What's New?

[thistlebloom]

That sounds fun! I miss doing things like that with the daycare kids. They would get so excited when their plants would come up. They had their own space in the garden and a little flower bed by the sandbox.

Do you have a specific topic picked out, or general gardening?

Just general vegetable gardening. They will get my back garden space.
There's 3 girls and 4 boys, so the garden area will be halved by gender.
I was thinking potatoes, green beans, sugar snap peas, carrots....and assorted flowers. A sunflower room is in the plans too. Do you think I should start my sunflowers a few weeks early indoors? I've never started sunflowers inside and I don't even know if they transplant well.

 

[thistlebloom]

Speaking of garlic , that fall batch that I planted with a pick and just plopped into the frozen ground is up and growing! That just amazes me.

 

[digitS']

Sunflowers can be started early.

Give them about 3 weeks from sowing.

Something is hard on sunflower sprouts in the garden. I think it may be magpies but it's probably the bunny.

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

I have had good luck soaking sunflowers for a few day and then planting them out. It seemed to stop them from being eaten. I also start them in peat pots.

 

[thistlebloom]

Oh thanks Cat and Steve! I'll definitely do that. I was going to plant Mammoths as the main walls and then fluff them out with the assorted red and bronze colored ones. I also want to plant Scarlet runner beans among them, but haven't had any luck finding the seed locally. I'll just have to order some I guess.

 

[ninnymary]

Thistle, I will send you some scarlet runner beans. Don't buy any.

Mary

 

[thistlebloom]

Thistle, I will send you some scarlet runner beans. Don't buy any.

Mary

What?! Oh you beautiful doll! Thank you thank you thank you!!

 

[journey11]

I'm trying to keep it low-key this year so I can manage it all. So nothing particularly exciting and new. I hope to put in 2 or 3 new raised beds around front. I bought the lumber already to re-do the two around back that were falling apart and it only cost me $50-something for six eight foot 2x10's, so short of the dirt to fill them, I think I'll be getting that done quickly this year.

Some new beans of course, some new tomatoes for fun, bought more corn than I can plant here in one season (unless I buy sweet corn from someone else). Got McCormack's Blue Giant Dent Corn, Painted Mountain Flour Corn, and Daymon Morgan's Kentucky Butcher Dent Corn. I don't know what got into me. Also trying 2 new-to-me watermelons: Moon and Stars, and Sweet Siberian (an orange-fleshed one). And leeks...first time for leeks. Ok, well maybe I have changed things up a bit.

Then there's that whole wintersowing experiment which is going rather well by the way. And I'm going to have to build another chicken coop for Ava's banties. I'm hoping to keep that simple.

 

[digitS']

"..I'm trying to keep it low-key this year so I can manage it all. So nothing particularly exciting and new..."

Somehow, that list does sound new and exciting, @journey11 ! Even the banty coop sounds fun .

I was looking at a little coop in the Lehman catalog that came yesterday and thinking, "why did they put those big chickens in there? It would be perfect for banties!"

Steve

 

[ninnymary]

What?! Oh you beautiful doll! Thank you thank you thank you!!

Jeeze, how did you know I was pretty?

I'll try to get them out this Saturday.

Mary