Simple Spring Garden

With our little one around, time for large scale projects is scarce so I decided to create a small garden with some Spring vegetables just outside our backdoor.  I was inspired by a pallet garden I saw on Pinterest and decided to spend a couple of hours putting one together with two abandoned pallets in our yard.

The process was quite simple:

Attach landscape fabric/weed barrier to the pallets using a staple gun

Fill the newly formed planting beds with soil.  I used this kind for containers.

Plant your veggies and water them in.

I planted spinach, romaine lettuce, Chinese cabbage, and onions from transplants.  I also planted some spinach seeds in the bare spots, hopefully they will grow. I can't wait until they are a little bigger so we can start harvesting without eating the entire plant.  Are there any other interesting Spring Gardens out there?

Frozen

I was surprised to hear the forecast of a freeze this week. It is even earlier than last year's unusual snowfall in early December. I hope this isn't an indicator of the Winter yet to come.

We did take precautions to protect the citrus and avocado trees. It's a stretch the say that we put our Christmas lights up early, but it does add a festive air to the yard.
The view out the window this morning was filled with frost. The zinnias were edged with sparkly crystals. The thyme and sage also made an impressive showing. Even the little succulents had a light coating.

Today's goal: stay warm

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - July 2010

Welcome to July 2010! Similar to last year, our vegetable garden is where most the bloom action is taking place.

The Sugar Pie Pumpkins are just starting to flower. I planted them six weeks later this year so I don't harvest another bumper crop in August.

The Burpless Cucumber has been blooming continuously for the last couple of weeks. I even harvested two cucumbers the other day.

These Autumn Beauty sunflowers are the crowning glory of the garden. The first ones just opened up last week and there are several more almost open.

Lastly, we have these lovely Chrysanthemums blooming out back. They are nestled in a patch of mint and seem to be doing well.

Our First Squash

This little beauty has been ready to pick for several days. I finally remembered to grab a knife from the kitchen on my way out to the garden. It is recommended that squash be cut at the stems instead of just pulling it off the vine. This is my first time growing this type of scalloped squash called "Peter Pan." I am not sure what I am going to do with it, so for now it will be sitting on our counter looking cute.

Mmmm....Blueberries

That was a sound heard repeatedly this morning as we enjoyed our first harvest of blueberries. We planted the bushes last year and the few berries we yielded were snatched by my husband before they were ripe. What a great way to start the week, freshly picked blueberries. Yum!!

They're coming...

During a garden inspection earlier this week, I happily noticed that there are little tomatoes out there. They are the Sun Gold cherry type. I am excited for them to ripen, but am a little torn. The typical hot weather that allows the tomatoes to thrive has not yet arrived and I am not sure I am missing it.

Vegetable Garden 2010

This Spring has been really busy for me. I spent several nights last week pulling weeds to clear the rows from the garden plot. The seed starting efforts this year were also impacted by my lack of time. I was able to grow one flat of seedlings. The second one didn't make it. I decided to supplement my homegrown seedlings with store bought ones in order to fill out the garden. I took a trip to Eisley's Nursery on Saturday morning and planted on Sunday.


Compared to last year's garden, there are some notable differences. The first is the quantity of pepper plants. I told my husband that this was going to be the "Year of the Pepper" and I wasn't kidding. There are about 70 pepper plants in plan. Some are the same varieties as last summer, some are new. I am excited for both.


We also have tomatoes (of course!) and I am trying out the Three Sisters Garden approach with corn, beans, and pumpkins. So far, I am optimistic because it has rained 2 of the last 3 days and the seedlings are off to a good start. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Can you smell the daffodils?

I was away for a couple of days this weekend. Before I left, there were a few daffodils blooming. Today, it looks like all the bulbs I planted are up and open. I purchased a fragrant mix and I thought I had been mislead because the scent has been slim to none. However, the fragrance coming out of the flower bed confirms that yes, I did receive the fragrant mix.

Kitchen Garden

Since moving here, I always thought it would be nice to have a kitchen garden of herbs just outside the door. Unfortunately, we didn't have a fence so any efforts to grow herbs would likely have been foiled by deer. Now that we have a fence, the kitchen garden became a reality. On Friday night, I didn't start out clearing the beds to start this garden. I was trying to prevent the spread of a horrible weed that has little spiky spirals. They are green now but dry out in the summer and stick to your socks. I cleared this area because this weed was starting to spread.

Once I started, I continued all around the patio. It was my hubby's idea to plant herbs and I thought it was a great idea. Luckily, I grew several perennial herbs last summer and they overwintered well in the garden. We had enough plants to fill the bed without having to buy anything. Before transplanting, I had to address the soil issue. And by issue, I mean clay. I loosened the soil and amended it with some rich black dirt from the vegetable garden. Once the soil was ready, I planted the following:

Already in the bed
Dwarf Pomegranates

Grown from seed last year
Lavender
Oregano
Thyme
Sage
Parsley

Transplanted from our yard
Lavender

To be added
Basil
Onions
Flowers from Winter Sowing

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day March 2010

It has been quite some time since I posted on a bloom day. There are a few things blooming this month here at Loomis Living.

This beauty was one of the few established plants here when we moved in. It is a 6+ foot Camellia plant that is on the east side of the house. For some reason, the deer haven't felt the need to snack on it.

