Almost all of the gardening books I read make a point to remind new gardeners (like me) to start small. They say you should clear less space than you think you might want so that maintaining the garden and spotting and fixing setbacks is easy. In too big of a garden, fixing setbacks can be…
Author: Stefani Pellinen-Chavez
Silicon valley meets DIY meets too many hobbies and a prototyping mindset.
Research roundup. January Takeaways
Alright, I’ve been at this for a little over a month, we’re coming off a rainy week in Livermore, and there’s a lot to take away from several of my gardening attempts so far. Fails: Outdoor lettuce in coconut coir: I think the most epic fail this month was seeding lettuce outside in a think…
Casualties are high, but all hope is not lost.
I’m starting to get the idea that although it’s high maintenance, people start plants indoors when it’s not strictly necessary because it’s more… predictable. It’s easy to tell that my window seedlings aren’t performing perfectly well. They’re leggy compared to the beautiful seedlings I see on YouTube. I could probably fix that with grow lights,…
Oh the calamity! Lost all of my starts.
The destruction! This! I’m so bummed. No idea if this was a critter or the wind, but I woke up to find three of my seed trays dumped out on the ground. Definitely something to be said for keeping these indoors and I’m learning that they need a lot of protection. What a bummer. I…
Musing on large-scale solutions to small-scale problems.
It’s too sunny to work in the garden. We’re on our third or fourth day of heatwave this unseasonably fine January morning in Livermore, and I’m too lazy to slather on the sunscreen. This has me daydreaming about some of the advanced greenhouses I’ve seen with automated shade curtains that drape along the roof when…
The casualties are becoming unacceptable. Defending the garden from critters unknown.
My morning garden walkthrough turned up some annoying developments. Something is marauding the garden, nibbling on small leaves or straight up pulling out seedlings and then dropping them. My hog wire dog deterrence system is working for the dogs, but doesn’t seem to be doing much to protect against whatever is pulling out my radish…
Oops! Hardening off fail?
If you’ve seen my mini window greenhouse, then you know that I don’t have much sunny space for raising seedlings indoors. My plants were growing leggy and it seemed like my options were to either invest in grow lights, or in a greenhouse. I don’t really want more (of that) stuff, so I decided I’d…
Seed storage box cute-complished!
I went on a hunt recently to find the perfect seed storage container (for me). I want to be able to find my seeds all in one place, and it’s not a priority for me to keep seeds from one year to the next. I mean, it’s way too much fun to buy seeds each…
Planting cabbage seeds in a January heatwave.
We’re in the middle of a heat wave here in Livermore this fine January. It’s warm enough that I’ve had trouble keeping my kid in her clothes and out of water. Who am I kidding? I totally haven’t even tried. A couple days ago, I got my pea inoculant from Papaw’s Garden (though Amazon) and…
Why I’m intentionally over-seeding my beds. Hint: microgreens!
Oops, I guess that was more of a spoiler than a hint. I’ve had a few concepts circulating around me that have resulted in my decision to overseed. The first one is that I just learned that pea shoots are food. Did you know that? I didn’t! I can’t wait to try these! Pea shoots…
Outdoor Hedonist 