I just installed a new WordPress plugin called Tumblrize, which “automatically crossposts to your Tumblr blog when you publish a post on your WordPress blog.”
This is a test post to see if it works.
Here’s a photo to see if that gets crossposted:
Author Archives: joelignacio
Alyssum…
It’s funny how one search on Google can lead to more and more. That’s what happened when I did a search to see what climate Alyssum likes. I noticed we have tons of seedlings growing in our front yard right now and it’s fall and getting colder.
First thing I learned (from Wikipedia) was that there are 100–170 species of Alyssum and they are in the Brassicaceae family (the Broccoli/Cabbage/Kale family), which I knew. I was surprised to find out that the Sweet Alyssum growing in our front yard is not in the genus Alyssum (although it use to be), but in the genus Lobularia – Lobularia maritima.
There’s another close relative to Alyssum called Aurinia. I saw a photo on Wikipedia and it looks very similar to a plant that my brother bought and neglected, although it’s still surviving in its cell pack container. A few months back I took a few plants from it to grow myself. I’ll have to check if I can find the tag and see if it is an Aurinia.
One final thing I learned was that the yellow Alyssum that I’ve been trying to grow for several years from seed (but never germinated) is an Aurinia; Aurinia saxatilis or Gold Dust Alyssum. The seed package says labels it as Saxatile compactum. It’ll be funny if we’ve had the plant I’ve been trying to grow from seed all this time. Although it has never bloomed, so I wouldn’t have known.
So, I discovered all this because I was searching when I should sow the Alyssum Eastern Bonnet Series – Deep Rose seeds I purchased recently.
☆ + My Good Deed for the Day…
“Carrie just gave me a ☆ !!!!!” Clearing Veggie Bed #1…
This morning before I started on my freelance work. I started clearing Veggie Bed #1.
I first cut down the String Beans that were done producing. I found a lot of old pods that we didn’t harvest, but I’ll dry them and either us it for another planting, of use it for soup or another dish that calls for beans.
I then removed the trellis and hack away at the old Tomato plants. I harvested all the fruits that were left. The Roma type below is a variety called ‘Mamacita’. I think the round ones are ‘Rutgers Select’.
I then cleared away two Eggplant plants that didn’t produce for us. I keep forgetting that Eggplants don’t do well for me, but I end up buying a couple plants in the spring hoping my luck would change. That didn’t happen this year :P
I then evened out the soil and collected the wood bark mulch. I then removed all the old SFG dividers that were either warped or have disintegrated… replacing them with the PVC divider from my last entry.
It’s almost ready for fall/winter planting!!!
PVC DIY Projects…
Yesterday, Me and my Mom went to Home Depot to get some narrow cement hollow blocks to make a narrow garden bed along our north fence. Something my Mom has been asking me to build/fix.
I also decided to get some PVC pipes and connectors to build a cold frame that I want to put over Veggie Bed #2 to protect a Pomelo tree and extend my Peppers growing season, since it’s starting to get cold. I quickly drew a sketch for the cold frame and figured out what supplies I needed.
As I was gathering the PVC pipes and connectors, I had another idea to make dividers for my SFG (Square Foot Garden). So I got more connectors and pipes and somehow got all of these to fit in my Honda Civic Coupe… Note that those PVC pipes were 10 foot tall!
Once home, I started to assemble the cold frame, but it started too look like my plan wasn’t going to work, since I couldn’t bend the pipes as much as I could. So I sketched another plan and decided to leave this project for tomorrow when I can get more connectors and pipes.
So I put my cold frame plans aside and built out the SFG dividers. I figure out to cut the pipes into 10.25 inch length. When I add the connectors to it, it comes out to about 12 inches center to center, which is the right size.
This morning I cleared out Veggie Bed #1 and placed the SFG dividers. Here’s how it looked like:
Not bad. I was really happy with it. This will definitely last longer than my other failed attempts using nylon rope (which disintegrated after a season), dowels (which warped and just got old) and wire (which was hard to see).
Free Twitter Icons…
I wanted to jazz up my Twitter feed posts, so I searched online for some free twitter icons that I can use. Here are several that caught my eye:
Gourd Lady + Erasing Plant Labels…
I just happened to catch the Gourd Lady on the Tonight Show.
I’m erasing some used plant labels, so I can reuse them.
My New Method of Overwintering Coleus…
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my ideas on a new method to overwintering my Coleus cuttings.
Since then, I received the Super Jiffy Peat Pellets and the NatureWorks PLA 9 oz. drinking cups and lids (which are biodegradable and compostable!!!). The Super Peat Pellets were pretty big compared to the regular Jiffy Peat Pellets that you get at the store.
First step was to expanded several Super Jiffy Peat Pellets by adding water to the pellets. Continue reading