Gardening That Grows With Me
Radiant heating significantly changes how a greenhouse is heated, and I’ve had to relearn plant placement. With forced air fans, the floor area was cooler as the cold came up through the ground. The middle was warm since that’s where the heaters were directed. And even though heat rises, it was coldest at the top… Read more »
In my working life I was an accountant so it’s no surprise that I use an Excel spreadsheet to calculate when to start seeds indoors. It’s similar to many automatic seed-starting charts across the web, although I’ve customized my spreadsheet for what works in my garden. My plan allows me to work off my expected… Read more »
I spruced up my greenhouse with four spiffy new germination stations for 2024. As I have a greenhouse and am only growing for home use, I didn’t think I needed much supplemental light initially. In 2023, I skipped grow lights during seed starting, and everything grew fine, if maybe a tad slow early in the… Read more »
This is my first year starting perennials from seed. I’m curating seed starting times and germination information as best I can from the different seed suppliers. All perennial seedlings do not need a lot of fertilizer, wait until 3 to 4 weeks old to fertilize and then only half strength. Transplant into 3 or 4-inch… Read more »
I’ve tried keeping lists on Word, in a spreadsheet and on paper, but I am inconsistent at best. Digital copies (Word and Excel) are only convenient if I’m on my computer. Paper lists are good if I’m at my desk. So, going forward, I’m going to try curating my seed list on my blog. I… Read more »
I did not have good success growing Angelonia from seed my first year, but I will try again because, once established, Angelonia is an excellent annual for containers. I struggled with germination, although the seedlings that did germinate grew well. In the pots, Angelonia did not bloom or bulk up, but I suspect I overcrowded… Read more »
Makes two loaves of very decadent chocolate zucchini bread. This tastes almost like a chocolate brownie because I prefer to make mine with milk chocolate chips. This recipe freezes very well. I make 6 or more of these in a season. Wrap each loaf once cooled with tin foil. Then wrap with seran. Mark as… Read more »
After many test recipes, I think I’ve finally figured out my favourite chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside, not too sweet, chocolate chip cookie. The trick is to balance the white and dark brown sugar. White sugar makes for a harder cookie crust, while dark brown sugar gives that caramel flavour and… Read more »
There are over 1,000 species of salvia – some annual and some perennial. I started my salvia journey with Salvia Caradonna – an herbaceous perennial with strong vertical purple stems that carry deep violet-blue flowers in early summer and again in late summer if you deadhead. Eventually, I branched out into other perennial varieties, all… Read more »
I grew Gomphrena (globe amaranth) for the first time in 2023 and tested them out both in the landscape (Circle Garden) and in containers. They performed very well, with little pest damage and required little care, although Gomphrena is slow to get going and doesn’t really fill out until mid-summer. The plants in the Circle… Read more »