Preparing for Spring
I finally got the Aerogarden back out to use again. We moved and it had been packed away for a few months. I planted it with an herb kit last week and they are all sprouting except 2 which take a little longer. For Christmas I got a second Aerogarden so I’m about to plant it using a Garden Starter Tray made for the Aerogarden, shown here:
I will be able to start up to 70 seedlings at once to transplant into my garden this spring. I chose the following seeds to start:
Winter Savory, Creeping Thyme, Bee Balm, Wild Bergamot, Salad Burnet, White Horehound, Beetberry, Chinese Wolfberry (Goji), Lovage and Pot Marigold. I’m starting these a little early and plan to keep them growing using a grow light in the basement. I hope it works!
I tried to get all heirloom or organic seeds. I couldn’t for a few of these. I chose these plants specifically because they are edible or medicinal. I will do another planting with pretty flowers later, maybe in the Jiffy Greenhouse. They work well for starting seed. You should be able to pick one of these up at Lowes, Home Depot and maybe your local garden center. You can purchase refills so this greenhouse can be used over and over.
At a local department store I picked up some everbearing strawberry runners. This $3 bag should keep me and my family in strawberries all summer and hopefully I will have some extras to sell. Some strawberries produce only during 1 month in the summer, these are supposed to produce all summer. We’ll see.
I also picked up a Bowl of Beauty Peony root. I love this type of Peony and have wanted one for myself for at least a year.
This plant is not edible or medicinal that I know of and it will be years before I see the first flowers, but it will be beautiful for sure!
Lastly, there was a brightly colored bluebird making a bunch of noise outside day before yesterday. I tried to get a picture but that crazy bird was flying all over the place. Back and forth he flew yelling at his refIection in the truck mirror. This was the best shot I could get of this pretty but very distraught bird:
Foraging for Breakfast
I took this picture back in July and just got around to writing the entry. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as knowing you can go out in your backyard or nearby woods and get enough food to keep you going. On this particular moring I gathered berries, purslane and cherry tomatoes.
If you aren’t familiar with Purslane, it’s a common weed here in Ohio and in most other parts of the country as well. You can find it in gardens, sidewalk cracks and yards. Purslane is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants. Purslane has more beta-carotene than spinach, and contains high levels of magnesium and potassium. Historically it has been used as a remedy for arthritis and inflammation and for respiratory and circulatory function. Recently, it’s been found that purslane has lots of alpha linolenic acid, a type of omega-3 fatty acid. The substances in purslane may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels as well as make the blood less likely to form clots. Purslane has only 15 calories per 100 gram portion.
EXERCISE CAUTION: Never eat wild plants unless you are sure of what they are. Take them to an experienced forager or botanist for identification. Some plants can make you very sick or kill you!
Aerogarden Update Photo 09/07/2008
Still no cilantro. I think we got some bad seed.
Caterpillar photo I took Sunday:
Do you see the bug in the picture below? It’s on the white flowers below those pods. We call this a hummingbird bug here. Many people have never heard of them. They’re very fast and shaped like a hummingbird but they also look like a bee. If you’ve never seen one they’re fun to watch. They love my white butterfly bush!
See it there in the upper corner of this picture?
Photos & Aerogarden Update
Well, the aerogarden is still performing well. Chives have popped up:
As I wrote before the control panel notifies you when it’s time to add nutrients or water. As of now I haven’t had to do either.
I’m loving this Aerogarden so much, I’m thinking of buying another one. They make a set up now where you can use it to grown any seeds you want. I think it will be great for spring seed starting!
A few favorite wildflowers
I have always loved wildflowers but I became interested in identifying and collecting them when I took a spring wildflowers class in college. I enjoyed it so much I took the fall flowers class as well. Hey, it went toward my science minor and it was very enjoyable.
New York Ironweed Vernonia noveboracensis -
Each small floret contains sweet nectar, which makes it a favorite for swallowtail butterflies and other insects. Native Americans may have used the Ironweed root to relieve pain after childbirth. Some species of Ironweed have been used to treat stomach problems.
