Garden Transformation

This morning, I woke up early (for a Saturday). I was looking forward to going to the nursery to see if they had any Cabbage and Lettuce plants.

I first went to Walmart and checked the garden center and found a couple of succulents that I liked. One was a Rock Purslane (Calandrinia spectabilis) that I’ve been looking for for a while now. Who knew that out of all places, Walmart would have it. The second was Pachysedum ‘Ganzhou’ which had a cool color. I’ve been checked the vegetable section and found a 9-pack of Bonnie’s Best Cabbage and Buttercrunch Lettuce.

My name is Joel... and I'm a plant addict.

I then drove to Mid City Nursery to see what they had. I ended up with a few plants including:
– Onions ‘Walla Walla Sweet’
– Cilantro ‘Slo Bolt’
– Flowering Cabbage ‘Red’
– Shasta Daisy ‘Goldfinch’

The owner came up to me and ask if I needed any help. So I asked him why my Kumquat plant has dying branches. He asked if I had it in the ground or in a pot I replied in a pot and he said maybe its not getting enough water. So I’m hoping that his explanation was correct and that my Kumquat doesn’t have a disease.

When I got home, I decided to pull out the Zucchini plants because they were not doing well and it didn’t look like they would produce any more fruits. In its place, I planted Portuguese Kale. I also pulled what pot of Swiss Chard that were also not doing well. I added new compost and planted 6 Buttercrunch Lettuce plants.

I also pulled all my Tomatoes in the Self Watering Rain Gutter Grow System #2.

I think the Tomatoes are done for the year... so I'll be pulling them out and planting Cabbage in its place. The green in the photo is Parsley which are starting to bolt.

I planted the new Cabbage into each pot.

I'm going try to grow Cabbage this year. Wish me luck because I have never had good luck with Cabbage.

In the Square Foot Garden, I planted 2 squares of the Walla Walla Sweet Onions.

Tomatoes and Peppers Sown

I did a bunch of Tomato and Pepper seed sowing this evening.

Tomato Seeds

Here’s a list of Tomato seeds sown:
– Brandywince Red (2010)
– Hippy Zebra (2010)
– Sungold (2013)
– Green Zebra (2011)
– Speckled Red Roma (2010)
– Red Zebra (2010)
– Red Pear Cherry (2007)
– Velvet Red (2013)
– Vintage Wine (2010)
– OSU Blue (2011)
– Large Barred Boar (2011)
– Copia (2010)
– San Marzano (2010)
– Sweet Carneros Pink (2011)
– Lemon Boy (2013)
– Federle (2013)
– Yellow Pear G2 (2011)
– Rutgers Select (2010)
– Tiny Tim (?)
– Red Robin (2010)
– Sungold (2013)

Here’s a list of Pepper seeds sown:
– Chinese Giant (2012)
– Sweet Banana (2010)
– (Orange Bell) (2013)
– Carmagnola Rossa G2 (2008)
– Golden Marconi G2 (2010)
– (from Tomatofest 2012) (2012)
– Gypsy (2012)
– (Sweet Long Red from Trader Joe’s) (2010)
– Garden Leasder Monster Bell (2012)

A Bunch of Tomato Sprouts…

I thought to myself, which Tomato that I planted on the 15th will sprout first. Well, I woke up this morning and checked… and pretty much every variety sprouts. That’s 17 total.

Tomato Seedlings

Continue reading

Lotsa Seed Sowing…

I know I’m late sowing my Tomato, Pepper and Zinnia seeds, but I’m going to plant them anyways. I know they can catch up.

Lots of Seeds Sown

Here’s a list of what I planted:
Continue reading

Fairfield Tomato Festival 2011…

Today, my Mom and I went to the Fairfield Tomato Festival 2011. We got to taste several Tomatoes, listen to bands, see the street vendors and of course buy some ripe juicy Tomatoes!!!

Fairfield Tomato Festival 2011

Below is a slide show from the event.

I ended up buying 8 varieties:

Tomatoes from the Fairfield Tomato Festival 2011

– Tomato ‘Pink Boar’
– Tomato ‘Green Zebra’
– Tomato ‘Berkeley Tie-Dye
– Tomato ‘1884’
– Tomato ‘Sweet Carneros Pink’
– Tomato ‘Yellow Jelly Bean’
– Tomato ‘Isis Candy’
– Tomato ‘Large Barred Boar’

Just Thinking Out Loud About Potted Tomatoes…

A few weeks ago, Hugh, a fellow Flickr friend told me about the website Global Buckets which showed how to make a self watering pot or a global bucket (as they called it) using two 5 gallon buckets, PVC Pipe and a plastic cup. I thought this was a good idea, but I didn’t have anything to plant in it…

…Until I saw a photo by Meighan, another Flickr friend, who was growing Tomatoes in pots. This gave me an idea… How about if I grew some Tomatoes in a self water 5 gallon pot so I could move it around. Maybe even put it in a spot in the front yard that gets more sun than in the back yard.

Tomato Plants
Tomato Plants by Meighan

I think I’ll try this next year, but I’m kinda anxious to make a self watering pot, so maybe I can test it out with two extra Lemon Cucumber plants that was left (no more space in the veggie bed to plant them).

[Update] ooohh, I just thought of something!.. I can plant my Pepino Dulce in one! (I have a new project to do tomorrow) :)

Tons of Sprouts…

Many of the seeds sown on the 23th are now sprouting…

– Tomato ‘Woodle Orange’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Hippy Zebra’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Brandywine Red’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Hawaiian Pineapple’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Copia’ Folia
– Tomato ‘San Marzano’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Vintage Wine’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Red Pear’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Red Zebra’ Folia
– Tomato ‘Speckled Red Roma’ Folia
– Cerinthe Folia

The two Daikons (Mino Early Folia and Sweet Glade Folia ) are also sprouting… I think I will have to move them outdoor soon…

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