weeds n seeds's Blog at GardenStew.com

Gaining Ground..I think!

weeds n seeds — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:53:37 -0400

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:53 pm (GMT 0)

Now that the snow's melted off and the never-ending winds have dried things up a bit, all I see is work, work and more work to be done outside. Was debating having the Siberian elms "cleaned out" again this season, but looks like there's no worry there: anything loose, dead or fragile is now on the ground, patiently awaiting pickup and a quick trip to the local landfill as a "mulch donation". Surveyed the leaf accumulation across front of property, appears to be another 18 bags worth..at least! Grass is growing faster than I'd like to see, looks like another bumper crop of weeds as well mixed in.
However, Oriental poppies, white valerian, lambs ear and comfrey in a front garden are up and looking good, lilacs are setting buds, and there's actually some "green" showing in herb bed as horehound, garden sage, hyssop, chives and a few other things show signs they made it thru the winter. French tarragon is off and running, noticed the spearmint and oregano aren't far behind, dish gardens of various sedums are "coloring" as well. Green bunch onions are almost a foot high, and there's an Earthbox of Red Russian kale starts, and one of early cabbages, OUT! Have them "caged" for time being, more to protect them from the wind than anything else, but they seem quite happy in their makeshift tents. Doesn't look too pretty, but you gotta do what you gotta do in this country!
Prepped all the Earthboxes (have 7 of them) and large containers left outside, are now ready for their 2008 plants after reworking the played out soil a bit, adding some builders to and much needed nitrogen sources. Soil is now nice and pliable, the two resident PEST red squirrels are having a field day re-digging them up for me on a daily basis, are probably looking for their peanuts (that are long gone!) they got somewhere and hid in them last fall..what can I say?
Plant starts are doing nicely, should have them out in greenhouse but winds' have been so bad, I can't get trays from sunroom to it without them taking off for parts unknown in the process! Do have gorgeous pansies out there tho', and have been picking GH leaf lettuce on a regular basis for a month, feel like a rabbit from eating it all.
Checked barrel composter yesterday after turning it's contents, was surprised to see some great black and sweet smelling compost in there, plants are gonna LOVE it! Another few weeks and it'll get emptied, will start another batch with old leaves and grass clippings plus ?, put it to good use! Will be adding comfrey as fast as it grows also.
Am gaining on things, slowly but surely, just can't WAIT to get everything outside now, get green things everywhere you look! Hanging baskets of ivy geranmiums on the old windmill, containers of other flowers here and there, tomatoes/peppers/eggplants/cukes and other edibles growing! I'm a very impatient gardener... .

Signs That Spring IS Trying To "Sprung"

weeds n seeds — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:45:28 -0400

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:45 pm (GMT 0)

Tulips have begun to pop up all over the yards, and it looks like a few daffies are beginning to show also after the long, hard winter we've endured. See some "green" on the Oriental poppies, Johnny Jump Ups, bunch onions and sedums, even had the first antelope of the year wander thru back yard last weekend, surely a sign of better things to come! Weather's still doing its pogo-ride however: is near 50 one day, back to the 30's and SNOW the next, but at least it's melting off fast, actually contains a fair amount of moisture that we drastically need after several years of drought. Notice the birds are back at feeders in force, are singing their beautiful Spring songs, think it's almost time to brush the loose hair out of my Saint Bernard and let it "fly" for the birds to gather for nesting purposes again.
Inside, the sunroom is beginning to overflow with held-over ivy geraniums that, despite a DRASTIC cutting back last fall, are back to full size and blooming away (as are the zonals), shelves in front of big south-facing windows are crowded with trays of vegetable and flower seedlings, all waiting patiently til the day they can safely be put outside for the summer. Many of the seedlings should be put in the greenhouse, but every time I'm ready, the winds pick up and it's impossible to make the transfer without them suffering a "quick trip to the mall", windburn or experiencing a chill between here and there, so the jungle continues to grow in the small, crowded space. Mother Nature has really triggered the plants the last few weeks, another sign of impending Spring? Hopefully?
Time to plant tomatoes, and TIME I begin taking some photos with new digital camera so I can begin sharing growing experiences with everyone. Had been putting off purchasing one, but after seeing such great pictures on this site the "seed was planted", decided the time had come to finally "spring" into the 21st. Century and join the fun! Nice thing about a digital is I can always delete my OOPS! shots and try, try, try again!

