Today I sowed a few seeds:
– Florence Fennel
– Spaghetti Squash
– Black Zucchini
I also potted some seedlings into newspaper pots:
– Bok Choy ‘Fun Jen’
– Bok Choy ‘Joi Choy’
– Swiss Chard ‘Fordhood Giant’
Tag Archives: sow
Overcast, But Lots of Gardening Done…
It was pretty much overcast the whole day but I got a lot done in the garden.
I moved a lot of pots with dead plants (annuals) from the front garden to the container graveyard in the back. I’ll rejuvenate the soil in these pots with compost, azomite, worm castings and the whole bit, when I find something else to plant in them. I moved three pots of Hyacinths which are now blooming to the front as well as the pot of Daffodil ‘Dick Widen’, Tulip ‘Pastel Mix’ and Tulip ‘Queen of the Night’. I don’t think the Tulips will rebloom this year, but there are 2-3 Daffodils that survived and are budded.
I took the water sprayer again and sprayed off the gray Aphids that remain on the Collards, Kale and Brussels Sprouts. There are much less Aphids than before, but a few remain.
We had a dwarf Calamansi tree in a huge pot that died last year and I finally got around to pulling it out (it was actually my Brother’s tree, so I thought he would take care of it). I asked my Mom if I can plant her Pomegranate that’s in a 5-gallon pot in the back yard to this larger pot. I think it’ll do much better here in a larger pot under full sun. I’ll also add a lots of compost, azomite and worm castings in the pot before potting up the Pomegranate. My Mom was complaining that the Pomegranate hasn’t bore fruit, but it’s siblings that she gave my Aunts already had fruits.
I have two 3-gallon pots of Blue Curled Scotch Kale (3 plants in each pot) that are getting bigger, so I think I’ll divide one pot and plant each plant into their own 3-galloon pot. I then had an idea and though of planting some dwarf Snap Peas ‘Sugar Ann’ that I purchased a few days ago around the Kale. I think Kale, being a leafy green, likes Nitrogen… and Snap Peas produce Nitrogen in it’s roots, so maybe they’ll be happy together… Well, we’ll see…
I then planted a 7-gallon Dirt Pot with the Walla Walla Sweet Onions seedlings that I bought a few days ago. I think I got about 11 seedlings into the pot. I had 6 seedlings leftover, so I potted those up into a large 6 cell pack and will plant it in the Square Foot Garden later.
It was getting dark and starting to sprinkle, but I planted two 1-gallon pots with seeds I found. One with the Daylily seeds I found in Mare Island and the other with the Orange Calendula I found at Prusch Park in San Jose. I hope these grow.
Now it’s raining, so I don’t have to water the plants :) That’s a good thing.
New Kitazawa Seed Co. Seeds…
I recently purchased five new seed packets from Kitazawa Seed Co., which is where I got my Bok Choy ‘Joi Choi’ 
seeds that I have been planting for about 8 years now. They include:
– Bok Choy ‘Golden Yellow’ a bright yellowish-green Bok Choy
– Bok Choy ‘Purple Choi’ a dark purple leaf Bok Choy
– Chard ‘Umaina’ a Japanese Chard that I think is similar to the Swiss Chard ‘Green’ I have been buying
– Usui edible Pea shoots
– Kabocha ‘Sweet Mama’ a Japanese Pumpkin/Winter Squash that has a bush-like growth habit (like Zucchini)
Today, I sowed the three leaf veggies: Bok Choi ‘Golden Yellow’ , Bok Choy ‘Purple Choi’ and Chard ‘Umaina’ . I hope they turn out as well like my plantings of Joi Choi Bok Choy.
Pear Tree Pruning + Zinnias, Strawflower, Coleus and Herbs sown…
It’s the first of June, but it’s seems like it’s winter or early spring. In fact, it was raining for a bit this morning, but luckily it stopped by the afternoon.
I did major pruning on our four pear trees. I noticed that there were a lot of dead branches, so I pruned anything that was dead. I didn’t get everything, and I may leave one of the tall branches in the middle Bosc Pear since I noticed that that where our neighborhood hummingbird loves to perch and sing. I still have more to prune, but it was getting late and I was getting tired.
Before going in, I planted the 5 Dwarf Border Sunflower plants into a 5 gallon container. I’ll move this to the front later this week.
