My cherry tree is this close to bursting into bloom! It seems to be a couple weeks behind other cherry varieties in the area, and I think my yard has a bit of a chilly microclimate since I'm in a valley.
My squash and tomato seedlings are looking great, I'm excited to plant them out in a week or two. I never got around to replanting my sad brassica seedlings that got too leggy, I might just direct sow some more at this point and see how it goes.
Also just have to say thank you for posting this thread every week! It's a highlight, and I always appreciate your responses!
That's exciting! Chilly microclimates can be kind of a bummer when other folks' plants have bloomed and you're still waiting, but there's also that benefit of generally getting growth after the freezes are over.
Thank you for commenting in these threads! I adore hearing what everyone is getting up to in their gardens every week
we had to cut down a native cherry tree last year because it was crowding the deck. a new one popped up just far enough away that we decided to keep it, and it is absolutely thriving!
we also have some weird fruiting trees out there, which are dropping all over the place. might be an almond tree? and another one might be a plum or peach tree? whoever planted these was really going wild.
Hah that's going to be my memorial plaque at the farm when I'm gone! I'm glad that native cherry decided to leave you with some offspring that were in a better place for you to enjoy.
The pair of apple trees I ordered from Fedco arrived last Saturday, so I planted those out - the weather has been pretty mild and wet this week so hopefully they're settling in well. Just starting to break dormancy.
I'm also starting to plant out some of my seedlings in the new garden beds, it's super exciting to see some foliage in them!
One area of my yard that was overrun with invasive garlic mustard is now overrun with native violets, so I'm happy with that! I picked a bunch of flowers today to try making a tea out of them.
I ended up getting Honey Crisp and Baldwin, semi-dwarf rootstock. I'm a total newbie to pruning, but I'm leaning towards the "don't try too hard, trees know how to be trees" school of thought, lol.. open to any advice from more experienced people though!
The violet tea was fun, I love the pH based color change from pouring in lemon juice! Planning to use it in cocktails next time, that would make a great party trick.
:D Most of the garlic mustard ended up in the compost because I was lazy but I definitely want to make some more pesto in the future.
My seedlings are arriving next week and hopefully I can start growing soon. Still haven't actually built anything to grow in but it is on my todo list. Some tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, and bunch of greens. Not much space here but I have a small backyard that should do the trick.
That sounds like a lovely summer veggie garden, I'm excited to see what you do with them! Small spaces can make it challenging to fit everything but they also make you use the space more creatively, and they look awesome crammed full of plants.
I cut my indoor basil and mint plants way back because they were making a mess. I hope they bounce back! This week, I'll go out looking for a couple pepper plants to try kratky for the first time outdoors. Basically, I make a big nutrient solution in a bucket, I leave the plant's dirt slightly submerged in the water, and hopefully the plant roots into the nutrients and grows like crazy. I have a small backyard and no hose hookup so I want this to be a simple solution to grow red peppers or poblanos' as well as a spicy pepper like a jalapeño or Thai chili. Step 1 is finding the seedlings!
I'm very excited to see how this works for you! Wishing you the best luck finding your peppers and remembering to take lots of pictures to share here bee laugh emoji
That looks incredible! So envious of your skills. As for me, I have been trying desperately to grow a basil plant indoors. I've tried many times in the past, but they always end up with those little mites. I purchased neem oil spray too, and still they got to it. My partner said they saw some worms in the most recent plant, like transparent worms almost? so we got rid of that one too. I am going to grow from seed next time I think. I feel like I have just had bad luck and gotten infested plants or something, so maybe growing from seed will be better? I don't even know. I just so badly want to be able to walk to the corner of my kitchen and grab some fresh herbs. Ina Garten has a whole ass garden of herbs, can't I have one plant? lol! I will be trying again though. Wish me luck, I will absolutely need it.
Thank you! The secret is killing a ton of plants until you improve enough to keep them alive, and then killing more until you can keep them happy bee fingerguns emoji
Spider mites are a tricky pest when the plants prefer a dryer soil, but I've had some success with a layer of sand on top of the potting mix, which might be worth a try. And there are so many cool varieties of basil that I totally encourage you to try from seed! I know you're going to have that kitchen garden rocking in no time
Not necessarily about herbs, per se, but if you want to try creating as much food from your land, these are good places to start. Ecology is important!
Is there a certain pot depth you'd recommend? I imagine part of the reason is to prevent excess water wicking into the substrate in the pot, but would be concerned somewhat about accidentally air pruning roots in a gap.
Wasn't this reported months ago? And zones didn't suddenly shift just because the USDA said so. They've shifted over time because of climate change. The USDA just finally got around to catching up.
I used to be news director for an NPR member station, and even I think this is sloppy work.
This is a tool derived from that report which directly shows how the user's local environment has changed. Kind of trippy to see that the environment of my childhood is not the same as the environment I'm living in now. It's a good educational tool.
That's not how I read the headline. Given that this story is so old (months and months), if it's newsworthy at all today, it should be "USDA Finally Updates Climate Maps for the First Time in a Decade."
Anyone who needs them has been paying attention to the climate for years. It's a neat bit of science reporting, but it's hardly "Here's What Suddenly Changed."
I see what you're saying. I wasn't aware that the USDA had updated the zones, so that was news to me at least. The appsite they built is neat. It does actually drive home that this is abnormal and will continue to accelerate in the future at least.
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