Tag: sunflowers

Finally putting some seedlings in the beds

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 3 Comments

Hallelujah! It’s finally planting time! I mean, it’s still going to rain off and on until mid-April, but it shouldn’t be anything like the deluge of past months. So it’s time.

First the zucchini!

Yesterday I found some aphids on the back of the leaves. Green aphids, which are pretty minor on the aphid scale of badness, but aphids nonetheless. Easy enough to kill them and then spray a little insect soap- but considering the absolute explosion in the ladybug population in the last few weeks- I’d rather have nature take care of my aphids.

Luckily the roots looked pretty good.

Now those are some good roots. The plant itself looked a little pot-bound but the roots were fine. All three squash went into the ground in the bed next to the apple tree.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on them- I’m not sure if all of them will take- but now that it’s warmer I’ll probably plant more via seed- and maybe a few from plants I buy, so I’m not worried about my squash this year.

I’m gonna have so much squash.

The peas also need to go in- their roots are little less well grown.

But the plants are putting out tendrils so they need to be in the ground and staked. One of the peas I put in the ground did sprout, but none of the other did, so that’s what the six-pack of seedlings is for.

Luckily I found some old bamboo stakes inside and I put them up.

It’s a bed that doesn’t get a lot of morning sun, but plenty in the afternoon, so it’s good for peas, and also greens. Not so much for beans or cucumbers. Eventually I’ll put some greens in front of the peas, since only a few of the radishes I planted by seed came up.

But what about my largest sunflowers?

One I put in the bed with the zucchini’s- hopefully the flower will attract more bees to the later squash flowers.

The other I put in a pot by the fog tomatoes.

To attract bees to the future tomato flowers!

I really have to update my garden map- maybe tomorrow after I mow everything. It’s really starting to get busy- There’s even some flower buds on the baby sungold tomato which is crazy! I’m hoping the bees will come in time. Soon I’ll put out the bee house- but I really have to wait until all the rain is gone for that.

But at least I’m not cooped up inside from too much rain.

Seedling progress late March

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 4 Comments

Well at this point some of the seedlings are less seedlings and more plants.

That is a baby zucchini and it needs to go into a bed soon. As there is a bonafide thunderstorm forecast for tomorrow the zucchini will have to stay in a pot for a few more days- but soon it will go into a bed.

The baby purple peas are also raring to go, I’ll give them at least 5 more days but I also suspect by the weekend they’ll be in their bed.

This fellow is the one purple pea that actually came up when I sowed it in the bed directly- I’m glad he made it and soon his buddies will be next to him.

In other exciting direct sown news:

That is a beautiful bean plant. It looks like 5/7 of the bean plants I direct sowed are coming up- two of them look damaged, but I can always put another two seeds down. This is the Trionfo Violetto pole bean that performed so well last year. And yeah, it’s purple too.

I like colorful vegetables alright?

The Joi Choi are colorful too- crisp white stalks and lush green leaves. Of course it’s going to be interesting finding room for all of them- I was expecting a few dud seeds when I sowed 12… there were no dud seeds…

No duds here either- these are some more sunflowers who have no purpose whatsoever except to look as pretty as possible and be nice for the bees.

I’m worried about my older romanesco seedlings- they’re awfully leggy. The one Boston pickle cucumber that I had to replant after the first one died has sprouted nicely- and a few of the telegraph improved cucumbers are starting to come up. The two sunflower seedlings I salvaged from the greenhouse disaster also look nice.

Be fun to scatter the sunflowers around the garden for maximum impact.

The lipstick pepper seeds have also come up though they’re slow growers and it will be a long while before I can put them anywhere.

Spring is officially here, but it won’t feel like it to me until after the thunderstorm. It looks like Thursday is the last of the heavy rain, and anything afterwards will be more like scattered showers.

Which is good- I have work to do in April!

Seedling rescue

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 2 Comments

Well I messed up. The leggy seedlings definitely needed to be outside, but they certainly didn’t need to be in the way too hot greenhouse.

Those are some damaged seedlings. Problem is- it’s actually kinda warm out now. Warm and sunny. So in the greenhouse bench it wasn’t warm- it was hot! Luckily the raised temps and sunny weather means the greenhouse is unnecessary so I took the plastic off of it.

Then it was just a matter of repotting the survivors.

I managed to save three zucchini, one Boston pickle cucumber plant, two romanesco and two sunflowers.

And there is absolutely no guarantee any of them will survive their early transplant.

But they look ok, and by being in the sun but not in the greenhouse they should toughen up.

I took the opportunity to move the indoor seedlings outside- and to plant some more.

Another 6-pack of romanesco and sunflower, along with a 6-pack of the telegraph improved cucumbers and Swiss chard because you can never have enough of them.

