Tag Archives: ohio gardening

Seed Starting: Round 42

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I can’t decide if I wore myself out yesterday cleaning up the flower beds, or if I’m still in a sugar coma from all the jelly beans I’ve consumed throughout the weekend…

Either way, it was an excellent weekend in the garden. Our warm weather was back. We headed to the park to enjoy the springtime wildflowers, and I went wild planting up the next round of seedlings. I started some zinnias, german chamomile, marigolds, prairie dropseed, little bluestem, button flowers, two types of thyme, and the next of our parsley.

  • I’m fascinated by all the different shapes and sizes of seeds, like these spiky marigolds

I also started some seed potatoes in grow bags on the deck. This is my first time growing them, but all the gardening videos I watched on YouTube indicate that potatoes are pretty easy crops, and obviously, I am not one to turn down trying out a new plant.

  • Putting the new potting bench to work

The potting bench continues to be the Champion of 2021. I spend time with it each day, even if it’s just to pat it lovingly as I walk past, grinning smugly to myself for a job well done. After I started all the aforementioned seeds, I re-potted the peppers and tomatoes (again). I can’t believe how quickly they are all growing. It will be another month before I can plant them out in the garden. Until then, I’ve had to do some maneuvering to make sure everything can still fit under the grow lights. It’s recommended to keep your lights about 4″ above your plants, and these beasty tomatoes keep outgrowing their space.

  • I am not used to my tomatoes growing so fast!

Back outside, the cold frame is stuffed to the gills with some of the new flower seedlings, lettuce, and herbs. It’s been another life-saver this year. I don’t have room for any other grow lights or seed trays with my current indoor setup, so being able to toss things outside has been awesome.

The milk jugs hanging out with the cold frame that I did my winter sowing in are also holding up well. I have seedlings growing in each of the containers, and I’ll be able to pop the top halves of the containers off here shortly. I stuck with all native plant species in those containers: swamp milkweed, purple prairie clover, and prairie blazing star. I’m very pleased that that method has worked out, and since the seedlings won’t need to be hardened off at all, I’ll be able to get them planted a little earlier. Score.

  • The cold frame is filling up with herbs, veggies, and flowers

Finally, I started the Giant Springtime Flower Bed Cleanup. Armed with gardening gloves and a new pair of shears, I’m slowly making my way around the yard, cleaning up the beds, and removing most of last years growth. I used to do this in the fall, but the last few years, I’ve been saving this job for the spring instead. A lot of wildlife relies on the seeds from your flowers, dried stalks, leaves, and other plant material for housing and food. This is an easy way we gardeners can all help out our local birds, pollinators, bugs, and other critters. Anyway, the old plant material gets popped into our compost pile, which we add to the veggie beds, helping to improve the quality of our crops. The circle of life tastes delicious.

Hope you are able to enjoy some time outdoors this week. I’m off to figure out where the heck I hid the spray nozzle for the hose last fall. Past Sara never makes this as straight forward a task as it should be… Happy Gardening!

  • Some spring wildflowers from a recent hike: bloodroot, purplecress, trout lily, dutchman’s breeches, and spring beauties

Windy Days and Veggie Ways

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It’s barely been spring for a week here in Ohio, but it feels like the season is really in full swing. We’ve been having 70 degree days, followed by 40 degree days, and wild wind storms. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve chased down the grill cover and reattached it (which reminds me, where the heck are the bungee cords that I ordered?!) and it seems like every night, I’m awoken to the dulcet tones of something on the deck banging into the railing in an attempt to scoot away. The pots of tulips and strawberries are now permanently relegated to the corner behind the cold frame. It doesn’t make for good viewing, but at least I’m not wading out onto the deck each morning in my bathrobe to repot them. You’re welcome, neighbors.

Aside from our traditionally unpredictable spring weather, I’ve been doing a bit of weeding in the flower beds. I’m waiting to trim back all the perennials for another week or two, in case any flower stalks are housing wildlife like solitary bees. Once it’s consistently above about 55 degrees F during the daytime, they will have flown the coop and it will be safe to tackle the garden clean up.

I had the company drop the compost in the middle of the driveway, so I’d be forced to deal with it or I couldn’t leave the house.

This past weekend, we had two cubic yards of leaf compost delivered. Someone ordered about twice as much as she needed, so in addition to filling the raised beds, a few of the flower beds around the yard were topped off. I’m sure that will make the plants very happy. I know I’m certainly happy that I won’t have to mulch those beds, since the leaf compost will serve the same purpose as mulch would have. In fact, it will do a far better job and add plenty of good nutrients into the soil.

  • The raised beds are currently exploding with compost… hopefully the veggies will enjoy it!

I spent some time in the afternoon Saturday sowing some seeds in the freshly-made beds: carrots, leeks, and parsley. Not much else can get started outside quite yet, but these cool season crops will grow nicely even with the frosts we’ll have for another month or so. I’ve never grown carrots or leeks, so I’m excited to see how things turn out.

