Gardening

Is anybody else already getting seed catalogs? They used to start coming in January and February, but I'm already getting them.

I hope to have another raised bed in place by the time I start planting next spring, and I'm going to change up a lot of my beds. I'm going to plant snow peas in the containers where the tomatoes were, and broccoli in my potato containers. Where the potatoes were this year I plan to plant carrots. Herbs will go into the former pea containers. I don't know where I'm going to plant squash, but I've got a couple containers I wasn't using that I can plant tomatoes in.

I'm also going to start buying organic seeds, and from companies that sign the safe-seed pledge. I'm not going to throw away the seeds I've got. I can't afford that. But I'm trying to phase in organic. I already grow an organic garden, but I've just been using regular seeds with no thought of where the seeds themselves come from.

Any other gardeners already planning?

If I started planning now, nothing else would get done. I actually force myself to waqit and then go out and buy seeds with the rest of my supplies. I will only order something if it's hard to get here.
Yeah, so my veggie garden is going to get its annual roation of crops, my perennial gardens will get new plants, and I do annuals to fill in and add color. Since I'm short on cash, I get a lot of my plants from dividing existing plants, swaps, or cuttings/seeds from friends.

I've got a touch of spring fever now.

Recently I dug out the section of the yard the landlord told me I could use for gardening. I have some leftover seeds in a drawer in the kitchen, and I have visions of many more. I also plan to pick up a few fruit bearing bushes that WalMart sells, because fresh berries would be amazing.

The biggest result of my gardening attempt this previous season was a batch of tomatoes that I fried while they were still green. A couple of the others ripened to full redness, and were used in things like chili, so their flavors were mixed in with a lot of others. My avocado is still doing well, and bark is starting to form at the base. This year I'll also be planting bonsais and a venus flytrap or two for indoor purposes.

I don't have a seed catalog coming, but I did sign up with a site that offers tips on planting and such for the area where I live. If all goes well this time around I'm going to try and invest in canning supplies and one of those machines that vacuum seals food.

Any suggestions on squash? I got my plants to flower, but either it was too late in the season or they weren't getting enough sunlight because the flowers never did anything but break off the vines.

I only get one seed catalog, and that has not arrived yet.

I just cleaned my balcony, which is my "garden" today. I've still got some herbs, radishes, kohlrabi, leeks, carrots and even the peppers are still alive. And a butterfly has hidden in one of the empty planters - aww!

I need to do some indoor gardening again. I work in a plant nursery, and I can bring in houseplants to sell in the shop, so I plan to propagate some Tradescantias to bring in as soon as the shop reopens in January, get some spider plants in sell-able shape... there are Begonia cuttings to be potted up, and the cane begonia needs to be cut back again, which means I can plant some cuttings as well... but that'll have to wait until I have sold some stuff, because I don't really have room at the moment. And then I have a couple more plants I want to propagate and sell.
Although, I never really have room anyway. I don't know what I'll do when it gets really cold and I have to bring another six or seven plants in from the balcony. And then when it's time to start tomatoes indoors. Yikes!
And then I've got my eyes on a few more houseplants I want to buy. Anyone seen my sanity?

I found a bud on one of my amaryllises today, and since it's not one of my absolute favourites, I'll give it away as a Christmas present to one of my aunts. I've got quite the collection of amaryllises, and I need to downsize it a little. If any others show a bud before Christmas, I'll give them to my other aunts (except for the hot pink one and the 'Lima') - of course, they'll soon be replaced with new ones! And my Grandma will get my spare Christmas cactus.

Zoo, if you're going for organic seeds, maybe also try to get non-hybrid varieties. That way you can save your own seed

This year I actually have a balcony, so I'm hoping to grow some basic herbs and fruits (and vegetables maybe?) out there in containers in 2012. I have a little collection of saved seeds from this season, when I was helping out at an organic farm. Winter will be for planning and trying to research what will actually be successful in pots and a shortish growing season.

