Tag: #UrbanGarden

Seedlings and Sun Tea

Published on by thejanetgreen2 Comments

I can see a possible pattern growing if I’m not careful. I might start with “True Confessions” for the week: I admit to being behind on almost everything this week.

I had a crazy busy week at work, and then was blessed with not one but four different social events. I don’t want to make excuses, but I say all that to say, I did not get my intended blogs out in a timely manner.

Sending out a special shout out to Raphael Thomas and Christine Dunbar, from Zoot Suit and Dirty Me Divine. I attended both events and I must say I was absolutely gobsmacked by how awesome and creative both of these lovely people are. I had the additional pleasure of a mini reunion with Raphael’s parents, Sherman and Denise, who I have not seen in 25+/- years. Much love and continued blessings. After Dirty Me Divine, I had the pleasure of indulging in “Dinner with the Girls” with Lisa Steadman, Deborah Kagan, Angela Price , Melissa Cassera, and Kristina Italic, each one a “Phenomenal Woman” to quote Maya Angelou’s poem.

Awesome Thank you post card sent by the Fonda after the play
I was so excited to drive downtown and see the skyline filled with Zoot Suit
Christine Dunbar ROCKED it and touched my heart and soul
The play is at the Fonda, until 2nd weekend of April – 2017

Back on the 11th of March I attempted to start a bunch of seeds. I started with flowers as the pollinators this year as I fell behind last time. I have thing for sunflowers, but they take quite a while to get to full bloom. Last year, I missed the window completely. I also started some Zinnias, Cleome, Sweet Peas, Artemesia, some tropical seeds that I failed to label, and lastly Cantelope. Cantelope failed miserably last year also, so I decided to get an early start.

I will post the photos of the latest and greatest. You will notice that some have been transplanted, others are just starting to sprout. It’s important to note the date of planting and the expected germination date. There are many factors that will impact the seed success rate, not all of which are under our control, but include temperature, humidity, dampness, soil etc.

Beginning of Scarlet Limas
After all this time, the Cantalope finally sprouted
Zinnias have been transplanted although not going crazy yet.
Fennel has been happy so far
One of my favs, if you look close there is one tiny sprout, supposedly Artemesia aka Worm Wood
Tagless flowers
More tagless flowers
I believe this is the Cleome
Baby Borage
Giant Sunflowers
Dark Red/Black Sunflowers

I put beans and peppers onto wet paper towels rather than the soil pellets or directly in the ground. I’m excited to see some of the beans I put on paper towel toward the end of March just starting to send out sprouts.

I do recommend tips and tricks for some seeds. For example, hot peppers they suggest that they are soaked for 24 hours to soften the shell. I have had no luck at all starting moringa.

The tomatoes have been transplanted and seem relatively happy at the moment. I am trying something new by burying a plastic bottle upside-down, with the bottom cut off, and small holes at the other end. I am experimenting with this for both water conservation and root strength. So far, I have been able to skip a day between watering, which helps with my schedule. I do not intend to expand my drip system to the container plants.

I’ve just put some red Okra in seed pellets and next I need to get some Roselle aka Hibiscus started.

Since I’m already late for this week, maybe I’ll just make this a twofer, and include the recipe here.

I made sun tea with some of my dried Roselle and fresh mint.  Pretty simple really. I took a large glass Ball jar, but roughly ½ cup dried roselle aka hibiscus, and a good solid handful of peppermint mixed with spearmint. Fill with water, and seal. Set in the sun. In this case I let it set for 24 hours. Strain off, and put in the fridge. Pour over ice, and my special add is a few drops of Cinnamon or Peppermint Essential Oil (or both). Please use quality Essential Oils. (If you would like more information, send me an email)

My latest and greatest on the Winter survivors includes lots of flowers on the Gungoo Pea aka Gandules plants and lots of little baby Satsuma plum babies. Both of which did not bear anything last year.

Baby Plums
Gandules Flowers
Tree Collards going to flower

What do you gain from your garden? What are your fears about gardening? I’m very interested in feedback.

#UrbanGardenLove #FindingMyBliss #DreamBuilding #EatWhatYouGrow

#ArtInLosAngeles #PhenomenalWomen #PowerOfCommunity

Seedlings are almost as cute as puppies

Published on by thejanetgreenLeave a comment

I do love to plant seeds. I get really sad when they fail, but there is always a percentage that fail. There are lots of seeds that I start indoors, or more accurately on my patio. I confess, this is due more to laziness and access than necessity. Yet, for those that are in frost prone areas, many folks start seeds indoors two weeks before the last frost. Some plants transplant better than others, and I’m prone to dropping or not being gentle enough. I received a few of the soil pellets that you see used here along with Seeds Saver order last year. I love them. While they are not recommended for all plants, they allow me to get things going in a limited space and still have a great success rate.

I am not a quick riser. I use an alarm. I had to train myself to gradually move from someone who would stay up all night to finish a book, to someone who rises with the sun. It is amazing how maturity, kids and jobs can change our personal habits. Daylight savings this year has been torture. My mind still tells me that if the sun is not over the ridge directly east of my bedroom window, then it’s not time to get up. My alarm, which starts it’s dance at 6:10 am begs to differ. I actually resent hitting the snooze button. I want to be able to rise like the sun, with gratitude and a smile. My daily routine includes my gratitude affirmation, letting the dogs out of their crates, starting my espresso brewing, throwing the bean bag heating pad in the microwave, and at this time of year, wandering outside to my patio check on my babies.

