Well, the beans are pretty much a complete deja-vu of the outdoor pea seeding situation: The beans I sowed on May 20th are kaput.
Two of them showed themselves a few days ago, poking just out of the soil. But today when I noticed they hadn't grown at all since then and were a sickly pale colour, I checked them out and sure enough both had been chopped. So, I dug around to look for the rest, and -- no sign at all of any, except one which had germinated.
Sigh!
So, tonight I sowed round 2, inside in peat pots, just like I did with the peas. Put 3-4 lima beans per pot (will thin) and 2 yellow wax beans per pot.
Hopefully the beans will do as well as those indoor-sown peas are doing (they look great!)
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Harvest: Kale, chard, bok choi
Just like the title says.
For the kale, tried a new recipe. Kale salad (i.e. chopped kale) with a great chickpea dressing. So easy, and pretty good! I omitted the suggested "potato croutons" out of laziness, but will try them sometime.
Used the chard and choi for my tofu / yellow pepper rice dish.
For the kale, tried a new recipe. Kale salad (i.e. chopped kale) with a great chickpea dressing. So easy, and pretty good! I omitted the suggested "potato croutons" out of laziness, but will try them sometime.
Used the chard and choi for my tofu / yellow pepper rice dish.
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Zinnias
Decided next year's home-sown flowers will be zinnias. No more petunias because they don't do much if anything for bees. But zinnias seem to be a hit with bees from what Google tells me, plus I love the look of their daisy-like flower and their bright, bold colours.
Bought some today to fill in some holes in the vegetable garden and hopefully attract some bees.
A few zinnia bookmarks:
- I like the "Zahara bonfire" mix seeds in this page.
- 9 honeybee-friendly plants
- A general zinnia page
- Quick guide to zinnias
- https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/05/alys-fowler-zinnias-viburnums-pruning
Bought some today to fill in some holes in the vegetable garden and hopefully attract some bees.
A few zinnia bookmarks:
- I like the "Zahara bonfire" mix seeds in this page.
- 9 honeybee-friendly plants
- A general zinnia page
- Quick guide to zinnias
- https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/05/alys-fowler-zinnias-viburnums-pruning
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Harvest: Kale, chard, green onions
Woo! Used some kale, chard, and green onions for a vegetable soup recipe.
And wow, WHAT a different the multiplier onion sets are compared to the normal onions. You get soooooo many more green onions! Multiple little green onions per bulb instead of just one.
And wow, WHAT a different the multiplier onion sets are compared to the normal onions. You get soooooo many more green onions! Multiple little green onions per bulb instead of just one.
Carrot bed backfilling
Filled in the gaps from the original carrot/beet sowing. (Only 3 or 4 beets germinated! Gah!)
Mostly filled in with new carrots.
On the north end of the bed, filled in with some radishes. Not sure why, as I never eat radishes and don't really like them! But they were in my seed collection, so... figured I'd just give it a try.
Mostly filled in with new carrots.
On the north end of the bed, filled in with some radishes. Not sure why, as I never eat radishes and don't really like them! But they were in my seed collection, so... figured I'd just give it a try.
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Busy day transplanting and sowing
Almost everything is in the ground now.
Yellow beans: After 2 hours of soaking, sowed about 12 seeds under each tripod pole. Put the plastic crow in the middle in the hopes it will deter whatever made a meal of so many of my pea seeds!
Peppers, cucumbers, zucchini: All have been planted now, except the one "reserve" zucchini planted late which is still inside under lights. I'm sure I should have kept especially the peppers inside longer until the weather really warms up, but... Oh well, too late now!
Ground cherry: Saw ground cherry seedlings at the garden store, never grew one before, so bought one to give it a try. Sounds really neat -- I hope it works!
Petunias: The original, now very leggy, petunias are now in planters in the yard. (The later round will get planted out front soonish.)
Basil (green as well as purple), parsley, coriander: Sowed these in planters, just for fun. The coriander is from 2012 so no idea if it will take.
Wildflowers seed packet: Sowed a packet in another of the planters, again just for fun to see what happens.
Yellow beans: After 2 hours of soaking, sowed about 12 seeds under each tripod pole. Put the plastic crow in the middle in the hopes it will deter whatever made a meal of so many of my pea seeds!