I also sowed Zinnia ‘Whirligig’ , Zinnia (Fall 2005) and Tall Double Strawflowers .
Inside, I sowed 8 kinds of Coleus from seeds I saved:
– Coleus (Unknown Burgundy G2-2006/2011)
– Coleus (Dapple Apple G2-2006/2011)
– Coleus (Sedona G2-2006/2011)
– Coleus (Amora G2-2005/2011)
– Coleus (Kong Green G2-2005/2011)
– Coleus (Kong Salmon Pink G2-2010/2011)
– Coleus (Dark Star G2-2005/2011)
– Coleus (Splash G2-2006/2011)
I also sowed some herbs:
– Basil ‘Hybrid Thai Lemon’
– Basil ‘Lettuce Leaf’
– Basil (Sweet, Chia brand)
– Perilla frustescens (Shi-so) ‘Vietnamese, Tia To’
Wintersowin’ 2011…
A few days ago, I discovered another way to wintersow… so I’m giving Wintersowing another chance.
I purchased two 50 qt. Sterlite plastic bins with covers.
I was able to place twelve 3 inch pots into each one.
I planted mostly flower seeds and a few vegetable. Continue reading
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’ 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:
Left: I made small, but tall newspaper pots, so I can plant them directly into veggie bed once sprouted. I planted Daikon ‘Mino Early’ 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’ in these.
Mango
I saved another Mango seed from a Mango we bought and ate… and will try growing it.
Firecracker Begonia + Horseradish Update + Sowing a Bunch of Seeds…
The Firecracker Begonia that I sowed on Feb. 8 finally sprouted this weekend, even though I doubted that they would. They are so tiny and there are so many of them!!!
Compare the sprouts to the tip of a pen.
The Horseradish sprout that I found on Feb. 5 has sprouted roots. I’ll plant it in soil and slowly harden it off to go outdoor.
Finally, I sowed a bunch of seeds this evening.
They include:
– Tomato ‘Brandywine Red’ (G2/2010)
– Tomato ‘Copia’ (G2/2010)
– Tomato ‘Azoycha Yellow Russian’ (G2/2010)
– Tomato ‘San Marzano’ (G2/2010)
– Tomato ‘Hippy Zebra’ (G2/2010)
– Tomato ‘Hawaiian Pineapple’ (G2/2010)
– Tomato ‘Speckle Red Roma’ (G2/2010)
– Tomato ‘Vntage Wine’ (G2/2010)
– Tomato ‘Red Zebra’ (G2/2010)
– Tomato ‘Red Pear’ (G2/2010)
– Tomato Tree
– Pepper (Sweet Mini Red G2/2007)
– Pepper (Sweet Mini Orange G2/2008)
– Pepper (Trader Joe’s Sweet Long Red G2/2010)
– Butter Daisy
– Cerinthe ‘Purple Bells’
– Larkspur ‘Giant Imperial Mix’
– Alyssum ‘Easter Bonnet Deep Rose’
– Bells of Ireland
– Tweedia caerulea (G2/2007)
– Nasturtium ‘Alaska Mix’ (G2/2010)
– Datura metal ‘Golden Queen’
– Datura metal ‘Purple Queen’
– Starfruit
– Tidy Tips (G2/2010)
– Tomato ‘Woodle Orange’
– Pepper ‘Golden Marconi (G2/2010)’
Midnight Snow Peas + Pawpaw Stratification…
Midnight Snow Peas
Back in September 2010, I was in search for purple Snap Peas. I searched online and found www.purplepeas.net. I wrote Dan, the purple Snap Pea breeder, but they were not yet available.
I received a package of Midnight Snow Peas today and will soak them in water overnight, so I can plant them tomorrow. I generally don’t like the Snow Peas that I have grown in the past, but the purple Snap Peas are still not available, so I’ll give these Snow Peas a try for now.
Pawpaw
I don’t know if the one Pawpaw seed that I got from the 2011 CRFG Scion Exchange will grow, but I’m going to give it a try.
I read that it is slow to germinate and needs stratification, so placed it in the refrigerator for now. I also read that it needs to be kept moist, so tomorrow I will get some sphagnum moss, moisten it and place the seed it in. Again, I don’t know if this will germinate, but we’ll see…