Up-potting Chinese Chives. 6.2.2021

 Chinese chives are not usually in regular grocery stores.  They are the main and essential ingredient in Chinese dumplings, so we grow our own.  Chinese Chives are a grassy looking perennial, and grass often invades them, which is a mess.  So then it's time to grow new ones from seeds.  It takes two growing seasons to be ready to harvest.  Growing in containers raised beds is good, it keeps them a lot cleaner.

These seedlings are ready to transplant into larger containers, so I did.  I grew them from seeds that I saved last summer/fall.   I've been meaning to transplant the  for a few weeks now.

Tomato, Cucumber and Squash Seedlings. 5.9.2021

 About 3/4 of the seedlings are in the ground now.  This is it for planting seeds in containers for the year.

I wanted Pink Banana Squash but none have germinated.  I bit the bullet and ordered a packet on line.  Postage was significant for one packet, but this is the last chance to try to germinate some of this variety for the year.  I found them on the Victory Seeds website, which is a company that I'm coming to like.  They sent the seeds out the next day and I got them two days later.  We'll see if they germinate.

Some of the squash and cucumber seedlings.  Also some Chinese Chives.  These pickle seeds are form ones that I saved last winter, great germination but who knows what the cucumbers will be like, because I didn't isolate the plants or flowers and I don't know if they were hybrids.  Squash seedlings quickly outgrow these little containers.  I planted the Gete Okosomin and one of the Yellow Zucchinis in the garden yesterday.  Others to follow, and giving away a couple of zucchini plants.

I've planted most of the basil but there are still a few to go.  Same with peppers.

A few of the remaining "Extreme Bush" tomatoes.  I'll give away a plant and find a location for the rest.

The Soyu Chinese Cucumber packet was from 2016.  I planted about 6 seeds.  So far, one has germinated.  That's good enough but a few more would be better, so I planted another container.   I'm glad I saved the old seed packets.  This summer I can let one go overripe for seed saving.  [Edit - that photo was yesterday.  This morning I saw that two more seedlings have emerged.]

The rest of the cucumber seedlings.  I planted more than I want, because I didn't know which ones would grow.  Varieties are Alibi hybrid, a Bush type that doesn't designate if hybrid, another Bush type that is F1.  I think I'll plant all of the hybrids together, and try to isolate at least one of the Bush type for saving seeds.  Maybe the ones that I grew form saved seeds this year, and the other Bush type that does not state Hybrid.  These should be ready to plant in the garden in two weeks.

Chinese Chive Seedlings. 3.30.2021

 The old Chinese Chive plants are not thriving at all.  They are perennial but I think they are just too old.  Some may be twenty years old.  Plus, they didn't get good treatment last year.  I think some will recover but doubt we will get a lot of meals from them.   So I planted more seeds from what I saved last summer.  They germinate quickly, about 5 days after planting, on a heating mat.

It takes quite a lot to get enough for a meal.  I will continue to try to revive the previous bunches.  We may get some meals from them.  The seedlings may not be big enough in their first year.  So we may have to buy some at the Asian market.  That's OK but of course home grown is better. 

Starting them now, giving them lots of TLC, maybe I can speed the process.

Kitchen Garden Seddlings. Progress Notes. 3.30.2021

 Today I'm resting from a medical procedure last week (or maybe two weeks ago now?).  Plus the second COVID shot.  So it's just obsessing over the seedlings, and maybe a trip outside later.

I've been sitting some of the chill tolerant seedlings out on the deck to get time more tolerant to unfiltered sunlight, expose them to more light and wind, and get them ready for permanent outdoors life.  Just the nontropicals that like chill, or can tolerate it.  Currently it's overcast, which is helpful, a little too cool but OK.  Some have been outside for 2 to 4 hours on previous days - potatoes, apples, celery.  Today's goal is maybe 5 or 6 hours.  Depending on how bright it is outside.

Those celery are for Ning.  Homegrown is much stronger flavor than grocery.  I ate the "microgreen" thinnings, nice celery flavor.  The cultivar "Utah" is shorter and greener, while the Chinese type is taller and has white stems.  There will be enough for quite a few meals when it's ready.

Those apple seedlings again.  The top is #3, the last to germinate but quite vigorous now.   Currently still fertigating with 1/4 tsp miracle gro per 2 quarts rainwater.  They need water almost daily.

The second is greener than when it started out.  Stem shows a bit of red but minimal.  The most vigorous of the three.  It also seems to be starting tiny branches at the leaf nodes.

