May4, 2010, Multiply, The gardening starts no 11

GARDENING  NO 11;

The indoor Food Factory

The first thing I did this bank Holiday was to sort out all my indoor plants. The Tomatoes really needed repotting, luckily it was warm enough to take them outside and pot them up in the garden. Now they are sitting in the sun in my kitchen in front of the Peppers. They still look a bit droopy here because I’ve not finished fixing them to the support canes. I’ve pinched out the tops so hopefully they will begin to bush out a bit. I think they are in shock at being uprooted but I’m sure they will settle in a couple of days and begin to look a bit brighter......

To read the rest of this follow the link over to Jungleblogs, its group for people who love gardens and its open to every one. I've decided to post my garden blogs over there in future,

Tags: garden, food, plants, indoorgardening

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delete reply secretcorners wrote on May 5, '10 I have an interest in gardening, but I have no interest in joining a group. Why not open the blogs for everyone to see, but keep the posting of blogs just to group members. That way everyone with an interest in seeing the blogs can, but only members can post. You could even limit comments to just group members but still allow all to see the wonderful posts on gardening.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on May 5, '10 forgetmenot525 said its open to every one. Actually, one needs to apply for membership to the group. It is not an open group, but all we ask is an interest is gardens and a respect for fellow gardeners.

delete reply secretcorners wrote on May 5, '10 Oh, it is a group, and the link you gave says the blogs are only visible by group members. Perhaps the group would consider opening the blogs to non-group members?

delete reply secretcorners wrote on May 5, '10 My garden blog can be found at http://garden.secretcorners.net I got my tomatoes in the back veggie garden this past weekend. I wrote a blog on planting tomatoes that can be found at my garden blog. I grow indeterminates and just let them grow since I use a support system for my tomatoes.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on May 5, '10 I'll miss seeing your garden grow too. Glad the weather was co-operative though.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on May 5, '10 forgetmenot525 said I’m sure they will settle in a couple of days and begin to look a bit brighter...... That's usually the case.

delete reply djdx wrote on May 5, '10 You pinched out the tops of your tomatoes? That's funny, I pinch out the side-shoots and only pinch the top when it gets up to the roof. :-) I will miss seeing your garden here.

Apil 12, 2010, Multiply, The Gardening Starts no 7

Gardening no 7

A quick update on the state of the indoor seedlings planted late Feb/ early March. My greatest success so far has to be the tomato plants.
I’ve already thinned them out and given some away. My greatest failure has to be the lovely red onions I planted. I made the mistake of re-potting them outside in tubs before that final bout of snow and ice; sadly I lost them all in the bad weather. I don’t even have any photos of them but I do intend to plant another lot of seeds, if I’m successful it will just mean I have to wait a little longer than anticipated before eating the first home grown onions.
The red peppers and red chilli all seem to be doing well.
(red peppers above)
I’m so glad I put them in different containers and on different window sills because at the moment I don’t think I could tell them apart.
(red chili above)
I don’t seem so successful with the lettuce, they are not thriving at all, they are straggly and rather sad looking but I’ve not given up on them. I still think the lettuce could turn out ok in the end.
Which is more than can be said for the rocket? I’m not sure what has gone wrong with the rocket but its slow growing and many of the seedlings seem to have died and come to nothing.
And………….here is the next lot, already started and looking good.

Tags: garden, plants

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delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Apr 13, '10 seedlings are so cute :)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Apr 13, '10 djdx said Your lettuce looks fine to me. thanks for the reassurance, i'm hoping it will be ok and what is .... ''roquette''?? is it the same stuff we call rocket??

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Apr 13, '10 brendainmad said You'll have tomatoes and chilli peppers for the whole family! Thanks Brenda, I've already given small plants to my daughters and i suspect we will all be eating a lot of peppers and tomatoes in the summeror at least i hope we will.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Apr 13, '10 You'll have tomatoes and chilli peppers for the whole family!

delete reply djdx wrote on Apr 13, '10 Your lettuce looks fine to me. To tell the difference between peppers and chilis you might have to bite the fruit. :-))) I have roquette that has over-wintered in the greenhouse and self seeded, I think it is a "weed" in sunny climes.

delete reply secretcorners wrote on Apr 12, '10 Your lettuce looks normal; that is the way they start off. So don't worry over them. You are welcomed to visit my garden site at http://garden.secretcorners.net.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Apr 12, '10 I love seedlings! I love it when they pop their little heads above the musky brown soil and then when they grow their first true leaves. I wish I could garden but the deer have made it all but impossible. So I enjoy watching others' gardens. I do grow herbs though, the deer leave them alone, and I want to plant catnip for Honey (my cat).

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Apr 12, '10 oh, don't they look wonderful! well done, Loretta!

