Phaedra's 2021 Garden

[Phaedra]

We had a gale warning today, and the crazy wind might reach 110km/h at some places. Although we don't belong to "some places," strong wind and rain haven't taken a break yet.

As there was no hope to do something in the garden besides feeding the chickens in the early morning, I did my household cleaning and watched an old Star Trek TV series: Voyager.

I used a shelf with wheels to be a multifunctional laundry cart - it makes hanging out clothes much more effortless. Besides, all laundry-related items have a home now.

To maximize the usage of oranges, I cut them so that my daughter and husband will quickly eat (otherwise, no one will ever touch those fruits if they need to handle them by themselves ) and keep the peel for two extra miles.

First of all, they stayed in the refrigerator overnight and contributed the wonderful smell.

And then, they are used for cleaning the microwave. I just added some water and heated it in the microwave for 10 minutes. The steam would make the cleaning easy. In the end, they went to the compost bin to turn into organic feed for microbes.

I made some garlic-based sauce and will need to finish another two varieties and scented candles in the coming days. Very soon, it will be the time to prepare gifts for the year-end holidays.

 

[flowerbug]

chickens won't eat orange peels?

 

[baymule]

chickens won't eat orange peels?

Nope. Chickens eat almost everything but even chickens have their limits. LOL

Neat tip on cleaning microwave with orange peels.

 

[flowerbug]

Nope. Chickens eat almost everything but even chickens have their limits. LOL

Neat tip on cleaning microwave with orange peels.

oh, that's ok, the worms will eventually eat them. when we buy a bag of oranges and have peels i dry them out so they can be stored indefinitely and i put a few in each worm bucket when i feed them. they don't seem to mind, but there are always the recommendations that to not feed citrus to worms. i think why is that most people have the organic material loving red wrigglers and having orange peels in that sort of stuff would be much different than how i do things with a mix of worm species and there is dirt involved along with organic materials. the European Night Crawlers have no problems at all with the orange peels.

i also did some reading about a guy in California who developed worms that would eat orange peels or any other citrus i thought that would be something fun, but i don't have room to set up yet more buckets and start another project.

 

[Phaedra]

Nope. Chickens eat almost everything but even chickens have their limits. LOL

Neat tip on cleaning microwave with orange peels.

I once saw a Youtuber put lots of orange peels into the compost pile where chickens will freely access. I don't want to risk ours, so the last destination of the peels (after using in microwave or oven) is the hot compost.

 

[Phaedra]

Sunday brunch as usual

Then I cleaned up the table-top mini garden, where I propagated herbs and veggies from cuttings, tops, or bottoms. When the new leaves grow well, I will transplant them into the soil in the raised beds or the greenhouse. Now there are leeks, scallions, carrot tops, mints, and Chinese cabbage (bottom). We got a tiny fountain that quite fits in.

It looks lovely to me.

My laundry room also has a new look after some changes. In the past 40 years, it has remained a dark, dull, lifeless space for laundry and storage. I don't mind those old-fashioned tiles, but I can't work in a place I feel uncomfortable. After some iterations in the past three years, I am now quite satisfied with the result.

Although it's called "basement" here, it's the ground floor due to the house's slope. Among the three rooms, this is the brightest one. Now it has become a "Sanctuary Underground" where I read, do housework, have coffee, or daydream behind the window.

 

[Carol Dee]

Sunday brunch as usual
View attachment 44737

Then I cleaned up the table-top mini garden, where I propagated herbs and veggies from cuttings, tops, or bottoms. When the new leaves grow well, I will transplant them into the soil in the raised beds or the greenhouse. Now there are leeks, scallions, carrot tops, mints, and Chinese cabbage (bottom). We got a tiny fountain that quite fits in.

View attachment 44738
It looks lovely to me.
View attachment 44739

My laundry room also has a new look after some changes. In the past 40 years, it has remained a dark, dull, lifeless space for laundry and storage. I don't mind those old-fashioned tiles, but I can't work in a place I feel uncomfortable. After some iterations in the past three years, I am now quite satisfied with the result.
View attachment 44741

View attachment 44742

Although it's called "basement" here, it's the ground floor due to the house's slope. Among the three rooms, this is the brightest one. Now it has become a "Sanctuary Underground" where I read, do housework, have coffee, or daydream behind the window.
View attachment 44743

Your home is truly lovely and very inviting.

 

[Phaedra]

Besides dividing Dahlia tubers, I also cleaned the plants in the greenhouse and finished all pot-on of seedlings.

"Recycled" veggies from table-top mini garden

 

[baymule]

I like what you have done with your laundry room. Mine is barely big enough for the stacked dryer on top of the washer and an upright freezer.

 

[Phaedra]

This table is like a Dahlia Tuber Overwinter Surgery Area. When I get some 30 minutes, I will clean the roots, identify eyes, and divide a few of them.

Some of them are easier to be divided, but some are not. Those tricky ones remain whole clumps. Maybe next autumn it will be easier as they grow further and I will be more experienced.

After dividing, they stayed in the greenhouse to dry.

I want to do another experiment this winter. Instead of planting vegetables in the raised beds outside, I planted them in the greenhouse with small containers. Most of them are brassicas or lettuces; that means I will harvest their outer leaves from time to time. As the plants won't grow very big, I will use seaweed fertilizer when necessary, so containers should be sufficient.

I planted broad beans and peas for shoots; about 20 garlic cloves are also planted, one clove in one container. My assumption is - since garlic grows very slowly in the winter, staying in the greenhouse might not be a bad idea. When the spring arrives, I can transplant them soon. So do the onions (sowed from seeds).

Well, I feel excited about the experiments