Garden Appreciation Thread

:joy:

I’ve been waging an unending war where they dig a hole, I move the soil back into the hole, they dig it back out, repeat ad infinitum. Bury your damn nuts elsewhere!

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最初の降雪
最初(さいしょ)降雪(こうせつ)

最初(さいしょ)(ふゆ)菜園(さいえん)

The cardboard will be covered with wood chips, once my chipper is fixed.
Since this is my first time for winter gardening, I have some of the beets and carrots and turnips covered, and some not covered, so that I can compare how they fare.
Only ten weeks until indoor seed planting!

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No pictures, but I had a lesson about winter gardening today.
We got about three inches of slushy snow. My row cover was all smushed in, and it is impossible to get the gloppy snow off. I finally got it clear, with only a few rips in the fabric. The uncovered plants still have some slush on them.
But Wednesday, we are due for another foot and a half of snow.
I was really looking forward to eating fresh vegetables all winter. There are winters here where we get almost no snow. And winters with big piles.
This is where a polytunnel would pay off.
In the meanwhile, I may harvest some root vegetables and put them in the fridge, then pick a bunch of greens and eat lots of fresh salad while I can.
I was counting o picking veggies on Christmas day, so I have to confess to being a little disappointed.

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Or you could layer some straw over them and leave them in the fridge that is the great outdoors…

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO OVERWINTERING VEGETABLES

Root vegetables like carrots, beets, and turnips are great for overwintering. Cold temperatures will even initiate a process known as chill-sweetening, in which the plants convert starches to sugar and yield a crisp, candy-like vegetable come spring. Kate Garland, horticulturist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, fondly recalls images of master gardeners in the northern reaches of Maine pulling beautiful carrots out of the ground in the middle of January.

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It really feels like a lesson of all of the kinds
of struggles our ancestors must have had to feed themselves yearround, reading this thread! At least in the northern regions. The struggles were different in the tropics and desert regions of the world, I imagine!

In any case, I love reading about your gardening, and sorry about the crop loss! 頑張ってください!

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They are all set up to overwinter if they need to. The thing right now is if we start getting dumped on, we may very well be in for one of those winters where I will not be able to dig them out until spring. Also the things like arugula and spinach may not make it through without rotting. So I am at least harvesting most of those greens, and enough roots to eat on Christmas and New Years.
Our winters are highly variable. Last winter, we had only a few light dustings of snow. Other winters, we have had a meter at a time. I grew up much further North, so the winters here seem mild to me. Mild enough that I tell myself I can get away with a winter garden, although I know that I really can’t …

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so neat!
my tomcat just said he wanted soil blockers for xmas so i sent him pics of your home made ones…
thanks very much for sharing!

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I hope that it turns out ok. It was really just a lucky find for me. The old tube of caulking just happened to fit the PVC pipe perfectly.

I ran outside and gathered some roots before they became buried in snow:

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I got him some and a ho mi i’ve had my eyes on from this nice UK shop but I’m gonna keep my eyes peeled for tight fitting tubes… sometimes i see PVC piping on my walks. Got tubing at home but it’s all hula hoop size so pretty small.

It’s quite rare nowadays to find such a family feel in an online shop

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I looked through their catalog. Yes, 8-bit family feel. :slight_smile:
I will now go to watch their hoe being used on youtube.

Also, I can tell you the measurement on the pipe. I think it is stamped on the side. And I assume that caulking tubes are universal.

My sister, who works in agriculture, thinks that I should make and sell them.

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It is <種子>{しゅし} catalog time.
My sister sent me a gift certificate for Kitazawa 種子. They specialize in Asian <種子>{しゅし}, but are heavily weighted towards Japanese. I will do the bulk of my ordering from here.
I love the Baker Creek Heirloom <種子>{しゅし} catalog. It would be easy to get carried away in the tomato section. But where would I grow them all?
I also use Johnny’s 種子. They are oriented towards small farmers.
Finally, we are fortunate to have an actual local 種子 producer, Rohrer 種子. We will be making a visit to them soon.