Goldenrod- Laboratory studies have found that active compounds in goldenrod help reduce inflammation. It was used historically for wound healing. Can be used to make a natural yellow dye.
Orange/Red Trumpetvine (Trumpet Creeper)- This is a beauty! The fresh leaves can be irritating to some people, so it is mostly used dried. Dried plant parts have been used to treat fungus, yeast and tinea infections. If you would want to collect this plant, it is best to wear gloves.
Favorite Garden Flower
This is the Passionflower, my all-time favorite garden perennial. It can be invasive if you don’t keep up with it because it spreads underground and also from seeds. This is a climber that can turn any arbor, fence or trellis into what looks like a tropical getaway. It is hardy here in Ohio, zone 6. It dies back in the winter but returns in spring. By mid-summer the plant can grow very tall. The bright green foliage is covered with gorgeous, scented purple and white flowers that bees just love. After the flower dies, a very interesting seed pod starts to form. I’ll try to get a picture of a pod to show here soon.
Sunflowers- I love all kinds of sunflowers! They’re just so pretty and useful. After the flower dies and the seeds start to form, they make great food for the birds or for people. I like to collect a few seeds for use the following year and leave the rest for my feathered friends. As you can see in the photo above, bees also love sunflowers and I love bees in my garden. Bees make a garden healthy and happy!
Got the Aerogarden!
I’ve wanted one of these for a very long time and I found one for $70 at a local store. It came with the herb kit. I really want the Aerogarden for growing salads in the winter but I won’t pass on some fresh herbs! I started it up, very easy set up by the way, and within 4 days I already have sprouts, both the basils
I took off one of the labels so you could get a better look at the sprout
The Aerogarden notifies you when it’s time to add nutrients or water.
I’ll keep you posted on the progress of my herbs
Got a Greenhouse!
I really wanted a greenhouse but I didn’t want to invest a ton of money. So, I went to Ebay and found this great Portable Greenhouse for under $160 (including shipping).
I was very pleased with the quality for the price. It holds lots of plants. I’m a bit concerned about how it will hold up here with our winter storms, but I’m gonna worry about that a little later. That’s Danny, my boyfriend and gardening helper.
I saw this Zebra Swallowtail on our butterfly bush the other day. Haven’t seen one of those in years, they are so beautiful! As you can see, this one is missing part of its tail? area.
Garden Update- July
The garden is looking great! All our hard work paid off. This picture was taken July 21st:
The heirloom Brandywine tomatoes I got are doing very well (super tall!) though they don’t have many tomatoes yet. I plan on collecting and storing seeds for planting next year from these heirloom tomatoes. This will be my first attempt at seed collecting/storing/planting so we’ll see how it goes.
I picked these tomato plants up locally and they already have so many green tomatoes for frying:
My indoor tomatoes, which are hanging in the arbor right now are starting to ripen:
I hope they do this well inside this winter.
We have 1 broccoli plant and 1 cabbage plant that I picked up locally jsut to see how they’d do. We also have some onions, carrots and a few pepper plants.
I think I may have the tallest oregano ever! I’m not sure if this picture does it justice or not. The sad thing is that I never even use oregano! So, send me your recipes using oregano. Those with tomatoes and oregano would be even better. christi@differentdaisy.com
Gooseberries
For those of you who aren’t familiar with gooseberries, you’re missing out! I had forgotten about this yummy little berry until I was looking for plants online and remembered eating these at my great aunts when I was very young. They’re really like no other berry you’ve ever tried. Tart but unusual. So, I had to order a couple plants for my garden. And, too my delight I already have 3 berries on one plant. Hopefully the birds won’t eat them before I can.
Gooseberries have high nutritional value. They contain vitamins A and C and potassium, and are a good source of fibre.
Now, it doesn’ t look like I’ll get a big crop of berries this year, but next year look out! I’ll be making this chutney:
Gooseberry Chutney
3 lb gooseberries
1/2 lb onions
1 lb sugar
1/2 pint water
1/2 oz salt
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 pint vinegar
Top and tail the berries, and chop roughly. Chop the onions finely and cook with the berries in the water until they are well softened. Add the other ingredients, and simmer until the chutney becomes thick, stirring occasionally. Bottle while hot and cover immediately.
