Topic: The Lush Gardener

[Kendra]

T H E  .  L U S H  .  G A R D E N E R

I wish I could tell you that I am an expert but I am not. My journey in gardening did start when I was very young, helping my grandfather with his tomato plants when we called to visit or selling trays of seedlings around our neighbourhood to earn a bit of pocket money. All my family were keen gardeners, and I thought that by default I would be too. It turned out for many years that my best skill in the garden, any garden was killing things. So naturally, I was put in charge of the weeds. Win-win really. We moved house a few years ago and have a bit of a decent-sized garden now, that is probably an understatement but with land comes responsibility as any of my Irish ancestors would inform me. You must look after the land! I can actually hear the voice of the Bull McCabe when I say that. But he is right and we do. To the extent that we do not use any sprays, everything is organically grown, we compost and grow our own fruit and vegetables. I am using the royal 'we' here mind you. Again, I was Super Weed Killer extraordinaire but I was also super busy, with University, work and getting to know my new family. When all of the college stuff got completed, I discovered I had quite a bit of time on my hands and wanted to be more helpful and so I took on the vegetables and herbs. Needless to say, I had no idea what I was up to, but I did what any other person who had just completed their Masters would do, I researched! I cringe now at the number of books I sourced and bought (thank you second-hand bookstores) most of which I will probably never actually use, but do look so very pretty on my coffee table and bookshelf! I watched videos on YouTube and have now whittled it down to 3 main sites which are ideal for me in Ireland but not for anyone living across the pond. My garden zone may be different to yours. What is a garden zone you may ask? Well, I will tell you, but I will tell you more than that. My journey last year was adventurous, and fun, with a lot of hard work, some absolutely horrific mistakes and other amazing successes I am hoping to learn more this year and achieve more. For Christmas, I got a pressure canner so that the produce I do grow and harvest won't simply get used or frozen but can be stored in other ways too. For many of you, it is still the depths of winter and for some of us it is spring and time to start sowing if you haven't already begun. Do join me on this year's journey, hopefully, we will both learn something new together and any tips that I have learned I will pass on. And why the Lush gardener you may ask? Well, every time my SO came home from a hard day's work - it was to find me standing admiring my hard work in the polytunnels with a glass of wine in hand.

To Begin or more importantly where to Begin

I mentioned a thing called garden zones which was a whole new concept to me but every time I tried to watch a video and learn something, I discovered that what can be grown in certain parts of the states at certain parts of the year might not actually be as viable here in the South coast of Ireland. Every gardener kept mentioning garden zones. I had no idea what mine was or what an actual garden zone meant. So here is the science part ... see we are learning already!

According to the Wikipedia - A garden zone or hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants.

Mine is 9b which allows for the amount of rain we get, that my area is coastal, and more warm than sunny - but this zone is the very same one for parts of Southern California! So what we can grow really does depend on your soil's hardness.

Of course if you have a polytunnel like I do, it does help with rainy conditions, sharp frosts and long winters.

This time of year ... if you have no snow to worry about - then get out and get weeding!
The soil for us is perfect this time of year, it is just soft enough that the weeds come up easily but not too soft that the ground or neighbouring plants gets damaged.

I have what I call my weeding friends; meet Ernie and Bert.

I would be lost without these. Having the right tools for your garden is very important. The long hoe is so I don't go straining my back when weeding, and the smaller one is when I really have to cut a weed out from around a paving slap that is proving otherwise difficult. They don't look great there because they were just used but you do have to take good care of your tools as well. It should go without saying but sadly, I know a few gardeners who just toss things back into the shed when done. Tools last a long time if they are properly treated. A good clean is sometimes very effective.

Besides weeding this time of year, because some areas will still have frost and snow - if you haven't had the opportunity before, do get out and prune while you still can.
My willow tree has gone beserk because I have forgotten it until the last minute and by the time February and now March comes along - it is too late.

