Branching Out's Seeds and Sprouts

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Branching Out congrats on the great success on your sweet-peas sprouting so fast. And the peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, and zinnias. It’s gonna be a great harvest this fall for you.

 

[Branching Out]

Carrot Sowing Day! I got out my handy dandy carrot seed template and started flinging seeds. This spring I'm trying a new variety called Goldfinger. Voles ate most of my carrots a couple of years ago, so I seeded this patch in a large cement ring that I hope will deter them.

I'm also risking an early planting of bush beans. Most are planted using Bio360, a thin black covering made of cornstarch that will keep things warmer and drying while the seedlings get established. It's been a couple of days, and so far so good.

 

[Branching Out]

I noticed a heavy infestation of tiny ants along the edge of our lawn, where it meets the driveway. There were so many that it looked like the ground was moving. Initially they didn't seem too interested in the Borax ant bait I put out, but a bunch of them were devouring a worm that they had caught. I figured these ants must crave protein, so I tried peanut butter with the ant bait solution-- and they lost their little minds over it. In no time the bait was black with ants.

If anyone wants the recipe for the liquid bait here it is:
Place 2 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons of Borax and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Boil mixture for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often. Let it cool, then place the mixture in a squirt bottle such as an empty Siracha bottle or salad dressing bottle. Pour into egg shells, pine cones, or waxy leaves, and place near anthills and areas they frequent. If placed in the late afternoon or evening the bait will be less likely to dry out. Check the bait in the morning and refill as needed.

Tip: if placing near plants or flower containers water them well first, and then you won't be risking washing your bait away. Also, lift large pots, stones and pavers to check for ant nests that are underneath.

 

[Branching Out]

The gardens are bursting with spring flowers!

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

Thanks for the great ideas to discourage ants. This time of year can be challenging with insects as temps warm up. It’s like the vampire's coming out of hiding attacking plants after winters seem so calm in comparison to spring .
Your garden flowers are beautiful. It’s so encouraging to see the garden wake up with so many lovey flowers to warm our hearts. That’s a Good Thing.

 

[digitS']

In a city-size lot, I have been fairly successful in tormenting ants enough to encourage them to move – probably just to a neighbor's yard. Of course, as they go, they may be more vulnerable to natural predators.

I wish that cats were not so tough on ground feeding birds.

With Spring, bugs useful to a gardener show up as well as the vampires . I saw my first hover fly, yesterday. I believe all of the adults serve as pollinators but, if'n this was the common N American hover fly, the juveniles eat aphids.

My yard, compost and garden seem to have an abundance of predatory beetles and centipedes. I find them every year with cultivation tasks and have to respond appropriately so as not to crush the dear things .

Steve

 

[Branching Out]

Time to plant out a tray of Ella Dill and Cruiser Cilantro. The cilantro tends to get muddy when it rains, so this time I mulched it with Japanese maple leaves to see if that helps keep the foliage clean. It's going to be hot and sunny for the next couple of days, so the mulch will conserve moisture too.

 

[Branching Out]

My neighbours and I grow a considerable number of zinnias. They are beautiful, useful for cut flower bouquets, and quite drought tolerant once established. Over the years we have found that larger transplants are preferred, so we start them inside and then plant them out once they're at least 5cm(2") tall.

The ones pictured below were seeded on March 25th, using seed that I saved from exceptionally pretty blossoms from last summer's 'Cut and Come Again.' I highly recommend this variety from Botanical Interests, as it has consistently put on a spectacular show for us for several years running. A dozen seedlings were kept in tiny 2" take out cups for a month, and their root development was incredible. Next time I will aim to prick them out at three weeks, as the roots were so robust they became a bit of a challenge to poke into the 1 1/2" soil blocks for growing on.

 

[Branching Out]

I noticed our first sweet pea in bloom today, as well as stumbling across three buds on the Sunrich Gold sunflowers. They were started indoors on March 11th.

 

[Branching Out]

After a sweltering 30C(86F) day yesterday we woke up to cool rain this morning. The moisture brought the slugs out in full force, with five of them on this one bean seedling!! So frustrating.

But-- then I noticed a pepper forming on one of my jalapenos, and that made me feel really happy.