I'm ready..where's SPRING?

weeds n seeds — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:40:39 -0400

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:40 pm (GMT 0)

The snow has finally melted off yards, and I'm chompin' at the bit to start outside work! Was contemplating having the property boundry Siberian Elm trees "cleaned out" again this year, but after the winters' drastic winds we've had and looking at what's on the ground, I don't think it'll be necessary: everything that could come down did, will take a month to clean it all up!
Was all primed to begin on prepping outside Earthboxs, containers and raised beds few days ago, sadly discovered majority are still just a wee bit too froze, would need a jackhammer to dig in them. One raised bed, that gets a lot of sunlight, was manageable, so tackled that, perked it up with pelleted lime, wood ash and dried steer manure. Covered it with black plastic to warm the soil enough to plant beets and yellow onions ASAP, hopefully within the next few weeks. Rest? I'll just have to be patient I guess, grit my teeth and WAIT!
Now, inside is another story. Pots of pansies are blooming as are zonal and ivy geraniums that have been wintered over. Have trays of seedling peppers, flowers, and herbs growing in sunroom as well; an Earthbox of Red Russian kale going in greenhouse with 3 inch pots of blooming pansies and cabbage starts to keep it company for time being. In the house itself, a "Sherry Baby" orchid is putting up a flower spike, two kalachoes are blooming, and a "goldfish plant" is ready to burst foreward with brilliant color. An orchid cactus (that gets 7 1/2 inch bright red blooms)should put on its usual display in May, and a vanilla bean orchid is now at 3 feet tall. The African violets are like the Duracell Bunny: have been in almost constant bloom since early last fall, just keep going and going!
It's these plants that bring the greatest joy at this time of year when we're still getting periodic snow storms, their color just lifts the spirits to NO END, brings on mental pictures of greenery and color to come IF Spring/summer ever gets here!
I did notice yesterday, however, tulips are breaking ground, green scallions are beginning to color, some dish gardens of sedums are showing new growth, the lilacs are beginning to bud, and two variegated ivies (wintered over inside)have nearly doubled in size in just last few weeks, will be really lovely hanging off an old, full-sized whiskey barrel this summer.
I'm ready, now where is Spring?

Old soil reuse

weeds n seeds — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:30:37 -0500

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:30 pm (GMT 0)

I have containers, pots, window boxs and raised beds full of soil that drastically need HELP! For last several years, have been hauling out two wheelbarrows, lining them with loose plastic sheets, emptying soil into one then using an ancient plastic hand sieve to sift soil into the other before putting in additives and refilling everything. This year I purchased a hand-operated rotary sieve in HOPES it'd make the backbreaking job just a wee bit easier..and BOY! has it!
In anticipation of the unit's arrival, I hauled in hanging baskets, containers I could MOVE easily and other pots full of soil into the sunroom, had 'em stacked everywhere! The rotary sieve arrived, got it put together, then realized I had NO WAY to get a wheelbarrow in there (and it was way too cold to work in garage or workshop), so now what? I wanted to start using the thing!
Sieve came in a box that was packaged within another box, discovered it was just right to set the 16 inch diameter new fangled object in, lined the box with a big plastic garbage bag to catch sifted soil and went to work.
It's truly amazing the amount of soil things hold til you empty them OUT, and would be a shame to not reuse it all! Took only minutes to get soils sieved: just half-filled the drum on rotary unit, sat on a bucket and turned the handle, watched the bag under it fill with SPEED, went "WHOA! This is too good to be TRUE!" as pot after pot, container after container of old, worn out soil disappeared into the depths of the garbage bag. When there wasn't room for any more, I put "processed" soil into empty heavy-duty wood pellet bags to sit til phase #2 came into operation, tied them off and stacked them..didn't take long to get a good supply on hand.
Phase #2 was "cutting in" new soil (Pro Mix BX) with the old to give it a boost at a 50-50 mixing rate. Made a scoop from an empty plastic bottle with a handle on it, worked beautifully for measuring soils.
Did three scoops of Pro Mix to three scoops of old, ran it thru the rotary sieve for blending, then rebagged and marked it as "done, ready for additives". Piece of cake!
Yesterday, I put together baskets of pansies and transplanted some Crego asters into bigger pots. Just opened a bag of the blend, scooped some soil into a bucket, added what I felt was needed ( a bit of bone meal, pelleted fertilizer, epsom salts and dried blood), dampened the soil with a liquid root booster, and tranplanted away to my hearts content! Sieved/blended soil was totally old root/stones and stick free, didn't clump, still retained enough perlite for lightning the soil, was just lovely to work with! As compost is still frozen solid, that'll be used to top off things later.. after a good sieving, of course!
As soon as weather permits (hopefully by late March) I'll tackle the raised beds and too-heavy-to-move containers outside, use the two wheelbarrow method so they won't feel left out, set the sieve in the largest and have at it, big time! Just LOVE that unit!!
(For general information: rotary sieve was purchased from Charley's Greenhouse and Supply of Mount Vernon, Washington. Cost was $64.95 on sale, has already about paid for itself.)