This is just a snippet of the herb garden that desperately needed weeding and a bit of pruning  - before and after for my thyme and parsley

 

I will give you a look tomorrow at the seeds I have planted so far and the plan for the first polytunnel and how companion planting is not a trend but an actual thing and you should do it!

[persephone325]

*stalks the thread* I really like gardening. My grandmother had a super green thumb. She could basically make anything grow anywhere. ^^ (Miss her...)

I look forward to seeing your garden grow! Maybe this will inspire me to start my own garden? I've always wanted to.

[Kendra]

I ended doing a 15 hour day instead of a 12, so no seed post today but it will come.
Hopefully tomorrow :)

Thank you Persephone - hopefully, it will be inspiring and not 'oh thank goodness I don't have a garden'! 

[Kendra]

SEEDS

I really do need to reiterate and probably will continue to do so throughout the season, but I am not an expert and don't even pretend to be. I am very keen however and had so much fun from the garden last year that I was determined to do it all again, with improvements this year. I say improvements but that is wishful thinking on my part. I had a journal kept which had been amazing but that along with all my lovely seeds that I had saved, got gobbled up by mice over the winter. Was not best pleased when I discovered this of course, especially when seeds are not cheap. This year I am saving all the small herb jars I get and putting any leftover seeds into those, well labelled of course. The seeds I planted a few days ago were basically to fit my plan for Polytunnel 1 which I of course continually confuse with polytunnel 2 when talking about it. I need to give them real names instead of one and two, I don't do well with numbers. February and March are the best times to start growing your seeds especially for an early crop. I like having a good supply of vegetables right through to November before the first frosts, and then I usually start planting again for over winter. Last year I was very particular, I got modular trays and sowed directly into those - everything even my root vegetables and broad beans! Which I later learned I didn't have to, root veg always does better planted directly into the ground. So that is what I plan on doing this year. Last year I started really early, like the beginning of February early and everyone thought I was mental, especially my long time gardening friends who all told me I was nuts. BUT … there was method to my madness and when everyone else I knew had  little shoots coming through, I had plants that were well on their way. It did help that I had polytunnels to work with. My best friends last year were plastic and fleece sheaths that I used as protective layers - not only to stop caterpillars and aphids but to protect against the cold. For the stuff I planted outside, they protected the plants against the birds who decimated my squash patch. I make lists, lists are essential. For me at any rate. But they do come in handy. I have a new journal started (cheap old school copy) that now contains lists of what I want to sow, where I want to sow it and what I have sown. I also keep a list on when things need harvesting so that I can do succession sowing. That basically means that I get a continuous rotation of vegetables over the next few months. I have one plan drawn up for the first polytunnel and seriously must work on the drawing plan for the second polytunnel - but I don't worry about that one so much because it will be full of tomato plants and French beans like last year. Other things too  but mainly those.

.

Broad Beans x12 Tomato - Red Pear x 10 Saxa Dwarf Bean x 12 Tomato - Moneymaker x 10 Chard x 12 Spring onion x 12 for drills & 1 pot

Purple sprouting broccoli x 10 Beetroot x 6 Garlic x 12 from cloves Baby potatoes x 8 from chitting Fennel x 1 - from fennel cutting

I use an actual seeding compost when I sow, the mixed compost bags are cheaper but they have twigs and all sorts inside of them. So even though the bag will say they are suitable for seed sowing, you do have to be careful. Last year I did lose seeds to that very mistake as they couldn't push up through the soil. Seeding compost is finer and when mixed with vermiculite it makes for an even better soil mix so that your seeds get the nutrients and water they need early on. Otherwise they can get leggy or not grow well at all. You can get both of these in any good gardening centre. One very good tip I picked up last year which I intend to keep doing is watering the soil before putting it into the pots. When I mix my soil and vermiculite together, I pour water over it and mix it well. The soil should then be the right consistency for putting my seeds into. I just found that 'watering in' the seeds sometimes washed the seeds out of their spot more times than not. It was a nice tip to get last year and one I will keep.