Peppers, cucumbers, zucchini: All have been planted now, except the one "reserve" zucchini planted late which is still inside under lights. I'm sure I should have kept especially the peppers inside longer until the weather really warms up, but... Oh well, too late now!
Ground cherry: Saw ground cherry seedlings at the garden store, never grew one before, so bought one to give it a try. Sounds really neat -- I hope it works!
Petunias: The original, now very leggy, petunias are now in planters in the yard. (The later round will get planted out front soonish.)
Basil (green as well as purple), parsley, coriander: Sowed these in planters, just for fun. The coriander is from 2012 so no idea if it will take.
Wildflowers seed packet: Sowed a packet in another of the planters, again just for fun to see what happens.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Peppers are out! As are the cukes, zukes, tuberous begonias and the rest of the petunias.
Set them out today to start hardening off. Amazing weather this week, so warm. I've set them behind the chair and other stuff so that they're mostly in the shade to start, but I'm throwing caution to the wind and leaving them out full time. Will transplant in a week or two.
Oh and I transplanted both zucchinis into larger pots before setting out. They sure do grow fast.
The shelving unit inside is down to one lonely little shelf... with just one spare zucchini, and the pathetic looking columbines. Oh and the one last tuberous begonia which is finally getting its itty bitty leaves on!
Oh and I transplanted both zucchinis into larger pots before setting out. They sure do grow fast.
The shelving unit inside is down to one lonely little shelf... with just one spare zucchini, and the pathetic looking columbines. Oh and the one last tuberous begonia which is finally getting its itty bitty leaves on!
Tomatoes are in!
Planted the big tomato yesterday; planted the little tomato today.
A spare of each is still kicking around for a little while, just in case... then will go to my dad's.
A spare of each is still kicking around for a little while, just in case... then will go to my dad's.
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Indoor updates
Not much left inside now. Down to only two shelves. Soon I will be suffering from empty nest syndrome.
Peppers: All 10 plants look great! Have started to form flower buds. Hoping that's a good sign.Leaving them there, not pinching them.
Tuberous begonias: The 3 early takers look great! Not flowering yet, but great looking plants. Big news: a fourth has taken!! Expecting full on leaflets any day now.
Petunias: Looking good, although part of them became pretty leggy I think because of a less than ideal lighting setup when I was short on space.
Columbines: So pathetic compared to the petunias!
Cucumbers: Looking good.
Zucchini: The first 2 starts look great. A week or so ago I started a few more seeds, just in case. 2 of them have sprouted.
Peppers: All 10 plants look great! Have started to form flower buds. Hoping that's a good sign.Leaving them there, not pinching them.
Tuberous begonias: The 3 early takers look great! Not flowering yet, but great looking plants. Big news: a fourth has taken!! Expecting full on leaflets any day now.
Petunias: Looking good, although part of them became pretty leggy I think because of a less than ideal lighting setup when I was short on space.
Columbines: So pathetic compared to the petunias!
Cucumbers: Looking good.
Zucchini: The first 2 starts look great. A week or so ago I started a few more seeds, just in case. 2 of them have sprouted.
Outdoor updates
Beets: Of first two sowings, only 1 sprouted!!! Sowed 2 more rows.
Carrots: sowed more, all the way to the lettuce. Carrot bed now full, other than some un-sprouted gaps to fill in.
Spinach: FLOP! Not one of the seeds sprouted. Oh well.
Celery, bok choy, and rest of swiss chard: Transplanted after about a week of living outside full time.
Bok choy seeds: Just for fun, tossed some seeds in the defunct spinach bed. Curious how outdoor-sown will compare to indoor-sown.
Lettuce: Coming along. Still way too tiny to harvest any yet.
Petunias from round one: Living outside full time. Will transplant soon.
Onions: The ones I started from seed are coming along, some more quickly than others. The multiplying onion bulbs though -- wow! Love them! Wayyyy more productive than "normal" onions that only send up one green thing.
Tomatoes -- big: Living outside full time. Will transplant 1 soon and keep the other as backup/give-away.
Tomatoes -- small: Started hardening off today.