Planting by the moon's phases

weeds n seeds — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:46:46 -0500

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:46 pm (GMT 0)

A full moon conjures up pictures of wolves howling, a witch riding his/her broomstick around the neighborhood, or pople just acting "loony" for some odd reason.
Folks who take stock in the moon phases think it's due to attractional forces created at that period in time. It appears to affect nature, and humans, in the strangest of ways.
Believers feel that plants also respond to these attractional pulls, the same ones that affect tides in the vast oceans of the world. They believe that this action stimulates root and leaf growth, seeds sprout faster, plants grow sturdier, harvests are heavier, and "bolting" is retarded. The method of planting by the lunar phases, and lineup of various planets at certain times, is an ages old practice that dates back hundreds of years, and believers swear it works! But, how do you even begin to grow this way? Where do you start?
When using the moon as a growing guide, two related lunar phases will surface: waxing and waning. Waxing occurs in the first two quarters between the new and the upcoming next full moon when light is increasing, is an excellant time for planting above ground crops. Believers feel that during this phase, more moisture is pulled to the surface to aid in the germination of seeds. Waning occurs in the third and fourth quarters AFTER a full moon when light is decreasing and energy is "drawing down" and is an excellant time to plant below ground crops. However, they also think that they should not plant directly on either the day of the new moon or a full one due to the changing forces of nature that the moon dictates.
The second factor in gardening by the moon are the astrological signs the moon is traveling through, which change every few days or so. The moon phase believers think that the most fertile times for planting/transplanting are during the water signs of Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. Second best are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. The other signs are best suited to weeding, cultivation, and garden maintenance in general. There are a few exceptions to the rule, one being melons that seem to enjoy being planted under the Gemini sign which is thought to be arid and barren.
Calenders that we all have hanging in our kitchens have the moon phases on them. The Old Farmers Alamanac annually prints an astrological planting guide using the moon and planets to one's advantage. If you are truly interested in gardening by the moon, it is highly recommended you purchase a calender specifically formulated for your growing season whether it be a short, or long, one. It will explain everything in detail right down to the best for starting seeds, transplanting, or planting directly out in the garden.
Visit www.gardeningbythemoon.com , an excellant source of more information about planting in accordance with the moon phases/astrological signs. It's a fascinating field of interest, and gardeners SWEAR they get great results. It has certainly helped me to know when I should be baying at the moon, riding around on my motorized broomstick, planting seeds, or just mowing the grass. As for the loony part, what CAN I say?

