Gardening: (2016– )

[heidih]

On 1/9/2021 at 9:57 AM, TicTac said:

On a side note, I got my seed catalogue this year and boy, oh boy - am I going to go nuts and order (probably) far too many seeds and new (and very exciting) plants - like this 'Green Pepper Basil' from Mexico, which I know many on this board would be a huge fan of.... 🤣

If yu want to blow your seed lust mind check out Margaret's interview today with Nate Kleinman of Experimental Farm Network. Good sources and some interesting plants. https://awaytogarden.com/unusual-seeds-with-nate-kleinman-of-experimental-farm-network/

[kayb]

I have some herbs out off my back porch. We've had a handful of sub-freezing nights (20s; I don't think we've dropped into the teens, but it's been plenty cold to freeze the water in the birdbath. I am somewhat astounded that my parsley (in a pot) and cilantro (in the ground) are thriving, in fact, luxuriant would be a fair word. Ditto the sage. Of course, rosemary just grows and grows. Oregano and mint had died down, but are sprouting back,  and the thyme is just creeping along.

 

I've never had herbs thrive like this, this deep in the winter! They're planted on the north side of the house, to boot.

 

Prolific parsley, with sage and thyme in the rear.

 

Lots of cilantro

 

 

And reborn mint.

 

[KennethT]

 

The Thai Basil has been flowering like crazy so I'm letting it for a while before I chop her down.... It's just too much of a pita to keep pinching the flowers.

[KennethT]

 

The basil and Thai basil have sprouted. I'll thin them out to 1 plant per cube

[jimb0]

i can't remember if i posted these on this forum yet or not but

 

me this year: i should try and use less electricity

 

also me this year: haha winter you have no power here

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by jimb0 (log)

[TicTac]

Awesome @jimb0 - My buddy used to grow those tiny wild strawberries indoors, so good.  What type of light are you using?

 

About to pull the order on some fun new seeds from Richter's ... now to start reverse engineering timelines of germination and creating planting schedules!

[jimb0]

2 hours ago, TicTac said:

Awesome @jimb0 - My buddy used to grow those tiny wild strawberries indoors, so good.  What type of light are you using?

 

About to pull the order on some fun new seeds from Richter's ... now to start reverse engineering timelines of germination and creating planting schedules!

 

oh nice, i'm gonna place another seed order from richter's soon, too, actually. i already got one order in from baker creek (rareseeds.com) in the US. 

 

these are LED lights we built on kitchen shelves. they're just bridgelux strips with some meanwell drivers. so much cheaper than buying any commercial "grow light" once you get to a certain point. i posted this...elsewhere...:

 

 

these are the same strips, just 2x four foot strips to make eight feet per shelf (these shelves are in the kitchen/dining area) instead of doubling up on 2- or 3-foot strips as in the case of the shelves in the bird room/SO's office (where the strawberries are). you can't see them but there's a bunch of orchids overwintering below the strawberries, lol.

 

incidentally those strawberries are from a clamshell of the greenhouse strawberries i picked up at valumart. i thought one tasted really exceptionally good so i saved the tip of the strawberry to grow the next year. it didn't bloom all summer in the garden, just threw out a bunch of runners, but over the winter it obviously decided it was ready.

 

planning on growing anything interesting this year?

Edited February 4, 2021 by jimb0 (log)

[TicTac]

15 hours ago, jimb0 said:

 

oh nice, i'm gonna place another seed order from richter's soon, too, actually. i already got one order in from baker creek (rareseeds.com) in the US. 

 

these are LED lights we built on kitchen shelves. they're just bridgelux strips with some meanwell drivers. so much cheaper than buying any commercial "grow light" once you get to a certain point. i posted this...elsewhere...:

 

 

these are the same strips, just 2x four foot strips to make eight feet per shelf (these shelves are in the kitchen/dining area) instead of doubling up on 2- or 3-foot strips as in the case of the shelves in the bird room/SO's office (where the strawberries are). you can't see them but there's a bunch of orchids overwintering below the strawberries, lol.

 

incidentally those strawberries are from a clamshell of the greenhouse strawberries i picked up at valumart. i thought one tasted really exceptionally good so i saved the tip of the strawberry to grow the next year. it didn't bloom all summer in the garden, just threw out a bunch of runners, but over the winter it obviously decided it was ready.

 

planning on growing anything interesting this year?

Love the look of that shelf system.  In your kitchen too - very cool.  Could you take a wider shot to see the whole thing?  Looks great.

 

A few unique plants I am considering this year - Toscano, Prospera and Green Pepper Basil, Elder Berries, Lemon Bottlebrush, Confetti Cilantro, Fenugreek - just to name a few.

 

I will start everything under a 80w KIND LED strip light in a 2x4 tent.  No till organic living soil.

[kayb]

I was standing outside this afternoon looking at my raised beds which, shamefully, still hold dead tomato vines and green bean vines and squash and eggplant and cucumber vines. If I can catch a semi-warm, semi-clear day, I'll pull all those, put down some compost, till it just a bit and toss down either some straw or newspaper or cardboard.