Last fall, I planted a Heuchera garden and this is my first experience with their flowers. Commonly known as Coral Bells, these cute little flowers look like dainty hot pink bells hanging off a slender stem. We have 2 of these blooming right now. Unfortunately, they didn't have name tags so I don't know the variety. Any help identifying them would be greatly appreciated.

This one is isn't blooming yet, but the leaves are as pretty as a flower. It is called Pinot Gris.

Last, is the newest addition to our garden. I purchased an aromatic daffodil mixture and this is the first bloom. Since it was an assortment, I don't have the name. After some research, I think it may be a Birma.

More Seeds

It has been one week since the peppers and herbs were started. The sweet basil is doing well (you can see it on the right side of the closer flat). There are only 2 visible pepper seedlings, but I anticipate that more will soon follow.

Once the basil sprouted, I removed the plastic "greenhouse" to ensure that there is enough airflow around the seedlings. I learned this lesson the hard way last year.

This morning, I planted the tomato seeds (in the rear flat). It is mostly a repeat of last summer's crop, with the addition of Roma. To be complete, here is the list:
Roma VF
Red Oxheart
Tigerella
Rutgers-Select
Red Cherry Large
Tomatillo

Seed Starting (Finally)

Today, I started the seeds for our vegetable garden. My approach this time around is quite different from last year. First off, I am starting the seeds over a month later. Secondly, I am greatly limiting the types of seeds I am starting and growing.

2010 will be the "Year of the Pepper" because I plan to grow 3 additional varieties of peppers over last season's crop. I started all 6 today:
Cayenne
Jalapeno
Hungarian Hot Wax (from the seeds I saved last year after making this mustard)
Pepperocini
California Wonder
Mixed Bells

I also started sweet basil, lemon basil, and parsley. Once this flat (48 cells) germinates, I will move the heating mat to the next flat and start the tomatoes.

Winter Sowing Update

Last week, I tried my hand at winter sowing. I peeked into the containers today, and to my surprise there were tiny seedlings looking back at me. A quick check confirmed all but 2 of the containers were sprouting (come on Columbine and Coneflower - don't disappoint me). Since this is the first time I have tried this method, I wasn't sure what to expect. So far, I am liking the process.

Garden Journal - Winter Sowing

I have read about Winter Sowing at several sites and decided to try it this year. In preparation, we have been saving plastic juice containers to use as mini-greenhouses. Today, I planted 8 types of flower seed:

Columbine: Dragonfly Hybrid Mixture
Black-Eyed Susan
Blanketflower: Gaillardia Aristata
Purple Coneflower: Echinacea
Alyssum: Gold Dust
Dahlia: Unwin's Dwarf, mixed colors
California Poppy: Extra Golden
Sunflower: Autumn Beauty Mixed Colors

We'll see how well the seeds germinate using this method.

Garden Journal

The sun finally came out today (technically it was out yesterday too) and we were able to go outside and do some work. There were trees that needed staking after the recent storms, so we rounded up some stakes and tied them up. I decided to pull weeds from the planting area near the pool. It is now cleared of the thorny weeds, but the grassy ones still remain. After an hour of clearing out weeds, I am now able envision a blooming flower bed. I may even buy some plants for it.

Garden Journal

Today, I finally cleaned up the garden. The dead peppers and tomatoes, which had been blackened from the snow and cold weather in December, are finally out. It looks much cleaner now (except for the giant pile of dead plants).

I also discovered that my Winter garden had some survivors. There is an abundance of lettuce, some radishes and turnips, fennel, and Swiss chard. I also found single plants of bok choy and brocoverde. I weeded around the remaining vegetables so they are more accessible.

Garden Journal

Today, I planted our Christmas tree. It is a Lemon Cypress that was purchased in a 1 gallon container from Lowes for $12.99. I planted it near the blueberries so it gets some partial shade. It currently stands about 2.5 feet tall.

I also planted 25 bulbs of the Spectrum Sweet Aroma Daffodil mixture from Brecks. I was sent a coupon for $25 off any purchase, so they were only about $3 out of pocket. The bulbs are in four groups in the middle of the heuchera garden. Some have already started sprouting, probably since I was a little late in planting them.

New Heuchera Garden

Leading up to our front door is a triangle shaped bed that has been home to seasonal weeds over the last year. It is nestled underneath two Japanese Maples and a Birch tree so it gets partial to full shade. I have been wanting to plant something there, but hadn't found the right plant, until I discovered Coral Bells (Heuchera).

I'm not sure where I came across these plants, but when I saw the beautiful colors AND that they were deer resistant, I knew that I had to get some.

We were fortunate enough to find some varieties in our local nurseries in smaller 4" pots and even a few 6 packs. The named varieties are:

Dolce Key Lime Pie

Purple Palace

Pinot Gris

Melting Fire

We also got a couple that didn't have name tags:

I can't wait until the bed starts filling in and the plants flower next year. I think they will complement the Maidenhair ferns in the adjacent bed quite well.

Succulent Container Garden

After staring at a Jade plant that had been stored in a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket for a week or two, I decided to assemble this garden.

We already had the large Jade in the back. It was given to us a couple of years ago. The middle pot is now home to the Jade from the bucket. The smallest pot was previously filled with the tiny succulent specimen in the back. I added the broken Jade pieces and a few other small plants from a different pot.

Now these 3 pots are lined up next to our front door. I really enjoy seeing them as I go in an out of the house (it also helps remind me to water them).

Mums the word

This little beauty was gift from my mom and dad (thanks mom and dad!). It sits just outside our front window so I can see it all day long.