A Nice Dendrobium Orchid. 3.13.22

 I forget the name of this one.  The original was too big so I downsized it by rooting a keiki.  It's just growing in arborist tree chips since planting it last summer.

Planting Potatoes, Guernsey Lilies, Moving A Rhubarb and a Redcurrant. 3.12.22

Today I planted these potato starts that I bought a few weeks ago. They have minimal sprouting so far. I had cut the larger tubers in half, so instead of five starts per type there are eight.

For someone who gardens for nutrition, potatoes yield the highest caloric product per square foot of garden.  They are high protein, high potassium, low fat. I don't know how tree fruits or nuts fit into that equation. As someone who eats about one potato per day, two rows of potatoes will yield about two or three months worth of potatoes. Plus, chickens like them a lot, so they eat the rejects and extras. 

 I also planted the Guernsey lily in the photo. My great aunt Emma grew "Surprise Lilies" which are quite similar but I can't get them to grow here. Gurnsey Lilies take their place. 

 In one of the orchard enclosures, I had planted a Redcurrant and forgot about it. Last year it yielded enough currants to make a small batch of jam, healthy and tasty. I think they are high vitamin C.  It was planted close to the fence, and deer had taken a liking to the leaves. Today I moved it to a sunnier spot in the main kitchen garden. Space there is very precious, but this is a nice fruit that isn't found easily at the stores. 

Last year I had also divided a very nice rhubarb last year, and planted it there too. Unfortunately I kept stepping on the plant. So now I moved it to a better spot. Deer don't eat rhubarb, because they are stupid, so now it's in the deer park among lavendar, sage, rosemary, and others.

Statice Seedlings. 3.12.22

I wondered if these would be difficult to germinate. They supposedly need to be on the soil surface, with just a dusting of soil of seed starting medium. I put them on the warming mat and covered with a plastic sheet. They were showing signs of life in four days.

Some internet references state that Statice germinates in one to three weeks. Maybe the warming mat sped them up. If these grow well, I want to plant half in the "deer park" as a test of deer resistance, and half in the big vegetable planter.

Planting a Mail Order Rose. 3.11.22

I bought this "Tropical Lightning" climbing rose from a mail order catalog. It came today. Overall, it looks very good but I wonder if the pale wood on the rootstock means the bark is rubbed off. That would be bad. I planted it. Now we'll see if it survives.

Testing Flint Corn Seeds For Germination. 3.11.22

With chicken feed prices rising, I thought it might help to grow some feed corn. We'll also try growing sunflowers, millet, and sorghum to see if any of those is worthwhile. I thought about doing that in the past, both regular yellow field corn and Indian corn. We did grow Indian corn 4 years ago and I still had seeds. I had yellow field corn seeds from last year or the year before, but never planted it. The books state that sweetcorn seeds only last one year. I wondered if flint corn might last longer, since it has a much harder and thicker shell. To test these seeds, I placed six seeds of each variety into folded, wet paper towels, then into zipper plastic bags, kept them warm on the seed warming mat. Here is the result.

Here are the original packets.

Within five days, five of six seeds of each variety germinated. That's more than good enough for me to plant both packets.

Mushroom Log Hashtag. 3.11.22

Somewhere between Delta and Omicron I included an order for mushroom spawn with an early seed order. I've never grown mushrooms so it will be an experiment. I bought two types, "Chicken of the Woods" and "Shiitake". According to the instructions, the spawn can be kept in the fridge for up to a year. I had them there for about three months. Mushrooms grow from fungal filamemts that are grown in labs on wooden dowels. To make a mushroom log, drill about 5 holes into a fresh tree log, use a hammer to drive the dowels into the holes, and seal it all with paraffin. Then the log needs to be kept cool and damp for nine months to a year, while the filaments permeate the log, then it will grow mushrooms. Supposedly. According to the instructions, once the logs start bearing mushrooms, they continue producing crops for three to five years. Here is what the mushroom filament saturated dowels look like.

Here is what the logs look like after the dowels have been pounded in and holes and ends sealed with wax.