I've turned my back firmly on catalogues for this coming season. I went to great expense buying specially heat-treated & resistant seed from a catalogue who shall remain nameless, but I don't think they 'do' US, so you guys should be safe! lol! At least 1/3 of every crop didn't germinate, sometimes 1/2; of those that did germinate, 1/2 again failed on planting out; my carrots cropped about 3 months late; my potatoes (a range of types) only gave back about the same number of seed potatoes that I'd put in; one crop, planted outside, didn't come up at all! Even plug plants grown on in my solar shed died! I ended up filling up the holes with cheapy cheap seed bought in the local supermarket! And hardly any of the eagerly anticipated gluts happened - I did have a glut of beetroot, which I appreciated, & of runner beans. But I'd seeded about 30 crops, designed to carry me through from spring to winter!

Oh yes, & that was the other gripe - the information in the catalogue about sowing, transplanting & harvesting times was different to the information printed on the seed packets, so I ended up with most plants coming up (if they did) in the summer!!!!

Anyway. Rant over! Sorry! lol!

Last year, I was a bit busy with a new job & various other things, so I just let my veg plot (which is my front garden) go fallow. I started digging it over again for next season just before NaNo started & then - well, there was NaNo...! The last two weeks, I've been volunteering in a school & it's dark when I get home. But now I'm footloose & fancy free again (well, apart from I have to get the house spick & span for Mum coming in two weeks' time! lol!), I'm going to finish the dig over, put down some soil improver & leave it over the winter to sink in. Then I'll get a few veg seeds from my local garden centre, which I trust & used to great effect in my first season, & maybe not be so adventurous or naive this time. :-)

Along about March, I'll start sifting compost from one of my bins. I have two bins, and I sift compost from one of them every spring. So the compost has two years to "cook." I also plan on looking for heritage seed instead of hybrids. I've found that a lot of the seed companies I've been ordering from these past several years are subsidiaries of Monsanto, a company I don't trust and want to stay away from.

I think next spring I'll also go onto freecycle and see if I can get some houseplant cuttings. I only have the one houseplant. I'd like to get more.

Seed catalogs are now making their way into my mailbox. I got three yesterday. I think I'm going to restrict my buying to the couple companies that have taken the "Safe Seed Pledge" to not use GMO seeds. Renee's Garden, Seeds of Change, Seed Savers Exchange, and Johnny's are four that I know of that sell non-GMO/organic seeds.

I'm going to plant a lot of snow peas in my containers that have held tomatoes and potatoes. That's one of the few legumes that I like, and legumes are nitrogen fixers.

A couple of years ago, I bought a greenhouse. My address must have been put on every seed catalog in the US and Canada. I start getting them before Christmas and they don't stop for months. Guerney Seed sends out a full catalog about every ten days or so.

I love Seeds of Change!

The only gardening catalog I've received is The Cook's Garden. The only guarantee they make is that they're "Pennsylvania Certified Organic". I don't know if they've taken the non-GMO pledge, but I'm excited to order some of the things they offer, like a rainbow variety of carrots, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. There's a lot of pretty pictures of different plants they offer, and there's a link at the bottom of each page to find recipes using their plants.

In the meantime, though, I plan to start my bonzai and venus flytrap seeds. The kit calls for something called seed stratification in the refrigerator. Once I've cleaned it out and designated a spot for them, they'll go in for the designated amount of time.

Also, my avocado plant is dropping leaves. Not at a really fast rate, but enough to make me wonder if this is what it does during the cooler times. Soon I'll put it in a bigger pot and see if that helps.

If it's organic, it's non-GMO by definition. I think one of the catalogs I got was Cook's Garden. I'll have to check. I love all the different colored carrots. This year I plan to plant carrots in the patch that held potatoes last year. It's not a raised bed, so they have the entire planet to grow down into.

I used to sprout avocado pits, but I never got them to last very long until they died. Don't know why. I'd like to have a venus flytrap, but Colorado's so dry, I don't know if it would last. They like really humid, jungle type environments from what I understand. Pity. Venus flytraps are much cuter than spiders.

