The Life of A Garden

"The Garden Keeps Growing Whether I Have Time to Write About it Or Not.." KHT

Gosh, I can't believe it's been a full week since I last posted and my oh my! How much things have changed since then! I apologize to any subscribers who have been left to wonder what has been happening. In a word: LOTS!

For starters, the Moon Flowers are HUGE:

I did not try to start new peppers because I thought it was too late even after doing all that research (which will come in handy next season), but to my delighted surprise, as soon as I gave up they went ahead and germinated themselves.

I think I over watered them. I hadn't quite gotten the wicking system of the APS working correctly (for whatever reason - the wicks may have been upside down?). Anyway, I was watering the heck out of them and as soon as I let them dry out, the little guys poked their heads up.

We now have six Jimmy Nardello's Sweet Italian Frying Peppers growing as twin companions ala TOFA and the Chocolate twins are doing great...

And there is even some hope reserved for this tiny little King of the North who showed up late and weak but at least he showed up so we're giving him some TLC and we'll see what happens.

And OMG the tomatoes! Yesterday we transplanted the do-over seedlings and they're standing up tall and beginning to grow their secondary leaves:

We're up to twenty-three heirloom varieties that I'll list on a separate post so I can give them their due. I can almost taste them already and am desperately trying to figure out a cheap, preferably recycled way to stake them so that we can maximize their yields, as I plan to go restaurant to restaurant to sell them as they come in.

As a former chef, I personally can't imagine refusing a local, organic gardener with her arms full of heirloom tomatoes still warm from the sun....can you?

XXKHT

More on Peppers

More on my search for trying to salvage the pepper seeds...

From the Old Farmer's Almanac:

PEPPER SEEDS need warm soil to germinate. Experiments by Georgia horticulturists have shown that the highest rate of germination (80 percent) occurs when the soil temperature is 70° to 80° F. Water seedlings from the top with warm water. I'm planning to dig out the heating pad for this and I hadn't used warm water before.

Start pepper seeds three to a pot, and thin out the weakest seedling. Let the remaining two pepper plants spend their entire lives together as one plant. The leaves of two plants help protect the peppers against sunscald, and the yield is often half again as good as two segregated plants. Interesting! I will definitely do this if I ever get some seedlings!

If you buy pepper plants at a nursery, use the seed leaves (the first leaves to emerge) as a "stress barometer." As long as they are strong, green, and healthy looking, you have a good, healthy plant.

When pepper plants bloom, make a solution of Epsom salts in water, and spray the plants. The NGA asked test gardeners to mix one tablespoon of Epsom salts in a gallon of water and spray it on the leaves of 'Gypsy' peppers, once when they bloomed and again ten days later. The results, attributed to magnesium in the salts, were larger plants and fruit. What's a Gypsy Pepper I wonder?

Take a book of matches with you when you set pepper plants out in the garden, and put two or three matches in the hole with each plant. They give the plants a bit of sulfur, which they like. There's that match head advice I was looking for. Check.

Okay then...
XXKHT

“Life's real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up.”

My peppers are not doing well. The only ones that have germinated and grown leaves are the Chocolate Bells. The King of the North grew two tiny green curled over stems and failed to go any further. I tried replanting everything over, thinking that they were all victims of the holocaust, but so far a week later, nothing has shown up, and it's getting late for peppers!

I was so looking forward to Jimmy Nardello's Sweet Italian Frying Peppers, and the colorful Fish Peppers from my native Chesapeake Bay area...I feel I can't just give up so I went searching for more information (the only thing you can do).

What I found is this comprehensive website on starting chilis at:

Uncle Steve's Seed Germination and Growing Tips

Excerpted from there are the following things I did not do but am going to today. Better late than never right?

Before planting, we recommend soaking the seeds in a mixed solution of 3 Teaspoon of 5% Chlorine Bleach and 1 Tablespoon of TSP (Trisodium Phosphate) into one quart of warm water for 15-25 minutes and then rinse for 5-10 minutes under cold running water. This does two things, kills most seed born disease and helps soften the seed hull. An easy way to soak the seed is done by placing the seeds in a small sieve and dipping into a cup or bowl of the mixed solution. Dab the floaters with a finger to brake the surface tension. Any seed that will not sink remove. We have found that floaters generally do not germinate as well and/or produce stunted plants. After rinsing place seeds on several layers of paper towels to absorb the extra moisture (Seeds will not clump together and are easier to handle).

