GOOOOOOD MORNING, GARDENERS! This is the place for anyone who gardens indoors, outdoors, inground, in pots, in growing bags, hydroponics. And if you come just to enjoy the photos, that’s great, too. All are welcome always. I hope the SMGB blog provides some needed respite and some gardening advice, as well. Please feel free to post comments and your photos, indoors and outdoors. We LOVE photos!!!
What’s growing in my part of the Northeast? Things are rather slow to get going. I pulled a photo from last Spring to illustrate this diary. A few of these little daisy-like flowers are coming out but not in bunches, yet. Just a week ago, we had a small blizzard that left about 5 inches of snow over what was then bare ground. I had planned to work on the gardens and write about the progress. Mother Nature decided to send one of those famous March snowstorms barreling through the area. So, I can’t talk about what I planted. But I CAN show you a bit of what is sprouting in spite of that as well as share some of my vegetable gardening plans.
We had high temperatures in the 50’s and 60’s this past week (normal high being around 50), but the ground is still rather cool and solid other than at the very surface in spite of its softening up in the sun. I took walks around the neighborhood the past couple days look for spring bulbs coming up. I found Yellow Aconite and Crocuses. No Daffodil or Tulip bulbs other than their leaf tips above ground.
Not flowers! But interesting fungus growth on a dead tree down at the stream near my house. See how there’s nothing green coming up, yet, around the pond.
This year’s vegetable seed collection is pretty well organized for starting/direct to soil planting when the weather improves. I am especially focusing on what I know grows well in spite of rain or drought. For direct seeding, lettuces, arugula, swiss chard, and herbs all did great last season. We were still in a near drought until July dropped 3 times the normal amount of rain for that month. Peppers tasted like cardboard. Some seeds never came up. I have extra this year just in case I need to replant.
First part of my plan is to set up the mini greenhouse I bought a couple years ago. It’s about 4X4 feet square and 3 feet high at the peak. Collard greens, kale and swiss chard start up containers will go in there and keep safely warm at night. I’ll start those around April 1 as we cannot be sure there won’t be another March snowstorm. Early in the 1990’s, we had 2 March storms 2 weeks apart, each dropping over 2 feet of snow. I’d rather be cautious than find the little greenhouse buried!
Today, I want to highlight the seeds shared with me by some of you SMGB’ers and thank you for your generosity. 💖
Thanks to DownHeahMississippi (DHM) for the Prairie Spice pepper seeds! The weather here last year got so rainy starting in July that pepper growing really didn’t work out. I believe this is one of DHM’s favorite peppers and he has been saving the seeds. One of the seed sellers he mentions, Bunny Hop Seeds has Prairie Spice seeds, too. And DHM has mailed some seeds for a cherry type tomato. YEA! Those mini sizes do tend to grow better for me. They seem to not need as much sun.
Thank you Hoghead(with a number I forget) in Illinois for sharing lots of seeds for a type of wintering over lettuce. With the rain last fall, I didn’t dare put these in but I will as soon as I have my vegetable garden weeded. Fortunately, that will be a quick clean up. I’m looking. I hope Hoghead sees this and provides an update! I’m looking forward to growing lots of salad greens this summer including buttercrunch types of lettuce and 5 kinds of arugula including one as spicy as the wasabi radish.
And thanks to Strawbale in Idaho who offered her saved seeds from kale and mustard greens, pak choy (aka Pak Choy/Bok Choy). There are different sizes of this Chinese type of cabbage. She also sent along Tatsoi another dark green, yummy looking Chinese vegetable. Her Black Sunflower seeds will also go into the ground where I can protect them from the squirrels until they get bigger….well, maybe starting them in pots and surrounding those with a chicken wire enclosure might wise! I am MOST excited about the Heshiko Green Onion seeds she sent. Here’s a photo from a seed seller of this bunching type onion. I didn’t have luck with onions last year because of all the rain so I can’t wait to plant these seeds.
I also purchased some seeds and will highlight those in an April diary. That’s assuming the weather cooperates and I can get some sprouts!
Before I can do any planting, however, the vegetable garden patch needs weeding and amending with compost. I use a local product called Seven Year Gold — a very cured horse manure. It’s dry and a warm brown color. And absolutely no smell. Honestly, I would label this as divine a compost as I’ve ever used! Some organic vegetable fertilizer will go in along with that. Work it all into the soil and wait a week or two before putting in seeds or starter plants.
Below is the size plot I work with in my yard. The fence needs a bit of shoring up since that photo taken in Fall a couple years ago. Friends offered me space in their two big community garden plots within walking distance. I’m taking them up on that. Both plots need extensive weeding before being photogenic so pictures in the future. This community garden is in an old city park area that was called Morningside Park. I read that there was a big decorative fountain where the garden plots are located. I am excited to be able to grow extra greens this year. The community garden spaces get more sun than my yard’s garden.
I’d like to treat this diary as an open thread this morning, too, so please jump in, share your gardening plans and photos!
I leave you with this Sunflower to honor Ukraine. A friend in Sweden grows a big garden full of them. This from last Summer.