The handle slips off the base making it impossible to push out the completed blocks.
 
By the weekend I hope to have all the flowers that need a head start started as well.

I also want to spend some time in the greenhouse and get it ready for spring. This entails getting all the soil watered and the tomato vines cleared out. I could probably sow all kinds of greens and peas in there right now.

[mspym]

Wow @Rosy that sounds like you’re smashing it.

We are in autumn now so gardening has been about
- clearing out the zucchini and tomato plants as they die off. We now have two tomatoes left in the garden and they seem to be in a sheltered spot for now.
- putting all the green waste into what will become a new garden bed in Spring.
- I’ve bought some seedlings and planted beetroot; shallots; a mixed brassica six-pack; and some perpetual spinach.
- the mizuna, leeks and broccoli rabe I’ve growing from seeds are nearly ready to plant out in the cleared beds. I should also have some for the crop swap. The beetroot seems to be temperamental and refusing to germinate. I should probably try it inside in the laundry but that is full of green tomatoes ripening.
- for my birthday, one sibling gave me a blueberry bush and another gave me a finger-lime tree. I also have peach and apricot stones in the fridge waiting to be planted so we might be sorted for fruit. (I also gleaned some quinces from an empty section yesterday so I can try them out without committing to a quince tree of our own.)
- the rain has revived all the trees that had struggled through summer heat and water restrictions so I hope they will be more established for next summer. I am also hoping they grow a bit - so far the hoped-for windbreak is non-existent.

[Telecaster]

Ooh -- I missed this earlier, but just potted up some VERY small starts and need to get rid of a bunch (I have over 100 plants...).  If you have a place to grow them on (don't need anything fancy -- I'm just using a 4-shelf plastic covered greenhouse with a couple of heat mats, though I do move them out on sunny days so they won't get too leggy), you'd be more than welcome to some. 

If I'm remembering correctly that you did a rain garden installation recently I'd also love to see yours (if you are ok with that -- understand if not) and get your contractor's name -- I discovered I have a poorly done French drain system too close to my foundation/where I want to put a deck on my new house, so I would like to at least get going on a design to redivert the water so that when I am digging out the old one I know how far away to pile the dirt and rocks....

Presumably I can just keep them in the house for another few weeks?  Lunch offer is still good, of course.

I actually had cisterns installed.   You are more than welcome to check them out, but they are just cisterns.  Tim at Monsoon Raingardens installed them.   He's a cool guy, I'd definitely give him a call about your rain garden project.   

[lhamo]

Thanks!  Monsoon was on my list.

[Linea_Norway]

@mspym

You could try soaking your beetroot seeds for 8 hours or so, before sowing. This is supposed to help with bigger seeds.

[mspym]

@mspym

You could try soaking your beetroot seeds for 8 hours or so, before sowing. This is supposed to help with bigger seeds.

I’ve tried that with mixed success. The last lot I thought had been drowned for sure given the 25mm of rain overnight but that seemed to have made a couple of shoots come up. 🤷‍♀️

[former player]

The days are longer and the soil is warmer but the rain and the wind are being relentless.  My garden is on a steep rocky slope and water usually soaks away quickly but now it is sitting in puddles even in the raised beds.

Still a little progress, the broad beans and peas have gone in at last.  Pots of soil have been warming indoors and are ready for tomato and aubergine (eggplant) seeds: aubergines are a new experiment for me with expanding "growing what you like to eat".  Beds for salad crops are ready to be planted as soon as the weather is fit.

This is all very small scale at the moment, just six raised beds for herbs and cropping.  I'm hoping to have some of the steep slope terraced with a minidigger this spring to make more workable space (my only other flattish space is a wildflower area at the top of the garden) but the weather will need to turn better first - and I am in a queue with everyone else waiting to get work on the land done, so I may just be looking to get some crops for next winter on there at some point.

