Phaedra's 2023 Adventure

[Phaedra]

I was working on a new patch between two chicken runs. The advantages of this patch are about six hour sunlight, no weeds (after being chicken run for more than two years), and some good wind protection.

So, I will use containers and two (or three) raised beds for this area. For the raised beds, I will try corns, outdoor tomatoes, and pumpkins for the first run, and then napa cabbages, lettuces, and short-harvest-period broccoli as succession.

A lot of 'projects' are running in parallel, well, that's spring.

Containers will be used for aggressive herbs like mints, too.

 

[Phaedra]

Gardening enriches my life, and so does living with my small family.

I still feel alone sometimes, but who doesn't?

 

[Phaedra]

The cuttings from our indoor plants look great. Two of the five already started rooting.

 

[Phaedra]

Japanese plum, although it's still a young tree, the flowering time is so splendid.

With the limited capacity of the greenhouse, most of the frost-tolerant seedlings were gradually transplanted outside. Lettuces, cabbages, cauliflowers, broccolis, and beetroots were 70% moved out.

Some cold nights will be from next Monday, so I covered them with fleece.

The overwintered chili! With sufficient sunlight and warmth (up to 25 degrees C in the afternoon), the leaves turned into a much darker green. I removed the first flush of flower bubs, but the second flush arrived soon.

Meanwhile, cucumbers, honey melons, eggplants, and the second batch of leafy greens were sown yesterday.


At least half of the greenhouse space is now occupied with the pre-sprouting of summer flowers like lilies, crocosmias, freesias, gladiolus, and all kinds of bare-root perennials. Next week, after the cold front passes, I will transplant MUMs.

 

[Phaedra]

During winter, I sometimes bought flowers from the shops or discounters - roses and tulips majorly.

No doubt, those flowers suffered a lot during the packaging, transportation, and selling process. The survival rate of their cuttings will be absolutely worse.

However, there is still nothing to lose. The worst scenario is they all going to the bio trash, the same destination. Among the 20+ cuttings, three survive after 1.5 months. I didn't pay much attention to them - just let them stay in a corner with indirect light. The moisture was taken care of by the upper part of a milk bottle.

Two developed nice roots, and the other already had callus, which will turn into roots shortly.

Hopefully, there will be three robust and lovely roses in another couple of months.

I also cleaned up the earlier rooted roses. This is a climbing rose cutting I took last July from the garden in Cologne. I can see it's fully ready to be transplanted soon.

Some leaves were removed for better ventilation.

I also used some pruned branches from apple trees to support another three young plants grown from cuttings. Gardening is fascinating as it is full of life.

Small jungle made from 10 tomatoes and 3 honey melons.

San Marzano sown on Feb-17 for making sauce
They are so healthy, but 9cm pots are already too small for them. Now they are in 11cm pots.

In fact, there are another two small jungles made from the basils divided from supermarket potted herbs, our overwintered chilis, and geraniums grown from cuttings. Thankfully, I didn't sow too many warmth-loving plants yet - the sowing will start from this Friday.

 

[Phaedra]

Peach flowers

Geranium from seeds, looks promising.

Pre-sprouting of Dahlias and Ranunculus runs smoothly.

One month ago, I brought back two potted basil at a 50% discount and harvested the top leaves. Then, I divided and repotted them into 5 and 9-cm pots. One month later, I have more than a dozen of much healthier plants.

The colors of the leaves told me the plants are very healthy!

 

[Phaedra]

Finally, my first arbor trellis assembled from bamboo sticks

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

Decades ago, I went to Hong Kong on the way to Thailand. I took photos of the bamboo scaffolding that was being used to build apartments, etc. Intricate weavings to keep the bamboo together. Thanks for the memory!!

 

[baymule]

That arbor trellis looks great! You did a good job putting that up!

 

[Phaedra]

After some optimization work (majorly lowering the height of one side), I expect the trellis to collect some rainwater for the plants in this small corner. Later, we will renovate the chicken run with a roof, and that roof will be responsible for the same thing. Hopefully, this corner can be self-sufficient in water.

I am happy that this PVC cutter also did a good job handling bamboo sticks.

I also transplanted some young plants like tea MUMs this morning.

Hens are watching....and waiting for the chance to get some bites.

Lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, and turnip under cover - I used fleece temporarily to keep blackbirds away. When they dig for their food, many seedlings are destroyed. I will change the fleece into insect-protection nets.

Peas are ready to climb.

The trellis can host some small helpers, too.