Gettin' them seeds goin'

weeds n seeds — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:00:43 -0500

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:00 pm (GMT 0)

Time has FINALLY come to begin getting just a wee bit serious about planting seeds for this summers vegetables and flowers. January 21 saw gerberas (African Daisies that take 6 months to reach blooming size), lemon catnip (gotta keep the neighborhood cats happy!), asters, bushy Evening Primrose (to "treat" the hummingbird moths) and edible dandy-lions sowed, today it was Red Russian kale, Golden Ace cabbage, fringed decorative kale, Bon Vivant leaf lettuce and smooth-leaf spinach. The crops planted Jan. 21 are coming up, now the wait starts for today's.
The aster seed was taken from "volunteer" plants this past season, the wild Evening primrose seed came from a lovely plant I discovered growing out behind the workshop and was too nice to pass up, just had to collect some seed off spent spikes and save it! Am not a big seed-saver, so was very leary of what..actually..to expect, if anything. The asters were up within 3 days; the minute seedlings of the primrose are just beginning to show today and those brought great JOY to behold! As the primrose is classified as a biennial, I'll be really surprised if it blooms this year, but know it will in 2009 so is something to look forward to there. As for the double-flowering asters, time will tell if they're the annual variety or perennial, left the Mother plants alone, after a cutting back, to see if they'll return later in the season and, if not, I do have the new ones.
The Jan.21 planting of seeds were done in a seed-row planter, will all need transplanting into larger cells/pots/soil within next few weeks. Everything else has been planted in deep cell 6 paks, are in waterproof 1020 trays, covered with plastic domes and are on heat mats for bottom warmth to aid germination.
From the beginning, I leave the plastic domes propped up a bit up to allow for some air circulation, and once all seedlings appear, the domes come totally off, trays of plants that don't need bottom heat any longer are moved to a cooler section of the plant room to grow on. Using the deeper cells for germination would require huge amounts of seed staring medium to fill them, but came across a method in an English gardening book that I just LOVE, and results are GREAT! The bottom 2/3 of the cells are filled with regular dampened potting soil, and only the top 1/3 is filled with the dampened starting medium recommended for starting seeds. What this does is allow the seeds to be planted in a sterile medium and by the time a good root system forms, they are down into soil that affords what they need for good growth..and away they go!
Once seedlings get their second set of "true leaves", they get a light application of a 3 month timed-released pelleted fertilizer simply applied to top of soil (making sure it isn't touching the stems as it will burn them) that I press slightly in, and this..in the watering process..is slowly released til it's time for the plants to be set outside in their respective containers or beds. Works beautifully with any type container used to start seeds, and DOES help eliminate the "did I, or didn't I fertilize" syndrome by taking all the guesswork out of it as you can see the pellets on the soil's surface and know it's been done. I have been doing this for 3 seasons now with unbelievable success.
Have only scratched the surface, so far, starting seeds for 2008, will be an almost constant thing now from mid-February thru early May as I plant by lunar and astrological signs, and gotta get them seeds goin' when the time is right! Happy growing all!!!

Dirt Under The Fingernails

weeds n seeds — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:31:48 -0500

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:31 pm (GMT 0)

Spent 2 1/2 hours yesterday transplanting 60 little "Happy Faces" (pansies) into 3 inch pots and 6 pak cells. Have been waiting..very patiently..for the youngsters roots to start showing at the base of the seed row starter tray telling me "get us into something BIGGER!", and it finally happened: felt SOO GOOD getting my hands dirty while playing in the soil once again!
Started an early variety called "Carolina Giants", and some OLD mixed pansy seeds of several types, in November, planted the old seeds a bit on the heavy side as I didn't know what to expect from them. Much to my surprise, had excellant germination with ALL, even had to cull a few because they were too thickly planted! Broke me heart to do it, but was necessary, watered in the potted seedlings with the tears that fell..what can I say?
I've had a terrible time with getting good pansy seed germination last few years no matter what I tried, so for this season bought/used Pro Mix seed starting medium..the results more than speak for themselves so far! Seedlings are strong and healthy, root systems absolutely beautiful!
They've been transplanted into Pro Mix potting soil now, should have blooming plants by Memorial Day if all goes according to Hoyle, can't WAIT for their lovely scents and joyous colors to greet me when I walk into the greenhouse later in the season! There's just something about them that "makes the day" when nothing else is doing much yet. Way it looks, there'll be hanging baskets and containers full of pansies everywhere, but that's okay in my book as they're such "happy plants".
At present, the trays are still in my sunroom in front of big, south-facing windows, are on bottom heat just in CASE temp out there wants to nosedive during a nasty cold spell (so far, knock on wood!, temp has been getting no lower than 50 degrees nights even tho' outside temps have been as low as 0!). Will let the babies adapt a bit to new potting up, then remove them to another shelf without heat til they can be evacuated into unheated greenhouse, probably in late February.
Next to start are gerberas, blue mealy sage (which looks like Russian Sage), and evening primroses (seeds I saved from a wild plant) end of this month, then in February will be about 30 other things, including peppers and cool weather plants. By May, poor sunroom AND greenhouse will be overflowing with "green" things of all descriptions imagineable! Needless to say, I just LOVE starting everything from seed and watching it grow, especially when the snow's still flyin' outside!

