Garden Update

Yesterday, I discovered you can re-grow green onions by rooting the chopped-off root ends and planting them.

Here are the cut ends sitting in water. I'll probably plant them tomorrow since roots are already pretty established.

Did you know you can regrow Romaine lettuce? Here's what it looked like immediately after I cut off the root end and stuck it in water.

In one day, it grew this much -- unbelievable!

I also decided to try it with leeks, though I have never really cooked with them. Anyone have any good recipes that use leeks?

This morning, I took a picture of my two radish squares - above are the French Breakfast radishes. Below are the Champion radishes.

It's cold (54 degrees) and cloudy here today. Can't wait for the sun to come out and some warm weather.

New PlantsArrived Early

The seven plants arrived yesterday - a day earlier than I expected. They were in little paper bags and wrapped like this.Going from left to right: 3 Okinawa Spinach plants, Tea plant, Coffee plant, Cranberry plant, and Vanilla plant (an orchid)

Since I plan on putting the Okinawa Spinach in my Square Foot Garden, I just unwrapped the plants and stuck them in this divided container until they get used to being outside. I'll probably plant them tomorrow.

This is a close-up of the tea plant all potted and ready to grow. I set all of the new plants in my carport out of the direct sun.

This vanilla plant is actually an orchid which can grow as much as 90 feet long

A close-up of the Cranberry plant.

I don't even drink coffee - what was I thinking?

Isn't this exciting? Can't wait until I start seeing some results, although most of these have to grow 3-5 years before any results other than growth will occur.

I just checked my Jiffy Grow Container where I had planted my Pomegranate seeds and ,finally, I have 4 sprouts. Since I found the Pomegranate bush at Lowe's, this is isn't so important, but I guess you can't have too many Pomegranate bushes.

I think the secret was that I put the container on top of my refrigerator where it is much warmer. So glad I watched the YouTube video that suggested this.

Time to get back to work.

This morning, I checked my SFG frames against a table I made that shows what is planted where and found that I had either misinterpreted my notes or just made a few mistakes. Here are the final tables which show a number of bits of info about what I've planted. As you can see, there are a few squares where I have left room to plant a later crop.

Square-Foot Garden Left Frame

Pole Beans -Ferry-Morse -Kentucky Wonder -Rust Resistant -Pole -8 per Square -Germination – 6-8 days -Harvest – 66 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Corn -Seeds of Change -True Gold Corn (Organic) -4 per Square -Germination – -Harvest – 80 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Corn -Seeds of Change -True Gold Corn (Organic) -4 per Square -Germination – -Harvest – 80 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Cucumbers -Ferry-Morse -National Pickling -2 per Square -Germination – 8-10 -Harvest – 55 days -Planted 2/3/2014
Tomato -Ferry-Morse -Red Cherry, Large Fruited -1 per Square -Germination – 7-10 days -Harvest – 70-75 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Nasturtium -Ferry-Morse -Jewel, Mixed Colors -1 per Square -Germination – 7-8 days -Bloom – 32-40 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Beans -Ferry-Morse -Tendergreen -Improved (Bush) -9 per Square -Germination – 6-8 days -Harvest – 525 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Marigold -Ferry-Morse -Dwarf Bolero -4 per Square -Germination – 5-8 days -Bloom – 35-50 days -Planted 2/3/2014
Marigold -Ferry-Morse -Dwarf Bolero -4 per Square -Germination – 5-8 days -Bloom – 35-50 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Spinach -Ferry-Morse -Bloomsdale, Long Standing -4 per Square -Germination – 8-10 days -Harvest – 45 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Spinach -Ferry-Morse -Bloomsdale, Long Standing -4 per Square -Germination – 8-10 days -Harvest – 45 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Carrots -Ferry-Morse -Danvers #126 -16 per Square (1/2 Square) -Germination – 8-12 days -Harvest – 75 days -Planted 2/3/2014 -Burpee -Danvers Half Long (8) -16 per Square (1/2 Square) -Germination – -Harvest – 75 days -Planted 2/3/2014
Radishes -Ferry-Morse -Champion -16 per Square -Germination – 4-7 days -Harvest – 28 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Lettuce -Ferry-Morse -Black-Seeded Simpson -4 per Square -Germination – 7-10 days -Harvest – 45 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Beets -Ferry-Morse -Tall Top Early Wonder -Organic -16 per Square -Germination – 8-10 days -Harvest – 60 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Beets -Ferry-Morse -Tall Top Early Wonder -Organic -16 per Square -Germination – 8-10 days -Harvest – 60 days -Planted 2/3/2014

