Painting my garden

[Ratatouille]

I can probably harvest this year. Might have to let the fruit ripen indoors if the summer is slow. The plant is perennial, so if you want, it can be overwintered as well.

In your climate it would grow huge, being able to leave it outside You should.try it one day.

The other is appelwortel indeed, I'm used to calling it yacon. Do you know it? I eat the tubers raw a lot, but roasting them is delicious too.

 

[Ratatouille]

The scaloped tubetongue I'm trying to sow for the first time ever is playing hard to get. I know my plants that need light to germinate, but apparently this one needs darkness to germinate? And once it's up, it needs light.

I read somewhere you need to cover the pot with something for compelete darkness and then give it light after it comes up. It feels unnatural though. In nature, there's sunlight at least a few hours of the day. Right?

So now I have these very tiny see-through seedlings of about a millimeter each. Not quite sure I'm doing this right, but we'll see what comes of them. I'll give them more light now. Maybe tweak my germination method if I plan on sowing another round of them.

 

[ahayastani]

In your climate it would grow huge, being able to leave it outside You should.try it one day.

Tamarillo is grown alot here in the hillside country. I'm not sure it will thrive here in the lowland tropics...

The other is appelwortel indeed, I'm used to calling it yacon. Do you know it? I eat the tubers raw a lot, but roasting them is delicious too.

It was on my growing list for this year but then found out there were no more tubers available It will be for another time

 

[Ratatouille]

Gardening is sowing 10 red broad beans, have them all rot, then sow ten again and have two germinate. Still, I planted them out in the garden. They should be good for one of those miniature meals of two beans each. Is that a thing already?

It was almost springlike day on the allotment. My field with different kinds of leek is coming along quite nice.

Lovage is joining the party again as well.

As is my edible daylillie.

My neigbour has a new weed killer. Quite a cute one..

Then there's the potted plants you sowed, forgot to label, put somewhere in a corner, forgot about and then discover again. Does anyone have any idea what this might be? My guess it's a perennial non-edible.

Sowed some green peas that I really like.

And protected them from the doves who are eyeing my garden already.

My 'scurvey-grass' is flowering. I leave some for the winter to harvest seeds from. Really like this stuff mixed in my salads.

The day was still not finished, so I went to the garage to sow some more. Leaving on my muddy boots, 'cause I'm bad-ass. (Yes, I know, the bar is quite low.)

I sowed two types of dill, an aster and a few tests with old seed, basil leaf and papalo.

I might sow the tomatillo as well in a bit, but I need to find out how to make room for them in the heated propagators...

All while I sat on my new chair. A Craigslist find of 5 euro. (It's not allowed in the house says Mr. Ratat.)

I think that about sums up my Sunday.

 

[Ratatouille]

Remember my translucent seedlings? Transformers, that's what they are:

 

[Tinkerbelle]

capsicum interloperium

 

[Ratatouille]

The day nobody thought would ever come. I'm culling seedlings and binning them.

I had a strict rule of no more than one tomato plant per variety. I have four of most now (some even five) and I still had seedlings left. They left me no choice.

 

[Nulle]

Today this must be your song ;-)

 

[Ratatouille]

So very fitting.

 

[Ratatouille]

Everything is gearing up now. It's hard to find room to place anything else on the garage window sill.

The tomatoes are on their best behavior.

I have a few thermometers placed throught the garage. This one shows that the area outside the heated tunnels almost gets as warm as in the tunnel when I have the little heater. (If I'm working there and it's cold, there's a little petroleum heater to make it comfortable and cozy.)

Not in the pictures, the other windowsill that's mostly a waiting station for plants that do alright with some more shade (wasabi) and/ or that can be planted outside.

 

[Ratatouille]

It seems I bought seeds of a grex of the green fleshed ayote pumpkin I was looking for. I'm just now reading up on what a grex means... A mixture of varieties growing together, promiscuously pollinated. Not my words.

I do hope I get the weird green flesh trait, as that is what I'm looking for.

This:

 

[Ratatouille]

The garden is coming to life. Love it!

Cherries to be.

Chinese Toon shoots.

Also coming to life, fungi. In this case one that causes rust like spots on leaves.

 

[Ratatouille]

Remember when I got the abandoned poly tunnel out of the water?

My allotment neighbour moved out and left me his polytunnel. I planned on placing it next to the one I already have, to create more room for my peppers to thrive.

So I went to go and collect it today...

It's on solid ground again. I am such a badass. This is me now:

This is the after picture today:

It's still muddy and there are quite a few big holes in the plastic. (I plan on taping them, but not sure if that'll do in the summer heat with all the condens forming inside...) But It's mine and I hope it'll at least survive the storms this season.

 

[Downriver]

Awesome job salvaging it and putting it back in production @Ratatouille! A little duct tape and it'll be good to go. You should celebrate by starting some more seeds!

 

[ahayastani]

It's still muddy and there are quite a few big holes in the plastic. (I plan on taping them, but not sure if that'll do in the summer heat with all the condens forming inside...) But It's mine and I hope it'll at least survive the storms this season.

I had one of these back in the days. The plastic deteriorates over time and you'll have to bear in mind that you may have to replace it every few years. But the frame is the expensive part Good luck, polytunnels are great to get aubergine, peppers, tomatoes, melons, ....

 

[CaneDog]

Awesome!

 

[Ratatouille]

Selling loads of (surplus) seedlings (peppers and others) tomorrow at our national holiday (where the whole country turns into one big garage sale). If you think about it, gardening is 5% planned sowing, 85% spontaneous seed dropping and maybe 10% thinking how and where to place the seedlings that won't fit in your garden.

The neighbour of the wood cabin we're staying at for a few days just came to visit and expressed interest in some plants. I felt a pang when she said she wanted to take 15 off my hands. Why is parting with these seedlings so hard?

 

[Downriver]

Good luck with your sale Ratat. Just remember, you have thousands of opportunities to replace them, at home in your seed storage box.

 

[Ratatouille]

It was wonderful. I gave away many seedlings for free whenever I saw a sliver of gardening happiness. I sold a few as well. I had the loveliest plant stand on the street. (The only plant stand as well, but it still counts.)

This was at the end:

I am oversowing again next year for sure. This was way to much fun.

 

[CaneDog]

It seems they really cleaned out your stock! Your tables look great. Must have been a fun time.