2015 Garden thread

a reply to: DrumsRfun

I love my irises, they are my favorite flowers! They bloom without fail on summer solstice for me every year. I love how solidly consistent they are. No matter what the season throws at them they always bloom according to their own internal calendar.
They are very useful plants. Their seeds roasted and ground make a good coffee substitute. I know the roots also have a good use, I just can't remember what it is at the moment.

And thank you! Just thank you!

Haha, wow it's early! Some of the photos hadn't loaded yet when I replied.
I love my garlic chives too! I have them in a few places around the yard so I can use more without demolishing a single planting. They seed so readily. They are also one of my earliest guests in the spring. My youngest son loves the flowers, and they are good sprinkled on salads. They are super delicate in flavor. The shoots without the flowers are much more tender and have a slightly stronger allium flavor. Though it is still more delicate than a green onion. I use them in very similar ways too.

Did anyone see "The Maze Runner" ? They had this awesome vinehouse that they were growing vine plants on.

Sal

a reply to: woodsmom

a reply to: SallieSunshine

I've never seen the movie, but that looks like a great idea.
I usually plant my peas along the inside of the garden fence and just let them use that. This year I'm going to build another outdoor bed next to the greenhouse and trellis my cucumbers outside and hope it's a warm enough summer for them!



All of my celery, tomatoes, onions and Brussels sprouts are germinated and growing strong. My alyssum already has its first set of true leave so I was able to fertilize already! I'm having a few issues with the forget me nots though. There is a mold that's messing with them. I'm currently using a combo of hydrogen peroxide in my mister and sprinklings of cinnamon. I lost a couple of plants, but otherwise so far so good with the treatments. I need to move them outside, but we had another night of single digits, and that's just too cold to keep them growing. Hopefully soon the night temps will cooperate! I can't complain though, this really is the earliest spring I have ever seen since I moved to Alaska over twenty years ago.

got a 6 pack of 2" seedlings from a Florida Nursery...

I am at the north-east tip of SC (myrtle beach) I am experimenting with Moringa trees... I will house the babes in the apartment this winter if there are delays in getting my greenhouse operational

I have found a repeating source for 55 gallon barrels to use as rain collection for a drip irrigation system for my mini vineyard of black muscadine grapes... have 8 right now and will need 8 more to complete my irrigation system on both ends of the house...
(having raised barrels to supply flushing water for 1 bathroom toilet is still in the decision stage)

I also plan to have several rows of Amaranthus (golden) in the present 1/4 acre behind the house that is under 5 inches of mulch at present... to experiment with grain collection, because even a couple varieties of store bought rice gets boring...besides I feed birds too


well, I anticipated the correct time for my ground-cover periwinkles to get shipped... the week of 11-17 March I expect 100 bare-root vinca minor vines to arrive and I have prepared my past "spoils" area to receive these 100 plantings with up to 8 buds on each bare-root

so much to do, awaiting the climate change to Heat not all these Arctic expresses and polar vortices...
green thumbs up

a reply to: St Udio

I'm in a bulb frenzy as we speak, not to mention putting in periwinkle & Sweet Woodruff Herb for ground cover in shade !

So over 400 bulbs down in a day, sore back legs have a new meaning.

I also made my vegetable garden mini greenhouse pods brewing and gurgling under lights.

Herb seedling are in.

a reply to: zazzafrazz


Oh the therapy! The unmitigated therapy!

I decided to order heirloom veggie and herb seeds from an online source to conduct an experiment if heirloom, organic seeds are hardier than the mainstream commercial seeds I bought last year. The only difference being that I used a commercial fertilizer last year, and this year I will be using an all natural kale fertilizer. It should make for an interesting study.

In e-conversing the online store's owner, I asked her why I could not find Chrysanthemum seeds in her catalog. Her reply to me was that she added an edible Chrysanthemum seed package to my existing order and would I approve it. I suppose she assumed I was only interested in edibles, but I replied stating that I required the non-edible Chrysanthemum so that I could harvest the flower tops to make pyrethrum insecticidal soap. She found this interesting, and I hope next year I will find that she has included this to her catalog.

The edible Chrysanthemum species should be an interesting addition to my salads:

www.planetnatural.com...

I love my gardening, with our small yard I have a few raised beds that grow flowers and food.


This bed was started 11yrs ago, lots of leaves kelp, compost and peat have been added to get it to this depth.

My new beds, well on their third season and they still need lots more work adding goodies to build the soil level up, they are full of healthy earth worms.


Living in the SE AK rain forest there are things that will not grow, while other plants that love water grow amazingly well.

a reply to: zazzafrazz


great


oh, I did put in periwinkle in the spoils area... see my recent new avatar photo
I hope the nursery follows through... I ordered & paid for 100 bare root runners of vinca minor/periwinkle bu they only sent a total of 70 viable plant roots... a call on Tuesday to lodge a dissatisfaction and the Tennessee nursery promised to send me another bundle of 50 plants (of which I hope to get the 30 I was shorted on orig. order :-)...truth

I am going to approach the herb area different this year... I am planting in a raised bed around the front porch itself, so my Significant Other will have much fewer steps to come-go to the patch

I will leave the past cabbage and lettuce area to my own collection of Iris', about 12-14 presently...I hope the plants take over the whole garden area of 300 sf... presently just border plants

my past tomato & pepper area will be rotated also

alas== only 2 Moringa seedlings are robust, being gradually 'hardened' to outside & sunshine in day hours (in diffuse shade only)...had to seed all 5 Moringa 'extra bonus' seeds into starter pods because my plans call for 6 mature Moringa trees on this property


good Earth everyone

I have everyone in the garden this weekend, including four legged pets, if they can walk they can work!

