The Backyard: Gardeners, Assemble!

I potted the strawberry plants in containers with rustic charm◊.

I also put some flower seeds in these ridiculously cute little pots◊ for indoor decoration. Chamomile, California poppy, and crimson clover.

I also got some sugar pumpkin seeds because I couldn't resist. Pumpkin bread! Pumpkin pie! Pumpkin everything!!!

My garden is infested with worms! Cabbage loopers, to be precise. Unfortunately I get paid next Friday, so I'm trying out the home remedy of baking powder and flour. It might at least contain them until then.

Flour and baking powder didn't work. I picked off all the cabbage worms and egg-ridden leaves I could find, and so far my plants remain unchewed.

My largest tomato vine, which I named Goliath, HAS FLOWERS. I've pinched off some of the smaller buds. I'm so fucking excited!! I can't find my 5 gallon buckets or else I'd repot my two other vines in a heartbeat.

I've fertilized all the heavy feeders in my garden.

I also found some dog rose bushes running wild in an abandoned lot. Since they're the best roses used for making rosehip tea, and I cannot find anyone who sells them nearby that isn't vastly overpriced, and it's not like anyone would miss a single cutting, I clipped a cane for myself.

Good move with the rose, there, mate. Always cut from what you like the look of.

I also did that with lavender, haha. Couldn't help it when I sat by a couple of bushes and inhaled the lovely scent.

As an experiment, I planted some clover and chamomile in the actual ground. It's not the best, but it's not bad either. They're doing all right, so I softened up a patch with water and digging, and planted a few sugar pumpkins. Hopefully the clover will help.

Thinking of turning this old barbeque my landlord gave me as a compost bin or a planter. Either way would be pretty cool.

My weird heirloom tomato plants are weird. They are nothing like I expect tomato plants to look like. For one, they're built like damn trees. For another, their yellow, perfectly tomato-like flowers turn into weird bulb things that have yet to turn into anything resembling a tomato.

I may actually be growing aliens.

Never fear, they'll settle down and resemble these eventually.

Attack of the killer...

Looking up bonsai progressions has literally changed my entire attitude towards pruning, especially my mini rose. Still have no patience for bonsai as a hobby, though.

My biggest chamomile and strawberry plants have flower buds!!!!! I'm psyched!!!!!

My violet is finally perking up. Dog rose cane has some leaf buds poking out but is otherwise still a stick. I had to cut my basil down due to pests, but it's sending out some new leaves too.

Pumpkin seeds still haven't sprouted. Gardening is a perpetual exercise in patience.

My watermelon vines are flowering! GO-GO-MELONS!

Aphids!!!!!! Ugh. There's an ant colony somewhere near my space so they might be the reason aphids keep coming back, too.

I did not realize watermelons had male and female flowers. So I just got to wingman a couple of dude watermelon flowers.

Welcome to the world of gardening, buddy!

Nothing to comment on, besides how a couple of my indoor plants have wilted from lack of water. I also saw a couple of bees hanging around when I hadn't before—most of my plants haven't flowered yet besides the tomatoes, so that's great!

I think I planted my watermelons too close together. I have a bunch of ripe, cute little two pounders. They're supposed to be at least six.

BUT GOD DAMN ARE THEY DELICIOUS.

edited 14th Aug '16 8:29:36 AM by Bur

The strawberry plants are no more, but I like to think it wasn't due to negligence. This mysterious weed sprung up in a few days and after identifying it as DEADLY FUCKING NIGHTSHADE, I pulled it up and tossed it, along with the whole crate. There were roots everywhere! I didn't want to chance it springing up. At least it wasn't in the ground so I don't have to worry about my other plants.

I'm going to try grapes, although I really would like a seeded variety.

My tomatoes are roma-sized rather than beefsteak as i thought they would be, but they more than made up for it in taste. They were so sweet, I finally realized why tomatoes were called fruits!

And my pumpkin is growing like a monster. It's already outgrown the barbecue pit and trails all the way down to the ground. That's one way of ensuring support other than a trellis.

Ah, The Audrey stage. <nods>

Fun gardening things:

I only got one pumpkin, but it's pretty perfect and still good after about four months, thanks to the cold dry weather.

After forgetting to water my garden for a week, I walked out to find everything was perfectly fine thanks to the occasional rains we've been having, except for the celery which was a lost cause.

My inside plants are a bit lackluster due to the lack of sun, but still pumping along.

My lavender shoots both sent forth more flowers. The four-herb giant pot is also doing well.

My poor rose had so much mildew that I had to clip all of the leaves, but they're growing back pretty well.

I'd planted some crimson clover from a seed packet, and wild white clover I'd gotten from a park. They are the happiest of all my plants—so bushy and dense! If only I knew what to use them for. I can always just use them as green compost, but it would make me less sad if I could use them for something else. I tried eating a couple of leaves, but honestly they don't taste very good and they're too small. Not like pumpkin leaves, which are both large and delicious.

Finally, after trying out some aloe gel on my hair, I got an aloe plant. Not only is the gel amazing (my hair and skin have never felt so soft!), it's super simple to harvest from leaves and apparently grows fast. Repotting will have to wait till tomorrow since I don't have cactus mix, but

Next project is harvesting some moss for a terrarium or two. I want more greenery inside and the bathroom is usually full of steam, so it'd be a win-win situation.

Aloe: Repotted

Moss: Harvested from the damp concrete right by my garden

Violet seeds I forgot about til today: Scattered into two large empty planters

Weeding: Done

It's so great to have time for gardening again. Someone accidentally threw away my chair, so I'll have to get a new one for sitting outside and reading with my plants. I'll grab one from a garage sale and make sure to label it 'Not Trash'.

Dude, I get a garden this year!! I moved into my house last April. Because of the move and improvements, I didn't get to make planter boxes like I wanted to. This year, though? It is ON! I got gift cards to the hardware store and the garden center for Christmas. Next month, I'll build the boxes. In March, I'll get the dirt and compost. In April or May, I'll start planting. I'm thinking tomatoes, potatoes, and strawberries, and maybe something else. (Onions? Basil?) For now, I'm concentrating on turning the backyard into the produce section. After that, I'll think about beautifying the front yard and removing the lawn.

edited 27th Jan '17 6:19:31 AM by RaspyMink

Awesome!!!! If you live in a place that gets a lot of sun, I'd pick basil since fresh pesto is a gift of the gods, and you can grow them with tomatoes.

Waiting for my aloe to establish itself in its new pot is a little nervewracking. Most info I've seen on repotting aloe says specifically not to water it for a couple of days. I've only got experience with non-succulents, so this is completely the opposite of everything I've learned.

My moss is just slow.

Leradny, my back yard is ALL SUN. So, basil sounds like a great idea! Thanks.

If you're worried about it, you could mist it a little bit while it's getting used to the pot. But, aloes generally do like it sandy and/or rocky: only the older ones can deal with really vile rainy seasons. The rainforesty ones also go for drainage above everything, if they go for soil at all.

My moss is still green, but not much else has happened. It will be an exercise in patience, a quality I lack as a gardener.

My aloe drooped a bit when I put it outside, so I put it in the window instead and refrained from watering it. It's perked up a bit.

Garden update: I moved them to a much sunnier spot and did some pruning and watering.

I rescued some earthworms that were washed out of the ground by all the rain, and put them in the larger planters. They get a nice safe place to live and I get free organic compost!