Peas: Transplanted the rest of the indoor starts. And, put plastic crow to guard the outdoor starts of which there are some new ones to the scene. Crow seems to be working -- nothing nibbling on them since I put it out! Knock on wood but it looks like I may get some actual peas this spring!
Cabbage / Brussels sprouts / kale / chard (which were transplanted several weeks ago): Looking ok, haven't lost any, although not thriving, maybe due to the very cloudy and cool weather we've had. The best one is the cabbage in the tiny "bed" near the patio door -- it looks great.
Grass: Seeded half of the bare areas 1 or 2 weeks ago. Seeded the more south spots today.
Carrots: sowed more, all the way to the lettuce. Carrot bed now full, other than some un-sprouted gaps to fill in.
Spinach: FLOP! Not one of the seeds sprouted. Oh well.
Celery, bok choy, and rest of swiss chard: Transplanted after about a week of living outside full time.
Bok choy seeds: Just for fun, tossed some seeds in the defunct spinach bed. Curious how outdoor-sown will compare to indoor-sown.
Lettuce: Coming along. Still way too tiny to harvest any yet.
Petunias from round one: Living outside full time. Will transplant soon.
Onions: The ones I started from seed are coming along, some more quickly than others. The multiplying onion bulbs though -- wow! Love them! Wayyyy more productive than "normal" onions that only send up one green thing.
Tomatoes -- big: Living outside full time. Will transplant 1 soon and keep the other as backup/give-away.
Tomatoes -- small: Started hardening off today.
Peas: Transplanted the rest of the indoor starts. And, put plastic crow to guard the outdoor starts of which there are some new ones to the scene. Crow seems to be working -- nothing nibbling on them since I put it out! Knock on wood but it looks like I may get some actual peas this spring!
Cabbage / Brussels sprouts / kale / chard (which were transplanted several weeks ago): Looking ok, haven't lost any, although not thriving, maybe due to the very cloudy and cool weather we've had. The best one is the cabbage in the tiny "bed" near the patio door -- it looks great.
Grass: Seeded half of the bare areas 1 or 2 weeks ago. Seeded the more south spots today.
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Please oh please, may I have som peas?
Man, these peas are sooooo troublesome!
Since my last pea update:
- The original outdoor planted seeds, the few that are still around, are so short and scrawny. It's like they're the "tiny tim" of the pea world. They just seem stunted and not growing well at all.
- The second round of outdoor planted seeds: Not much sign from them yet.
- The first round of indoor planted seeds (planted in toilet paper tubes): Only those first ~8 peas took and were all transplanted a few weeks ago. ~6 of them are still going, much taller than the out-door sowed ones.
- I then sowed a second round in indoor seeds a week or two ago, this time in 3"x3" peat pots, two seeds in each pot, one of which then had a toilet paper tube poked around it (for protection against nibblers once they go outside). Didn't put these under any plastic greenhouse or bag, in the hopes of avoiding the moldy white stuff that overtook most of the first indoor seeds. Better germination rate from these for sure. However, the moldy white stuff still eventually became a factor which I think prevented the late bloomers from blooming, so only about 2/3 success with this round. I'm hoping the moldy stuff can be avoided next year by not using paper tubes at all. Lesson learned: Next time (such as for the fall crop!), start peas indoors again, but this time try just peat pots, no paper tubes and no plastic covering.
- Today I transplanted most of the second round of indoor peas outside (by just setting the peat pot into the soil to avoid disturbing the roots)-- no hardening off as there's no time, they're getting too tall now for the lights and I'm hoping being frost-hardy and with minimal root disturbance they'll be ok with just being put out suddenly like this.
- There are a few more of the second round of indoor peas, inside -- will give them another day or two to grow so that they hopefully won't succumb to whatever is tending to eat my outdoor-sown peas.
So, at this point, I am hopeful that I will get some peas yet!
Fingers crossed!
Since my last pea update:
- The original outdoor planted seeds, the few that are still around, are so short and scrawny. It's like they're the "tiny tim" of the pea world. They just seem stunted and not growing well at all.
- The second round of outdoor planted seeds: Not much sign from them yet.
- The first round of indoor planted seeds (planted in toilet paper tubes): Only those first ~8 peas took and were all transplanted a few weeks ago. ~6 of them are still going, much taller than the out-door sowed ones.
