Phaedra's Garden 2022

[Rhodie Ranch]

Hunker down, drink your lovely concoctions and get well!!

Edited to add: now you can't visit your
FIL. I hope that he will not notice for two weeks.

 

[Phaedra]

Omicron Day 3, my throat hurts so badly! The symptoms on the nose and throat eventually affect the eyes. I didn't sleep well but knew clearly that my body kept fighting with the virus. It reminded me of how many people lost their lives due to this virus, sad.

DH is already back to negative and almost normal now. I am in the middle, and DD is just at the beginning of the 7-day cycle. I can't sleep all day, so going to the garden for some small work is the best thing to do.

This year, the chili plants are doing so well. I guess I have about ten plants, and each bears so many fruits and flowers now.

I love my leafy greens. This bed is ready to harvest - with the cut-and-come-again method. We expect continuous rain from this Wednesday; until then, the flea beetles should go away. The weather was so dry, so they were here for almost half a year.

Basils are doing great - I harvested a lot and prepared some cuttings for propagation. I want to grow them in the greenhouse later.

A cup of mint tea, a podcast, and some quiet and peaceful working moment - leaves for making dishes tomorrow, stems for rooting in the water, and the not-so-perfect ones for the chickens.

More leafy greens are waiting - each tray has 60 seedlings.

I guess, more than 100 are germinating in the coming days.

Rooted tomato sideshoots - I also plant to grow them in the greenhouse.

 

[baymule]

I’m sorry you are feeling so badly. Omicron isn’t a walk in the park. Even once you are over it, you may be weak and tired. Puttering around in the greenhouse and garden is good, just don’t overdo i t.

 

[Phaedra]

Omicron Day 5, I felt much better, and the only annoying thing now is coughing.

My first full-size Pullman Loaf (with Poolish starter) is one of the takeaways I learned and earned during this period. The Poolish starter is more than convincing and immediately defeated the TZ starter I used to work with till now.

They also got their fair shares. I used the last piece of dough to make them a meat bun.

I had limited time for the roses this year, but in fact, they are their own masters. This is Clarie Austin from David Austin Roses.

Propagated florist's daisy plants - as their roots developed well, they grew amazingly quick and large after transplanting into soil.

For dinner, I love our lovely and peaceful life.

 

[ducks4you]

Yes, I am vaccinated with two more boost. The symptoms are more like a flu.

Hopefully, we can get rid of it soon.

You and me, BOTH!! SORRY to hear that you got it, too. I fell ill on the 27th and finally felt normal yesterday, except I can't smell stuff. Good time to clean up the basement, where I won't notice the cat and dog smells!!
Serously, the friend who probably got me sick, said that it took her a good month to recover from weakness. I pray that your recovery is much faster.
Consider, though, ALL of those good antibodies in your system that you NEVER got from the shot!!
Something that helped ME, was working out in the heat and getting dripping wet with sweat, like in a sauna.
Then, a nice shower.

 

[Phaedra]

I am fine now. So, the first work this morning in the garden is to re-arrange this raised bed, which is the centerpiece of this side of the garden.

Originally, I put potted strawberries, citrus, dahlias, and one Red guava (it's a funny story to get that guava plant. I should write one separate article about it). Gradually, they grow wild and need some cleaning up.

At the same time, the new batch of strawberry-troopers is ready. I can finally remove them and bring a new look to this centerpiece area. 18 new plants and roots all reached the bottom holes.

I removed all other runners, trimmed and fed these two mother plants.

I like "harvesting" the lawn with these tools, especially in areas with many clovers, yarrows, and young grass. Different from mowing, this is to forage for the hens, as I can't let them free-range and destroy the garden.

I also trimmed the outer leaves of the artichoke - they are too huge for the neighboring plants. Well, it was my first time, and I had no idea they would become so giant.

There are also two rows of marigolds. As we know, marigolds can grow wild in a short time. I keep trimming them back - they are multi-functional and cost-effective.

They are good companion plants; can provide greens and flowers for the chickens; can be good mulch materials, and are also a nice ornamental choice.

After a certain point, they will form a mini-hedge - decorative and might help to repel pests.

My hens are not picky and love marigolds.

In-bed Chop-and-drop for mulching

Two rows of Marigold after trimming

My 2022 strawberry-troopers!

 

[Phaedra]

When I tried to propagate those Chrysanthemum cuttings, I didn't expect they would end up with such a gorgeous presentation.

The pots on these two sides - I can't believe that they are all from those tiny cuttings.

As this pallet-made raised bed is also like the centerpiece or the focal point of this side of the garden, I can easily grow all kinds of flowers in the 10 Liter Pots and present them at the right time of the year. When they start fading away, I just need to bring them to other corners to naturally and slowly die back.

I love this idea! Think about it, from the spring bulbs, lilies, lavenders, dahlias, marigolds, asters, Chrysanthemums, etc. I can easily pick plants for this small area and create a seasonal vibe.

It must be sweet when they blossom!!

Realizing how things can be done better in this garden (or in my life) always makes me happy and satisfied.

 

[digitS']

You did good to try that experiment, Phaedra!

We have a "Memorial Day" the last Monday in May. Many people buy flowers to put beside headstones in cemeteries on that day. After that special day, businesses put potted, flowering plants on sale. They have been forced into bloom in greenhouses but the chrysanthemum flowers begin to fade.

Their outdoor bloom season is in the Fall so that you can cut them back, transplant them outdoors, and they should have time to grow again and bloom. It is something that I have done before. One year, I accidentally chose some plants that could survive our winters and they came back the next year is a very vigorous fashion. DW was not really happy with how large an area they took up so we didn't keep them but it was a very economical way of adding a flowering plant to the yard and extending the bloom season.

Steve

 

[Phaedra]

I arranged three raised beds for the young plants propagated from cuttings. This is the one for the most mature plants - I called this the 3rd-grade classroom. Only the plants with well-developed root systems that have already been re-potted at least three times would be placed here.
This bed has at least 6 hours of direct sunlight, and I mixed bio-fertilizer (from cow manure) with the compost and soil for the young plants.
They are not just healthy but also growing very quickly.

The first 2022 propagated rose!

One of the eight new black Elderberry plants.

One of the three Garden Geraniums

The 2nd-grade classroom - six roses, eight black currants, and two grapes
This area has 2-3 direct sunlight and is open for the young plants that were re-potted twice; no fertilizer yet.

In the 1st-grade classroom - all the cuttings that successfully developed three two to three main roots will be placed here. When the plants are so young and short, they receive no direct sunlight in this bed. The taller plants, which are over 40cm in height, might have 2 hours of direct sunlight. When sweet peas grew here in June and reached more than 1.5m in height, they received 4-5 hours of direct sunlight.

However, such a shady outdoor spot is still far better than an indoor one. They grow much quicker - maybe because they can freely reach the soil micro-organisms. So far, I like this "classroom" and the 1st/2nd/3rd-grade station concepts.

My last batch of 2022 softwood cuttings was done yesterday.

 

[Phaedra]

Time to harvest this bed - cut-and-come-again

The hens also got their share (in the bucket)

The mesh successfully protected these brassica greens from the flea beetles and the cabbage whites. However, it can do very limited for the aphids living in the soil. Although there aren't that many yet, I started to use homemade spray (soap, tea tree essential oil, mint essential oil, and water) today.

The second batch of homemade ketchup - tomatoes, onion, garlic, honey, apple vinegar, sugar, one beetroot (for the color), and salt. The flavor is wonderful!