First it was the windy day that blew a wheelbarrow over on top of my best tomatoes. Not, of course, on my over 200 nicotiana, but on my tallest, biggest tomatoes. Then there was the night it was supposed to get down to 39 degrees and actually got down as low as at least 34; [...]
Talitha Purdy
Seedling Census
May 30, 2003 – Posted in: Garden chores, What's up/bloomingWell, today I watered all my little babies. With some plants, you feel like you should be nominated for "Gardener of the Year" for how beautifully they're doing. With other plants, you are just grateful that there is no Society Against Cruelty to Plants, because otherwise you'd have black helicopters circling the house! That is [...]
Trying to keep up
May 28, 2003 – Posted in: Plant info, UncategorizedYesterday I potted on 140 assorted zinnias, most of which I had assumed would not be sprouting. The newest seed was 2 years old, the older seed went back as far as 1996, I think. The zinnias don't really want to be potted on, they want to be planted. I refuse, though, to plant something [...]
Hundreds of Seedlings. . .
May 18, 2003 – Posted in: Garden chores, What's up/bloomingOh, dear. I seem to have a lot more seedlings on my hands than I had planned for. Most of the seeds I was using were old--the newest stuff was at least 3 years old, and some was a lot older. So I figured most of it wouldn't sprout, and started a good deal more [...]
Peas
April 18, 2003 – Posted in: Garden chores, Seeds and Seed Starting, VegetablesWhat have people heard about soaking peas the night before planting? Dad always did, and I had assumed it was necessary for germination. However, I recently read that pre-soaking peas supposedly causes "legume seeds to absorb water too quickly, split their outer coatings and spill out essential nutrients, which encourages damping off seed rot." (The [...]
Impatiens
April 13, 2003 – Posted in: Book reviews, Plant info, What's up/bloomingMom can tell you the Latin name of almost any plant there is, but my knowledge of Latin names is still awful spotty. Sometimes I can't tell the difference between common names and Latin names. I was rather shocked to find out that "Balsam" was a common name for "Impatiens." (For one thing, I hadn't [...]
Leeks
March 3, 2003 – Posted in: Garden chores, VegetablesMost plants, if they're started indoors, should be started 6-8 weeks before your last frost date. Since our last frost date isn't until the end of the first week of June, 6-8 weeks is about mid-April. Leeks are the earliest thing I start--mostly right now I am doing planning. I'm trying very hard to strike [...]
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