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A bit of Swedish winter in my parents garden. :slight_smile: :snowflake:

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(はる)最初(さいしょ)(なえ)

(たま)ねぎと西(せい)(よう)(ねぎ)

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I bought a 忍者(にんじゃ) as a belated Christmas gift for my spouse:

image

I am addicted after only a day. Essentially it is only a small powerful blender. But its small size makes it easy to keep on the counter.

Now I must figure how to grow vegetables to ninjize as quickly as possible to make lots of 野菜(やさい)ジュース We are fairly far south here, but we often have a snowfall on the first weekend of 三月(さんがつ). But it melts quickly, and never falls on the second weekend. And the ground is always defrosted by then. So my goal is to plant as many things as I can on the ides of March. These will all be cool weather 野菜(やさい), typically planted in the middle of 四月(しがつ). But I will be planting them under row covers, a month early. That means I will be starting (なえ) for them in 二月(にがつ), then another batch of (なえ) in 三月(さんがつ) to be planted in 四月(しげつ).

Here is my list of 種子(しゅし) to start in 二月(にがつ):

  • Detroit Beets
  • Rainbow Blend Beets
  • American Rutabaga
  • Purple Top Turnip
  • ひのなかぶ turnip
  • かなまち turnip
  • Saxa II Radish
  • French Breakfast Radish
  • ときのし 大根(だいこん)
  • Another 大根(だいこん) which I collected seeds from.
  • Red Giant Mustard
  • Chinese Cabbage
  • Radichio Chicory
  • Spinach
  • うまいな Swiss Chard
  • Jagallo Nero Kale
  • Early Mibuna
  • Pak Choi
  • Garden Cress
  • Oasis Chrysanthemum
  • Komatsuna
  • A few plain old cabbage.
  • Dwarf Grey Sugar Snow Pea
  • Lillian’s Caseload Pea

The carrots will be direct seeded:

  1. 京都(きょうと) red carrot
  2. Koral Carrot
  3. Black Nebula Carrot
  4. Harris Parsnip

Holy Cow!!!
It looks overwhelming! But crops this early are easy. They all start easy from seed and don’t get weird viruses and funguses and stuff. There is not too much worry about rain here in the early season. As they finish, the space will be used for summer vegetables, plus a second sewing of some of these same crops at the base of tomatoes and peppers and such.
I have never things in the ground so early, so I will try to do a comparison with how the 三月(さんがつ) in-the-ground and 四月(しげつ) in-the-ground do compared to each other. The main advantage of the earlier crops will be to be early enough to be finished before the very hot days we often get in (ちゅう) 六月(ろくがつ).

Many of these same things will be planted again at the end of 七月(しちがつ) for a fall crop.
Also, some of these things, like many of the radishes, mature in just a few weeks.
Before you accuse me of planting too much please remember that my sister sent me a gift card for a place that sells only Asian seeds. So I bought seeds.
Seeds need to be plated to grow. The things that we deem to be the best are the ones that we will continue to grow in future years. I am trying to keep good records!

I don’t mean to be overwhelming here. I am taking this on after a lifetime of planting gardens, and of doing agricultural work as a child. The goal is to produce most of our own food, and to start a farm-stand in a few years. :slight_smile:

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アスパラガス

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So, I’ve finally started on my plants for my balcony this year. Now, I was thinking of using seeds. But the grocery store sold herbs for cheap. Really cheap. So, I went bazongas and bough all the herbs I wanted! ^>^ (all organically grown)

Thyme, Oregano, Rosmary, Mint, Chives, Basil, Thai-Basil (you don’t always see this one, so I jumped at that price), Dill, and Cilantro.

I use a ton of Cilantro and Basil and so I’ll be separating the Basil and give the plants lots of space to grow huge! ^>^ I’ve cut the tips of the plants, so they’ll branch. For the Cilantro I don’t know a way to really make them last, but I’ll also give them more space and be ready to buy more when I need it in my cooking.

I already have parsley from before. So, that’s nice! ^>^

And then I’ve started on my sprouting also. Peas are now soaking in water and waiting to be put on a bed of soil. :seedling: Pea sprouts :yum:

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I am really excited to see how this goes. The days start getting longer now, and as long as you have some good windows this should give your herbs a nice start.

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Is the coffee for you or for the plants? :wink:

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plants get left overs :slight_smile:

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