#1 is odd.  It had distorted leaves at first, then I replanted it.  Then it got a longer stretch of thin stem, now a tuft of smaller leaves with narrow internode spacing.   It seems to be growing now.  No idea what the final tree  will be like, or what its fruit, if any will be like.  But it's fun to grow them.

Planting More Seeds for Kitchen Garden. 3.24.2021

 This morning I planted more seeds for the kitchen garden.  With so many seedlings already, it can be a challenge to give them space under the plant lights.  Most of the early ones are tropicals, like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, but some should be able to go outside soon.  Like lettuce, cilantro, celery, chive seeds.

What I planted:

Two six-packs of Chinese chives.  We use a lot of those for dumplings.  Home-saved seeds from last fall.  We've been growing Chinese chives from our saved seeds for about 20 years.   They are perennial so I don't save and plant every year, or even every other year.  The seem to fail to thrive after four or five years, so it's good to regenerate them now and them.

Two containers of cilantro.  One from new seeds, one from seeds saved last fall. 

Paste tomatoes, experiment.  One batch is Roma II hybrid, one is Amish paste tomato.  One six-pack of each.  I have not tried either.  The best are Ranger hybrid from Territorial Seeds but they are WAY more expensive and their shipping and handling is horrendous.  If the Amish turn out OK, I can save seeds from those for future growing.  If not, there is the Roma II hybrid.  My main challenge with paste tomatoes has been blossom end rot.  I read that calcium spray will prevent that, so ordering that now.  Flavor-wise, it's possible that either the Roma or Amish will be better than Ranger, anyway.

I planted some old parsley seeds.  About 5 years old.

The last batch of cilantro seeds was interesting.  I thought the home saved seeds always did well.  This time, germination has been spotty.  Maybe I'm just too impatient.  Still, there is some.  Today, to do a side-by-side comparison, I planted a pot of new Ferry Morse cilantro seeds, and another pot of home saved seeds.  We can use a bunch of cilantro each week, so they can be planted every week or two.

Photo is cilantro seedlings.  I think this is about 2 weeks old.  It does look like more are germinating.

Flowers with Honeybees. 8.20.2020

 Just a mixture of photos of flowers with honeybees.

I think borage is one of the top honeybee forage flowers.  They do self-seed, prolifically, year after year.  However, the volunteer seedlings are easy to pull out if not wanted.  Borage has a long period of blooming, and is at its peak when a lot of the others are done.

A groundcover sedum, I think Sedum kamtschaticum.  These were cuttings, basically trimmings from someones plant, they left them on the break table at work for anyone who wanted them.  I just stuck them in the ground, no special care, and they took off and filled their space.  Honeybees seem to like most of the Sedums.

Milkweed.  I think this one is Asclepias incarnata.   I had covered the area this Spring with a ground fabric and tree mulch, but it came up at the edge.  I'm glad it did.  It also has an offspring in a container, which I intend to transplant.

Oregano flowers are usually covered with honeybees.  You can hear them hum before you see them.

I don't know this flower.  It came up in the uncut grass.

Some of the Chinese chives are still blooming.  Good for honeybees, who are always all over the chive flowers.

More oregano.

This is the larger, bushier perennial type sedum.  It's similar to "Autumn Joy" but I don't think it is. 

Gardening Update. 5 Aug 2020.

I haven't taken photos of the harvests.  The garlic is all harvested, and we have been digging lots of potatoes.  Beans are doing well.

Here are some flowers.  This flower bowl with dianthus, petunias, and others, is doing well.

Many of the honeybee flowers are done.  The most activity now is on a few remaining poppies, oregano, and a few onions.  That's not enough to sustain the bees.  I planted the garlic bed, about 4 by 8 feet, with phacelia seeds, and a former iris bed, about 5 by 6 feet, with buckwheat.  I don't know if these well be helpful, or just serve as a cover crop.  I usually plant disturbances, such as molehills, with clover seeds.

I'm not adapting well to the change in the Blogger platform.  I will continue trying.  I may have to stop labeling, and just allow the search function.  The new label function is too difficult for me.

Sedum Planter.  No watering this summer, doing well.  Honeybees love the sedum flowers.  8.5.2020

I think the poppies start with a lot of pollen.  The honeybees mob the pollen - laden flowers, then when it's gone, that's that.  I'm starting to save seeds from these Shirley poppies for next year.

The oregano is one of the last flowers of the summer, that honeybees really love.  It's difficult to take a photo - these flowers are full of motion.  My plan is to divide them again this fall, for more plants next year.

These onions didn't do well at all, so I let them bloom.  Honeybees love all allium flowers.