I know that almost everyone, including me, oh! and ah! over puppies and kittens, or rescue animals on Social Media. I haven’t figured out yet why there is not yet the same viral following for seedlings. Often, in less than one week, the seed bursts forth stretching for the sun and then changes every day in noticeable ways.  I reuse all types of containers to hold the my soil pellets, and then there is my less than stellar or scientific labeling. Note to self: Stickies don’t stick long term. I’m excited to have a few ideas how to improve that situation, but I’ll save that for another day.

In case it’s not clear in the photos, the soil pellet is contained in thin netting. For some seeds that grow very fast, I cut the bottom before promoting to the final destination, whether container or bed.

Let me say it again, soil pellets are not mandatory. If you prefer to start your seeds in containers, egg shells or sew directly in the ground, great! Go for it! If you have limited space, or if you want to see if the seeds are “good”,  this method works great for me. When I transplant depends on the plant. The first leaves that appear are called “cotyledon” or seeds leaves. They form from the embryo/seed. You will see the true leaves form later. I don’t bother to pinch the seed leaves, but some people do. If you would like to find out more about it click:  True Leaf vs. Cotyledon

While there are many companies that sell seed pellets or seed starting soil, I ordered mine from Seed Savers you can also order their catalog online. They are one of my favored seed sources.

At first, you can barely tell the different baby plants apart. I can say, almost two weeks in, several of my labels have blown off once again, which means I’ll be doing some guessing. I did intentionally start flowers and have a list of the plants, even if there might be some question as to which ones are which. Last year I missed planting my sunflowers in time. Some plants take a good solid 90 days or more to grow to maturity. Two years ago I had a full fence/hedge of the most gorgeous sunflowers, I’m shooting for that again.

I try to select plants for purpose, consumption or pleasure. I try not to grow interesting food that I won’t eat. I have added flowers to encourage pollinators. I have seen a noticeable increase of bees and butterflies from the practice last year. I also like to grow plants with a variety of benefits, for example, I have several plants growing that are intended to deter mosquitoes or for tonics.

My recommendation is to plant what you love, whether flowers, veggies or trees.

 

Seed Pellets
Day 1
Day 2
Look at them, tell me these aren’t cute
Fenugreek
Sunflowers
Blue Borage and… Cleome I think
Fenugreek again
The giant Sunflowers are starting to get second set of leaves day 11

 

In case you wonder why I’m yammering on about sunflowers, with great anticipation, look at these babies from two years ago.

#UrbanGarden #LifeIsAnExperiment #LoveMotherNature #EatWhatYouGrow

Seeds, Seedlings and Catalogs, Oh My!

Published on by thejanetgreenLeave a comment

Spring 2017 cont’d

I was really excited when I received my two favorite seed catalogs; Baker’s Creek and Seed Saver’s. It’s like porn for the garden addict.  Then I heard my conscience nagging me. I got out my box of seeds from last year’s order, along with the seeds I saved from my own harvest. Sigh. I’m going to have to think twice and unless there is something really special, I can’t order more seeds. Sad.

That brings me to the point of this blog. Whether you are new to gardening, live in a place without much yard, or maybe even live in an apartment, I still highly recommend planting something. There are so many choices. You can use beds, raised beds, containers, pots, grow indoors or out. But there isn’t anything quite like watching things grow, and even more, eating what you grow.

  • The end of winter is the time time to clean up the winter mess. For a change, in Los Angeles, it rained a lot this year. I live on a relatively steep slope, and between the mud and the weeds, I had to wait until the rain fully abated.
  • Look up the last frost date in the almanac and the next new moon for your area, take micro zones into consideration. Here is Los Angeles, we supposedly never get frost. Start deciding which plants you will start from seed indoors, which might go directly in the garden, or see what sales are going on for young plants at a reputable location. I recommend firmly that you try to find flowers that are NOT treated with nicotinoids. The chemicals are negatively impacting bee populations.
  • For those that use containers, time to take stock clean them out. Any of the pots that had diseased plants, I dump the whole thing dirt and all. No point in infecting the garden again. For those that were basic die off, I dump the pot to a compost heap, and use a bleach wash for the pot. It’s a good time to recall which pots were too small, or didn’t weather well etc. I’m considering trying grow bags this year. I may add my research on that later.
  • If you have a worm compost bin, check in on them. Did they make it through the winter? Is it time to harvest the compost and set them up with a clean bin? If using a standard compost bin, check on it, turn, follow up etc.
  • Seed Inventory – what do you have in stock, and what do you need.
  • Adding any trees to the garden this year?
  • Are there any plants or trees that need transplanting? Have you identified and prepped the location?
  • For each of your plants you will need to determine the best locations by sun, water and other special needs.
  • Water – how will you be watering? I use a drip system, and I need to make some updates. I also hand water some of the containers. I need to expand the drip system and do some more reviewing.
  • Adding Compost, fertilizers etc. I try to use organic matter as much as possible. I accept that I live on a lot with a lot of construction debris. So in some areas I supplement and amend, in other areas, I use containers. This year I am also going to try using some chemical free hay bales to build up some beds.

Whatever you do, don’t let any of this intimidate you. If you are new, start small. I started with house plants, then went to sprouts. If you are brand new, maybe starting from seedlings will work for you. Support local, organic sources when you can. I visited FigEarth yesterday for the big Tomato Blow out and got several tomatoes and some culinary herbs. If interested you can follow them on Instagram #figearthsupply, great folks and they have harvest swaps periodically.

SmartSelectImage_2017-03-12-08-32-43

You might still have time to get into the seed giving away from Baker Creek, subscribe to the new YouTube channel https://youtu.be/vIgcKN7UClk

I’m still learning and practicing. I gain so much joy from my garden, that the work is part of the pleasure.

As in all things, I am a work in progress, and an ongoing experiment. Keep an eye out.. I will write more on the garden soon.

#UrbanGardenLove #ReconnectToTheEarth #GrowthTakesExperimentation