Rainy Day, warm and pleasant.

[aldersprig]

Wyste has been journalling, and it's got me thinking about gardening and home improvement.

If the weather holds - and weather.com says it will - I could see if I can turn over the beds this weekend. Might still be too frozen.

It's probably too early to plant carrots - they say "3 weeks before the last expected frost" which is more like mid- to late-April - but I could risk a single batch. Peas, on the other hand, say "as soon as you can work the soil," so if I can get the bed with the trellis turned over, I could do that this weekend.

We started burning brush, too. Kind of nice sitting out there with a laptop, writing while the fire crackles. Now all I need is a wifi repeater.

How are your plans for the spring shaping up?

And has anyone tried any hydroponic gardening?

Or in pots? I've been looking up stuff for next winter, including salad radishes.

Comments

[wyste]

We mostly do herbs in pots - basil, rosemary, chives, mint. Some bulbs, in winter, to keep things lively.

Yesterday we got the seed boxes in the basement set up on tables, though we haven't tested the lights yet.

[aldersprig]

What kind of basil? We often grow it in pots outside, but we've not moved it inside because they're usually BIG pots.
(The bay moves inside every winter)

[wyste]

Just a very basic shiny Italian basil, though we grow other kinds and don't bother bringing them in.

[aldersprig]

We have gotten very fond of columnar basil, which makes a very nice pesto and doesn't have a habit of going to flower when you turn around.

[novel_machinist]

We have a lot of our herbs in pots right now, ready to move over. It's been doing well. Including our mutant green onion, Bob.

This is our first year owning a home together, so we have to start raking up the muck, clearing the dead plants, and getting some soil to level the yards out and grass seed.

A lot to do, really. I'm debating starting it on the last week of the month.

[aldersprig]

Mutant green onion?

Ooh, first year. There's always a lot to do. We were finding apple trees in the hedgerows for the first three years.

[novel_machinist]

Yeah, this sucker lived thru winter last year (we got down to -30F with windchills) and is HUGE. So we named him. I'm not entirely sure why Bob is a him, but whatever, it's him.


The yard was cared for okay, I think. It just had a camper in the back so we need to figure out a good way to level it out after we clean/clear it.

[thnidu]

Now that I live in an apartment instead of a house and have no yard, it's much less of a question. And since I have something of a black thumb, potted plants and even flowers won't do too well in the apartment.

Not to mention that the resident predator 😸 is always trying to nibble on them. Well, when I do have flowers I spray them with a solution I make by boiling and then steeping red pepper flakes in water. That keeps her pretty well off them. But still, for me it's hardly worth the trouble.

[aldersprig]

We have that problem with our indoor predatory beings too. They eat the plants (not aloe, at least), they sleep in them, they dig in them (Lava rocks help with that one)...

[thnidu]

I recommend that pepper solution. I make it a quart or so at a time, and when it's cool I put it into a spray bottle. On indoor plants it lasts a long time because there's no rain or dew to wash it off; on edibles you can wash it off before use. It's non-toxic, and the cat smells it when she's close enough to nibble it -- or tastes it before a second nip, or a soon as she licks it.