The earliest green plants in USDA zone 7a Super brief update: I live in Norway now. And it’s mid-march, and I’m soooo ready to see green growth and colorful flowers. Most of the grass here is still dry and brown, and the winter bare trees are only just starting to bud. I’ve got a few…
Category: Plant Starts
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…
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…
Compostable grow bags, like a comfort blanket for the transplant phobic.
In anticipation of starting my new tomato and pepper seeds, I started saving milk cartons to use as pots, and quickly amassed quite a collection (little kids will drink a ton of milk). I used my little seed trays with 1 inch cells to plant my onion, cosmos, basil, and oregano seeds, But tomatoes can…
Back yard pea nitrification; how I found the right inoculant. Maybe.
Phew! I’ve been on a mission to use peas in the early season to add nitrogen to my soil, and it feels like every day I learn a new little tidbit that makes that dream drift a little farther away. Should be easy, you say! That’s what I thought too. Here’s where things have gone…
The pea sprouts are up!
The pea sprouts I put in the ground yesterday are up! Okay, the frost could still kill them off, but today is New Year’s Day, and I woke up to a little tiny peeping pea sprout of hope. Hopefully you all have your own tiny pea sprout of hope this year. Or a cocktail. Happy…
Repotting free mint cuttings
One of the things I took away from my recent horticulture class, was several cuttings from a bed of mint they have growing in the horticulture yard at Las Positas College. This particular plant had spread into upright stems about 18-24 inches tall into a beautiful mat in a part sun area of the hort…
Outdoor Hedonist 