rough year

Shortly after my last post back in February of 2011, my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  She passed in April last year.  Just after that my uncle (mom's brother) was diagnosed with bone cancer.  He passed in the wee hours of this last Monday.  Shortly after my mom's death, my husband lost his job.  He was then car jacked at gunpoint in September.  Things have been rough on the last year so they must get better soon, right?


On the gardening front, I started a raised veggie bed this year.  We had a heat wave in June so I had to harvest all the bok choy at once before it completely bolted.  We had lots of yummy coleslaw and cooked greens for quite a while!  Now my tomatoes ate taking over.  They're loving the heat and the plants are getting huge!  I'm looking forward to eating all the lovely fresh tomatoes and to canning sauce.

It's been a long time...

It seems I haven't updated here since July! 
I've begun another seed starting experiment.  I learned some things from last year's failure. 
1) Keep the humidity dome on until the first set of true leaves form;
2) Take the tray off the heat mat when the first set of true leaves start to form;
3) Don't overwater;
4) Don't let the seedlings dry out;
5) Have more patience with some seeds that take longer to germinate;
6) Transplant when the second set of true leaves emerge.
That's as far as I've got so far.  The air layering pots on the viburnum was a mixed success.  Some of them dried out and died off during our unusually hot and dry summer.  Some lived and are overwintering on the shrub.  I'll cut these off after the new leaves come out and start them in gallon pots.  I still have lots and lots of iris to divide, move and plant (I have a lot in pots right now).  I'm also planning a small vegetable garden for this summer.  I probably won't get to do an early crop, but should have it all set up for a late summer and fall harvest.  I hope we get enough moisture this spring.

Failure and Hope

Well, the great seed starting experiment was a dismal failure. I can't seem to find the right balance between over-watering and under-watering.  I then tried rooting some small cuttings. They're not all dead yet, but most have perished and what hasn't (about half of the creeping phlox cuttings) doesn't seem to want to sprout roots. I hope what's left will root soon.


I can make things grow just fine in the ground from transplants with the smallest bit of root, but I can't seem to get anything to start for me. 
Anyone have tips on starting from seed or cuttings?


Now for Hope:

I got up early this morning, sat on the porch drinking coffee with my husband and discovered that I have no commitments today (for the first time in many weeks)!  I got very little sleep last night, but I decided to work in the yard a bit instead of napping.  I was able to get nine air-layering pots on my snowball viburnum and extend my perimeter soaker hose before it got way too hot to be working outside.

I've air-layered this shrub before and it worked great for me, so I expect it will be fine this time too.  

Then I came in and took a nice, long, cold bath.
I feel much better now.  :-)

Should Detroit Be Converted Into a Farming Mecca?

This is a fascinating idea!

Food Among the Ruins

the great seed starting experiment - update

It looks like I have eight acorn squash seedlings so far.  There are no true leaves yet, just cotyledons.  I also have a huge number of agastache golden jubilee seedlings just sprouting (not blue fortune as I posted before - I finally found the original plant tag).  Nothing on the spinach or rose yet.  A few of the neon swiss chard look promising and I have one lonely hyacinth bean vine sprout that I can't really call a sprout just yet.  I'm looking forward to what will come up in the next week!

the great seed starting experiment

I started a tray full of seeds in the basement on a hydration mat & heat mat with a grow light just above.  I'm keeping fingers crossed that something germinates.  I don't have high hopes for the spinach or chard as they didn't imbibe very well (I soak all of my seeds before planting and generally discard the ones that float and plant the ones that sink, or imbibe - water absorption is necessary for germination).  I expect that the acorn squash will be okay along with the blue fortune agastache.  I'm also trying out some rose seed from hips I collected last fall.  This should be interesting.

I think winter is over

It's warm out! The 'snowstorm' we were supposed to get was mild and wet. It never got much below freezing. By noon yesterday the whole 2 inches of snow/slush was melted and soaked into the ground. 


I really feel in my bones that winter is over. I'm sure it might snow again, but I honestly don't think we'll have another hard freeze (25º or below). I feel confident enough to start raking up mulch and cutting back my perennials. I might even divide and move a few hardy things!