Square-Foot Garden Right Frame

Squash -Ferry-Morse -Zucchini, Black Beauty -1 per 2 Squares -Germination – 7-10 days -Harvest – 63 days -Planted 2/3/2014	(See Square immediately left of this one)	Plant Later - Corn	Cucumbers -Ferry-Morse -Tendergreen(Burpless) -2 per Square -Germination – 8 -Harvest – 55 days -Planted 2/3/2014
Tomato -Ferry-Morse -Jelly Bean Hybrid -1 per Square -Germination – 7-10 days -Harvest – 70 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Nasturtium -Ferry-Morse -Jewel, Mixed Colors -1 per Square -Germination – 7-8 days -Bloom – 32-40 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Beans -Burpee -Goldrush -Improved (Bush) -9 per Square -Germination –  -Harvest – 54 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Marigold -Ferry-Morse -Dwarf Bolero -4 per Square -Germination – 5-8 days -Bloom – 35-50 days -Planted 2/3/2014
Nasturtium -Ferry-Morse -Jewel, Mixed Colors -1 per Square -Germination – 7-8 days -Bloom – 32-40 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Kale -Ferry-Morse -Dwarf Blue Curled -Vate’s Strain -4 per Square -Germination – 8-12 days -Harvest – 60 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Plant Later – Kale	Carrots -Burpee -Short ‘n Sweet -16 per Square -Germination – -Harvest – 68 days -Planted 2/3/2014
Radishes -Ferry-Morse -French Breakfast -16 per Square -Germination – 4-6 days -Harvest – 24 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Kale -Ferry-Morse -Dwarf Blue Curled -Vate’s Strain -4 per Square -Germination – 8-12 days -Harvest – 60 days -Planted 2/3/2014	Plant Later - Beets	Plant Later – Beets

Tomorrow, I am expecting delivery of the following:

• Vanilla Planifolia - Spice Plant Live Orchid Vanilla Bean Flower
• Coffee Plants Live Coffea Arabica House Plant tropical beans
• Cranberry Stevens Vaccinium macrocarpon 
• Camellia sinensis Tea Plant Live Black, White, Green & Oolong

In the next few days, I am going to have to move my Red Wigglers from the 5-gallon bucket to a 20-gallon tub. The worms are thriving and multiplying. and will need more room soon. And to think I thought they were dead when they arrived!

Well, time to put some water on my newly planted garden. 'Til next time.

Thought I would post some more pictures showing how my gardening is coming.

This morning, I created the grids for my Square Foot Garden. I used dowels and zip-tied them together at 1-foot intervals. Don't they look great?

 

My Tree Collard is really sprouting out. I can't wait to plant it outside.

 

 I took a picture of both sprouting celery roots. They grow at least 1/2 inch per day. The third one I started looks like it might sprout in the next few days.

 

Isn't my garlic looking great. It's growing every day and getting really green and healthy.

 

Even though my stomach won't tolerate the acid in a  pineapple (this morning I ate one piece and have been very uncomfortable ever since), I wanted to try growing one. It is supposed to take two years before it produces any fruit. I watched a video on YouTube about how to prepare them for planting and I'm hoping it works as well for me as the video showed.

