Posts Tagged ‘Starting Seeds’

Back To The Garden

March 3rd, 2010

Mina Lobata

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may have noticed that I’ve been away for a very long time. But, I’m back. That could be bad, it could be not so bad. Time will tell!

 

The reasons for my absence are varied. One is time. Or lack of time more correctly. We’ve given the interior of our home a major facelift this winter. – lots of painting, plastering, ceiling work, trim etc, etc, etc. It’s been difficult to find time (energy) to blog and work on the house. And now, all I can say is, if I never see another paint brush again it will be too soon!!

 

Another reason is all the spammers out there that made my blogging life hell for a while. I can’t believe they actually believe that anyone they spam would actually accept their spammed comments, let alone read/open them!!! How stupid can they be?? I guess some people have nothing better to do.

 

In addition to the above reasons, I briefly (?) went through gardening burn out. Yes, what I thought would never happen, did! I got tired of gardening. I got tired of weeds, tired of flowers, tired of shrubs, tired of grass, tired of watering, tired of writing about gardening.  Guess all that’s understandable since I’ve been doing it personally and/or professionally for most of my adult life. And, since arthritis became my constant companion, gardening is no where near as easy as it was just a few short years ago. But this year, I’m ready to go at the gardens full tilt.

 

We have many plans for our gardens this year; new projects to start, old ones to finish. Today, I’ll be starting some seeds. Not in the greenhouse this time, but in my plant stand. That should work out a little better than previous attempts since our cats are older now and a little less curious. Again, the seeds I’ll be starting are varieties that are not commonly found at the local greenhouses.  The other seeds I’ll be sowing are for plants that are too expensive to purchase finished.

 

Among the gardening tasks I’ve let slide are the cuttings I’ve rooted. They are well past the potting up point, but over the next day or two, they will finally make into soil filled pots. While I’m potting up cuttings, I have a number of houseplants that are crying to be transplanted into bigger pots, so that task will be taken care of too.

 

Powdery mildew had infected the rosemary plants I overwintered. Rather than resort to chemicals, I trimmed the infected stems off, and rinsed the plants under the tap. That method worked quite well, (I repeated the treatment three times) and now, six weeks later, there is only a very slight trace of powdery mildew left. One more time should do the trick.

 

Enough of writing about gardening for one day. It’s time to actual do some.

Catch you later!!

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Posted in Chemical Free, HOW TO GARDEN, In Our Opinion, Pests and Diseases | Comments (0)

Selecting Seeds

January 11th, 2009

Old Man Winter is tightening his bone chilling grip on us. With another five inches of snow last night, and temperatures expected to dip to -20C this week, spring seems an eternity away. Thank goodness there are seed catalogues and gardening magazines to remind us of what is to come.

 

Pouring through the seed catalogues, I have managed to assemble a rather long list of potential candidates for inclusion in our gardens. Regretfully, there is not time, nor space nor money to start and grow-on all of the seed varieties currently on the list.  So, the annual task of making the gut wrenching decisions on what to order and what to leave off the list has begun.

 

The first to go are the plants that are cheaper to purchase at the local greenhouses than they are to start from seed because of the length of time required from seeding to planting out; Geraniums, impatiens for example.

 

Next are the seeds that are much too expensive for a limited budget: $7.95 for 10 seeds.

 

The third determining factor is those seeds that require special conditions for germinating or growing-on that our hobby greenhouse cannot produce.

 

The fourth and final cut is based on plants that will become too large, therefore taking up too much space in our small greenhouse.

 

The exceptions (made every year) include:

 

-          plants that are not usually available at most of the local greenhouses

-          at least one “fussy” variety (just to test my skills)

-          plants that cost too much to purchase

 

 

By now the seed list has been trimmed to a manageable size, but, there is still the dollar factor to consider. The budget set out for seed purchases forces me to make further cuts to the list.  Those are determined by my “mood du jour”. By the time the seed orders begin arriving, I’ll be kicking myself for not ordering something. But, in May when the planting out begins and the gardens begin to take shape, I’ll be happy with the plants that made the list.

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Posted in HOW TO GARDEN, Seeds and Cuttings | Comments (0)