This chutney, yielding about 4.5 lbs becomes more mellow in flavor the longer it is kept.
SOURCE: http://www.gingerich.com/recipes/gooseberry.html
Blueberries, Indoor Tomato Plants & Garden Pics
Got some long awaited plants in last week: Hotel Giant Blueberries, Indoor Tomato Plants and Scarlet Bee Balm. They came from Gardener’s Choice and though it took a while to get my order I am very pleased with the plants. They are taking off nicely. They do offer a free wildflower seed packet with every order and if you go to samples you can get more free seeds. Shipping was a little slow but I expect that when ordering live plants because they really do have to wait until the plants are mature enough to ship.
I ordered the indoor tomato plants hoping to get tomatos all year but I’m not sure if it will work. Right now I have them outside in hanging baskets so they will grow bigger but with any luck this winter they will produce in my sunroom. I got another product called a fruit salad tree. It came dormant. I planted it but I’m not sure when it will get leafy. It’s supposed to produce 5 different kinds of fruits. How exciting is that? I’m sure it will be years before I see any fruit but it’ll be well worth the wait to see what happens.
Indoor Tomato Plants (got 3)
Blueberries
Scarlet Bee Balm- Butterflies and bees love this stuff and it’s so pretty!
My red rose bush. You can see the recycled rubber mulch in the background. This stuff looks so good. It’s a little more expensive than regular mulch but is earth friendly and should last for about 12 years.
When catnip goes wrong!
I had to post this picture. I grew my own catnip this year from seed and the cats are loving it. They were just rolling around having a blast and then it got ugly!
Raised Vegetable Garden Ready
The raised veggie garden is finally ready and we’ve planted a few things: tomatoes, yellow bell pepper and a jalapeno. The official last day of frost here in Ohio is May 10th, so I’m gonna hold off on planting the delicate sprouts until then. I’ve been sunning the sprouts for a few hours a day to get them used to the sun. They all did pretty well but I lost a few.
This sunflower sprout is so big. ! can’t wait to see the beautiful flower it produces and eat those seeds!
Where’s Spring?
I live in Southern Ohio, a nice place to live because we get all four seasons. Spring, summer and fall are great, but winter gives me the blues! About mid-December I start longing for spring. Right around the end of February, floral shops and grocery stores start getting in their hyacinths which is one of my favorite plants. They smell so good and one plant can fill a whole room with fragrance. The purple ones smell the best in my opinion. Anyway, as soon as I get a whiff of these flowers I know spring is right around the corner. Every year I buy a purple hyacinth so I can enjoy its scent until the warm weather comes.
This year winter seems to be dragging on and on for me. We had bad ice a couple weeks ago and flooding this week. Right now, it’s about 32 degrees. I’ve bought 2 hyacinths to get me through and both have bloomed out and are now waiting for the last frost to be planted.
I watch a lot of HGTV and just entered to win the 2008 Green Home. Wish me luck! Aside from how awesome it would be to live in a ‘green’ home, warmer South Carolina is looking like paradise to me right now. It’s nice that HGTV is showing people so many ‘green’ options for remodeling and decorating because lots of people who would otherwise be unaware of these options tune in daily to this channel. I guess they really are taking ‘green’ mainstream. Any other HGTV fans out there?
Okay, way off topic. I was questioning whether spring is ever going to get here. A bit of a rant but relevant because I want to start planting those little veggie plants and showing off all my food creations. The sprouts are doing well, although I didn’t get as many melon spouts as I had hoped and no cucumbers at all. Anyone have experience with these? Maybe they take a little longer or need special care.
I was so thrilled with the early success of the sprouts that I decided to get another biodome and start some flower seeds too. I got black eyed Susans, lavender (I already have a couple lavender plants but thought I could give some away), daisies, lupine and butterfly weed. Can’t wait to see what happens with them!