Also, I think this is what happened to the King of the Norths!

A day or two after the seeds germinate, a "hook" emerges from the soil, and soon afterwards the seed leaves unfold. If your seedlings are hull bound (seed leaves can not emerge from the seed hull) it helps to leave the dome on, thereby keeping everything moist. Do not pry or pick the seed hull off until the leaves have fully developed and have extended, otherwise you will damage or kill the seedling. At this point seedlings should have as much light as possible to produce strong stocky plants.

and then I think this was a problem as well (see holocaust):

Do not set a domed flat in direct sun! It can cook the seeds. Remove the dome once to every other day to let fresh air get to the seeds and mist spray soil if needed.

Uncle Steve also recommends using a heating pad which I have and will use this time.

Other problems we've had so far are a fuzzy mold and what appear to be mites on the marigolds. I hate to destroy the young flowers as they've done so well so far, but I can't have them messing up the other seedlings - which would be a most un-beneficial thing for a companion plant to do. Before I head to the garden store today I'm going to look up organic remedies before I take any drastic measures.

I also read that adding match heads to the pepper trays adds the sulfur they need, but it's not mentioned on Uncle Steves. Back to the net for further investigation.

I just have to keep hoping and trying...
XXKHT

"So I sing to my seeds. What about it?" ~ Leslie Gaydos

Even though it's April Fools, the following is real...

To all you old seasoned gardeners out there, what follows is not likely to astonish you. But, to us new gardeners, you won't believe this...

Late this morning I noticed the Moon Flowers had broken the surface and around 1:00 pm took this pic:

Then, I went out for a couple of hours and came back to...

Around 3ish, they'd unfurled further...

By about 6:00...

about a half hour later...a new baby arrives!

and then...and by 7:30...

If I hadn't been there to witness it, I might not believe it.

AMAZING!

XXKHT

By the way...those are large yogurt tubs.

“The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't.” Henry Ward Beecher

After the holocaust, I needed to take a day off and regroup.

In the meantime, I noticed that the alliums closest to the front of the table seemed thinner than the ones behind and that some were pulled up by their roots and fallen over.

I immediately suspected my adult male cat, GIR, who has a notorious appetite for salad bar of the houseplant variety.

I can't always be home and in the room, and I can't kill him, and I already have my female kitty (GIRL) sequestered for other reasons, so I had to come up with a cat proof plan.

I remembered an old mosquito net in storage and although at first, I feared it's flammability near the hot lights, after setting it up, I feel safe enough. The outside of the light isn't that hot, and it's easy enough to keep it pulled back from actually touching the fixture. Most importantly, after an overnight test, it appears to have worked!!

It's kind of romantic really. I pull it aside and work close to the bright light, which as it turns out, is stimulating not only the seedlings, but myself as well.

Today I put some more seeds in to germinate in the seedling tray to replace the ones that didn't make it. Rather than cover it with the germination lid, I lightly placed plastic wrap over the newly seeded compartments and we're going to see what happens.

I had planted five cracked Moon Flower seeds yesterday in a big yogurt container, and added two strong rooted ones into the germination tray under the plastic wrap today. We'll see which does better.

Also today, I realized that keeping the germination mix out on the cold porch probably isn't very practical and brought it in to store next to the radiator under the plant table. I have a big bowl of mix warming up, and later today plan to plant another full germination tray with the new tomato seeds and a few more peppers in order to hedge our bets - neither the Fish Peppers nor the Jimmy Nardello's Sweet Italian Frying Peps germinated, even with the soaking beforehand. I'm going to be very disappointed if either of them fail. On the other hand, three Chocolate Peppers came up strong and three King of the North are waking up (finally!).

It felt so good to get my hands dirty and stand near that light. It's eighty-two days until summer solstice and counting...and oh boy am I counting...

XXKHT

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” ~ Plato

...or in this case "women who are afraid of the light.."

Today I learned several things...

First, that I most likely planted my tomatoes way too early and that I probably should have started a few weeks from now (screw the two weeks hardening off etc. I was just making excuses to get started).

Be careful what you wish for, because today, in less than two hours, I lost all the sage, and all the Pink Ladies, Striped German and Brandywine, Tommy Toes and one of Joanna's Plum tomato seedlings. They fried like they'd reached the end of the Green Mile (Oh John Coffey, I'm so sorry!)