March 4, 2010, Multiply, The Gardening Starts no 5

The gardening starts today No 5

T

Just a quick update;
At last the first tomato seedlings are big enough to transplant into the troughs and put on the window sill. Now I have rocket seedlings in troughs on the living room window sill and tomato seedlings on the kitchen window sill. I also have my first batch of lettuce seedlings on the kitchen window sill.  These little seedlings in the black pots are pretty special young fellows. They are grown from seed that I harvested from my wonderful parsley plant last year. If the weather holds for just another couple of days I’ll be very tempted to transplant these red onion seedlings into the big black pots out side. They are still very small and young to be left out side but they are outgrowing these tiny trays. I just hope they are strong enough to cope outside; maybe I should cover them for the first few weeks of outdoor life. And this morning I see the first signs that the pepper and chili seeds are growing, soon I shall be finding places fro them on window sills.
Making space for my 'food plants' means clearing away some of the decorative plants and that includes cutting and potting the spider plant babies. Think it's time for another lunch time plant sale at work.

Tags: garden, plants

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delete reply agnes128 wrote on Mar 14, '10 Wow wow wow! Wonderful!

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Mar 14, '10 They're all coming along splendidly :-))

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Mar 14, '10 Definitely the onions can go outside in a sheltered spot. Sunburn, as DJ mentioned, is a concern. But plants need sun, even your tomatoes, if you can give them an hour or so in the light on a sunny day. Otherwise they grow spindly. Wonderful to see things growing!! And great to have parsley from your own plants.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Mar 14, '10 Everything is coming along well, especially those baby spider plants.

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Mar 14, '10 looking like a promising garden :)

delete reply msowens1 wrote on Mar 14, '10 how wonderful to watch your progress..... ;-)

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Mar 14, '10 aaah, lovely seedlings, full of promise! well done, Loretta! ; D

delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Mar 14, '10 Brilliant! :D

delete reply aimlessjoys wrote on Mar 14, '10 I admire your efforts. Good gardening (& eating) in progress. Have Fun!

delete reply djdx wrote on Mar 14, '10 A pleasure to see all these things growing. You can harden off the onions by putting them out for a short time, then gradually increasing over a period of several days, bringing them at night at first. They might get sunburnt.

Feb 13, 2010, Multiply, gardening starts today 1

Today I took a bus ride to the garden center just outside Dundee, it's mid February and time to start my 2010 'gardening'. I decided a while ago to try some veggie growing this year. Nothing too ambitious to start with, but I figured if I start  now, maybe in a couple of years when I hope to retire, I could be growing a lot of my own food. I have grown food before but my life was very different then. Back then, I didn't have to go to work, I was younger, a lot fitter, and I had a huge garden. Now my time, my garden and my abilities are all limited, the whole thing needs new thinking and a different approach. I came across this very basic little book, it was pretty cheap so I bought it.
Then I found a couple of packets of seeds that can be sown in mid February. I also bought some new fish for the tank today, but that's another story.
Alongside my drive to grow more food, is a desire to create less waste. Once you start thinking about what you throw away, you need to start thinking about what you buy in the first place. I compost and recycle what I can but there still seems to be far too much going in to general waste. Have you tried buying fruit and veg without also buying miles of plastic food wrap?? its a virtual impossibility. And plastic bread wrappers, no one sells bread with out them any more, so I bought bread making flour today. I've been saving the plastic trays you buy tomatoes and peppers in, I thought they would make good seed trays.
 I've also ordered a yogurt maker because, when I actually looked to see what I was throwing out, yogurt pots and margarine pots were pretty high on the list (apparently they are the  'wrong' sort of plastic to recycle).
So................I have the seeds, I have the plastic trays, all I need now is some compost and food production starts for the year. All advice welcome. I thought this song was appropriate, the film is very old and poor quality but the sound is good.

Tags: garden, 2010, fruit, vegetables

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delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Feb 14, '10 Brilliant, you have been busy! I have started buying seeds and am going to buy a small greenhouse as soon as I can, need to get going soon and also need to cut back raspberry canes etc. Am thinking of creating a pond in the little field and having ducks' wings clipped, getting them a shelter for the day time and putting them in field with the greenhouse too, so i won;t need to fence off the herbs/flowers/fruit that grows in my garden! Best get my butt into gear! lol Can;t wait to see the photos of your crops :D

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Feb 14, '10 Sounds great, good info -- not gardening here, can't find the dirt lol

delete reply djdx wrote on Feb 14, '10 We can't count on any tomatoes growing outside other than in a very exceptional year. I have only visited southwest England and saw them there in greenhouses, planted straight into the bag of medium. So I don't know about up in Scotland. Maybe there is a local gardening club?

delete reply starfishred wrote on Feb 14, '10 great start loretta-

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Feb 14, '10 Of course you do!! :-}

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Feb 14, '10 bennett1 said or give to charming ladies who request them. Hmmmm do you think I qualify??? lol

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Feb 14, '10 Basil is very finicky but onions are not and you can eat the thinnings. I deleted a comment where I inadvertently quoted your whole post.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Feb 14, '10 forgetmenot525 said I need to know what I can plant indoors this early to get early crops. Lettuces and spinach can be planted now in sheltered containers outdoors. I have even used study cardboard boxes - they give out about the same time the lettuce bolts. Or, you can plant them in your yogurt cups and carefully plant them outside in a month or so. If you have even a bit of a knack with hammer and saw, you can make a cold frame: http://www.woodworkersworkshop.com/resources/index.php?cat=388 Many nurseries around here have black plastic containers about a foot in diameter that they throw out or give to charming ladies who request them.

