Growing Your Own: What did you grow / raise / harvest?

[nazokashii]

12 hours ago, Frogster said:

@nazokashii Turns out I really like lentil sprouts. I am hoping that starting a new jar every 2-3 days keeps me supplied. They seem to grow faster than the smaller seeds. Leaving them out seems to help and lets me see when the leaves show green so I can finish them off in better light.

That's really wonderful to hear 💜 hope you'll continue enjoying 😄

[Skycaptain]

2 hours ago, daveb said:

Maybe a pet name for some basil?  

Correct 😋😋

[Myssterry]

Spoiler

My pet is named Basil.   He is so lively, I sometimes have to say his name sharply to get him to calm down, and then I sound like Sybil.

 

I made a mistake with my first purchase for my proposed mixed hedge to screen the neighbours' new fence - when it appears.  I picked a plant that the birds love for its berries and bees love for its flowers, but what I didn't know when I bought it, is that it is classed as a schedule 9 invasive non-native plant.  It is legal but not advisable to plant.   Great, money down the drain as I don't feel I can plant it.

 

Holly is good as is hawthorn, but they are both potentially difficult to keep cut back as prickly and thorny.  I need to put more research and planning into all this.  I also have the problem that if the neighbours' high and concrete eyesore, when it appears, weakens my old fence, I may have to get someone to remove my fence, so planting before that is done wouldn't be a good idea.   I may say that their garden, front and back, is a complete mess and has replaced what was a beautiful garden that they destroyed like vandals. When they do finally have their garden sorted, it will be a sterile astroturf and fence desert.  And they have built the top part up so high, they will be able to turn round and stare into my room at the back of the house and over my high hedge unless I agree to a stupidly high fence. Rant over.

[Lilibulero]

Today's plan was to start on the next 2 raised beds, but so far I've only managed to cover the base because that ' evil sky' as I call it, has returned and probably snow with it. I've all week to finish though.

[Slajmy]

Something I don't know what it is is now growing in my coffee plant.

[Lilibulero]

@Slajmy, that could turn out to be very interesting. Wait and see. This garden had a strange solid mound along one wall, it turned out to be a giant hosta, just hibernating for the winter.

[Frogster]

Iḿ still growing greens inside. Some of the stuff I tried growing needs bigger pots than I have room for.I finally threw out the bush beans. The roots needed more room than I could give them. I'm looking forward to being able to see the dirt outside. The snow hasn't melted for months. It's a great time for dreaming and buying seeds. I'm going to try growing some clover in some garden paths and chamomile in others. If I widen the paths a little I will be able to mow it if it becomes necessary. A neighbor will help me build a round dome structure out of willow branches to hang out in. Itś definitely winter here and time for dreaming. -20 F at night and snow and more snow.

 

 

I am not craving salad. The greens grow really well. This is a happy thing for me.

[pickles.]

1 hour ago, Frogster said:

-20 F at night and snow and more snow.

Brrrr! ❄️ 

[Tyke]

On 12/8/2022 at 3:28 PM, Muledeer said:

Wow!  My garlic ,planted in October, will emerge after the winter snowpack melts next April.  it is Siberian hardneck garlic.  I thought all garlic grew like that.  The good thing is that @Tyke got his garlic in the ground in the proper season, so it will perform well next spring.  I was going to tell him that it would not do anything that he could see within the next six weeks, but I may not have considered your island's climate. 

There were shoots showing above ground when I returned from my trip (which was nearer 6.5 weeks after I planted them). Some were several inches above ground. They continue to grow, albeit slowly. It looks like more than half of them have emerged already. We haven't had any/much rain for 10 days, so I may even have to help them out with some water.

[Muledeer]

What variety of garlic did you plant @Tyke?  Was it stock from a nursery or off the shelf from a food market?  How many cloves did you plant?  I remember how amazed I was when I learned that Snowdrop flowers emerge and bloom in January in parts of the UK.  January!

[Lilibulero]

1 hour ago, Muledeer said:

  I remember how amazed I was when I learned that Snowdrop flowers emerge and bloom in January in parts of the UK.  January!

There are six inch daffodil stems already, and hyacinths too. It's been very mild here. 12c yesterday.

[daveb]

Apparently daffodils typically bloom between February and May in Oregon. No sign yet of the ones in my yard even breaking the soil.

 

I did notice the crabapple trees in my backyard didn't produce any fruit this past year. Not sure why and not that I am bothered by it. The trees are still alive anyway.

[Tyke]

4 hours ago, Muledeer said:

What variety of garlic did you plant @Tyke?  Was it stock from a nursery or off the shelf from a food market?  How many cloves did you plant?  I remember how amazed I was when I learned that Snowdrop flowers emerge and bloom in January in parts of the UK.  January!

I just took cloves from a bulb bought for culinary purposes. I've done that before (with reasonable but not spectacular success). But never planted in December. 

 

Snowdrops are beautiful. I have none in the garden but there are plenty nearby to visit. 

 

3 hours ago, Lilibulero said:

There are six inch daffodil stems already, and hyacinths too. It's been very mild here. 12c yesterday.

I do have bluebells in my garden and grow poppies from seed. The bluebells often make a start before winter and then lie dormant until it warms up a bit. There's plenty of growth in view now. The poppies amaze me, because they put out what look like delicate green leaves in late Autumn and just keep growing, albeit slowly, throughout Winter. They will produce big tall plants with huge flowers when they are ready. I love them!

