Spring. Are we there yet?
I have so enjoyed seeing all of the pictures of plants, flowers, sunny beaches this past week and It has caused me to have a bout of spring fever! Winter brown and cold weather are getting old already. I HAD to rat around in my disorganized seed box, I understand that @jayjayjeffery may be able to help me with that :) PLEASE. Its a little to early to start veggie seeds but I thought we could use some Basil and Italian Parsley.
Both @fishyculture and I have a collection of seeds. You can never have to many right?! We buy from seed trusts or at least try for the non GMO varieties. I chose a variety named Italian Mt. Basil. It is grown in the mountains of northern Italy. It is a little more cold tolerant. The parsley I chose is a plainleaf, Italian variety. I choose the cold tolerant varieties because of the climate where I live. Zone 4/5 and that varies season to season. :) Always keeps you guessing. :) Just to satisfy that itching thumb, for now I am only starting 6 - 3" pots of each. I have a recipe for a creamy tomato soup that uses tons of basil. I will share that another time.
My bucket of organic potting soil was outside on the deck, so I had to bring it in and thaw it out. :) To help the soil warm up faster I filled the tray with very warm water to saturate my dirt. I always consult with the farmers almanac. The moon phases DO play an important role in EVERYTHING we do. :) It said Jan 1-2 were good days, so I had to hustle. lol
Its a little chilly up here in the attic at times, its a 100 year old house, what do you expect. :) I decided to use a flueggar mat for the germination process. I have a double drain tray and a towel over the mat so there is airspace and the pots won't get to warm. Just for info, next good days to plant are January 9-11. I feel so much better for scratching that green thumb. Happy planting.
Free vote for you! Yay!
Thanks! its always appreciated. :)
Please spring come😭
our weather has been so mild lately, it really doesn't feel much like winter. Hope the fruit trees aren't fooled.
I hope to dear
I wish Spring would show itself already, haha! I enjoy gardening as well. I followed you. Can't wait to see what else you post. :)
I'm going to follow you around so I can get some good recipes for Italian food! one of my favorites!
Well come
Boy, on a day like today you would think spring is here!
well, after last year and being literally buried in snow, I will take this mild reprieve.
Great article! I'll have to look into that Italian Mt. Basil! Oh, and thanks for the moon phase tips, as well! Upvoted, resteemed and following
Thanks for the encouragement and votes. Not sure what I'm doing, but will try to post things that are fun and helpful
You're not alone, not knowing what you're doing...I got put in Steemit time out for talking too much! Hahahah! Just got the gag taken off! Whew!
really?? how much talking did you do? I'm sorta bashful and don't want to just go all day here. Wow didn't know that could happen!
I just got the gag off...I tend to do posts that are photo heavy tutorials, with long details...so my solution was just to set up my own second channel . I didn't realize that, in taking on the 'challenges' that I was going to set myself up for failure. Just somethign to watch out for. My writing teachers used to love the long essays, it's not the same here ;)
Hello @warpedweaver. I just registered on steemit and while browsing the many blogs I discovered yours. Your way of presenting yourself is really fun. I also like your lifestyle. I have my own garden and find it difficult to grow lupins.
Forgive my English, I am a native French speaker.
Happy to have found you.
Thank you for commenting on my post. I am still a little nervous about blogging. It is something I really have never done. My lifestyle, lol, I have spent years trying to live as simply as possible. I experienced a winter in wonderland about 45 years ago that changed my life forever. It taught me to be creative and to be able to live with myself. lol I look forward to visiting you about your gardens. I was amazed at how huge the lupine actually got. It hogs up one whole end of the grow bed! lol
Thank you for sharing more details about your life. It's interesting to know people's journeys.
I think I will be sharing soon the photos of my garden.
Did you do anything special to the dirt where you planted the lupins?
The soil there is sand, dirt, clay old barn yard kind of stuff. Every fall I cover the beds in chicken poo, leaves and ashes to try and build the soil up. These things grow wild in the high elevations here. I thought they grew like weeds everywhere. What growing zone do you have?
Thank you for this information @warpedweaver.
I live in a region of France where the soil is very calcareous with clay. Climate is hot in summer and cold in winter. Lupins here manage to grow but become neither tall nor beautiful.
Get yourself a big planter and try that perhaps. They grow small in the mountains also.
Welcome to Steemit! I've seen a few people comment recently about wanting to start seeds, myself included! Spring is a long way off but can't come soon enough... Looking forward to your posts :)
I know it isn't over by any means. we are getting a reprieve here this year. Temps have been in the teens and 20"s and very little snow. It could RAIN this weekend! what's with that! lol
It's raining here in NS! It has been really cold the past few weeks but todayit's 3c. I'll take it!
me too! lol Is NS Nova Scotia?
Yes :)
Are you getting all that horrible weather on our east coast? Be safe and warm
Yes, no power again, crazy wind gusts but not too cold yet. Temps dropping, supposed to feel like -24C tonight. Thank goodness for wood heat!
wood is the best. That's what we use here in Idaho
Nice! Tomorrow I am bringing a nice 4ft plant light down into our yurt to start some herbs and give light to some houseplants I've had being babysat!
I love seeing that people are planting with the moon, do you happen to know how the farmers almanac sources it's good-for-planting moon days? I am getting interested in astrology, and combining that with my love for gardening would be just out of this world! (hehe)
Hope those little guys spring right up for ya! (two puns in one post! I'm on an accidental roll!)
LOL, good way to start the morning, with a good chuckle. I do not know how they calculate all of this, but from my own personal observation, when the moon is coming up plant above ground crops, when going down, plant root crops. There are barren days which I think relate to new moon phase etc. just my guess. I know if you don't plant peas at the right time, they all sneak to the surface! lol
Huh! Great tips, thank you!
I know how that feels. I simply started sowing indoors, because I couldn’t wait anymore. Got several kinds of tomato seedlings, lettuce and radishes. They’re doing good (I got my hand on some grow lights for a low price)
I just finished listing up all the new seeds I bought this year. Quite an impressive list, I must say. I like the lesser known plants, like Chinese artichoke, Kiwano, cucumber lemon Apple, Chayote and more of those. So I went completely crazy when I found a shop with loads of seeds of lesser known plants. I think I have enough seeds to fill a space that’s 5 times the size of our garden... :-/
@fishyculture has wayyy more seeds than I do, and she keeps them in an old cooler in manila folders. We are trying to use up more of the older packets. Not sure what my germination rate will be, but I'm hoping. :) I'm not so bad with hoarding seeds and plants, but I do collect yarn for my weaving, closets full! lol