What I've learned from this kit I bought at the bookstore is that you can create that environment with a warm, sunny window, and a 2-liter bottle. This knowledge probably won't help me grow the flytraps, but I'm happy to try.

As for the avocados, I looked for advice on two different websites to get mine to grow. Managed to get two to the point that I could transfer them from far of water to pot of dirt. One went to my mom's, and I don't know how it's done since then. I remember her starting avocados all the time when I was a kid. There's be at least two in the window in the kitchen. But it seemed that they never did very well. They're another warm weather plant, so mine had to be brought indoors when the frost came. Since then it's been strangely mild out. We're expecting to get close to sixty degrees in the next week.

Tobaeus, if you grow your flytraps in a bottle, I wouldn't place them in direct sunlight - the inside of a bottle or other closed container will heat up too much, they'll get cooked.
I have a mini-terrarium in a big pickle jar, and I love it - it's pretty, and you can't go more low-maintenance - I've never even needed to water it, and I've had it for months at least!

I am forcing a hyacinth (it's actually planted in a pot, but outside cooling off), and trying to reanimate a South African bulb I've had lying dormant from some months. Petunias that decided to spring up on their own in my tomato pot on the deck have been rescued and brought inside, and now I have three pink blooms. I don't buy pink petunias so I have no idea where they came from. I still have my amazing geraniums blooming inside, plus two peace plants, an enormous aloe, and two kinds of palms. Too much for inside, and I hate watering, but they are soothing to look at.

Outside, I have three sets of snowdrops blooming from all the warm weather we've been having. Right now it's frigid outside, but tomorrow it'll start warming up again, so I expect to see more inches of daffodils and hyacinths than are already up. The daffys won't mind the real winter weather that will arrive soon; the hyacinths will.

I lost my temper on a couple of houseplants today and chucked them out. If they can't look happy, I don't want to bother with them any more. Of course, three of more than 150 doesn't make much difference...
I started a bunch of plants to sell, too. There are even a couple that are ready to take in to work when I go back next week - provided my boss wants them already. Well, he can probably use the spider plants at least.
I still need to take cuttings of the cane begonia, and the Ceropegia, and repot one other plant, but then I should be caught up. Then it's time to inventory my seeds and start planning my balcony garden.

Showing complete insanity, earlier this week I bought even more hyacinths to force. And some medium height iris, the 20" kind they sell on New York street corners. I put them all into pots outside to cool off, and just in time, as we're having frigid weather and high winds day in and day out.

I've got many batches of snowdrops blooming. Even the ones that have been blooming for weeks are still perky.

Many catalogs have arrived. I'm ignoring them. Last year I spent under $50 on annuals, seeds, and other plants and am very glad I didn't waste any more cash considering our bizarre summers. First heat and drought, then constant rain. During the drought, the deer attempted to eat anything green, and I do mean anything. Apparently, despite many sentimental paintings of deer going to streams, they mostly get their moisture from plants. Otherwise, they'd surely hang around the stream just behind our land. And they don't.

I got my one seed catalogue this week - playing the "I want" game, but I don't think I'll order anything. I've still got more than enough seeds. OK, I might have a use for some of that Asia greens, but I'll have to see if I can get some locally.

Hm... just had a thought. If I get this balcony garden blog thing going like I want to, with how-tos and plant reviews and stuff, why not advertise for it on the notice boards at the garden centres? And at the nursery, obviously, although I'm a little leery about letting my customers know that it's me writing that blog. And the little seed-shop in the town centre, maybe.

I have never had a garden before but it is something that I want to be able to do this year. Anyone have suggestions for a beginner what is easier to grow? I live in Louisiana. Any websites or blogs that you suggest I look at? I live in a townhouse so I do have a small yard but I would like to grow things inside as well.

