Another Earthquake + Vlog + Repottings…

This morning, I was waken up by another earthquake. It sounded like someone pounded on my bedroom window and shook my loft bed… and since I was up on my loft bed, I thought to myself that I need to get down, just in case. I then saw on the news that it was another 3.7 magnitude earthquake and the epicenter was about at the same location as yesterday’s earthquake; about 6 miles south of us.

I’ve been watching YouTube quite a bit lately and have learned a lot about gardening, sewing, quilting, cooking, DIY projects, etc. There are several YouTubers who I admire and watch regularly… and this got me thinking… Maybe I should make some videos to add to this blog… So later this afternoon, I got out my FlipVideo MinoHD camera which I hardly use, since I don’t really do much video, and gave it a try. I got this camera as a gift for being the employee of the year at my previous job.

My first attempt was just an introduction to my seedlings in newspaper pots sitting in the front yard. I basically, showed my various Bok Choys, Chard, etc. It was though getting into it, but after a while I just kept talking and talking… which was weird, because I felt like I’m talking to myself.

I then shot another video of me transplanting my Daikon seedlings into a Dirt Pot fabric pot. I’m trying an experiment to see if how well Daikons will grow if I sowed them indoors under grow lights until they have sprouted for about 3 day, then hardening them off outside for a day or two. They were a bit leggy, but I buried them deep so the first set of leaves where just above the soil line. I haven’t had any luck growing Diakons in the past and hopefully this method may work, since it’ll be in full sun in the front yard.

I noticed that the volunteer Bells of Ireland plant was all dried up, so I pulled it up and collected its seeds. The bract-like stuff surrounding the seeds were aged and looked like lace… (I can’t think to the word for this process)… Many of the seeds already fell, so we should have some volunteers, but I’ll still plant all the seeds I collected into a 1-gallon pot to winter sow. I’ll transplant them once they sprout and develop a few leaves.

A bunch of plants in pots are in need of a bit of soil replenishing, before they started actively growing. First, I just added compost, azomite and worm castings to a small Daylily ‘Frank Hals’ pot to bring up the soil line.

I then emptied the pot of Orange Bottlebrush Ginger which really needed repotting. The roots were massive and winding around several times. There were two distinct branching of the Ginger corm and I decided to divide it in two. I didn’t really know what to do, so I just pretended it was a Bearded Iris. I cut a majority of the root ends leaving about 4 inches on the corm and broke away the oldest corm segments. I then repotted the two cleaned up corms into a larger 5-gallon pot. I hope this encourages this Ginger to flower. Its only flowered once in the past and I was away, so I didn’t see it.

I found another small pot of a Peruvian Daffodil which I think will benefit with new soil. I dug the bulbs up and there were 5 healthy bulbs all close together. I can’t remember how many I originally started with and I can’t seem to find a record of when I bought these. I spread the bulb apart and repotted them with some added compost, azomite and worm castings.

Mar 2, 2011 Garden Update…

The Daikons (Mino Early Folia and Sweet Glade Folia ) are getting big fast, so I moved them outdoor to harden off…

Tons of Sprouts…

Many of the seeds sown on the 23th are now sprouting…

– Tomato ‘Woodle Orange’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Hippy Zebra’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Brandywine Red’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Hawaiian Pineapple’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Copia’ Folia
– Tomato ‘San Marzano’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Vintage Wine’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Red Pear’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Red Zebra’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Speckled Red Roma’ Folia
– Cerinthe Folia

The two Daikons (Mino Early Folia and Sweet Glade Folia ) are also sprouting… I think I will have to move them outdoor soon…

Alyssum Sprouting + Daikon and Mango Sowed…

I was surprised to see sprouts already from the seeds I planted 2 days ago. The Alyssum ‘Easter Bonnet Deep Rose’ Folia is already sprouting…

Daikons

I know Daikons are supposed to be planted directly in the ground and not transplanted, but I was curious if I can start it and plant it once I see a small sprout. For my experiment, I planted it two ways:

Daikon Sowing Experiment

Left: I made small, but tall newspaper pots, so I can plant them directly into veggie bed once sprouted. I planted Daikon ‘Mino Early’ Folia in these.

Right: I used Jiffy Peat Pellets with the outside netting removed. I placed them on top of about an inch layer of soil, so the roots can grow deeper. I planted Daikon ‘Sweet Glade’ Folia in these.

Mango

Inside Mango Seed

I saved another Mango Folia seed from a Mango we bought and ate… and will try growing it.

Mango

Seed Purchases

I had some time to kill at work and did some seed shopping online:

I ordered these Asian herbs and veggie at Evergreen Seeds:

Large Leaf Korean Perilla – Coleus-like Perilla with a unique flavor between mint and basil
Tia To Vietnamese Perilla – Green color leaves with purplish red on the back
Red Stripe Leaf Amaranth – Edible large green leaves with red stripes
All Red Edible Amaranth – Edible all red leaves
Mino Early Daikon Radish – A long-time Japanese Daikon Radish favorite
Smooth Beauty Luffa – Light green skinned edible Luffa
Maiko Garland Chrysanthemum – Edible Asian Greens
Thai Lemon Basil – Thai Hoary Basil

I also ordered these hard-to-find and usual plants at Amishland Heirloom Seeds:

Strawberry Spinach – (Chenopodium capitatum) Spinach and Strawberries in one
Sikkim Cucumber – (Cucumis sativus var. sikkimensis) Cantaloupe-like Cucumber
Brandywine OTV Tomato – A sub variety of the famous Brandywine Tomato
Scarlet Chinese Eggplant – (Solanum integrifolium) Miniature Pumpkins-like fruits
Great White Tomato – Big white Beefsteaks