2017 Gardening and Home
 

I'm going to share some photos from my 2017 garden (and cats, recipes, crafty things etc) on this thread. To begin...here's one of my gardening buddies. A couple years ago some people who used to live on my block left him outside during freezing fall weather. He played with me while I cleaned up my garden and yard for the next three days (each night he was snuggled up in my bathroom with a heater and fluffy towels). They never came and got him back so when the temps really dipped he stayed inside with us. :yes:

He loves to dig and I have to keep the potting soil away from him or he'll chew it open and then go crazy digging and playing with the bits of bark. :twisted:

Here's miss moustache. She was a tiny 4-5 week old kitten found at the local hardware store under some pallet that were being moved. They called me because they know I've fostered kittens too young to be away from their moms before.

There followed a couple months of two am feedings and poop and pee in unexpected places (thank goodness for puppy pads)... It's a good thing she's adorable.

She's three now and quite a sassy feline. Don't let her pretty fluffiness fool you. If she's miffed or if you try to pet her back (as I tell visitors over and over again)...she turns into demon kitty :twisted:

When I'm going into the utility room to water and check up on my plants or when the plants have been moved to the porch for hardening off...they both try to escape for plant noms.

Laser pointers and a puzzle ball with treats do the trick to keep them inside (I don't have a fenced in yard so no safe place for them to be outside).

Chives as far as the eye can see...
 

And finally on to the 2017 [I]garden[/I] ;)

I started this flat in...November? I think. I'm unsure because last year's notebook has gone missing. The chives are huge! It's time to trim them for harvest again, raise the lights a little, and clean up the dead seed leaves. I'm going to sell these to some friends and neighbors this year. I'm very pleased with how they look!

From the left (and going over past the edge of picture) Nelly Chives from Seeds of Change, Garlic Chives from Botanical Interests, and Common Chives from Burpee (and a dollar general cheap packet). The seeds were all bought in end of the year sales.

First seeds for 2017
 

I'm itchy to sow something.

Tomorrow is my planned date to start my first round of onions...but I wanted something today. I tried Rosemary from seed last year, it's slower than pouring molasses right now, and doesn't amount to much. Maybe these will do a little better. I want some to put in herb planters for my neighbors and friends.

I also picked up these wave Petunias because I want to try my own hanging baskets this year.
:yes:

I'm spending my day off catching up on Gardener's World and sifting potting mix because the local place is out of seed starting mix.

I'm surrounded by seed catalogs too. :love:

And cats trying to break into my potting soil bags. :))

Seed sowing January 2017
 

He's a helpful little stinker isn't he?

And now the first tray of seeds for 2017 is sown!

Top: Rosemary (Sow Easy from Ferry Morse 2017), Thyme (cheap packet 2016), Marjoram (cheap packet 2016), Oregano (cheap packet 2016), Evergreen Long White Bunching Onion (Burpee Organic 2016), Mint (cheap packet 2016), Munstead Lavender (cheap packet 2016), Garden Sage (cheap packet 2016).

Bottom: Zebrune Shallot (Botanical Interests 2016), Flat of Italy -red cipollini onion (Botanical Interests 2016), Borettana -yellow cipollini onion (Botanical Interests 2016), Utah Sweet Spanish yellow onion (Botanical Interests 2016), Johnny Jump-Up Violas (Burpee 2016), Alpine Strawberries (Sow Easy from Ferry Morse 2017).

I tend to hit end of season sales and scoop up seeds on clearance, last year because of my injuries I only bought what I knew I wanted/needed for this year (very tight budget!). In my experience onion seeds do just fine at a year old (two years old the germination rates drop very sharply through).

With those helpers you will have a great garden!

I'm in bed sick, but husband dropped these packages on my lap and yay for seeds!

I think I've come down with the flu, it's hit or miss for me whether the shot works, but I feel just awful.

