Branching Out's Seeds and Sprouts

[Dahlia]

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.

We had that exact weather here. So hot yesterday and then we woke up to a cool rain this morning. It seems like we have to wait until July 4th to get consistent summer weather.

 

[flowerbug]

...The moisture brought the slugs out in full force, with five of them on this one bean seedling!! So frustrating.

yes, that would be very frustrating.

 

[digitS']

Slugs are a special problem in the hoop house every Spring. To a much lesser extent, they also show up in the greenhouse – probably because so much water is not being used on in-soil beds. Finally, the big brown Leopard slug, invasive species, is outdoors. It seems to be in rather limited numbers — thankfully!

Maybe not for the Leopard but I think that the House Sparrows help with the smaller slugs outdoors. That hoop house always has a problem. I have learned something about their whereabouts in there and that they like to hang out on the soil side of the boards along the center path. Anyway, Captain Jack's Bug and Slug Bait goes down every year, especially near those board frames. Timing of watering is important and would be difficult outdoors with those coastal rains. Water melts the bait.

Steve
@Dahlia , we sometimes experience that "June Gloom" here in the interior country.

 

[Branching Out]

Good points Steve. I'm considering placing some boards as traps, to keep the numbers down. In addition to young bean seedlings, Sweet William and pansies seem to be favourite snacks of these slippery creatures-- so I have baited those areas with Sluggo (which is rain proof thankfully!)

 

[Branching Out]

The Sweet William has burst into bloom and they are such a cheery sight. Each branch is like a little bouquet of loveliness.

 

[Branching Out]

This year's pea and sweet pea patch is so successful that it flopped over! A wooden stake and some string helped to get the largest section upright again. It took two of us to lift it.

 

[Branching Out]

While out for a walk I spotted a ripe Thimbleberry. Such a treat.

 

[Dahlia]

While out for a walk I spotted a ripe Thimbleberry. Such a treat.

I love thimble berries! We have lots of them growing wild around here! We also have wild blackberries, huckleberries, salal berries, salmon berries, and wild raspberries!

 

[Branching Out]

The first nasturtiums are in bloom now, which is always a welcome sight. Recently I decided to try my hand at propagating them by cuttings, as I need an easy heat-tolerant plant to fill a large garden bed once I remove a bunch of ranunculas that are finishing. My nasturtiums self-sowed from last year, and they seem to cross pollinate so there's no guarantee that they'll be the same colour as before. So two different nasturtium plants were used to source the cuttings, with the each plant kept separate. They've been sitting in water on the kitchen counter for almost two weeks now, and sure enough there are white roots growing on many of the stems. One variety has a lot more roots than the other, but each of the two groups seem to be successful.

I can hardly wait to see what colour their blossoms will be! I'll plant them out in the garden tomorrow. We have cool weather forecast for a couple of days; hopefully that will be enough to get them used to the bright light of the great outdoors.

 

[Branching Out]

Trying to balance garden fatigue with a desire to have lots of crops to harvest by late August. Yesterday I spent six hours pruning our Londense Privet hedge, partly to give it a nice clean shape and partly because I wanting the clippings to mulch my tomato plants. It was a big job, and at times I was exhausted. This morning I mustered the energy to start a few Mini-Me cucumber seeds under a damp paper towel, as well as three types of dwarf peas sown on vermiculite: Tom Thumb, Strategem, and Hatif d'Annonay. Not sure if this late pea sowing will work, but I have seeds so why not try? We have an inch of rain falling today, so I dug out some more bush bean seeds to poke into the moist ground as well.

We're starting to eat red tomatoes, with the first fruits ripening on dwarf cultivars Alenka, Red Riding Hood, and Uralskiy Ranniy (a dozen ripe fruits all at once from three Uralskiy plants in a large container!) It's sure nice to have slices of fresh tomato on a sandwich.

Lettuce Merveille des Quatre Saison that was planted way back in August has just finished setting seed. I was able to bring the flowering stocks under cover just before the rain started. That one has excellent cold tolerance; it grew outdoors all winter with no protection.

And pole beans Sunshine is pumping out straight yellow beans. They were started on April 7th, and planted in a hot dry corner under the branches of our neighbour's cherry tree. Given that they have to compete with the huge tree for resources I have made an effort to mulch heavily, and I water deeply at least a couple of times a week too.