March 24, 2014

First strawberry of the season!!  (It was delicious.)

January 20, 2014

Just checking in on a few of my plants, post-snow.   The blood oranges seem to be faring well.

The strawberries gave up on producing, and died back a little, but are bouncing back.

This plant - no idea what it is.  This particular pot appears to be where mysteries are born.  It contained the butternut squash that was supposed to be a pumpkin, and then these sprouted up.  The snow didn't even phase them.  It is definitely not native.

Here are those scallions tips I planted last week.  They are growing pretty well.  I doubt they would come back for a third showing (not that I won't try), but I think I'll get two uses out of each one, so that will halve my scallion budget.  :)  (Not to mention that scallions don't keep well in the fridge, so it is nice to be able to just walk outside and pick a few when they are needed!)

One advantage of having the chickens locked up (see this week's ranch blog for more on that) is that some of my herbs are finally getting a chance to grow!  This Italian parsley, for example, was a chicken delicacy.  They also liked to dig it out of the planter.  Two weeks of chicken-free existence, and it is sprouting new leaves and starting to look like it will survive!

January 12, 2014

The turmeric I planted is doing very well!!  I moved it out of the garden window because the one plant was getting too tall to fit in there!  It now has a sunny south-facing window in the livingroom, where it will hopefully live peacefully until this spring, when I can transplant it.  (And the other two roots sprouted as well!!)

I read that you can re-grow scallions from the roots, so I'm giving it a try.  This is one day after putting the roots in water, and the little stalks are already growing, so I am hopeful.  :)

December 23, 2013

My turmeric is getting bigger and has some real leaves on it!!  A second (of the three) root is also starting to break ground.  I hope that all three will sprout and will be big and healthy enough, by spring, to transplant outside.  I like putting a tiny bit of turmeric in my dogs' food, and I also like to add it to green juice.

December 18, 2013

Well, the snowfall we had last week knocked out my poinsettia.  I am pretty sure it will come back next spring, but it went from a beautiful bushy plant to a few sticks in a matter of days.

And the tomato plants are ready for the compost heap.

December 8, 2013

My turmeric plant is starting to unfurl its first leaf! 

NO idea what this is, but it survived the first snows and has promise!  This is growing in the pot where I planted pumpkin and got butternut squash.  It came up after I harvested the squash.

My baby blood oranges are also holding their own through the snow!  (Behind them, the miniature roses are being troopers, as well.  After what they went through at K-Mart, and their near death experience, a little snow is nothing to them!)

December 3, 2013

Wow, I kind of gave up on this blog.  Here I am, breathing new life into it (hopefully).

Turmeric!!  I planted some a turmeric root this year, and after waiting a very, very long time (months), it sprouted.  I babied it for another couple of months, then, after it had a few leaves, transplanted it into the garden, giving it a whole garden bed to spread out in.  Within forty-eight hours, the gophers had eaten it. 

So, this time, I planted THREE tubers.  And one finally sprouted!!    I will let it (and hopefully, its brethren) winter in the house, and then I will probably put it in an Earthbox to keep it safe.  I am hoping to be able to harvest some tubers by this time next year!