 

I also have not built my cold frame, though I have the window to put atop it. And I'd need to be planting crucifers and cabbages by early next month. @Kerry Beal, seasoning that grill pan may have to wait yet a bit longer!

 

[haresfur]

Brief garden report. Not too successful this year but a few things are working out.

My Warrigal greens are happy since I transplanted them to a bigger pot.

 

 

Green shiso is looking ok since I rolled it out to get more sun

 

But the artichokes are sad. There was one in with the shiso that didn't make it, too.

 

Seems to be an ok year for peppers. This plant is 2 years old. The lime tree in the background got a bad case of scale but I may get some limes.

[heidih]

Are the artichokes new or 2nd year? Some cute succulents in the background. 

[heidih]

PS:  @haresfur Attila Kapitany is a cool passionate Aussie succulent guy. Heard him speak  https://www.homestolove.com.au/succulent-water-wise-garden-9837

Edited February 7, 2021 by heidih (log)

[haresfur]

3 hours ago, heidih said:

Are the artichokes new or 2nd year? Some cute succulents in the background. 

 

I think this is their second year. The are from pups off another plant.

I have quite a few succulents because they are hard to kill.

[heidih]

12 hours ago, haresfur said:

I have quite a few succulents because they are hard to kill.

Oh I have counseled soe grieving plant-parents. Too much water, poor drainage, assuming they can all tolerate brutal full sun, mealy bugs, scale...

[jimb0]

On 2/4/2021 at 12:19 PM, TicTac said:

Love the look of that shelf system.  In your kitchen too - very cool.  Could you take a wider shot to see the whole thing?  Looks great.

 

A few unique plants I am considering this year - Toscano, Prospera and Green Pepper Basil, Elder Berries, Lemon Bottlebrush, Confetti Cilantro, Fenugreek - just to name a few.

 

I will start everything under a 80w KIND LED strip light in a 2x4 tent.  No till organic living soil.

 

please excuse the mess, as i am lazy

 

 

shelf systems were all super expensive so we just bought some 2x10 dimensional lumber, routed out grooves in the bottom, and stained and urethaned it. planning on doing some more cleaning out of the cupboards, and then these will be limited to mostly plants, tea and coffee storage (i guess they're plants), booze, maybe some other items. less cluttered, anyway.

[KennethT]

Thai basil redux - out of the solo cup and into its forever home

 

[TicTac]

@jimb0 - Looks very cool!  Almost like a living wall type of setup.

 

Ken - tent is looking good, especially that sawtooth coriander! 

[haresfur]

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

Thai basil redux - out of the solo cup and into its forever home

 

Those leaves look bigger than the Thai basil I've seen

[KennethT]

30 minutes ago, haresfur said:

Those leaves look bigger than the Thai basil I've seen

The cultivar is Siam Queen.  I've grown it before - it has good flavor and is prolific

[KennethT]

54 minutes ago, TicTac said:

@jimb0 - Looks very cool!  Almost like a living wall type of setup.

 

Ken - tent is looking good, especially that sawtooth coriander! 

Thanks - I didn't realize when I took that photo that you could see 5 different plants there.  The kaffir lime is doing really well also, I'm letting 1 fruit mature (I plucked the other flowers) and it keeps putting out new flushes of leaves.  The lemongrass has gone crazy and the mint, after its extreme haircut has come back with a vengeance.  I should open up a mint stand at the farmer's market.

[TicTac]

11 hours ago, KennethT said:

Thanks - I didn't realize when I took that photo that you could see 5 different plants there.  The kaffir lime is doing really well also, I'm letting 1 fruit mature (I plucked the other flowers) and it keeps putting out new flushes of leaves.  The lemongrass has gone crazy and the mint, after its extreme haircut has come back with a vengeance.  I should open up a mint stand at the farmer's market.

The lime is obviously flourishing and the lemon grass is doing well too.

 

I am trying an 'insulation' technique on my outdoor lemon grass over winter, have it covered with burlap and some other containers to try to manage temps, see if it rebounds in the spring.  Same thing with my Aurora peppers as I have heard there *might* be a chance they could survive the winter if properly treated.  We shall see.

 

My slew of new seeds are coming soon, quite interested to see what this Lemon Bottlebrush does, sounds very interesting - amongst others.

 

Now to source some soil-less seed starter, another month or so and its about sproutin time!

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, TicTac said:

Now to source some soil-less seed starter, another month or so and its about sproutin time!

 

Yup. Been contemplating my seed order for the past few days. Making a list and checking it twice, and all that kind of thing.

Of course, the anticipation is half the fun.

[jimb0]

speaking of limes, the key lime gave us a couple this year. the calamondin probably has a dozen or two in it. this time i think i might ferment them.

 

[heidih]

FB old memory today. My "Big Boi" sunflower. I had a stand of them. Considering the weather in North America - thought it might uplift. I had high hopes as they had lovely seeds - squirrels thought so too, Adjacent to driveway - I'd come home to squirrels plopping on ground after a raid.

 

 

[dcarch]

My DIY high power LED system has been very rewarding during this pandemic and bad weather season. I can't keep up with the output. Have not had the need to go out to shop for veggies much.

 

dcarch