These are garlic chives that finished blooming and are starting to set seeds.  Honeybees love these too, so the plan is to collect the seeds and plant more next year. 

Another Shirley poppy with lots of pollen for honeybees.

Reformed Raised Beds. 3.9.18

 During the winter, I rebuilt two of the raised beds, converting from wooden sides to concrete blocks.   The blocks are collected from various other old projects, so were free.  These beds are taller than the old wooden beds, so easier to work in.

I have one more bed to replace.  This time, I had to buy the blocks.  They clost slightly over a dollar each, with 36 blocks being needed, so that bed will be about $36 to build.  Not bad.

I also reused some decking planks to rebuild 3 of the wood sided beds to a higher level to be easier to work.  The wooden beds are starting to degrade.  I don't ecpect them to last a lot longer.

I'm being careful to use the raised beds only for plants that seem to benefit from that method.  Peppers do really well, because they like the warmer soil.  It's easy to keep the soil surface nice and weed free.  Chinese chives and other alliums are also easier to keep clean and weed free in the beds.  Strawberries, being small plants, benefit similarly.  So these beds are mainly Chinese chives, strawberries, Egyptian Winter Onions, some of the garlic, and one will have pepppers.

KItchen Garden. Fava & SnowPea seeds, Chinese Chive & Perennial Onions. 2.21.17

Today was nice, no rain, sunny and warm.  I  just now got around to planting Fava bean seeds, which I intended to plant last week.

Planting Fava Bean Seeds, photo from Feb 2015

The photo was from feb 13 last year, but they look exactly the same now.  These went into a tomato raised bed with deer protection fencing.  I added about 1/2 pound of lime to the 4 X 8 bed due to known acidity and calcium deficiency, mixing the lime in thoroughly before planting.  It would have been better to lime the soil a month or two ago.

I also covered with chicken wire to prevent bird foraging.

I also planted those mixed Snowpea seeds, in the same way.  As an afterthought, I am soaking some to see if they are actually viable.  Some are more than 5 years old.    Apparently, they are only viable for 3 years.  I may buy some more and plant them to be safe.

Tree ring container with onions, May 2016

I also dug out 6 clumps of Chinese Chives from the cement block raised beds, teased out grass infestation, and planted in raised tree-ring containers.  Photo is the same tree-ring containers last year, containing Egyptian Walking Onions.  These are stacked 3-rings high, reversing up-side-up with up-side-down to make a somewhat tight stack.  These are convenient height to work with, remove weeds, and cultivate the soil with a large heavy-duty kitchen fork tool.   Again, this time I mixed a trowel of lime with the soil.  That is not necessary for these alliums, but I thought maybe it would boost their growth or add nutrients, given how acidic my soil is (pH 5.3 to 5.5).

I also divided several clumps of Egyptian Walking Onions, replanting in raised beds as separate plants.  That is not required but makes for better individual scallions.

Second photo for illustration is a tree ring planted that I set up in 2015 for daylilies.  These are put together using re-used cement block - type edging, designed to place around trees.  They are not expensive, comparable or less than most whiskey barrel planters but last longer, are easier to take apart and move, and will last longer than I live.  I do put chicken wire on the ground before placing the first ring, to keep moles out.

What's Blooming. 6.28.16

Marigods

Crocosmia

Milkweed

Potato Onion

Roses

Classic Red Rose

Potato Onion

Chinese Chives

Overwintered Pelargoniums from Cuttings

Harvest. 6.15.16

Today's Harvest.  6.15.16

Nice harvest. Favas, snowpeas, Chinese chives for dummpling filler, peppers, eggs, and some flowers.

Bee Garden Observations and Progress Report. 9.13.15

First Year Bloom, Agastache.  9.13.15

Buckwheat Falling Over.  9.13.15

Most of these are first year growth on perennials.  Expected to reach full bloom and maturity next year.

Agastache / Anise hyssop  is blooming now, first year.  Maybe I should start some earlier next year, for more plants and earlier start on blooming.  As it is, I'm surprised.  No bees on them yet.

Buckwheat now falling over.  Very few flowers appear to have set grain, so far.

Joe Pye Weed starting to bloom.  No bees on that so far.  It's just one plant.  Maybe they need more.

Milkweed, Asclepius syriaca remaining fairly small.  Expect full growth and bloom next year.

Chinese chive, Allium tuberosum, discussed already today.

I also planed two grocery store packs of ornamental alliums.  "Gladiator" and a giant blue one.  They bloom Spring or early Summer.

First Year Bloom, Joe Pye Weed.  9.13.15

First Year, Milkweed and Chinese Chive.  9.13.15