[Rosy]

@Rosy I am so jealous. Outside we have cold rain- almost snow temperature.
Inside on heat mats I have planted tiny soil blocks with all the tomatoes I could possibly need. About half the number as last year. Hopefully I can do a better job of getting enough but not way too many sturdy starts.

I need to figure out how to repair my mini soil blocker. The handle slips off the base making it impossible to push out the completed blocks.
 
By the weekend I hope to have all the flowers that need a head start started as well.

I also want to spend some time in the greenhouse and get it ready for spring. This entails getting all the soil watered and the tomato vines cleared out. I could probably sow all kinds of greens and peas in there right now.

@Frugal Lizard
I remember in my old garden the rule was you shouldn't plant anything before May 15 - now it represents the date I need to have everything in by and well started so it can deal with the heat. I sympathize:).
While it is great to have two gardening seasons - spring and late fall, I'm at the stage in my life where two garden seasons and a brutal summer are simply too much. Hence no fall planting, although I did try to catch up on my long list of overly ambitious garden projects and more propagating and prepping for spring - which made a noticeable difference.
I know I'll be looking at your potato harvest in envy again - it's not that we can't grow them here but I've never had success with regular potatoes only the sweet potatoes - so I'm not complaining too loud.

There has been progress on the project list primarily because I am not adding anything to it:).
I envy you the peas - snow peas will be at the top of my list next year. Mr. R. is always complaining that I don't grow enough peas but at least over the years I've finally figured out how to successfully grow them in our climate without a greenhouse.

@mspym
We love beets - have you tried the golden beets yet? I didn't have any trouble growing red or gold but I read that sometimes the seeds take a long time to sprout. I got mine from Baker Creek heirloom (rare seeds) just a one-time experiment and I've always wanted to grow them again.

I've expended a lot of time and energy over the years experimenting what works in our area and in my garden micro-climate. I'm always looking to find the best, easiest, most trouble-free veggies which are often Asian/South American/African/Australian.

CHAYA
Two years in - a full success.
Chaya also called the spinach tree that you can harvest all year. It looks like a small landscape bush/tree (mine is five/six feet tall) - needs no attention, has dark green leaves shaped like marijuana leaves and umbel (umbrella) midsized, scented white flowers.
   
The only problem is once I read up on how to harvest and eat the leaves - I got too scared - to try and cook since the leaves contain cyanide.
I did print out some recipes (you have to cook it for a few minutes and can't use just any material pot either).
Since it is growing well - I think I'll just browse our local gardening FB groups, since it is sold locally, surely someone knows how to cook it without getting cyanide poisoning. I'm thinking I may propagate it and plant a couple more in the landscape even if I decide I don't want to chance eating it. We like spinach but I was envisioning just eating the leaves raw which apparently is not a good idea. I found a smoothie recipe for using Chaya and I'm wondering how it might taste with papaya.
I am rather fond of Mr. R. after all:) so no cyanide experiments.

Today is the day
my metal garden column/tower finally gets a golden ball. I've wanted to paint that top ball golden since I thrifted it five years ago.
(It's all sanded down and the swirly parts are all painted white already).
Maybe I will play today after all, ignoring my long To-Do list.

Happy gardening everyone! 

[Frugal Lizard]

I got out in the greenhouse and garden over the weekend. It was brilliantly sunny both days.

Sunday afternoon my daughter helped by sowing some seeds into the garden. Kale, arugula and Chinese cabbage. I will direct sow some spinach, lettuce, radish, broccoli, cabbage and broad beans this week. My 4year old neighbour wants to help with planting the first crop of peas.

Tomatoes are all potted up to the 5cm soil block. Germination was about 95% even with some very old seed. So far I am on track for planting just a little extra. I keep telling myself: "this is enough. You will be thankful to have a manageable number of plants at the end of May. You have enough capacity to grow this many really sturdy seedlings - not more."

Eggplants, onions, leeks and green tomatillos have germinated.

Asparagus, chives, parsnips, rhubarb and curly parsley are up!

@Rosy - thanks for the encouragement. What a difference sunshine makes in my outlook.