Alyssum Sprouting + Daikon and Mango Sowed…

I was surprised to see sprouts already from the seeds I planted 2 days ago. The Alyssum ‘Easter Bonnet Deep Rose’ Folia is already sprouting…

Daikons

I know Daikons are supposed to be planted directly in the ground and not transplanted, but I was curious if I can start it and plant it once I see a small sprout. For my experiment, I planted it two ways:

Daikon Sowing Experiment

Left: I made small, but tall newspaper pots, so I can plant them directly into veggie bed once sprouted. I planted Daikon ‘Mino Early’ Folia in these.

Right: I used Jiffy Peat Pellets with the outside netting removed. I placed them on top of about an inch layer of soil, so the roots can grow deeper. I planted Daikon ‘Sweet Glade’ Folia in these.

Mango

Inside Mango Seed

I saved another Mango Folia seed from a Mango we bought and ate… and will try growing it.

Mango

Another Try at Winter Sowing…

Last year, I attempted winter sowing for the first time… and I wasn’t successful.

Winter Sown

The plants either didn’t germinate, or germinated then died, or was baked in the small container.

I wasn’t planning on winter sowing again, but I happen to stumble upon the journal entry “My First Winter Sowing” by HollyBee on Folia. She used a large translucent container and placed 24 square 3 1/2 inch square pots… which are similar to the pots I used a couple years ago for my overwintering Coleus. I think I’ll copy her method and plant my flower seeds this way.

I also found a photo by pestee35 on Flickr using a similar method.

Twitter Updates from @joelignacio

  • 07:08 February 2011 Bloom Day :: 68 photos of plants blooming in our garden :: photos > j.mp/fGLbsC :: slideshow > j.mp/gYEqJw #
  • 07:36 Thunderbolt: Next-generation high-speed I/O technology Apple: j.mp/g7fUUT • Apple & Intel’s new interconnect Tuaw: j.mp/ewnMmh #
  • 07:38 New Apple MacBook Pros… Yeay! :: j.mp/eYtY4c #
  • 12:00 Blackout?! #
  • 13:48 Finally installing Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6.3) on my iMac… #
  • 19:15 I just became the mayor of Laundromat on @foursquare! 4sq.com/b3wO0Y #
  • 22:41 is eating walnuts. Just thought you might wanna know… #
  • 22:49 I love my Thursday night comedies: The Big Bang Theory, $#*! My Dad Says, The Office and Outsourced :D #
  • 22:58 I just realized that whenever my Mom cooks something in the oven, she makes a batch of Brownies afterwards :) #

February Bloom Day…

February 15 is February Bloom Day, so I went through our garden and photographed all the plants in bloom. Despite the winter cold, I was surprised how many flowers when have in mid-February.

You can also view the photos individually on my “February 2011 Bloom Day” Flickr set.

Firecracker Begonia + Horseradish Update + Sowing a Bunch of Seeds…

The Firecracker Begonia Folia that I sowed on Feb. 8 finally sprouted this weekend, even though I doubted that they would. They are so tiny and there are so many of them!!!

Sprouting Firecracker Begonia

Compare the sprouts to the tip of a pen.

The Horseradish Folia sprout that I found on Feb. 5 has sprouted roots. I’ll plant it in soil and slowly harden it off to go outdoor.

Rooted Horseradish

Finally, I sowed a bunch of seeds this evening.

Sown Seeds

They include:
– Tomato ‘Brandywine Red’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato ‘Copia’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato ‘Azoycha Yellow Russian’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato ‘San Marzano’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato ‘Hippy Zebra’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato ‘Hawaiian Pineapple’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato ‘Speckle Red Roma’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato ‘Vntage Wine’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato ‘Red Zebra’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato ‘Red Pear’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato Tree
– Pepper (Sweet Mini Red G2/2007)
– Pepper (Sweet Mini Orange G2/2008)
– Pepper (Trader Joe’s Sweet Long Red G2/2010) Folia
– Butter Daisy Folia
– Cerinthe ‘Purple Bells’ Folia
– Larkspur ‘Giant Imperial Mix’
– Alyssum ‘Easter Bonnet Deep Rose’ Folia
– Bells of Ireland
– Tweedia caerulea (G2/2007) Folia
– Nasturtium ‘Alaska Mix’ (G2/2010) Folia
– Datura metal ‘Golden Queen’
– Datura metal ‘Purple Queen’ Folia
– Starfruit
– Tidy Tips (G2/2010) Folia
– Tomato ‘Woodle Orange’ Folia
– Pepper ‘Golden Marconi (G2/2010)’ Folia

East Bay Modern Quilt Guild – Feb 2011 Meeting…

I attended my second meeting at the East Bay Modern Quilt Guild.  It was fun and very informational… and I really enjoy seeing everyone’s quilts up close… It was very inspirational.

You can also view the individual photos on my Flickr set “EBMQG – Feb 2011 Meeting“.

Breaking into a Lock…

My Brother locked our storage cabinet with a combination lock that we didn’t have a combination to… so I tried several ways of opening it.

I tried jimmying it with a little piece of aluminum, cut from a can, like in this YouTube video… but I couldn’t get it to work.

Failed Combination Code

So I tried the magic combination code trick, like in this YouTube video… and tried all 100 combinations that I calculated, but that didn’t work.

Cutting a Combination Lock

So, I finally gave up and got the Dremel out and used cutting disc…

It worked!

Success

2010 Fairfield Tomato Festival…

Photos taken at the Fairfield Tomato Festival on August 15, 2010.

You can also view photos on my “Fairfield Tomato Festival” set on Flickr.