Back a few weeks ago, we planted the spinach and broad beans and placed them on the windowsill at home. The spinach was up in six days and the broad beans a couple of days thereafter. We let them chug along for a while then the hardening off process began for the spinach--outside during the daylight hours, and back inside at night. Finally it was so far, time to plant them out. Most of the germinating cells had plants with their second sets of leaves, this was our sign that the time was right. We bundled the spinach along with Dooly's garden bag full of tools, thermoses and other necessary things into the bike's basket and panniers and off to the lottie we went. It was rainy, grey and very cool. Perfect conditions for planting seedlings out. With setting the spinach plantlets out or planting seeds there is certain order of action necessary. Step 1---Pull the blanket of protective plant debris back, exposing the resting soil. Step 2---Remove the odd weed that somehow knew how to survive the darkness of the thick mulch douvet. Step 3---Scratch the soil's surface, making it fine and crumbly...then with the edge of our hoe, we cut a furrow. Step 4---Fill this little furrow with compost (the seeds/plantlets will be planted into this). I am showing the planting of Swiss Chard seeds here. Step 5---Again make a furrow in the compost and water this in. When the water soaks down, plant the seeds in the row. Step 6---Cover the seeds and tamp the soil down so that the seeds will be touching soil on all sides. Step 7---Mark the row with plant name and date planted. Then water that in again. The Swiss Chard planted, it was time to set the spinach plugs out. We planted the plugs and as a back-up, we also sowed a row as well. Planting spinach in pre-germinated plugs instead of direct seed planting in rows outdoors is something new for us. New for us to do, but not a new idea. It is not widely recommended because the spinach roots are "pin roots"; in other words, they have a long root that grows straight down--like a carrot or a parsnip. Generally speaking, this sort of veg can better NOT be planted one place and transplanted to another. I do not always dogmatically take "gardening "gospels to be the one and only way to do things. It is also not recommend to do this with beetroot either (for example); but when we thin-out the rows, we plant the removed plantlets in a row directly next to the the row that they came out of. They always do alright. Well, we did other things in the lottie, but there wasn't much time to sit and rest, as it was just too cold---"water-cold", we call that type of coldness. It is mean and seems to penetrate one's thickest clothing layers. We said adieu to the birds and went home like two cold rats. Once home, there was only one thing for it--do a cup of cocoa. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah. The striped cups are our cocoa cups, they are wide and tall--a bit OTT, but justified when hypothermia is to be reversed. That vase of spring flowers is so ugly that it are beautiful...know what I mean. The tulips we bought from the side of the road a while ago, and the daffs came out our own lottie. The bouquet reminds me of a van Gogh painting in a way.
Congratulations on a job well done! Everything looks so neat and tidy. The cocoa was well deserved indeed. Your flowers have a certain dilapidated charm, and you're right. They do look like an old painting.
Gosh you've certainly been busy haven't you? I'm sure your photographs and explanations will be a real benefit to many of our members as they're wonderfully detailed. I hope the cocoa revived you both!!
That bouquet would be perfect for van Gogh`s style of painting. Have you noticed that tulips never seem to stand up straight. I like your OTT mugs. I have a similar size mug (big) that I use for hot cocoa and hot peach tea.
I did enjoy your step by step pictures of planting chard and spinach. It was very educational. Your apply named 'Van Gogh' bouquet is worthy of painting. I went to school many, many years ago to become a florist designer only to find out I did not like "doing' it their way. It took the joy out of it. Your bouquet is much more to my liking.
Ahhhhh....revived alright, EILEEN--I am glad that you liked the posting. Yes MART-- I have indeed noticed that. I get them frequently when they are in season here. Every now and then I get a bunch that will remain erect...but so often they droop or the stems develop an s-shape. Frustrating. Glad you like the mugs. I have a variety and each has its place of use as well as what goes in the mug. hahaha. Crazy 'r wot. Really pleased that you liked the posting, 2OF--Interesting hearing about your florist adventure. I can only respect your decision and reason not to continue. I am a bit like that as well.
LOL ! Not crazy at all. I do the same thing for those mugs that I drink from and glasses too. I have one for my morning coffee and another for my tea. Everyone else can drink from whatever they wish but mine has to be from specific containers. Guess that makes me a bit odd but that's the way I am.
Say Mart--Here's something for you: Tulips in a vase with narcissus--Never do it. I discovered why mine wound up looking so dreadfully. ---Tulips age quickly in the presence of Ethylene. Cut narcissus give this off, so do bowls of fruit...so avoid this condition. A cut narcissus also leaks a slime that the tulips cannot take. ----To keep tulips erect: As soon as you get home, wrap them snugly in a newspaper, cut the ends of the stems at an angle and plop them in a vase with a tiny amount of water. It is important that the tulips do not become too warm and definitely must not be placed in the sunlight. ---To let them last longer: ---Place 4-5 copper cents in the bottom of the vase. ---Add one drop of clorox to the water ion the vase. I ran into an old wife on the way to the lottie.
Those old wives are a storehouse of information. Don`t think I have to worry about wilting tulips,,they do not grow well here. Texas heat you know.
Sjoerd, I really enjoy your gardening technique. I have only planted potatoes and a few onion tops thus far. I read that when we cut the top from an onion we might put it into the soil and grow another onion. Having tried it with the top end of a carrot and had success, I thought why not. The garlic planted late September 2015 came through winter so well, I decided to try a row of spring planted. It has come up and all garlic looks very healthy.
That is a very interesting posting GP. Those Allium types are surprising. I had no idea that one could do that. Yeah...very interesting.
