Recent content by Branching Out

Love it-- congratulations Shades-of-Oregon! 😍

And finally lettuce. Some have survived in tiny 3/4" peat blocks for over a month, which is kind of interesting. If I have time I may bump them up to 2" blocks, for sharing. My preference is to start lettuce seed on coarse vermiculite, and then at about 2 weeks I prick out them out to 1 1/2"...

Sweet Peas are stalling with this long cold stretch of soggy weather. Most of these ones were started in mid-February. Hopefully it will dry out enough to plant a few of them in the garden later this week. I find sweet peas tricky to get established, so I would hate to have these perish.

Dill and cilantro can be a bit of a challenge to grow indoors, so I'm trialling sowing small pinches of seed in 1 1/2" soil blocks. Cruiser Coriander and Ella Dill were each started on March 11th at cool room temperature. Once they sprouted I moved them under lights to continue growing cool...

Sunflowers Sunrich Gold and Sunrich Lime had good germination in 1 1/2" blocks, and are now ready to move out to the deck for some fresh air. If I keep them indoors they'll get weak and leggy; I'm hoping the wind will toughen them so so I'll have nice stocky seedlings. These little guys are...

Dijon Mustard and other cool brassicas such as Golden Frills mustard, Bare Necessities Kale, and a funky Italian broccoli called Spigariello Riccio-- all sown on March 17th. These all need to stay where it's kind of warm for now, or they may think they've gone through winter and bolt. They are...

Peppers plants with their waxy leaves can be so beautiful. When I move them outdoors I often place them inside white fabric row cover bags, to temper the sun, wind, and cold. The peppers seem to like it in there-- but if they are too wet they can rot. So a little on the dry side can be...

Next up is a glimpse of tomatoes. I found the perfect white plastic basket to place over my seedlings when I want to cover them with row cover. I use the white spun fabric outdoors a lot-- and sometimes indoors too. The fabric keeps the seedlings warmer, and they don't dry out as fast either...

10" of rain so far in March, so there are lots and lots of trays of soil blocks keeping me company indoors. Thought it would be good to capture the moment in photos. To start things off, here are early bush beans at various stages of development. The nice looking seedlings in the second photo...

After watching my perennial Fama Blue Scabiosa bloom through much of the winter in zone 7, this plant has earned the distinction of being my current favourite flowering perennial. Blue blossoms are so rare-- and these flowers not only have an unusual colour but an intricate, delicate form too...

There were a few hours without rain this morning, so I dashed out the the garden with my trowel. First several beds had to be cleaned up; there are still lots of weeds left to pull, but I made good progress in several areas. Next I sowed Bolero, Green Arrow, and Wando shelling peas-- and...

I suspect that it would require scientific testing-- not my area of expertise though.

For several years I have been growing herbaceous peonies from seed, under the guidance of a mentor from the Canadian Peony Society. Growing peonies from seed is a long game, taking about five years from seed to bloom. The seeds need to be sown in July or thereabouts as they need several months...

I started three seeds of 'Mideast Peace' cucumber on March 12th, and two out of three germinated really quickly under a damp paper towel on a heat mat. Their root development after just a few days was really impressive. This morning I poked them into 3" soil blocks, made using damp peat moss...

They are indeed dead, and ready to nourish the soil. Much better than sprinkling iron pellets, and more effective than hand-picking them as they are hard to find among the leafy greens. ;)