What's Growing in the Garden

To honor my Mom. Her favorite flower was the sweet pea (well also the bluebonnet) - her mom would have hordes of them growing along her fence. Easy Peasy. Except here in Nashville. Get them in ground too early, they rot, get them in the ground too late and it gets hot before they flower. Or at least that is my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Well with Mom's passing this spring, I was bound and determined for some sweet peas. Got them in the ground later than I probably could have, but I babied them and did have a few blooms this year. Likely the only ones I'll get, their sister plants have already either been eaten to the ground, or have succumbed to the heat. For you Mom - not much, but they are for you!

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Those are beautiful. What a tribute. Even though you got them in the ground a little later, she was helping you take care of them!
 
Mike Hill said:
To honor my Mom. Her favorite flower was the sweet pea (well also the bluebonnet) - her mom would have hordes of them growing along her fence. Easy Peasy. Except here in Nashville. Get them in ground too early, they rot, get them in the ground too late and it gets hot before they flower. Or at least that is my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Well with Mom's passing this spring, I was bound and determined for some sweet peas. Got them in the ground later than I probably could have, but I babied them and did have a few blooms this year. Likely the only ones I'll get, their sister plants have already either been eaten to the ground, or have succumbed to the heat. For you Mom - not much, but they are for you!

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Flowers are as beautiful as the sentiment.
 
Started pulling onions today. Got about half pulled and will get the rest tomorrow. Will let them bake and dry in the sun for a day or two before moving them into the shed to finish drying and curing.

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I'll handle these a lot like the garlic. They'll sit in the machine shed until fall and then I'll top them and bring them in to cool storage in bottom of stairs in the garage.

The important thing with onions is to let them dry completely and form a nice brown skin. Also very important to leave the tops intact during this time. If you remove the tops before everything is completely dry it opens up the interior to air, moisture and results in breakdown of the onion.

Probably a month to six weeks before they would be ready to top.
 
Have you ever left t tops on and braided them together when dry? Don't know that it's a better way to store them but it looks cool 😎
 
I did do that once or twice years ago, now they just get put in a 5 gal bucket with air holes drilled in it.
 
So in my attempt to resolve my inability to plant a seed and have it become living plant I went looking to youtube for info and in the process found something very different, soil block makers. The video below explains all the details really well. I was able to pick up the two different sizes for a reasonable price.


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Place I got the soil blockers from didn't carry mesh bottom trays and I hate plastic anyway so just made my own with Spruce furring strips and hardware cloth. Not only gives good ventilation to help resolve my problem of keeping them too wet, I can bottom water them by just immersing them in a tub for a few seconds. So far seems to be working out well. I'm getting good, fast germination and most of all, survival. The wire mesh bottom also works well for seeds I want to start on the heat mat.

Grow light came yesterday. It's very high quality, made in the USA, 5 year warranty. The seedlings seem to like it, some of the lettuce I thought was destroyed by the rain have perked up and are looking good already.
 
JerseyHighlander said:
So in my attempt to resolve my inability to plant a seed and have it become living plant I went looking to youtube for info and in the process found something very different, soil block makers. The video below explains all the details really well. I was able to pick up the two different sizes for a reasonable price.


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Place I got the soil blockers from didn't carry mesh bottom trays and I hate plastic anyway so just made my own with Spruce furring strips and hardware cloth. Not only gives good ventilation to help resolve my problem of keeping them too wet, I can bottom water them by just immersing them in a tub for a few seconds. So far seems to be working out well. I'm getting good, fast germination and most of all, survival. The wire mesh bottom also works well for seeds I want to start on the heat mat.

Grow light came yesterday. It's very high quality, made in the USA, 5 year warranty. The seedlings seem to like it, some of the lettuce I thought was destroyed by the rain have perked up and are looking good already.
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When bottom watering, have you thought of using strips of waste blue Jean material dropped into the water to wick the appropriate amount into the soil? If you look at the plants in most hardware stores, they have a similar method to keep from top watering their more expensive plants.
 
2feathers Creative Making said:
When bottom watering, have you thought of using strips of waste blue Jean material dropped into the water to wick the appropriate amount into the soil? If you look at the plants in most hardware stores, they have a similar method to keep from top watering their more expensive plants.
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I'm not certain what you mean but no, no material involved. With the seedlings, the wire mesh bottomed trays are bought to a water tub once a day or every other day, partially immersed for a few seconds or so and removed before the top gets saturated. Before germination/sprouting I'm keeping them wet/damp twice a day. So far it's working.

I used to have a system I purchased years ago like you say, with a wicking material under the soil cells, the ends of the material were draped over a platform and into a tray of water. Kept the soil wet constantly and all the seedlings rotted at the soil line. If anything lived, the roots grew and embedded into the wicking material causing grief. I probably wasn't using it right but it was just too much of a contraption in the end.

Having moved everything inside the basement with the light just about this time yesterday, I'm already really encouraged with the results.
 
JerseyHighlander said:
I'm not certain what you mean but no, no material involved. With the seedlings, the wire mesh bottomed trays are bought to a water tub once a day or every other day, partially immersed for a few seconds or so and removed before the top gets saturated. Before germination/sprouting I'm keeping them wet/damp twice a day. So far it's working.

I used to have a system I purchased years ago like you say, with a wicking material under the soil cells, the ends of the material were draped over a platform and into a tray of water. Kept the soil wet constantly and all the seedlings rotted at the soil line. If anything lived, the roots grew and embedded into the wicking material causing grief. I probably wasn't using it right but it was just too much of a contraption in the end.

Having moved everything inside the basement with the light just about this time yesterday, I'm already really encouraged with the results.
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I planted my late beans last week, they are coming up in their rows this weekend.

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Looks vaguely familiar but I can't place it.

I wish I could but virtually nothing I direct sow in my garden does well, if the seeds even survive at all. Beets I direct sowed over two months ago are still languishing, hardly gone anywhere. Meanwhile transplanted tomatoes and broccoli are doing really well.

Another factor is that I have so little garden space here that if I can start inside and have things well established, I've got something ready to go in the ground as soon as omething else has run it's course. By the time it's cool enough to start spinach again, I'll have well established spinach ready to go in the ground and at a size where my lack of sun won't be such a factor.
 
JerseyHighlander said:
Another factor is that I have so little garden space here that if I can start inside and have things well established, I've got something ready to go in the ground as soon as omething else has run it's course. By the time it's cool enough to start spinach again, I'll have well established spinach ready to go in the ground and at a size where my lack of sun won't be such a factor.
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I feel you on garden size. Mine is considered a flowerbed in most gardening circles. 16 x 16 plus about that much area of container gardens. My soil is one spade deep. I can stand on bedrock when digging out potatoes...
 
2feathers Creative Making said:
I feel you on garden size. Mine is considered a flowerbed in most gardening circles. 16 x 16 plus about that much area of container gardens. My soil is one spade deep. I can stand on bedrock when digging out potatoes...
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My yard is a mix of bedrock sticking out of the ground, boulder fields on the hillside and rootbound shallow glacial till. The garden exists because I yanked boulders from the ground and used the to build walls and teir the hill. Good rich forest soil though.

Mrs Highlander came home from an estate sale with a box of awesome today. Little pricey, but still awesome.

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JerseyHighlander said:
My yard is a mix of bedrock sticking out of the ground, boulder fields on the hillside and rootbound shallow glacial till. The garden exists because I yanked boulders from the ground and used the to build walls and teir the hill. Good rich forest soil though.

Mrs Highlander came home from an estate sale with a box of awesome today. Little pricey, but still awesome.

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You find the rubber rings for those yet? I saw a few a couple years back.
 
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