- I then sowed a second round in indoor seeds a week or two ago, this time in 3"x3" peat pots, two seeds in each pot, one of which then had a toilet paper tube poked around it (for protection against nibblers once they go outside). Didn't put these under any plastic greenhouse or bag, in the hopes of avoiding the moldy white stuff that overtook most of the first indoor seeds. Better germination rate from these for sure. However, the moldy white stuff still eventually became a factor which I think prevented the late bloomers from blooming, so only about 2/3 success with this round. I'm hoping the moldy stuff can be avoided next year by not using paper tubes at all. Lesson learned: Next time (such as for the fall crop!), start peas indoors again, but this time try just peat pots, no paper tubes and no plastic covering.
- Today I transplanted most of the second round of indoor peas outside (by just setting the peat pot into the soil to avoid disturbing the roots)-- no hardening off as there's no time, they're getting too tall now for the lights and I'm hoping being frost-hardy and with minimal root disturbance they'll be ok with just being put out suddenly like this.
- There are a few more of the second round of indoor peas, inside -- will give them another day or two to grow so that they hopefully won't succumb to whatever is tending to eat my outdoor-sown peas.
So, at this point, I am hopeful that I will get some peas yet!
Fingers crossed!
Indoor plants -- various updates
Woops -- haven't posted in a while!
Here are some updates.
- Petunias: The original petunias sowed on February 18th finally went tall and leggy... started them about 3 weeks too early, I'd say. The petunias that I started on April 8th are looking good, nowhere near flowering yet but I think the timing will be good for setting out late May. Lesson learned: Don't start petunias as early as February 18th! I think mid-March would be the best time to start petunias.
- Tomatoes: I've started hardening off the two big ones, if for no other reason than they're just too tall to put under lights anymore! Lesson learned: March 18th is a little too early to start big tomatoes! The little tomatoes are looking good and fit in well under the lights, being the same size as the pepper plants; pinched off a few more flowers to encourage more busy growth.
- Peppers: Looking great! They continue to be safe and warm inside, with the only "hardening off" being the oscillating fan a few hours every day
- Bok choy, celery, and the rest of the chard: Started hardening these off as well about a week ago, just because I needed more room under the lights for my peas. See separate post about the peas.
- Tuberous begonias: Wow! The three that "took" have really taken off! The foliage look great. The other three, one of them looks like it's trying to start having leaves -- I see those little pink nubbins, but they've been there a while with no more action yet.
- Cucumber: Wow, I think 100% germination rate. They're looking good.
- Zucchini: Hmmm, only 1 of the 3 pots germinated, although both seeds took. So, I transplanted the smaller one into its own pot. Started another set of seeds earlier this week but no sign of anything yet.
Here are some updates.
- Petunias: The original petunias sowed on February 18th finally went tall and leggy... started them about 3 weeks too early, I'd say. The petunias that I started on April 8th are looking good, nowhere near flowering yet but I think the timing will be good for setting out late May. Lesson learned: Don't start petunias as early as February 18th! I think mid-March would be the best time to start petunias.
- Tomatoes: I've started hardening off the two big ones, if for no other reason than they're just too tall to put under lights anymore! Lesson learned: March 18th is a little too early to start big tomatoes! The little tomatoes are looking good and fit in well under the lights, being the same size as the pepper plants; pinched off a few more flowers to encourage more busy growth.
- Peppers: Looking great! They continue to be safe and warm inside, with the only "hardening off" being the oscillating fan a few hours every day
- Bok choy, celery, and the rest of the chard: Started hardening these off as well about a week ago, just because I needed more room under the lights for my peas. See separate post about the peas.
- Tuberous begonias: Wow! The three that "took" have really taken off! The foliage look great. The other three, one of them looks like it's trying to start having leaves -- I see those little pink nubbins, but they've been there a while with no more action yet.
- Cucumber: Wow, I think 100% germination rate. They're looking good.
- Zucchini: Hmmm, only 1 of the 3 pots germinated, although both seeds took. So, I transplanted the smaller one into its own pot. Started another set of seeds earlier this week but no sign of anything yet.
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