Seeing GREEN!

weeds n seeds — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:11:49 -0500

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:11 pm (GMT 0)

Old Man Winter's a huffin' and a puffin' to his hearts content, blowing powdery snow about to move the drifts from one location to another again. Raised beds/containers sadly sit, decorated by white mushroom-like caps instead of the colorful displays of blooming flowers they held just a few short months ago, greenhouse sits idle like a forlorn igloo with snow swirling constantly around it.
BUT, that's outside! Inside, there are two orchids, African violets, a yellow & pink Christmas cactus, geraniums, other plants blooming/growing that make the spirits soar to see their welcomed beauty..AND it's almost time to begin starting seeds!
As of November, all seeds for the 2008 season were purchased, staggered planting schedules drawn up, trays and cells stacked in eager anticipation of being put to use once more. Pansies..which are now little "greenies"..were started for May blooming, will soon be joined by gerberas, blue mealy sage and a number of other varieties of plants.
Yesterday was planning what will go where and in what, looked at those sad outside containers and actually saw GREEN! Yep! Snapdragons will go there; petunias in that; tomatoes, eggplant, squashes and peppers in those Earthboxs; chards and cukes over there in a new spot this year. What was the dreariest of landscapes suddenly turned into a prolific Garden of Eden in this gardener's mind's eye. Is time to get to WORK and make it happen!
I grow almost everything from seed, experiment with new plants each year to see what does best here and what doesn't, and..believe ME!..have had my share of "flops" along the way as the landfill can readily testify to.
Gardening is constantly living and learning by trial and error: sometimes..I think..the errors outweigh the good, but I'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to gardening, simply "have to try" or I'll never know! I have found that researching plants needs/requirments is an invaluable asset as seed packets don't tell you HALF the story when it comes to starting practices, culture, etc. in most cases, especially with "odd balls" like lemon eucalyptus, verbenas, and gerberas to name a few. Packets usually have generalized instructions..plant and ye shall grow..but I've found that it doesn't hurt to research if trying something new, will save a lot of gray hairs, ulcers and nervous breakdowns in the long run!
YEP! Seein' GREEN even tho' the seed packets, bags of soils are still unopened, guess the adage to "plant a seed and WAIT is to believe" is true after all.

Tain't Fit Fer Humans..

weeds n seeds — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 13:10:06 -0500

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:10 pm (GMT 0)