So my greenhouse bench is now just a bench. It might sprinkle tomorrow which might mean I have to take the trays indoors or move them to the table, but it should be clear for at least a week and a half.

Of course I gave up trusting San Francisco weather forecasts a long time ago, so I’ll just have to be on top of things.

I am slightly concerned about wind knocking things over- so I put a bunch of rocks inside the drip trays to try and weigh things down. That also could fail. We’ll see.

At least hopefully I saved a few of them.

Seedling adventures

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 3 Comments

Well it’s still pouring. It’s gonna be a while before I can put out my new beds and buy new soil for those beds, and I’m still wondering if my poor pepper will survive all this wet.

But the seedlings I’m starting indoors are doing great!

This was 5 days ago. The sunflower seeds are the winner of the eager beaver award for sure. Beat even the romanesco which was a surprise considering how quick cabbages usually come up.

They were next of course, and then the cucumbers and zucchini started. Only a few of the seeds seems to have been viable however- there seems to have been a few duds which is unsurprising.

I’m disappointed none of the telegraph improved have come up yet- the front row is Boston pickle. But I have more seeds so I can always give it another try.

Never bet against squash of course. Once those back kids are a little more developed I’ll stash them in the greenhouse so they can get some sun.

The sunflowers are already in the sun box which is the only dry place in the garden. It’s warm in there so maybe that 6th seed will start- but as 5/6 isn’t bad, I’m not too worried.

I finally bought some Joi Choi seeds, but they’re not coming in for a few days, so I prepared the trays for seeds early. This way I won’t have to go outside in the pouring rain to plant a few seeds.

None of the pepper seeds have come up yet but that’s not surprising at all- peppers apparently can take up to 3 weeks to sprout, they’re a little finicky.

All in all it’s quite nice to have some greenery indoors while it’s a grey mess outside, so I’m glad I’m doing this.

Of course there’s the back bed I seeded directly… which probably won’t come up at all because of the pounding it’s getting. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

In fun weather news:

Having some ground integrity issues because of how saturated the ground is getting. That’s a very heavy terra-cotta pot filled with soil and it tipped over because the ground beneath it gave way. Fun. I’m going to have to figure out if I can lay some tile or pavers underneath the pots for security.

I’m looking forward to some sun.

Needed chervil, got a little excited

~ Homo neanderthalensis ~ 6 Comments

It was actually clear and sunny today! Clear, sunny, and FREEZING. So typical February weather for this neck of the woods. It looks like that’s the last of the rain for a bit, until maybe April.

Which for me meant it was time to take the bus to my local garden center! Well buses plural as you have to take two. Point is- it’s doable to hoof myself from my neck of the woods to their neck of the woods and pick up a chervil plant sans car.

I can’t get all the soil I need for the new beds yet- that’ll take the car. But it’s just a chervil plant! That’s not heavy!

Pictured: chervil. Chervil is a French herb, part of the group of herbs traditionally called “fines herbs” along with parsley, tarragon and chives. It’s ever so slightly anise-y and it’s a good time to plant it.

Of course the problem is… it’s never one plant.

It’s three plants! And three seed packets and… not pictured… one small pot.

It turns out I had a bunch of coupons from Sloat and it was a good time to use them. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

Yes I know I know I’m taking two buses home what was I thinking?

Well. Now that the mint thunderdome is over (Roman mint won) I wanted two good dedicated mint pots for my tea and for mint’s bug repelling qualities. So I got a lovely strawberry mint and a delightful pineapple mint.

So I managed to fit the seed packets inside the pot- and I balanced the plants in a cardboard box they gave me on top of the pot, all in my bag.

This was a fun ride home.

Eh exercise is good for you! Today was just an unexpected arm day.

Also there was a train dog.

Here he is- judging my life choices.

Don’t worry my fine canine friend- I’m doing that too.

Final haul which is living on my dryer until I can put things in the ground and in pots- it’s a really nice pot and it was really well priced and I needed something with a lip like that for sunflowers so I’m not apologizing at all.

The seeds were a surprise but a welcome one.

I’ve been thinking of putting in sunflowers for a while, mom tends to not be allergic to those and I’d like some color in the garden. What’s really nice about the packet I chose is they’re a pollen-less hybrid meant for florists. I don’t care too much about the need of florists, but no pollen means no sick mother! And while there’s no pollen there is nectar so the pollinators will be happy.

I also got a packet of that funny romanesco broccoli. It looks like a fractal and it tastes delicious and cabbages grow well here so eh why not.

And finally I got a packet of purple snap peas because I am a sucker for a purple vegetable.

I have absolutely no excuse for that one.

I apologize for nothing.

Now if you excuse me I have to put ice packs on my arms.

Ow.