Posted on 01/06/2024 6:43:23 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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Thanks for the hellebores info.
Went to Jungs in Stoughton today.
Picked out a few seeds.
I got a huge amaryllis bulb in wonderful condition for free on my way out! Free with any purchase.
Also had free poinsettias, which I had to pass up, due to my already huge number of plants in the house.
😅
I do keep a careful spiral journal with all my planting dates, varieties, failures, changes, etc. - it helps so much to have everything noted, and avoid at least some mistakes. This year’s resolution is that I will not plant summer squash (crookneck, zucchini & patty pan) until July 1, when the squash bug invasion and mating season is over - I lost my earlier crop to them Again last year. But the second planting was bearing in late August and kept going strong until late Oct. (So. MO.)Sure was nice to finally get a lot!
I never quit gardening; it just comes indoors. I have 2 dwarf Red Robin tomato plants under lights down in the den that I pollinated with a tiny paintbrush, full of 1 inch green cherry tomatoes..I’ll have fresh tomatoes again in January! Also 2 Cajun pepper plants from seed I saved 3 years ago, to be potted and moved down there from next to the furnace when they’re big enough, and 5 new basil plants thriving there- since I stripped all my others making too much pesto in the fall and killed them. Several flats of lettuces in the den, but my last radicchio box is still outside on the porch and living, with nights in the 20s. It seems I work nearly as hard at it in the house all winter. But I’ll be 84 this year and Really need to cut back on the work. Yeah, like that’ll happen. :-)
There are some Hellebores in my dad’s garden that keep coming back, no matter how many times he’s tried to replace them with other things.
One more bit, for those who love eggplant - I grew 2 new kinds last year besides my usual Millionaire (all my plants go in pots; I can only garden in containers now) - the Listada did great, but Fairy Tale is a crock! Pretty little plants with clusters of 2 inch purpley things, just adorable but good for nothing. I finally tossed them. Don’t get Fairy Tale..
beans on toweling
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For many, it seems too time-consuming to sprout seeds on towels, but the great thing about it is knowing what is alive and what will not sprout before spending time going directly to seed starter cells and waiting to see if anything comes up. The art of gardening is a labor of love - nurturing plants to come alive and then caring for them as they mature and produce wholesome consumable food.
Well, that sounds like a bad thing. 😳
“Went to Jung’s in Stoughton today.”
Mom & I are planning a Day Trip there come Spring and then lunch in Historic Stoughton, Wisconsin.
Probably, ‘Cheesers.’ :)
I’m so HAPPY that the company I worked for so long and hard are still doing so well...and expanding! I just LOVE that family. Such God-Fearing, Conservative, Down-To-Earth people. :)
” Don’t get Fairy Tale.”
They are small. Good for a stir-fry and that’s about it.
I think Eggplant and Watermelon are the two biggest ‘wastes of space’ in any garden.
But, that’s just me. I’m all about productivity, disease-resistance, nutrition and multiple-use vegetables. ;)
my problem is sometimes my seeds don't come up or are slow to come up and I panic when I'm at the garden store and buy "extra" plants just in case...of course then my seeds just take off....
I bought those small pots with amarillis from Costco this year and they are finally producing blooms.....I kept my old amarillis from last year and they did produce green sheaths but no flowers so I won't waste my time again....
my big thing this coming season will be two things actually....more tomatoes for tomato juice....I made a terrific batch...and lots of red peppers and some red jalpenos for making red hot type sauce....so very easy to do...
we live in a northern clime and I haven’t tried to grow peppers from seed....what I do though is find a store that sells tiny pepper plants in a six pack....then I can progressively replant in larger containers....I have a “hot house” that is not heated but it does help in transitioning...
wow...beautiful....