But do plants ever slurp it up and thrive! How to make rather oderiferous comfrey "tea": fill a 5-gallon bucket half full of chopped, or cut up, fresh comfrey leaves and stalks. Add a quart of cut up fresh dandelion LEAVES, two large handfuls of epsom salts and 1 1/2 quarts of dried steer manure (if you happen to have the "weeds" plantain and stinging nettles available, be sure to add some of those also). Place the bucket in a sunny out-of-the-way place, fill almost to the rim with water, mix well. cover with a board. Stir daily. The "tea" should be ready in 5-6 weeks, or when you can smell it a block away.
To use: place a clothespin on your nose and extract a dog-food sized can full of the liquid from bucket, add to 1 1/2 gallons of water for dilution purposes, apply weekly to plants. Use the same dilution rate for a foliar feed, straining the tea, if necessary, to remove particles that might clog sprayer nozzle. Keep stirring the "witches cauldron" daily between uses, adding more water if level in bucket gets too low. At seasons end, pour anything left in bucket out in a barren flower/vegetable bed, work lightly into soil.
Comfrey facts: chopped up comfrey is an excellant compost accellerant, creates a lot of "heat" in the pile or composter while adding numerous trace minerals and nutrients. Freshly chopped leaves/stems can also be worked right into garden spaces to improve soils. In Australia, bottoms of potato trenches are lined with chopped leaves, covered with soil then potatoes planted as usual: the method is reputed to halt "potato scab". For EXTERNAL ONLY medical use (plant contains carcinogens, CANNOT be taken internally), sap in stems is unsurpassed in easing the agony of bug bites/stings when applied to the bite site. Leaves, fresh or dried, can be used as a poultice to stop swelling, discoloration and pain of bad bruises, sprains, hence the nickname: "The Bruise Plant". Comfrey blossoms are also great bee magnets. All in all, no garden should be without this highly beneficial herb of many uses.
Enjoy making/using the "tea"..your plants will love you for it!

How to raise a "stink"

weeds n seeds — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:53:52 -0500

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 5:53 pm (GMT 0)

Have two large comfrey plants that outdid themselves this year in wild growth, and being a very firm believer in the virtues of what comfrey offers the gardner, decided to make up a green manure tea using chopped up leaves. Added some dandelion greens for extra WHOOMPH, a couple handfuls of epsom salts, topped everything off with dried steer manure, filled the bucket with water, covered it and let the brewing process begin in a nice sunny spot next to a metal workshop. Once a day the concoction was stirred with a long stick, couldn't wait for the six-week period of "cooking" to be over with and I could begin using the mixture on plants.
First few weeks weren't too bad. By week 4 weather had turned hot and there wasn't a stick LONG enough to stand back and stir everything with as it'd turned just a bit "odoriferous" to say the least! You don't pray for wind in this country..we get enough naturally..but there were days I did, or had to sneak up on the bucket, look around to make sure noone was out in their yards, pop the top, stir, recover and run like the devil as the "green cloud" drifted off in all directions! Was really waiting for a visit from Haz-Mat at any time to check out WHERE the stench was coming from!
My Dad, years before, had made me a long handled dipper for use with manure teas when I once made another batch similiar to this one..luckily I'd kept it! Would scoop out a ladel-full QUICK, dump it in a watering can, get it diluted as fast as possible and watch the plants shirk like "here she comes AGAIN with that stuff!".
When nothing DIED but started really thriving from the use, began foliar feeding with it as well. Might be my imagination, but I noticed a drastic decline in bug and plant problems in general, had the best productivity I've had yet in this locale! Was worried it might smell so GOOD my Saint Bernard would want to roll in raised beds where it was applied, but I'd open the bucket and he'd take off in another direction..like the bugs and even the cats!
Will raise another "stink" next year after seeing results this one, had thought about maybe trying to make some homemade fish emulsion as well but don't think I'll push my luck that far in regards to "delightful aromas", would definately have Haz Mat here!

Welcome to Weeds N Seeds

weeds n seeds — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:04:54 -0500

Author: weeds n seeds
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:04 pm (GMT 0)

Pansies are stirring into action and beginning to "show" their little green heads. Only a few are up so far, but it's a start even if you do practically need a magnifying glass to see them! Had the starter tray on my potting bench extension, when temperature dropped to 50 degrees nights in the unheated sunroom, moved the tray onto a propagation mat for bottom heat, seems to have done the trick. Once they've all germinated, will remove them from heat and keep my fingers crossed!
January will see the planting of blue mealy sage (a plant similiar to Russian sage) and gerberas. First time I'm attempting gerberas..anyone have any suggestions on raising them? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Is dark, cold and overcast here today, so it's nice to see African violets in bloom and two orchids getting ready to share their beauty with the world as well. Zonal geraniums, in sunroom, are also beginning to bloom despite drastic cutting back in September, are really great "spirit lifters" when the snow flies and those winter doldrums set in. Mother Nature is good to the gardener... .