I plan on planting most of my garden today, but it is raining off and on (I don't think it was supposed to rain). Wish I had gotten it planted before the rain started. I will be trying to grow the following:

• 1 Square of Pole Beans
• 3 Squares of Corn
• 2 Squares of Cucumbers
• 1 Square of Jelly Bean Tomatoes
• 1 Square of Red Cherry Tomatoes
• 4 Squares of Nasturtiums
• 1 Square of Yellow Beans
• 4 Squares of Marigolds
• 2 Squares of Kale
• 2 Squares of Carrots
• 1 Squares of Champion Radishes (mainly for my friends and neighbors)
• 1 Square of French Breakfast Radishes (mainly for my friends and neighbors)
• 4 Squares of Beets
• 2 Squares of Spinach
• 1 Square of Lettuces
• 2 Squares of Zucchini (one plant in 2 squares)

 The flowers are mainly being planted to repel pests although I am sure I will enjoy their beautyas well.

It's been quite a while since I added new posts to this blog, but since so much is going on, I thought I would add a blog post instead of putting out a lot of info on Facebook.

I'm so excited - I just changed the water on my celery bulbs and you would not believe how much the sprouts have grown.

 

I actually started the above sprout second., but the sprout is almost as big as the one I originally started

This is the one I originally started on 1/22/2014.

Can't wait to plant it, which will be much easier now that I have completed filling my Square Foot Garden Frames with the soil mixture. What a job that was, but it is finally all done!

This picture shows one of the piles of dirt I mixed up: 1 part peat, 1 part vermiculite, and 1 part compost (you are supposed to use at least 5 different types of compost, which can be quite a challenge). I measured out the various components in 5-gallon buckets. This picture shows the result of 2 5-gallon buckets of each component. My cart holds 6 cubic feet and it took two trips in the cart to use what was here. I could barely lift the 5 gallons of compost, but I got it done.

I plan to plant some of my garden on Monday. Where I can, I would like to plant plants instead of seeds, but I may not be able to do this in every case. I am going to draw out a diagram of what I plan to plant (this will help me remember what is planted where) and use it for a reference.

While I was at Lowe's today getting some more compost and potting soil, I bought a banana plant. There was another Tropical plant there -- I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it was a POMEGRANATE! They both look fairly healthy as you can see by the picture:

For those of you not familiar with plants, the banana is on the right. I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos today about growing bananas. The little plants next to the big pseudo-stem are called pups. Isn't that cute? You can see them better in the following picture:

The bigger one is easier to spot. The little one is on the right side of the main pseudo-stem right next to the side of the pot.

I'll be growing both of these in containers rather than planting them in the soil around my house -- it's been treated with lots of fire ant poison and I don't want the plants affected.

Hope you all had as satisfying a day as I did. I was so glad to get all of that soil mixed and moved, I just can't tell you.  BTW, I bought another bunch of celery today and will be trying to sprout that too.

I'll probably post something else tomorrow. Gardens are amazing!

New Forever Stamp–Celebrates Muslim holiday

New forever stamp came out in January – 46 cents started 1/27/13.

Don't buy this stamp! Please pass this on.

46 cent Forever Stamp - Apparently they think that putting hearts and butterflies on the new stamp will make most people not realize that the rest is Arabic and probably NOT something we want to support. The new stamp, the second MUSLIM stamp!

USPS New 46-Cent Stamp Celebrates a Muslim holiday.

If there is only ONE thing you Share today. Let it be this!President Obama has directed the United States Postal Service to remember and honor the EID muslim holiday season with a new commemorative 46 Cent First Class Holiday

Postage Stamp.

REMEMBER to adamantly and vocally BOYCOTT this stamp if/when you purchase stamps at a post office. All you have to say is, "No thank you, I do not want a Muslim stamp on my letters!"

The Flag of the USA has always been my favorite.

Pass this along to every Patriotic American you know Get the word out!

Honor the United States of America!

Technology & the Death of Paper

Please watch the video found here:

http://vimeo.com/61275290

Until next time…