So much for "can't get the lights close enough." Apparently, seedlings need to harden to the light as well as the cold.

The other thing I learned today was that it's a good idea to plant way more than you need, and be prepared to exterminate the weaklings.

Sound harsh? Well, for some of us, it is; but that's what this boils down to. Survival of the fittest, with a little help from The Goddess in You Form.

Next round, I'll plant six seeds in the hopes of getting two plants, and I will get the light on them as soon as they break ground, and I will not ease them into the light.

Always happy to end on a high note, I have two:

At least now, I get a do-over without having to intentionally destroy viable plant matter.

And... the new tomato seeds arrived today with a bonus packet of Lemon Cucumbers.

We grew them last year and they did well early on but got powdery mildew about mid summer, so we pulled them out because they were an ugly spot in the front of our otherwise pristine oasis of community garden space.

Somewhere along the intensive self study course of the past few weeks, I read about a homemade mixture of baking soda and water...now that I have them anyway... I guess that'll be another fun learning experience to look forward to.

Stay tuned!
XXKHT

"My Love is Like a Seed, Baby...It Just Needs Time To Grow." ~ Janice Joplin (Trust Me)

Today I learned that I may have done pretty much everything wrong so far.

For one thing, I don't think I have nearly enough light system for what I am trying to grow. Woodchuck Gardener's locally experienced advice aside, every other garden source states that windowsills are only to be used a last resort and without grow lights, it's a waste of effort.

But it's not enough to have a grow light, you have to have enough grow light as well. Through sheer luck I ended up with a super light contraption with full spectrum blah blah and I haven't the least idea what any of it means but it was free so I took it (gratefully!).

I was also gifted an APS planting system starter kit and then added to it without really knowing what to expect, and now I feel overwhelmed with trying to fit all the pieces together using what I have and have purchased.

As of this minute, I have what can be covered by lights under the lights. I thought I could have the lights hang up higher and cover more area, and it was pure green horn ignorance that got us to this point.

Apparently, the lights don't do any good, or rather they can even do harm by producing spindly weak plants if the source is too far from the seedlings; the little ones burn themselves out reaching for the light. Rather than concentrating their energies into producing fat, dark, energy producing leaves, they grow long vulnerable stems that crush and break easily.

On top of that, I read today that I may have started my tomatoes a month too early! According to Garden Desk:

"For instance, tomatoes should only be under lights for 4 to 6 weeks before transplanting and you shouldn't transplant them until all danger of frost has passed. In my area, the average last frost is May 15th. That means that I should wait to plant the seeds of my 27 main season tomato varieties until mid-April."

THAT'S MY LAST FROST DATE! JEEZUM CRIPES!

I'm tempted to start over. But then, the peppers are coming up. All but the Italian Ice and Hillbilly Potato Leaf tomatoes have broken ground. The marigolds are going great, as is the kale which I now want to plant more of.

And then there're the four tiny basil seedlings that I know I'm going to want more of when the time comes because I just discovered that basil is an excellent companion plant with tomatoes. How apropos!

I think I may have killed the Johnny Jump Ups. Impetuously, I put the light on them right after we installed it and left their humidity holding bags on. I think the blunder steamed them to death!

I will just have to start them again, because I'm going to have their happy faces in my garden this year. And this IS going to all work out fine, whatever it takes - even if I have to break down and buy a few more light fixtures.

Oh yeah...to end on a happy note - The Moon Flowers have cracked and are going in the dirt today. They look like dinosaur seeds. Click on the photo and see for yourself...

XXKHT

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” ~Albert Einstein

Moths and Moonflowers

Last week, my beloved B sent to me some seeds from her collection. She not only added greatly to our tomato selection, but also a variety of marigolds and an edible flower/bean called Scarlet Bees.

She also enclosed Moon Flower seeds that she'd gathered from her own gorgeous vines that she grows over the brick and iron wall of her city garden in downtown Baltimore.

Moon Flowers might be my favorite flower of all. A member of the nightshade family*, they have an enormous, pungent white blossom that unfurls after dark like a virgin on her wedding night - one time only - then closes back into a beautiful fractal spiral within which a fat pistachio shaped, hard-shelled seed will grow inside a sexy coffee colored pod.

The seeds are so hard, that in order for them to germinate, the cultivator must nick them - or as I like to think of it, give them a love bite.