[Skycaptain]

As Toni II (basil plant) isn't really showing signs of dying off, we may get a second year. Other than this, as we're house hunting it'll only be kitchen windowsill plants, plus maybe a growbag of tomatoes this year 

[Frogster]

The strawberry seeds that I planted are finally germinating. I found a variety that is supposed to grow in hanging baskets indoors. I bought 10 teeny seeds and planted 4 of them. 3 have germinated so far. So I have three strawberry plants that are about 1/8 inch tall and ,so far, without true leaves-just cotyledons. I'm hopeful. 

 

The cucumber plants look healthy. They might be making flower buds or maybe its just more leaves.They are a miniature variety. I might actually get some strawberries and cucumbers before summer.

 

In Oregon The snowdrops emerged in January. Late January or early February I planted peas. If I could even find the dirt here it would be frozen hard like a rock at this time. Another month or two and it will be time to start peas here. 

[Frogster]

uh-oh. Two more seeds germinated in the strawberry container. That makes 5. I only planted 4. Maybe a seed stuck to my fingers and fell off near the edge of the pot or maybe it is something else. Right now they all look the same. 4 of them are more or less in the corners of a square but one is way out of bounds. I guess I'll know more when they get some real leaves. When the plants have real leaves I intend to transplant them into their own hanging pots. The possibility of 5 viable hanging strawberry plants is a mind boggling prospect. Outdoors in the summer I have more that I bother to count but indoors in the winter is another thing.

 

Usually I grow strawberries from plants that I either have or have ordered. This growing them from seed is something I have only attempted once before and never indoors- just directly sown.They mostly died during a year of neglect. I got some seeds for alpine strawberries and for some that are supposed to have especially pretty flowers. It might mean that I have 4 kinds of strawberries this summer. 

[Frogster]

It's a little strange to have turned into someone who orders packets containing 10 or so seeds that are approximately the size of dust particles. I am suspecting that the seed companies are putting fewer seeds into the packages-kind of like a lot of other things that get sold in smaller packages for more money. Maybe too, I have developed a taste for rare varieties. I really don't know.

[Muledeer]

4 hours ago, Frogster said:

It's a little strange to have turned into someone who orders packets containing 10 or so seeds that are approximately the size of dust particles. I am suspecting that the seed companies are putting fewer seeds into the packages-kind of like a lot of other things that get sold in smaller packages for more money. Maybe too, I have developed a taste for rare varieties. I really don't know.

Are there any seed companies you would recommend?  I need to order some fresh seeds this year.

 

[Frogster]

3 minutes ago, Muledeer said:

Are there any seed companies you would recommend?  I need to order some fresh seeds this year.

 

I mostly order from Territorial Seed Company. They have been consistently good and have a fair amount of information on what they offer.

[Tyke]

I went on a walk today, to a local Grand House owned by the National Trust. It's a route I do fairly regularly. About 4 miles each way. There are lots of sheep 'ready to drop' - they hardly moved away from me as I walked through' a sure sign that they are big and heavy.

 

Saw some snowdrops, too, and as we'd talked about them here, I took a couple of photos

 

Spoiler

[Lilibulero]

Loosely related to growing, because it concerns the garden, but I'd a right laugh today. I filled a trolley with three bags of 20mm gravel, 6 slabs and 100 litres of large bark mulch at my local garden centre, then, as I just live up the road from it, proceeded to push said trolley home. Oh, the funny looks, was worth the work just for that.

[Frogster]

Well, that 5th plant in the container of strawberry plants is not a strawberry. I might let it grow a while longer and see what it is. It looks suspiciously like lettuce. The strawberry plants are starting to get leaves and are about 1/4 of an inch tall.

[Lilibulero]

Well @Frogster, there might be two ways of looking at this. Either, the lettuce will keep the slugs away from the strawberries, or vice versa.

 

Today's job is to ferry a whole shed in bits from garden centre to back garden. In 10 minutes, the garden centre will be open. Ready,steady-

[Lilibulero]

Well, that was fun, negotiating a slope, two tight turns, a long curve.

Luckily for me, a walking friend happened to be out with her dog, so I got a help with the steering ( these flat bed trollies have no turning circle).

I'm now the proud owner of a 6x4 foot plastic shed.

[Frogster]

@Lilibulero That would certainly be the case if I had them outdoors in Oregon but thankfully I do not have an indoor slug problem, just the fungus gnats that mostly seem to end up stuck to fly paper. Maybe, given the value of all living things, it is cruel but I can't find a lot of compassion for gnats and fruit flies in quantity. I hope to plant some alternative food sources outdoors for cabbage moths. I think maybe they prefer kale to bok choi. Kale just doesn't seem like a delicious food to me. ( except for the microgreens)

Do you have those white cabbage moths that lay eggs that develop into hungry worms? If so do you know what they prefer to eat? 

[Muledeer]

2 hours ago, Frogster said:

Kale just doesn't seem like a delicious food to me.

I have tried to like it but just can't.  Kale, collard greens, arugula, and cucumbers are among my most despised veggies. 

[pickles.]

11 hours ago, Muledeer said:

are among my most despised veggies. 

Mine are eggplant, okra, parsnips, and bok choy. 🍆 

[Skycaptain]

@Frogster, they're one of Britain's most common butterflies, the caterpillars eat most vegetation, but prefer brassicas, hence the nickname cabbage white 

[Lilibulero]

16 hours ago, Frogster said:

Do you have those white cabbage moths that lay eggs that develop into hungry worms? If so do you know what they prefer to eat? 

We have cabbage white butterfly caterpillars, and like yourself I don't like kale, so I'll be planting one for them😁

[Frogster]

I like most cabbagey vegetables but not kale. I had the idea that the whole rest of the world found it delicious. - a wonder food and all that So nice to know that that is not true.