Phaedra's Garden 2022

[baymule]

Apples to ripen tomatoes! I wouldn’t have thought that up if you gave me a hundred years!

I can get large tubs, protein licks come in them for cattle. They will make good containers for a garden.

 

[ducks4you]

Never thought to do that either! Thanks @Phaedra Geiermann !
I agree that containers can always be used for many different gardening purposes, including "nursing" perennials.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE glazed pots. I gave my prettiest one to DD's. Here's another post of it where you can really see it.
About 7 years ago Lowe's had them on clearance, $15, down from $75
I Should have bought 2 of them. Here is where I covered the large basil--HUGE roots bc, like you said, it helps plants to grow good roots in a conatiner--and same basil is now at My house getting ready to vacation indoors this winter.
This pot is blue on the bottom, pale cream on the top. I used lawn/leaf paper bags to keep them from freezing. After cleaning all 3 pots out DD's did put them away in their garage, where they were at the beginning of the season, upside down, on an old wooden door on the floor.

 

[Phaedra]

I mowed and re-arranged this small area in front of the greenhouse.

After putting in 60 daffodil bulbs, 'Green Eyes,' I covered this area with about 5cm of compost and another thin layer of grass.

I aim to finish this area (another 50% to go) this week - 2 Japanese Plums (Prunus mume), another 100 daffodil bulbs, compost, and grass cover.

 

[Phaedra]

It's a gardening day! The forecast said it would rain from 3pm, and it did.

Thankfully, I finished the tasks in this area around noon time - planted two Prunus mume 'Alboplena,' 100 dwarf daffodils' Prosecco,' a thick layer of homemade compost, and a thin layer of freshly-mowed grass.

The dwarf daffodils 'Prosecco' - I love the color!

The other daffodils 'Green Eyes' planted in another half -

The field beans sowed two weeks ago successfully germinated *this summer home-save seeds) and are growing.

More than ten Broccolis are growing in different corners.

I also planted some new tulip 'Peptalk' in one of the raised bed. It's a showy and multi-colored variety.

Naked soil is never good - I will sow some cherry radish, Pak Choy, and hardy spinach on the surface as cover crops. Before tulips blossom, there will be leafy greens for wintertime, and the soil will be somehow protected.

 

[Dahlia]

Weeding is one thing, and foraging for chickens is another.
View attachment 48368

I started to "hunt" safe weeds for chicken last week, one or two or three buckets daily.
View attachment 48369

At this moment, below weeds are very active in our garden, and they are all safe for chickens.

Cleaver (Galium aparine)
Clover (Trifolium repens)
Couch grass(Elymus repens)
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Dandelion (Taraxacum)
Goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria)
Purple deadnettle (Lamium purpureum)

View attachment 48370
Although I can't free-range them, they still can enjoy juicy, fresh, nutritious spring greens.
View attachment 48371

I am learning how to edit videos - it's the first trial.

Oh yum! I want to eat the chickweed, clover, and dandelion! These luscious greens are underrated!

 

[Phaedra]

I guess next year; I will change the name of my thread to something like "Eat, Plant, Live."

One of the MUMs I propagated this spring - same mother plant, same method, but in the end, the size and color of flowers were different due to the environment being different. I will elaborate on this more in the MUMs thread.

Anyway. they can easily become such a lovely view on the table, fascinating.

I didn't do much today - the temperature kept dropping, and the headache kept finding me. So, I stayed most of the time indoors.

I made some chocolate bars with 70% and 90% dark chocolate, as the 80% ones were unavailable.

I added a bit of honey liqueur to the melted chocolate.

It's simple - just add whatever nuts and dried fruits are at hand.

As the temperature is pretty low now, the chocolate will become solid quickly. The silicon trays ensure easy detaching, and a sharp knife helps to cut nice-looking bars.

Then, the treasure-hunt time in the evening - we got a lot of scallions, bananas, and broccolis - it's more difficult for them to maintain a nice appearance until next Monday, so Lidl will try to sell everything before they close at 9 pm. The chicken drumsticks due next Monday are 30% cheaper. Not bad.

I love my simple life.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I Lidl closed on weekends? (since you said its hard for them to keep a nice appearance until Monday)

 

[Phaedra]

I Lidl closed on weekends? (since you said its hard for them to keep a nice appearance until Monday)

Yes, here only bakeries, restaurants and gas stations are open on Sundays. All supermarkets are closed.

 

[baymule]

It used to be that way here too, but now stores are always open, some all night too.

 

[Phaedra]

My first Bonsai hands-on - using what I have at hand
They are originally common indoor plants.
This one didn't do very well last winter and lost 95% leaves. However, it survives after I put it outside the entire summer.

Now, it has a new look, too.

Another indoor plant that became my trial - it's the easiest one to form.

Shaping a Bonsai is an interesting activity because it demands (challenges?) the space perception and imagination of how something will turn out in the future. I love it.

The last trial is a Pelargonium I bought from an online nursery for propagation. However, after the initial trimming one month ago, its shape was already pretty unique. It's the most tricky one among the three I tried today. The stems are already aged and not that easily trained.

I have broken one young lateral (and screamed) and dared not to move too much forward.

The broken lateral was treated with rooting hormone; hopefully, it can become another lovely plant.

So, the second half of this "indoor gardening" Monday is creating three Bonsai.