What flower is more sensuous than this? I can't think of any.

Velvety, ghostly, voluptuous petals reek of desire. They require particularly well endowed moths like the Carolina Sphynx - one of the hummingbird species - noted not only for resembling the bird in size and shape, but also for it's extra long proboscis, the better to reach into the deep wells of their sweet nectar.

Oh my. Moon Flowers and Moths have it all over The Birds and the Bees. I move to change it.

XXKHT

A nice poem about Moon Flowers is here: Cold Tea Blues Moonflowers

The picture at left is jacked and edited from here:
Moon Flowers and Carolina Sphynx Moths

*Same as tomatoes, peppers, egglplant etc. but a different genus.

It's like Cabbage Patch Kids Only Much...Much Better!

I've been so busy blogging, studying, signing up for the garden, looking for a job and myriad other things to distract me from it, that I have let three days of green go by without a show and tell!

The baby pictures are in.....

Here are the alliums..the front runners and run away stars so far are the Primor Leeks..an early variety meant to be eaten young...I tasted a tiny piece and they've already a nice flavor. If they weren't so expensive, they'd make gorgeous sprouts for a salad or sandwich.

Embryonic Sage...one defected into the Valencia Tomatoes and I thought we had a super tomato on our hands until I noticed the tell tale black seed case and put two and two together...

First up are the Eskimo (white) Marigolds, going strong!

Baby Johnnys....so many! I can't wait to see their lively, expectant faces...

For someone with such a nice camera and all this photography experience, I am ashamed that my macros aren't better, but proud mother that I am, I'm showing them off anyway. It's not about me...it's about them.

Aren't they adorable? Yes. Yes they are.
XXKHT

"“The first principle of success is desire - knowing what you want. Desire is the planting of your seed.” ~ Robert Collier

Yesterday, my daughter Ashley and I planted almost all of the remaining seeds that we're hoping will become our summer garden residents.

In addition to the many tomato varieties mentioned in yesterday's post, we've tucked our cracked kale seeds into the dirt, alongside the Johnny Jump Ups and a few varieties of colorful, and companionable marigolds. Some Greek Oregano and Common Sage are incubating next to the alliums that are coming up with a vengeance!

With the cracked seeds, Ashley gingerly removed them from their paper towel incubators and gently placed them into the germinating trays - three to a spot for the Kale seedlings, as well as all the ungerminated tomato seeds.

As with the alliums, you want to use sterilized equipment (bleach/water-1/10), and don't make your germinating mix muddy. It should just hold together when squeezed but not be sticky. You don't want to create too much resistance to the delicate babies, but you don't want any air pockets either.

Fill up the tray and tap it down lightly with the force of gravity. We placed a seed aligned with each of three corners and a popsicle stick name stake in the one that remained - I enjoy the way they resemble tall, thin soldiers standing at attention awaiting orders. As acting high priestess of this future garden, I humbly request that they grow into strong productive plants beginning NOW.

After the seeds were nestled and watered in, on went the mini greenhouse lid. I did not fill the reservoir nor wet the capillary mat that wicks the water while the seedlings are germinating. I read somewhere that seedlings don't want their feet wet, and with lids the humidity level is quite high.

The alliums have shown some signs of a fluffy mold (already!) and I'll pick it off until the lids comes off and then I'm hoping it will take care of itself.

I also recycled some deli/yogurt containers for the Jump Ups because I wanted a lot. They use an extravagant amount of germ mix but I wanted the flowers to have rich resources to draw from. For their lids I stretched ordinary sandwich bags just to keep the humidity up.

The APS systems are expensive and I'm already trying to imagine ways to duplicate them with recyclables in future.

Lastly, the mother daughter planting afternoon turned into a sign up for your garden plot party when Nikki and Katie dropped by and left their payment and paperwork for their very first plot - my first recruits!

Welcome Katie and Nikki - I look forward to living vicariously through your first time joy. What a fabulous day...

XXKHT

Editor's Note:
I apologize for the gigantic "Look at me!" signatures on the photos. The monitor settings have issues and it somehow escaped my notice that the marks were so enormous and blindingly white. It's not that they're such amazing pics, but I've had my intellectual copyrights infringed upon numerous times, and at least I might as well get a little advert out of it when it does occur. I'm happy to share photos with permission and I beg kind readers to indulge me this courtesy.