Massive Seed Sowing Sunday…

This weekend, we had beautiful summer-like weather with highs reaching 78°F (normal average is 63°F). Looks like we are going to have an early spring (which is what I think Mr. Groundhog told us). I remember last year, I couldn’t plant outside until May because he had rain everyday in April.

Sowing Seed

It’s funny seeing myself plant seeds… Does anyone else sit down cross-legged with slippers and short on and work on the ground like that? I think I need a potting table…

I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and start planting seeds… and I did some massive seed sowing:

Lemon Cucumber
Cosmos ‘Picotee’
Cosmos ‘Sensation Mixed Colors’
Orange Cosmos from treebreeze (Thank you for these! :)
Sunflower ‘Summer Sun’ (Ox-Eye) (Heliopsis Scabra)
Agrostemma ‘Ocean Pearl’
Strawflower (Helichrysum) Tall Double Mixed Colors
Nasturtium ‘Jewel Mixed Colors’
Zinnia ‘Envy’
Zinnia ‘Candy Cane Mix’
Zinnia ‘Dahlia Flowered Mixed Colors’
Zinnia ‘Giant Cactus Mixed Colors’
Zinnia ‘Thumbelina’
Lamb’s Ears (I think they are Lamb’s Ears) seeds that I collect from San Anselmo

Spider Fancy Spider House?
Spiders, Spiders, Spiders: As I was filling the 6-pack cell pots with soil, I found a Spider living in between them. I released it so it can find a new home. My Mom then noticed a Spider that had made a home in our of our decorative bird house. Then when I was sowing the seeds, I notice hundreds of tiny baby spiders around the 6-packs, so I tried to disperse them around the garden to make new homes.

Peanuts: I also took the Peanut outdoors and repotted it (again) into a larger container (its permanent home) filled with potting soil and a lot of perlite to make the soil really loose.

Garden progress:

Recent blooms: Spring Starflower, Rananculus

Spring Starflower Ranunculus

About to bloom: the very first Columbine, Pears, Apples, Clematis, Wisteria

Emerging growth: Forsythia leaves, Taro

The Start of Garden Work…

It was beautiful outside, so I did some garden maintenance in the front yard. I first cut down and removed all the dead Sunflowers and Zinnias. Our dog Kelly accompanied me in my chores as our neighbor’s kid kept trying to call her. Kelly pretty much ignored them, because she was busy cutting the grass.

I tried to pull as many weeds as I can and cleaned up the Swiss Chard, Rudbeckia and Mums. This was worth two 5-gallon containers of composting materials.

My mom wanted to pull up the Dahlias in the front planting area, which hasn’t been divided in I can’t remember how many years. This was no easy task because the tubers were huge (like grocery potatoes) and they were intertwined with out White Birch tree’s roots. They were also Dutch Iris and Columbine that we wanted to save, so I had to carefully dig these up and put them aside, until we can replant. It started getting dark, so I could not finish. Those Dahlia tubers were really stuck in the Birch’s root, and I’ll have to tackle this later.

I also collected all the plant labels that were in the planting beds. I washed the dirt off of them and place them away for safe-keeping. Which reminds me, I want to get some black plant labels for my seedlings.

Now, I have a blister from cutting the Sunflower and Zinnia into small compostable pieces. and my back is sore. Gosh, I feel old… hehe :)

Guava Blossom…

Our Tropic White Guava has finally started to blossom. Hopefully we’ll get guava fruit soon.

Sometimes I feel like an idiot… I planted a sunflower bed ( pic ) back in June 13. Well… The sunflower seedlings I transplanted were Zinnias!!!!… and now they are starting to bloom. Luckily, there were some bare spots where I planted sunflower seeds… so we should still get some sunflowers.

Sunflower… err… Zinnia/Sunflower bed

The Profusion Zinnias that I planted as a border

Tuesday’s Gardening…

Yesterday (Tuesday) I just did a little gardening, this time in the front yard.

I checked my sunflower bed and a few didn’t make it… but I think a neighborhood cat scratched it up, since there were some cat poo in it. I added a layer of coffee ground on it to deter the cat. I also planted some sunflower seeds that I harvested from last year in the bald spots. Don’t know if it’ll grow, but we’ll see…

I also planted the last 6 packs of a white mini zinnia and some-other flower I can’t remember in the front bed. I amended the soil a bit and sprinkled some random annual flowers. I’m not sure if they will grow, since I have bad luck with sowing seed directly in the soil.

In the back, I checked the newspaper mulch I placed the day before. It turned a light brown instead of that newspaper gray color, so it doesn’t look that weird. I’ll probably add some newspaper mulch in my other beds and maybe add some coffee grounds on top to deter the cats and to also dye the paper brown so it looks a little more natural.

I also got a email reply from our local newspaper editor and he confirmed that the do in fact use soy-based ink in their paper. He gave me the name of their recycling columnist and said to call them if I wanted more info on mulching. He also added that “Wednesday Appetites section is particularly good for helping you grow food for thought” which I thought was funny. He answered my question, gave me a number to call if I wanted more information and also plugged the paper… What a good editor! :)

Oh yeah… one last thing… I learned that they will build a Super Wal-Mart in the old lot where K-Mart use to be. They will then close down the Wal-Mart that is 2 minutes away from our house and guess what will replace it… I freakin’ Home Depot!!! I’m so excited! Imagine, I’ll be 2 minutes away from a Home Depot!!! It’ll probably be in 2 years, which is prefect timing, because that’s about the time when my neighbor will sell his house, which I want to buy… (I’ll write more about the house in a later entry)…

Saturday’s Home Depot trip…

On Saturday, my Mom and I went to Home Depot to buy some potting soil. We ended buying more…

Potting Soil, Steer Manure and Soil Conditioner
Potting Soil

A Strawberry Pot and a $5 Pot
Pots

My mom bought a 6 pack of Celosia and a 6 pack of Zinnias. I bought a 6 pack of Coleus
6 Packs