  • Jersey Giant Asparagus

Another crop that loves the cold, asparagus, is already popping up in our first raised bed. We planted a few rows of it three years ago. Asparagus is an exercise in patience, and requires a lot of space to grow. It doesn’t like being crowded, and pitches a fit if you try to move it around. Also, it takes about three years to be established, so it’s not a great crop for everyone’s garden. But, we are Asparagus People. Sprinkle a little olive oil and salt on those spears, and pop them on the charcoal grill for a good time. Anyway, our asparagus is starting to emerge and I cannot wait for the first harvest!

  • The lettuce is loving Cold Frame Life

The bibb and baby lettuces and the sorrel I started in the cold frame are also cruising along. We should be able to enjoy some fresh salads here in a few more weeks.

Indoors, the seedlings are coming along. The passion flowers seeds I started last week haven’t germinated quite yet, but the oregano and borage are sprouting, the basil had to be transplanted it grew so happily, and the italian sweet peppers and the druzba and san marzano tomatoes are coming along very nicely. The druzba’s sprouted a bit before the san marzano’s, and many of the plants are already over 6″ tall. It’s entirely possible that I’ll have waist-high tomatoes by the time I can plop them into the garden after the last frost date.

  • The basil already smells incredible!

I’m excited to see all the changes in the garden over the next few weeks. It seems like things look so different from day to day at this time of year. It always feels like stumbling onto treasure when you spot something new sprouting.

Wishing you a fantastic week, with lots of sunshine. Happy gardening!

A Hodgepodge of Springtime Jobs

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It’s officially springtime now, which means I spent the weekend bouncing around outside looking for gardening projects and giving any newly-awakened perennials Bambi Eyes.

  • The first of the daffodils

There’s quite a lot popping up now, from my beloved peonies to the columbines and daisies. Our daffodils are beginning to bloom, and a few of the trees, like the cottonwoods, are beginning to bud. The grass is starting to grow again, too, getting its green color back.

I tackled quite a few projects over the weekend. The rogue strawberries that somehow charged through winter unscathed were transplanted into a pot on the deck. I cleaned up the garlic pots. The rock garden bed out front was weeded. I planted some bibb lettuce and sorrel in the cold frame, joining the baby lettuce blend that just sprouted there last week. And, I started some passion flower seeds indoors.

  • The row of raised beds

The husband built two more raised beds for the back yard, and we moved them into place. I’ll set some sheets down inside them this week to kill the grass off, then I need to order a bunch of dirt. We have a compost pile that I’ll empty into the beds, too, so the veggies will have lots of great food in the soil.

Finally, I transplanted the tomatoes and peppers into some larger containers. When you’re growing seedlings, and you start seeing roots peeking out of the bottom of your containers, it’s time to move your plants into larger homes.

It’s a pretty self-explanatory process to transplant your growing seedlings. Just be gentle, taking care not to touch the stems too much. They are very brittle when the plants are tiny, and you can easily damage them. Pot the seedlings up in a larger container, water, and set them back under your grow lights.

  • The peppers outgrew their first houses just a few weeks after germinating.

Once your plants hit this stage, it’s a great time to start fertilizing them. I use a 10-10-10 fertilizer for all of my seedlings. In fertilizers, you’ll see three numbers listed, which lets you know the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the mix. These are the three nutrients that plants need to survive. Things can get complicated pretty quickly in the fertilizer world, and there’s an overwhelming amount of information out there, but choosing a fertilizer with these three nutrients in balance is a safe bet for most of your vegetables as they first start growing.

The weather this weekend was ridiculously nice. We usually start springtime with cold days, and snow is certainly not unheard of in March. It’s been really sunny and warm here lately. The spring wildflowers should be here for us soon, and I’m very excited to see the Virginia Bluebells, Dutchman’s Breeches, Jack-in-the-Pulpits, and Great White Trillium that I planted last year. I’m trying to be patient and not start the rest of my seeds too early, but I am itching to start digging around outside again. Soon!

Hope you have a great week. Happy gardening!

We Built a Thing!

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Not all gardening projects take place outdoors. (Wow. Look at me, being all philosophical).

This weekend, the husband and I built a potting bench for the garage. I’ve needed something like this for awhile. My collection of pots and containers has grown out of control after a few years of buying plants for the yard, and they were living in several un-architecturally- sound piles that spilled all over the garage. I’ve also needed a better space for all of the various types of soil I have, as well as my seeds and tools for potting up seedlings.

I used to haul everything into the kitchen, or onto the back deck every time I needed to plant something up in a pot, which was often. It was always a pain to juggle everything, and I typically managed to spill more than I planted. Also, most significantly, lugging everything around hurts. I have ankylosing spondylitis, which is fancy chronic illness speak for “my body and I don’t often see eye to eye.” I sometimes have issues walking and using my hands, so having to cart around pots, bags of dirt, plants, tools, etc. is always an adventure.

Anyway, I’d wanted to solve all the aforementioned problems by setting up a potting bench with some storage for awhile, and we finally took the plunge:

  • Oh, mama

We plan to add some shelving at some point, but I am well pleased with the way this project turned out, and the space will come in handy in a couple weeks when I need to plant up the next of the seeds.

