What did you do in the garden today?

[chickengr]

My batting average is taking a hit with seed germination this season. Some of it is expected considering I'm trying to salvage my mom's 8 yr old seeds that were kept in her shed. Not surprisingly... the onions, basil, lettuce, beans, and most of the flower seeds did not germinate at all. I've had pitifully low germination from the carrots and cilantro.

But even MY seeds that are about 2 yrs old and were kept properly are not doing great. The basil, butterfly pea, and borage have all been bust. Not a single seed germinated. And I've had low germination from the marigolds and Zinnias. Brand new seeds from Bakers didn't germinate either - Mullein, marshmallow, agastache, bee balm, violas, and catmint.

cold or too much water?

 

[chickengr]

I've decided to do both direct seeding and starting seeds indoors in solo cups.

My okra row is ~24 feet long. Going by the recommended 18 inch spacing, the row will need 16 plants. I'll start 18 in solo cups indoors so I have a couple extra.

I know the air and soil temperatures outside are lower than ideal for okra seeds and seedlings, but I'll go ahead and plant the remaining seeds out there and see how it goes.

If the direct seeded okra doesn't do well I'll have backup with the plants I'm starting indoors.

okra does better if direct seeded. be very careful when transplanting.

 

[chickengr]

If you want any invasive catNIP, not catMINT, I could collect some seeds this fall. It's a weed by me .
https://www.bhg.com/gardening/flowers/perennials/catmint-vs-catnip/

if you have a lot of catnip (nepeta cataria) you can dry it and sell as a herbal tea for women who have fertility issues. that "weed" makes wonders.

 

[cj2024]

I always thought that adding sugar to yeast makes bread rise better, but I was proven wrong.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I found out that gluten doesn't affect the taste of bread, but it changes the texture and makes it rise higher.

It also increases the protein content.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good morning gardeners. A quick peek at the garden this rainy morning and I see the Bok Choi seeds I planted are coming up as are the carrots. The pinto beans are starting to germinate too. After this rain system moves out early tomorrow it looks like a warm and dry spell ahead. Time to get caught up on the mowing and prep the last 2 small garden spaces. On adding a little sugar to the dough @cj2024, the sugar feeds the yeast for a jump start. If you want to get a better rise without over proofing, just add a little more yeast. Also, unless your kitchen is cooler than 60F, you can let the dough rise on the kitchen counter. Actually, pizza dough will rise in the refrigerator. It’s slower but produces a better crust.

 

[Minanora]

Is that a black Australorp @Swiss? I have 6 of them and I’m not sure if they’re cockerels or pullets yet. They’re about 10 weeks old and depending how the light is hitting them I can’t tell what they are.

I have one, pullet, I thought was a cockerel. You can look at my thread about her to see photos. She's always had a pretty red comb and waddles.

I've had pitifully low germination from the carrots and cilantro.

For your flower seeds, did you check to see if any needed to be cold stratified? Some seed companies don't keep their seeds cold enough, and so you have to pop them in the fridge for a week or so. Depending on the flower. MiGardener seeds are pre-stratified, in my experience.

I have this one onion walla walla sweet I never pulled.
Darn thing is a year old.

I have one left as well! Over a year old now.

Not sure when to plant for my Fall garden?

Depending on variety, pumpkins are usually 90~day crops. They do not like their roots disturbed during transplanting in my experience.

I didn't check the nitrates, they're always about 5-10ppm due to the plants

That's how my 40G is. 75 creeps up over the year, too may guppies and snails.

The tops might look great, but the bulb is bleah. These were planted as sets last year.

I planted sets last spring and didn't get to water properly, however we don't have our ground freeze, but I'm just pulling the last of the onions and mine did good until most bolted.

 

[TJAnonymous]

cold or too much water?

Definitely not cold... Maybe on the water. We are above average but it's been spaced out well

 

[fuzzi]

I did email them so we'll see what they say. I've had good results with any veggies, fruit, and herbs that I've ordered from them with the exception of the St Johns Wort. It just seems to be a flower seed issue for me. So weird...

I'll watch for your report.

 

[fuzzi]

Hey, I just finished mowing my yard too, but I didn't pull out the weed eater. Minus the garden, buildings and areas under the trees I think I have about a half acre to mow.



Thanks. I planted onion sets this spring. If I remember I'll leave a few and see what they do next year. I didn't know rabbits would eat onions.



Those Kuhli loaches are cool-i! For some reason they make me think of those poisonous sea snakes.

I have chocolate loaches in my 15 gallon tank. I can't find a decent photo, so here is another picture of the Kuhlis from a year ago. I recall losing one.