I had the same problem with amaryllis until this year. No reblooming just lots of leaves. So a friend who had success and some internet study helped. Watering promotes leaf growth. After dormancy and summers worth of bulb growing, everything the bulb needs to produce a bloom is in the bulb. So this year I took my 4 bulbs out of the closet, a couple of weeks ago and just set them in tote bags in a warm dark corner. Three if the 4 are already pushing up flower beds.
I am looking for flowers that attract pollinators...I want BEES, and plenty of them. Zone 6B-7. Any GOOD suggestions?
You have tons to chose from in your Zone. Lucky!
General Annuals & Perennials listed here, but unless you want it FOREVER, avoid the Borage - though bees REALLY love that. ;)
https://homesteadandchill.com/top-23-plants-for-pollinators/
Specific plants/shrubs for Bees. There may be some overlap:
https://pollinators.psu.edu/landscaping-for-pollinators/what-to-plant/plants-for-bees
https://morningchores.com/bee-friendly-plants/
https://www.almanac.com/video/plant-pollination-encouraging-bees-your-garden
That will keep the wife busy researching...just wanted to get an early start...thanks!
New Year, New Garden: 7(8) Resolutions for 2024
0. Finish High Tunnel
1. Keep a garden notebook. (Already do - program that syncs to my personal cloud)
2. Ditch the impulsive plant shopping. (guilty)
3. Make more space for messiness. (got plenty of messy)
4. Boost the soil. (more compost this year than last)
5. Invest in naturalizing bulbs. (been looking for free ones)
6. Maintain tools. (Been bad about leaving tools out in weather - will be building a shed on Northwest end of the tunnel)
7. Take time to sit and stare. (I have a folding chair that lived in the garden this year - will be moved to tunnel)
Still looking for a vehicle since the F-150 blew up. Prefer a truck but need 4wd/Awd and would take a car/suv but $2k doesn’t buy much so I’ll keep saving.
Precipitation Tues into Tues night with low of 21 so going to work Wed is going to be dicey in the Ford Focus. It’s 5 miles to get to a DOT maintained, paved road.
“What did you learn from your 2023 garden?”
~ That I can survive on even LESS tomato plants than the year before. 36 was too many, 32 was better, but still too many. And to plant MORE determinate Paste tomatoes; they’re more versatile.
~ That I do NOT need more than six pepper plants. I put a lot of them into Salsa this past season, sliced and froze a lot and froze some whole (cleaned out) for Stuffed Peppers. The less of those, the better.
~ Using up older seed is NOT a bad thing. I still had good germination, though some seeds were from 2020. I will sort through my seeds before I look at even ONE Seed Catalog. (Yeah, Right! Famous last words.)
~ I learned that I need MORE flowers. Every room in my house should be FILLED with bouquets all season long. And it’s not. And that’s dumb! Flowers are food for the SOUL.
~ I learned that every three years is good enough to refresh the soil with home-made compost and a light tilling. Using straw on everything as mulch works so well, and it breaks down nicely and helps replenish things. So, I am now on a three-year cycle for that chore.
~ I learned that I need to be more mindful of doing succession plantings. There is no reason that every square inch of what I have to use should sit unproductive for any length of time during the growing season.
~ I learned that I want to grow more drying beans. ‘Good Mother Stollard’ was amazingly prolific, even though I only did 8 pole/strings of her to see how it would produce. Once soaked, that will be enough for a good four rounds of bean soup this winter. I’m impressed and will find another way to trellis more pole beans next season. I’m done with bush beans. ‘Saychelles’ is STILL my go-to pole green bean. LOVE that bean!
~ I learned that I need to pay more attention to the ‘Square Foot Gardening’ methods. I somehow got away from that because, well, Beau just kept building me more and more beds for planting, so what the heck, Right? Wrong. I want to be more orderly and productive in each individual bed next season. (I have 16 raised beds.)
~ More pictures. I was lazy about taking them this season, and I find that they help me greatly when planning for planting the next year. “Oh, THAT looked great - do THAT again!” “That bed was a disaster - DO OVER!”
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