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edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Feb 14, '10 bennett1 said Oh how I envy your ability to start a garden in February. Sorry if I didn't make it clear here, I can plant seeds indoors but its far to cold to plant outside just yest. That's why this whole thing needed thinking about and planning. I need to know what I can plant indoors this early to get early crops. Also, I've just been told that tomatoes are really hard to grow here, last time i grew tomatoes it was on the south coast of england.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Feb 14, '10 kathyinozarks said I have alot of pain issues now too, so can't garden like I would love to, Oh kathy that is exactly how i feel. I'm going to start these seeds off indoors on windowsills but i'm not at all sure about planting them out, I just can't do the digging any more so I guess i'll be looking for big cheap containers..............ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR ANY ONE WELCOME

delete reply samsmypegasus wrote on Feb 14, '10 Good luck and may your growing be a success:)

delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Feb 14, '10 sounds like a new adventure starting, you will love your yogurt maker, I have a couple from the 70s and they still work great. I have alot of pain issues now too, so can't garden like I would love to, but the big pots worked great, anything climbing is great, even in hanging baskets, or perhaps if someone could build you a couple raised beds would be good too-have fun!

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Feb 14, '10 oh, how fun! i know you will enjoy growing veg again. perfect song choice! happy gardening.

delete reply mitchylr wrote on Feb 14, '10 It's odd, when I was younger and actually had a garden, I wasn't really all that interested. Now I'm older, and unfortunately without a garden, I actually miss it and wish I had one!! I think you've got some splendid recycling ideas there that will also help with your horticultural efforts. I really do think that supermarkets need to start thinking seriously about how much packaging they use for fresh produce.Trying to get people to use less carrier bags is a start, but it's just the tip of the iceberg (excuse the lettuce joke there!!!). They need to address the wider issue. I wish you well in your veg-growing attempt :-))

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Feb 14, '10 Last summer one of my sisters had tomatoes growing everywhere, but not in a proper garden. Some of the tomato plants were in boxes on the deck that they had built on their pond - very convenient for watering. I'd never seen so many tomatoes growing weedless. And you know from experience, how much better homegrown is. Can't wait to see the fruit of your 2010 garden!

delete reply sandycaar wrote on Feb 14, '10 best of luck on your gardening this year loretta,,if i lived closer, i'd be sure to help you enjoy your garden :)

delete reply djdx wrote on Feb 14, '10 All sounds good to me. :-) I save the yogurt containers for potting up seedlings. The tomatoes need bigger ones, so I save the pots from cream and fresh cheese. These last quite a long time. We can buy individual fruits and vegetables, but they get put in a plastic bag for weighing. I reuse each bag once (the clean ones with no holes) for putting my bread in the freezer, because I fill the oven to be economical with the gas and then put 2 or 3 loaves in the freezer. I don't know how it all adds up in the end, but we live out in the country (by European standards) and don't want to drive somewhere everyday for bread. I will probably start some tomatoes next week.

delete reply flatpaul wrote on Feb 13, '10 It's nice to go out back and pick some fresh veggies when you want to ;) Berries and melons are good too ;)

delete reply nemo4sun wrote on Feb 13, '10 since daughter and grandson moved out honeybee and i have cut our trash to the curb four bags are now one we reuse allot of stuff like bread wrappers for homemade bread and cookies we bought reusable water bottles some trash pickup days i am scrounging for stuff to go out :)

delete reply initiativestain wrote on Feb 13, '10 Your all prepared there as here there is still time to go as far as when it comes to anything of the like here Loretta. Usually here just around April is the time that we start to plant, meanwhile it's shopping and getting the right vegitables. I have never tried this way of doing this, I most usually just go to the grocery store and buy all the vegitables and everything else. However it seems like a great idea. Yet time to do these things as I myself have only done some planting back two years ago and now I guess I am a tad lazy as I just enjoy food done by way of the grocery store. There is something to be said about this way of doing it. It's natural and probably much more healthy. By the way as a friend I wish you a very Happy Valentines Day there...

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Feb 13, '10 Oh how I envy your ability to start a garden in February. In Michigan the ground is snow-covered until late March. And the soil is so cold, seed will rot unless chemically treated. But you are right, most of the plastic waste I find myself with comes from vegetable trays and yogurt containers. I have tasted home-made yogurt; it tastes much better. And, of course, so does home-made bread. I will follow your garden's progress eagerly.