Cannellini beans (we don't eat a lot of beans dry but we do like white beans for dip or soup and black beans in chili, soup, and tacos. I'm growing some of each this year). I'll probably share those with my best friend if she has room.
Rosso di Milano onion. My favorite onion, it's so pretty. Red Wing F1 supposed to be a great storage onion and my husband LOVES red onions. He'd eat them with everything if he could.
I'm excited to try growing my own tea. I'm going to grow this in pots to move in and out of the house. Not sure if I'll get enough to make tea but hey you gotta experiment! Plus Hibiscus have beautiful flowers.
Pineapple and Mignonette Alpine strawberries. I'm super duper excited to grow my own fruit. There is a local no spray farm that does pick your own very cheaply so I'm not worried about growing strawberries in quantity for JAM or freezing. I can get plenty there. But where I grew up there were delicious Alpine strawberries around the playhouse. I want berries like those to snack on and also it's for feeding the birds.
Eggplants. Do you think I could find any packets from the last few years? I know I have like four floating around, some were given to me by tvillians. Can't find them. So a couple of mixes should do the trick. This is the only thing my husband requests I grow each year. He loves eggplant. :)
Lastly but not leastly are three packets of lavenders. I've ordered a fourth that's also supposed to bloom the first year if you sow it early enough. As I have mentioned I'm growing some things for sale to friends and neighbors, lavender has been requested. I have great success with a now three year old plant of Munstead Lavender in my south facing yard. I'm going to plant a whole bank of lavender there I think. Should be lovely to smell coming through the kitchen windows.

I'm excited for spring! Now back to sleep I get cause the flu sucks!

[QUOTE=ReginaAnn;612616]With those helpers you will have a great garden![/QUOTE]

I dunno ReginaAnn. Mister trouble decided to knock over a seed tray that was on top of the fridge so he could dig out the mint seeds. Little stinker.

Couldn't resist...
 

Another gardening book came today! It's more inspirational than practical, I'm a little disappointed at that. :evil:

But I've also ordered a used copy of The Flower Farmer so hopefully that will be more suited to my needs.

I stopped into the hardware store and well guess what? They have their Burpee seed racks out! I couldn't resist. I have gone through my seeds to sort them and these are ones I don't have anyways.

Gotta keep trying to grow parsnips. This year I'll be starting them in paper towels just to get them sprouted, then planting outside with a base and cover of vermiculite to keep them happily moist. Fingers crossed it finally works.

Catnip...I have cats. :D I'm going to grow a whole row of it and harvest it to dry for toys to sell. I'm going to donate the proceeds to the local animal shelter.

I'm hoping to do a whole swath of wildflowers along the wooded edges of the property. More natural habitat and food for bees, butterflies, and birds and hopefully beautiful color from spring to fall. These flowers are going there and also in flowerbeds near the house. I may devote one raised bed in the garden to cutting flowers too.

Hmm. Not sure what happened to the above picture of my Renee's Garden and High Mowing Organic seed orders but here is a new one since this is the photo gallery after all.

Finally! A picture of the third cat. This is my husband's cat and her favorite blanket is black and dark blue. She also runs as soon as she hears a camera shutter so she's close to impossible to photograph. :P

I'm drawing out the new garden plan to put into my notebook! It's raised beds with a lot more perennial crops for easier care and less work during the coming years.

Also sorry for the crappy photos, these are all taken with my tablet until I can get a decent camera. :yes:

did you plant the rosemary yet? let us know how it germinates. I have had packs that I got ZERO to germinate ... lavender is the same way. very hard to start. I haven't tried those suppliers though. and I hope you are feeling better.

[QUOTE=clkeiper;614285]did you plant the rosemary yet? let us know how it germinates. [/QUOTE]

I did plant it! Nothing yet. It was in the tray my cat tipped off the refrigerator. I scooped back up what I could and saved about three cells. I've gotten germination from Burpee before but the plants were tiny all summer. I harvested enough for about two meals seasoning.

I've gotten lavender to grow from seeds too and it did okay until the polar vortex in 2014 and all my lavender (from plants, cuttings, and seeds) died. I think it was beginners luck though...

It's an experiment :) I'll be doing part of the packs as winter sown too. And I've ordered plugs from Richter Herbs as back up.