That took me about two hours. Now I just need to keep them in the dark and moist for 9 to 12 mo ths.

Comparing Dwarf and Nondwarf Tomato Seedlings. 3.10.22

I planted all of these tomato varieties at the same time. Most germinated at the same time, although Reisentraube was a day or two behind the others.

Of the varieties I planted, Non-Dwarf were Sungold, Early Girl Bush, Bush Early Boy, Honey Bee, Ukraine Purple, and Reisentraube. The Early Girl Bush and Bush Early Boy are not "Dwarf", they are determinate, which means they reach a certain size then the stems end in flower clusters. Dwarf varieties were Dwarf Johnson Cherry, Dwarf CC McGee, Dwarf BrandyFred, Dwarf Livingston Stone, Dwarf Champion Improved, New Big Dwarf, and Extreme Bush. I think Extreme Bush is both determinate and dwarf. It seems pretty apparent to me that, with one exception, all of the nondwarf seedlings show more vigor at this stage, only a couple of days after germination. Only Reisentraube is small. I wonder if it will get a growth spurt and pass the dwarf types in size soon - it may just be small because it was behind the others in germinating. In the photographs, a couple that are labeled dwarf seem to have larger seedlings too, but those are the nondwarf varieties in the cells behind them.

Cedar Planter Box Is Built. 3.10.22

That went pretty fast. I did spend the day working on it. Here is the completed planter box.

Inside the box, I'll have ten extra large "Grow Bags".

My original thought was to just have the "Grow Bags" sitting out without support. Then I thought about it, and they look kind of junky. Plus I was concerned they might get floppy, so I wanted them contained. Then I had the pallets to get rid of - the cement blocks for the earlier beds were delivered on them. So I sat the bags on those, which wasn't any better but I liked raising the bags higher. So I built the planter to hold the bags. Each bag will hold about the same number of plants as a 4 foot row in a 4 x 8 foot raised bed. Maybe a little less since I space most rows a foot apart so 8 rows per bed, whereas this is ten "Grow Bags" in a similar space. If I can, I'll build platform about four to six inches higher, to bring the bags up nearer to the edge of the sides. I think I'll scrub the wood and stain it, this summer. The wood is very nice. Here is a cut through one of the boards.

Progress on Weathered Cedar Planter Box. 3.9.22

Here is the planter box so far. It's turning out pretty much exactly what I envisioned.

There is still a lot more to be done. I can see what it will be like now, which is nice. This location was sort of wasted, growing things at ground level here was challenging because of the cramped space. Being much higher will make it easier. I still need to do the remaining three sides. I may stain this planter box in the summer when it's dry. Something that looks like cedar or redwood and not too expensive. The reason is to preserve the wood longer. Or I may leave it as weathered cedar, which is a lot of things around here. The frame is pressure treated. None of that will come into contact with plants. Not on title- I planted seeds today, the sunroom got too hot (86F) but I think it's all OK. When that happens,he seed mat gets up to almost 100. I'm not going to use the sunroom for seed germination after this. A hard freeze is expected tonight. I covered the snow peas and snap peas but not anything else. I cut down two 50-foot cascara trees. They were leaning more and more. When that happens, fhey usually fall over. I thought it would be safer to take them out now. I will cut logs later. i set aside two logs to use for growing mushrooms. More on that tomorrow.rm

Tomato and Herb Seedlings Emerging. 3.8.22

It's three days now. So far, about half of the tomato varieties emerged overnight. The oregano and thyme seedlings are up. I need to be more careful to plant them more thinly. They are like dust, so tiny, but they grow fast. Basil seeds have germinated. Ratibida seedlings are up. I see signs of life in the carnation and chive six-packs too.

Off from this topic heading, yesterday I completed one long side of the container raised bed made from weathered cedar planks. It's a lot of work but coming along OK. I'd say it's about 1/3 completed. Thursday's weather prediction is for freeze down to 26F. It will be interesting to see if that affects the snap pea and other seedlings.