this year i am going to try (again) to germinate a coconut even though i am way out of zone. additionally i am going to get a second hazelnut tree, some olive trees, and i am thinking about trying pistachios. i found a pistachio cultivar from uzbekistan that is supposed to be hardy to zone seven even to the edge of zone 6. i also need to choose two compatible apple cultivars for an existing arkansas black apple tree.

as far as regular vegetables this year i found an aerogarden on deep discount because of a dented box. i got it for 25 dollars and it normally costs over 100. that thing is doing great. I have two cherry tomatoes, an african pepper, lettuce, thai basil, and curled parsley in it.

not sure if i will do a conventional garden this year but i usually break down and go crazy on it any way. i tend to plant unusual cultivars. i practice with them until i can go from germination to harvest and move on to other cultivars.

check it out! Pistachios for zone 6!

www.onegreenworld.com...

Next weekend I think it is time to rent a tiller.

I am ready for fresh veggies.

We are going to cheat a little more this year and buy starter plants, except for the green beans.

Fantastic! Was contemplating initiating a 2015 garden thread myself back at the end of February! In [USDA] Zone 8b so had starts under High output T5 lights and overwintered veggies in cold frames raring to go.

I'm going to put in some large permaculture beds this year called hugelkulture. They are large mounds built over a base of dead and rotting wood, cardboard, compost, manure, and upside down sod.

Put in a 5x12 raised hugelkulture bed this year on top of last years straw bale garden to give it a try. Lots of rotting deadfall on the flood plain behind the house. We'll see how it does with the other seasoned beds, Wicking Beds, and Aquaponics. So far, the bergamot is loving it, but that stuff will grow anywhere. Dang mints

Still reading through the thread in its entirety.

Over wintered:
Purple perennial tree collards - have gone to seed and cut for cloning.
Red beard green onions, chives and garlic
Sage
Rosemary
Kiwi
Figs
Blueberries
Salsify
Bog Myrtle
Saffron - Will be going dormant soon

Currently planted:
Broccoli
Yard long beans
Yellow Squash and zucchini
Radishes
Tomatoes
Spinach [Teton, and Egyptian]
Basil, Thai Basil
Oregano, Thyme, Tarragon, Catnip
Chinese cabbage
Eggplants
Hot peppers
Artichokes
Potatoes

New additions in 2015:
Dwarf Bananas
Molokai Purple Sweet Potatoes
Okinawan Spinach
Viking Aronia Berries
Ginger and Turmeric
Thai Roselle

Waiting on my okra to start and the rest of the melons and squashes to show their faces. Lots and lots going on and am really glad the time was taken to start this thread

a reply to: AlaskanDad

Good looking Nasturtium! The Root Knot Nematodes love it down here so I have to interplant with marigolds. Wish my nasturtium got that big

I am doing strawbales again this year- last year it worked amazingly well for me!
I've started some corn, beets, and beans from seed and have bought a few starters as well. Will be putting in tomatoes, onions, watermelon, cantaloupe, bell pepper, jalapeno and cucumber soon. So excited!!

a reply to: InTheLight

I have not yet strewn my veggie and herb seeds as the weather here in Canada is still unforgiving. However, I did use the kale fertilizer on two indoor tropical plants that I am taking care of for a friend, and almost immediately they both perked up and new growth is shooting forth. It really surprised me at the quick change for the better.

Beautiful! I love reading about everyone's gardens!

Hats off to you zazzafrazz for the 400 bulb planting marathon! I'm sure the effect will be stunning!! Are you planting for blooms all summer, or predominantly spring color? I'm also another lover of periwinkle. I've been slowly spreading it over the years from my original four pack I had rescued at the end of the season from the greenhouse.

AlaskanDad, thanks for sharing! I look forward to the nasturtiums every year too. It's definitely a reliable summer visitor.

InTheLight, could you possibly elaborate on the kale fertilizer? I'm very curious! I also love the little experiments, have fun eating your chrysanthemums!

As for my gardens, things are a month or more ahead of schedule. I have had fun changing things up. I already have spinach, lettuce, pansies, radishes and some herbs seeded outside.

I made a recycled pallet mini raised bed for the spinach and radishes since the ground hadn't thawed yet though the weather was ideal. I'm just starting to see those germinating.

I stirred up some large dark pots and some small side planting mounds that had thawed enough about a week later and planted my lettuce varieties. My large raised beds were still frozen enough to not be able to plant just yet. My peas and root crops will be going in very soon.

I went ahead and started my flats of cabbage, broccoli, green onions and more lettuce in the greenhouse this year instead of in the house. I will be using the indoor space for my melons and squash very soon. My tomatoes are a few inches tall and happy. My peppers didn't even germinate for me. Everything else is happy though.

My sister's forget me nots have moved outside for the most part and are loving it. It did keep a few nice plants inside though, just because. It's been snowing at night almost every day this week, but staying warm. The moisture is welcome for all of the rest of the gardens.

I meant kelp (seaweed) fertilizer, sorry for that mistake. I've got kale on the brain these days.

Kelp extract is a highly-nutritious natural fertilizer that promotes plant growth, fruit set, disease resistance and resilience to environmental stressors. It's also a great soil conditioner. Approved for use in certified organic production, this extract comes in convenient and cost-effective powdered form that easily mixes with water for foliar spraying or ground application.