And thank you for the well wishes! I'm feeling much better. Going to tackle planting some hot peppers today. Maybe eggplants too. :yes:

Thanks for bringing up lavender here! I bought a pack of Ferry Morse lavender seeds back in December and I stuck 3 of the tiny seeds in a pot and one came up. Here is what it looks like but it ain't lavender. Any ideas what it might be? Thanks.

Definitely a member of the brassicas. Mustard?

Thanks for the ID. I'm sure you are right after looking up brassica. I wonder if it is just a weed. It sure grows like one. It is a bummer not to have lavender after I watched it sprout and grow.




[QUOTE=MissMoustache;614342]Definitely a member of the brassicas. Mustard?[/QUOTE]

Super hots and some hots planted!
 

I meant to do these a week ago but I was down with the flu.

The super hots are for selling as plants to some local people who have asked. I'm not brave enough (not would my acid reflux stand it) to try them.

I've got: Red Scotch Bonnet, Carolina Reaper, Smooth Ghost, Blut Jolokia, Trinidad Scorpian for super hots. I sowed 6-9 seeds of each hoping for 2-3 plants of each to sell.

Thai hot, Chocolate Habanero (have to plant some regular too yet), Cayenne, Ancho/Poblano, Joe E. Parker, Purple Jalapeño, Jalafuego Jalapeño, Serrano, NuMex Big Jim, Padron, Fish, and Early Jalapeño. I sowed 12-15 of each seed hoping for at least 6-8 plants of each.

Its currently 72-74F in my grow set up. I watered them with warm water to start, since this potting soil seems to have dampening off issues I'll be sprinkling cinnamon when I get home from work (need to purchase more). I meant to buy a heat mat but we had car troubles and there went any extra money. I do have Christmas lights I'm going to try to rig up something with my baker's cooling racks and the lights underneath them to generate heat to make them happy.
I have to go get another tray for my eggplants and the rest of the peppers! My setup is almost full already :twisted: (I'll be adding some lights and shelves in February)

[QUOTE=Salsacharley;614526]Thanks for the ID. I'm sure you are right after looking up brassica. I wonder if it is just a weed. It sure grows like one. It is a bummer not to have lavender after I watched it sprout and grow.[/QUOTE]

It probably is a weed. :( Do you have more seeds to start? I over seeded mine in a six cell pack.

The germination is great in one cell and spotty in the rest (sorry for the crappy photo the lights are off I need to mess with the timer settings again so it's on during the DAY like it should be.).

The three times I've grown it from seed I've always had an issue with spotty germination so I use lots of seeds. Can you resow?

If you are in zone 4-5 it seems a bit early to be sowing pepper seeds, unless you have some protected place to keep them until the last frost date.

I do have plenty more lavender to sow. I was just messing around when I sowed the ones I did. I'm not going to sow my pepper seeds (or tomato) until mid-late February because I always end up keeping them in 4" pots too long before transplanting outside.

[QUOTE=MissMoustache;614561]I meant to do these a week ago but I was down with the flu.

The super hots are for selling as plants to some local people who have asked. I'm not brave enough (not would my acid reflux stand it) to try them.

I've got: Red Scotch Bonnet, Carolina Reaper, Smooth Ghost, Blut Jolokia, Trinidad Scorpian for super hots. I sowed 6-9 seeds of each hoping for 2-3 plants of each to sell.

Thai hot, Chocolate Habanero (have to plant some regular too yet), Cayenne, Ancho/Poblano, Joe E. Parker, Purple Jalapeño, Jalafuego Jalapeño, Serrano, NuMex Big Jim, Padron, Fish, and Early Jalapeño. I sowed 12-15 of each seed hoping for at least 6-8 plants of each.

