We’re halfway through potting up all the plants we’ve overwintered, but are looking at temps below freezing for the next two nights. Today will be about getting covers ready for everything and setting up ambient warmth for several of our plants that are currently flowering. On my way home from a doctor’s appointment, I stopped to pick up a cutting of a curly willow (Salix matsudana) from a woman in town whose tree was damaged in a recent snow storm.
This one cutting was turned into a dozen after I got home. I’ve planted out three or four and the remaining sections were loosely bundled and placed into our five gallon bucket with several other varieties of willow we’re rooting in water.
What’s growing on with you all?
What’s a good way to create ambient warmth for overnight?
Today’s temperature didn’t get as high as I would have liked, so I’ll be filling some buckets with warm water, closing them, and then placing them near the plants before covering everything with light blankets. Another nursery near us has electricity access for many of theirs, and use incandescent string lights to buffer their plants against the cold. The family owned orchard the next town over has said that if the frost is later than a certain amount of flowering, they’ll do small bonfires throughout the orchard to provide protection.
Not growing in my yard, fortunately, but I realized that the interesting looking shoots I had been seeing come up in the patch of woods on my way to work are actually japanese knotweed.
I know it’s not going to kill the plant, but those shoots are pretty satisfying to kick over, they just go flying… between the knotweed and the garlic mustard I’ve got plenty of invasives to deal with if I ever feel like going on a plant murder rampage. I’ve already pulled up a 5 gallon bucket full of garlic mustard in my yard which I’m turning into a gardener’s revenge liquid fertilizer.
It won’t kill it but you’re awesome for slowing or stopping its negative ecological impacts! Do you prefer aerobic or anaerobic revenge liquid fertilizer?
I’ve got a normal compost bin going as well, but I’m trying the anaerobic method for the first time on this bucket. Just filled it up with invasive plants and water, added some leaf mold, put the top on and stuck it in a sunny spot. We’ll see what happens!
Very cool. We have a few turned piles ourselves, but I’m a big fan of the anaerobic method as well. There was a talk by John Kempf about facultative soil microbiology and the benefits of having aerobic and anaerobic organisms present for soil health which you might find interesting
This is a great presentation, thanks for the link!
Oh my! Unexpected frost is the last thing you want. I’m glad you’re prepared though, seems like those plants are in good hands!
I just finished planting a bunch of melons and amaranth yesterday. This year, I’m intent on harvesting amaranth seeds and doing my best to make some edible bread out of the flour! We’ll see how it goes. We don’t have the biggest garden this year, but we have enough to keep us busy. Been fun, so far!
Being busy having fun in the garden is one of the best feelings in the world! We have some crimson amaranth that we’ve let self seed as forage for our birds - the flowers are amazing and it’s fun watching the flock work for the seeds but I may have to allocate some for bread. I hope their flowers fill you with joy and the bread fills you with yum!
I love that you live in a town where people offer up cuttings rather than let it go to waste.
Our Aerogarden is doing an amazing job growing greens for our pet rabbit. I’ve been succession planting lettuce mix and just put some mint seeds in another open pod.
Hardly any of my green beans have sprouted. Some of the seeds are a few years old so looks like I need to order some new ones. My kid asked for a plant tepee she can play and read in. I need to see if we can find a sunny enough area for one.
I love how the folks in my town are too, but think many of us could live in similar places if we just broke/pruned plants and offered the cuttings up! I make a point to donate a bunch of plants to our town’s food bank and library fundraisers every year, and that’s been a great way to meet those people who make my town like that; I’m sure there are folks like that around you too.
Plant tepee sounds like an awesome project, please offer her a high five from me for being so cool.
The sunshine is finally out and the back and forth between false springs (there were like 4 this year) and so on the last one my partner laid some seeds for some herbs in our front yard. Mint and a couple other things, so we don’t have to buy it mainly. The front section is our main focus at the moment.
Our back garden is wilding right now, we’ve been too busy and stressed to take care of it unfortunately. I really want to clean up all the extra pots and things that I don’t think we have the space to use, and find something efficient to row and stack them to be functional. There’s also issues with our area having agitated unhoused persons coming through and ruining our space, which can be quite demoralizing. They hit the front and the back and sometimes the neighbors, so my partner and I have had a hard time really mustering the energy to make it pristine, on top of the false springs previously mentioned.
In any case, I’m excited to make it nice in the back because we have a lovely “portable” fire pit and replacing the clutter with plants is always a breath of fresh air!
Here’s hoping those seeds grow so well it reinvigorates you for the other stuff you’d like to tackle! I’m saddened that folks are disrespectful towards your gardens when they could instead be helped by them.
It is disheartening especially since we do community work, but if people don’t want help it can be hard for everyone. I don’t have any ill will, just hopes that all can get the help they need and aren’t resorting to playing with other people’s things for fun lol
It’s a busy spring for me! This is year two in a new home, and I’ve started converting larger chunks of boring grass into wildlife gardens and raised beds. So far this year I’ve put together:
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New herb garden - Thyme, oregeno, borage, chamomile, sage, you name it! Already Planted!
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A small cornfield - currently growing crimson clover and lettuce greens.
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A small squashfield more crimson clover! And getting the eventual companion beans going!
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A small wildlife garden - sunflowers, more clover, blue hubbard squash, and scarlet runner beans. Food for critters (and also trap crops to keep em off the human food!)
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A second raised bed (for square foot gardening) - Currently has little gem lettuce, red fire lettuce, oak fire mustard greens, carrots, turnips and moooooore~
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I also got a small plastic greenhouse this year, so now I have TEN MILLION tomato babies. Hooray! The peppers I’m growing are not quite ready for transplanting yet, but they’ll get there.
I am such a fan of all of this, great job! I do have some concerns for future-you’s well being with that many tomato babies
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My cherries all came through the cold nights with flying colors!
