The tomatoes are starting to grow well for me in their new boxes. As you might be able to see I have planted each one with two basil friends to keep it company, and nature has planted several annoying wanna-be friends in there too. The wire tomato cages are only there to steady the plant [...]
Archive for the ‘seed saving’ Category
20 Mar
2012 Strawberry Propagation
As I cleaned the winter cover off last year’s strawberry patch–raised beds whose soil had dried as hard as a rock through August’s heat wave–I found many unrooted runners. The mother plant had long enough roots underground to find water, but the baked soil was too much for the baby plant roots to penetrate. They [...]
1 Mar
Seed packet storage
I am so very late starting my indoor seedlings this year! Everything will turn out OK, but I’m feeling very rushed. My seed starting area is cleaned up, the lights have been tested, and I have my seeds (mostly) organized. Stay tuned.
29 Oct
Time to plant the garlic
I’m a bit late planting the garlic, but it’s now or never. I’ll get it planted today and cover it with some straw or leaves. It should just begin to grow roots before going dormant for the winter. This should be enough for a sparsely planted 4 x 8 bed, which might mean a bigger [...]
14 Sep
Small Sweet Potato Harvest
This small heap of sweet potatoes was my harvest from 16 square feet this year. Last year I grew several pounds in just 2 square feet, but this year’s weather was so dry that the dirt became as hard as rock and the potatoes couldn’t grow through it. The yield ended up being not quite [...]
12 Sep
Saving Chili Seeds
Drying chili and tabasco peppers really could not be easier. Thread them on a string and hang them up to dry. Break off the dried peppers as needed for seed planting or to crush into a powder to spice up cooking. I’m sure you already knew that you can’t save seeds from green peppers? The [...]
11 Jul
Garlic Harvested
Last October I planted some cloves of garlic that were given to me by Libby and Tristan from ‘Whittled Down.’ The tops started dying back this week so I pulled them out and found an excellent crop! I am very pleased with these, so I’ll definitely replant garlic again this fall. All of these came [...]
7 Mar
Pumpkin Horror (or, Fantastic Compost Voyage)
I would like… What? …to take you… Where? …on a strange journey…. How – Strange – Was It? Last Fall’s jackolanterns were not all carved with faces and such. A few small ones were just used as decorations. I had thought about bringing them back inside and baking them, but that plan didn’t materialize. So [...]
4 Mar
Seed starting indoors under lights
It’s that time of year again and I have started a couple trays of seeds so far. Pictured above are some cabbage, kale and parsley. I like the way this one turned out. And exhibit B, a tray of lettuce. I am actually behind my paper schedule already, but it’ll be alright. Don’t worry! Having [...]
21 Feb
Book Giveaway: The Urban Homestead, Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City
A family in Pasadena has decided to trademark the term “Urban Homesteading” and several other common phrases. To that end, they have sent out cease and desist letters to many people and organizations tell them that they must only use these phrases IN ALL CAPS WITH (R) a trademark symbol at the end. They have [...]
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