Its currently 72-74F in my grow set up. I watered them with warm water to start, since this potting soil seems to have dampening off issues I'll be sprinkling cinnamon when I get home from work (need to purchase more). I meant to buy a heat mat but we had car troubles and there went any extra money. I do have Christmas lights I'm going to try to rig up something with my baker's cooling racks and the lights underneath them to generate heat to make them happy.
I have to go get another tray for my eggplants and the rest of the peppers! My setup is almost full already :twisted: (I'll be adding some lights and shelves in February)[/QUOTE]

I'm looking. :yes:

Worth

[QUOTE=Salsacharley;614653]If you are in zone 4-5 it seems a bit early to be sowing pepper seeds, unless you have some protected place to keep them until the last frost date.

I do have plenty more lavender to sow. I was just messing around when I sowed the ones I did. I'm not going to sow my pepper seeds (or tomato) until mid-late February because I always end up keeping them in 4" pots too long before transplanting outside.[/QUOTE]

Yep. It's pretty early (15 weeks to last frost on May 16) but this is me trying to get more mature plants for a good harvest. Someone else mentioned they do this with their hots and super hots and it gets a few extra weeks harvest. I'm going to pinch out the tops after 4-5 sets of leaves and pot up a couple times. Their final place will be buckets (not sure what size yet) or recycled nursery pots and I'll be able to carry them back inside to a spare bedroom if the temps really dip after May 15th. I also bought row covers, bubblewrap, and Wall O Waters to use this year. And I have one of those little four shelf greenhouses against a south facing cement wall. It's not huge but with filled water bottles in the bottom it does the trick to keep plants from freezing. I may buy a second one if these peppers and my flowers do well. :yes:

[QUOTE=Worth1;614669]I'm looking. :yes:

Worth[/QUOTE]

Do I have the essential components for good hot sauce Worth? :D

You should have.:)

Worth

I know politics are not allowed here. I'm just talking about my mental health.

The last few days have been hard. I am reading the news and trying to stay informed with facts. And it's taking a toll on my mental health. I was reading about some stuff this morning and I'm having panic attacks thinking about my future.

I'm so glad I can hangout here and kinda put the world aside for a little bit and just talk gardening. I'm supposed to have today off and I was looking forward to catching up on my to-do list, get some envelopes out, plant my eggplants and the rest of my onion seeds, but all I can do is cry and struggle to not scream. I'm taking a social media and news break, snuggling up with my husband and cats, and opening up a good book or putting on a comedy. To he!! with my to-do list...I need a chill out day.

I hope if anyone else out there is struggling that you make time for self care.

Maybe I'll take a nap too.

I haven't had the TV on in weeks nothing but negative news and nothing we can do about it.
Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;615420]I haven't had the TV on in weeks nothing but negative news and nothing we can do about it.
Worth[/QUOTE]

Without talking about politics there isn't much I can specifically say but I definitely believe in being informed and also that people should be contacting their various government officials on a regular basis. It's part of their job to listen to and represent us. The customer is always right, right? ;)

I'm just trying not to have a defeatist attitude and not go well, I'm moving to another country, but it's hard when family members are being directly affected by certain people in power. I kinda wanna just to run away. :?!?:

In lighter news, I'm watching Bob's Burgers. It's hilarious and fun if you like cartoons like the Simpson's. :twisted:

I went ahead and started planting some eggplant seeds. The smell of dirt makes me feel calm.

Does anyone else celebrate Candlemas/Imbolc? February 2 for me always means spring is on the way! I'm most excited by the fact that yesterday the sun was still out at five pm. :yes:

I'm not excited for the fact it's also rising earlier and the cats now think that breakfast should be served at six am when I've just fallen asleep at 1 am after a long work week. :evil:

[QUOTE=MissMoustache;615431]I went ahead and started planting some eggplant seeds. The smell of dirt makes me feel calm.

Does anyone else celebrate Candlemas/Imbolc? February 2 for me always means spring is on the way! I'm most excited by the fact that yesterday the sun was still out at five pm. :yes:

I'm not excited for the fact it's also rising earlier and the cats now think that breakfast should be served at six am when I've just fallen asleep at 1 am after a long work week. :evil:[/QUOTE]

I think gardening is good for the soul. :). Always gives me a sense of peace. Hope everything works out alright for you and your family.:). Jimbo