I have the name of this species of Hellebore written down in a notebook someplace…

Outside, the garden continues to wake up. Spring begins this Saturday in our hemisphere, for which, I am overjoyed. All the bulbs have sprouted now, and we should see some daffodils flowering before too long. Right now, the Blue Moon Crocus bulbs that I planted last fall (and then promptly forgot about) have been blooming in a gorgeous mix of white and purples, which has been a nice surprise. The hellebores are also in full bloom.

  • The name of this one is written down someplace, too…

The basil, oregano, and bergamot seeds that I planted a few days ago are already starting to sprout. The whole seedling operation seems to be going pretty well so far this year. I’m excited to get the next raised beds built here in a few weeks so I can start the outdoor planting. Some seeds just grow better outdoors, in their final location, and so once it warms up just a bit more, I’ll get the next round of seeds going.

All I have planned for the week is to whine about the time change, obsess over the early-blooming flowers in the garden, and maybe, if I am feeling adventurous, I’ll put together a few bird houses with the wood scraps from the potting bench.

Happy Gardening!

Au Revoir, Old Man Winter

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At this time of year, it kind of amazes me how much can change in a week. Our crocuses are now blooming. The leaves from the tulips, narcissus, and day lilies are beginning to appear. Even the birds are changing. I’m starting to see lots of red-winged blackbirds and mourning doves around the yard, and being able to hear more songbirds really helps affirm that spring will officially be here by the end of next week.

While our last frost date isn’t usually until the second week of May here in Central Ohio, the weather is definitely getting warmer. We’re expecting highs in the 60s all week, and while it will probably snow again by then end of the month, it really feels like the garden is starting to blink awake again.

  • Crocuses, Hellebores, Allium, and Tulips

I do a lap in the yard most days. In addition to the bulbs I mentioned above, our giant allium bulbs are starting to sprout. We have two different species of hellebores, and they are very close to blooming. The sedums, like our Autumn Joy (my favorite variety) are popping back up underneath the shoots from last year.

  • This is the first year I’ve managed to get peppers to start growing from seed.

And inside, the Druzba and San Marzano Tomatoes, and Italian Sweet Pepper seedlings I started last month are coming along nicely. The peppers just sprouted in the past week, but many of the tomato seedlings are already growing their first true leaves. When seedlings sprout, the first leaves you see are called cotyledons, or “seed leaves.” The seed leaves won’t look like the leaves the plant will end up having once it starts to grow. They serve a really important purpose, though, using the nutrients from the seed to feed the plant until the true leaves develop, which is when photosynthesis begins. Like Bill Nye taught us, science rules.

  • Druzba Tomatoes, with their first true leaves

Now that we’re cruising towards warmer weather, it’s time to begin planting my next round of seeds. This week, I plan to start my basil, oregano, and wild bergamot. In a few more weeks, I’ll start the rest of the seeds that will begin life indoors. And a few, like the leeks, lettuce, carrots, parsley, little blue stem, and prairie drop seed, will be directly sewn outdoors around the end of the month. That means I need to get my ass in gear and build the next two raised beds and get them topped off with compost and dirt here in the next few weeks. Oh darn. More dirt will require a trip to the garden center… wonder what else I can find while I’m there…

Hope these last few days of winter find you well. Happy gardening!

Nostalgia and Too Much Winter

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Usually, at this point in the year, I can be found traipsing around the backyard, looking for signs of spring. (As of February 15, springtime is 33 days away!) However, this year, we’ve spent the month of February buried under snow.

I grew up in northwest Ohio, and as a kid, I remember winters being very snowy affairs. Snow days were a given. Level three snow emergencies (where everyone is to keep off the roads) took place annually. The neighborhood pond was turned into a skating rink, and sledding hills were so well-used that they’d turn into sheets of ice. (You basically needed crampons to ascend the hills at Fort Meigs by mid-winter). My brothers and I built large forts into the giant snow piles made from shoveling the driveway, complete with multiple rooms and stockpiles of snowballs.

  • There’s a veggie bed under here someplace

Eventually, I grew up (well, aged, at least), and moved south. I only made it two and a half hours south, to central Ohio, but the weather here is surprisingly different from my first home. It gets warmer way earlier in the year, and we definitely don’t have as much snowfall. It’s not weird to call home and hear from my parents that they are having a cold, rainy day in the 40s when it’s sunny and in the 70s here. It took some getting used to, and made my garden-loving heart happy, to have even a few more weeks of a growing season.

This year, though, the weather needs to, as my grandma says, “get with the program.” We’ve had snow on the ground every day so far this month, and there’s been quite a few stretches with daily snowfall. I go out to fill the bird feeders, and step down into snowdrifts that I didn’t expect to be quite so deep. Snow fill the tops of my boots, cascading down my socks onto undeserving ankles. It’s rather cold. I am made crabby.

Today, more snow is falling. By tomorrow morning when this latest storm wraps up, we’re expecting another 8″ or so of snow.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be hiding upstairs with my lemon tree, listening to ocean sounds on YouTube and looking at pictures from Hawaii.

Come on, springtime.

  • Lemon trees, good for Vitamin C and daydreaming