You need to start by knowing what sort of soil you have. Pick up a handful of it & squeeze it, then open your hand, palm up. If the soil sticks together in a lump, it's clay. If it falls out of your hand like dust, it's sand. If it's in the middle, it's loam. You want loam, ideally. If it's clay or sand, you need to spend the first year digging it over & working in as much organic material as you can - clay, to improve drainage (include some grit) & so it doesn't dry out & crack in summer, & sand, to improve its ability to hold onto water & nutrients. Ideally, you need to dig in extra matter to a depth of at least 3 feet for veg / fruit; about 1 foot will do for flowers / shrubs.

I think the word 'yard' means something different in the UK - yards in the UK are concreted / cobbled areas where there is no access to soil. If this is the same, you will need to plant in pots - try to get pots as large as possible & ceramic, so that they're heavy & will cope with winter temperatures. In this case, you won't - of course - have to dig over your soil, but buy it in - if you're buying it, mix equal quantities of top soil & non-peat based compost with lots of water retaining granuals & a bit of grit. Base the pots on pot feet or those little platforms on wheels to keep them off the ground to help stop them getting cold & cracking, & to help stop the slugs from finding them.

Then think about light in your garden / allotment / veg plot. Ideally, it's best to have total sun, if possible, but behind some shade (fence / hedge) - allow about 3 feet from a hedge to make sure all the nutrients in the soil are not taken by the hedge. If there are areas of your garden that are shady or in partial shade, you will need to consider the sorts of things that don't mind living beneath tree cover - ferns, tall grasses, etc. Full sun areas are good for flowers & veg / fruit.

Think about what sort of flowers / shrubs you like - whether you want ground cover or something taller & the colours of foliage / flowers you like. Also think about what fruit & veg you like to eat. Those are the ones you're more likely to be successful with the first year because you'll know what you're getting & be more conscientious in looking after them. If you're wanting to grow fruit / veg, also think about one or two you can't easily buy in the shops, the sort that you might think of as luxery items, because you'll be motivated to do well with those, too.

Note that fruit trees take space & you won't get a harvest the first year. Note also that trees are divided into those that have shallow roots & those that have deep roots - you shouldn't plant a tree with shallow roots near to a house (I think 'near' means within about 25 metres) because there's a chance the roots will interfere with house foundations & water / gas pipes, etc. If you really want a tree with shallow roots near a house, put it in a large ceramic pot - it'll grow to the size of the pot. I have an English Field Maple in a pot & it does very nicely; it just tends to shed its leaves a little sooner than normal trees, that's all. :-)

Then get yourself a book or sign up to a good seed catalogue or buy a gardening magazine & work out the seeding, planting out & harvesting times for each plant you've listed. The types of plants / crops you can grow will depend on soil type - how wet the soil is, etc. I have a very good book for fruit & veg - just called 'Allotment' - but, of course, I can't find it just now! However, one of these might be the ticket:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_5?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=allotment+gardening+books&sprefix=Allot%2Cstripbooks%2C288

Try to organise it so you can harvest fruit / veg or look at pretty foliage / flowers as many of the months as possible.

Then you're into the sowing. If you've gone to a reputable garden centre to buy your plants / seeds, they'll have someone on hand to help with 'how to' questions but, in general (depending on the plant / crop), seeds can be started off, individually, in small pots in a light shed / shelter, potted on once the sprouts are about 3 inches high, hardened off when they're about 6 inches high & planted out when all the frosts have gone. Always water at the base of the plant - leaves get waterlogged & make mould if watered from above (that doesn't seem to happen with rain; don't know why) & try to water with room-temperature water whilst they're sprouting.

Above all, enjoy. And experiment. You'll learn by making mistakes. But you'll have fun along the way, so go out there & enjoy. :-)

Not content with being in full bloom in its own pot, the petunia that grew wild in my tomato pot on the deck has now reseeded itself to the pot next to it on the windowsill. Meanwhile, the summer bulb in the second pot isn't doing anything I can see.

It's a pink petunia and I never buy pink petunias. They did grow wild in Brooklyn when I lived there, but this dirt has never seen Brooklyn. Also, the Brooklyn petunias had small blossoms. A sport from some other petunias I bought? Probably.