And we are back to labelling again ... always label but be mindful of how you label.
Last year I used a pen on these plastic tag rods that my MIL had for years, all you had to do apparently was write the name on to them and hey presto. Don't use a biro / pen or water soluble marker - remember you water your plants and even though you should be watering from the base upwards, sometimes you might have very eager helpers who just hose everything from the top down! Biro, pen, water soluble marker all washes off in no time at all and then you are left guessing what it was you had in that particular pot or module tray. It was a very good job I had my journal with my lists.

What I found worked best, was pencil! It doesn't come off with water and can be rubbed off with your finger so that you can reuse the label tag again and again. But do label and date as you are sowing. Especially if you plan on sowing a lot and different varieties at the same time.

The plan has some blank areas the pathway around the plots for one but also inbetween the dahlias (which will be coming up) and the beetroot. I haven't completely decided on what will go there yet, it is a toss at the moment between courgettes or squash. I have left other spaces about because I need to be able to plant radishes, lettuces and herbs wherever I want. Fill all the spaces eventually is the idea and get the most out of the plots.

[Oniya]

You've used this word a lot, without explanation.  What is a 'polytunnel'?

[persephone325]

It's basically what a greenhouse is, if my memory serves me right. They can be small, like this one.

[Kendra]

What is a Polytunnel

It's for all the world, a tunnel made from Polythene. Similar to a green house but there are differences.
Hope the video helps Oniya.
I had a lot of work to do in it this morning, so thought it might be good to get a wee video.
I must just remember next time to turn the phone landscape instead of profile.

I am currently preparing the first tunnel for when we have actual plants to go in to it.

BEFORE             AFTER


The before photo was taken from the back of the tunnel facing the front door || while the after photo was taken from the front door facing the back.

[Oniya]

Thanks!  The name makes sense now, in the 'of course that's what to call the thing' way.

[Flower]

*happily tunes in*

<333

Your gardening space is so beautiful, Kendra! I can't wait to see it full and bountiful.

[Wistful Dream]

~comes along for the journey~

[Kendra]

Thanks!  The name makes sense now, in the 'of course that's what to call the thing' way.

*grins* absolutely - to be honest though, a few years back you could have been saying the word to me too and I wouldn't have cottoned on to what it was either.
*makes a note*  that when I say something, I shouldn't automatically think everyone knows what I am talking about.

*happily tunes in*

<333

Your gardening space is so beautiful, Kendra! I can't wait to see it full and bountiful.

Thank you. My MIL and SO put a lot of work into it over the past few years while I was busy working and studying.
We are actually surrounded by farms on 3 sides, which is gorgeous usually except when it comes to those times of year when they spray slurry - manure slurry which is basically an organic fertiliser that gets sprayed on the freshly ploughed fields - more times than not it's pig slurry that is used, so the smell is terrible! would not want it to be a windy day.

~comes along for the journey~

Ah you are very welcome.

I just hope that the seeds do something this year now *smiles*

[Kendra]

Spring Preparations

This time of the year no one wants to be outside doing work in the garden when they could be nice and warm elsewhere. It was very cool this weekend and temperatures dropped even more at night time. So any seeds that I sowed this weekend, and those that I had done the weekend before - all had to be covered up and tucked in. Taking the time to protect and make a big fuss of your seeds will pay dividends in the weeks to come. Many just don't want to germinate when it is too cold. I tend to err on the side of caution so even though I didn't fleece my seeds last year that may have been because the weather was better or that I was so clueless and not protecting them was the reason that many didn't germinate last year! Quite a bit got done this weekend, from weeding the polytunnels, to hosing them down. This definitely is a job that requires doing at least once a year depending on your climate. The greenhouse should get done twice a year in my opinion. At the start of Spring to clean it up and prepare it for all the growing season and again when you are finished germinating any seeds or not growing veg in your greenhouse. This cleans out any blight or diseases that have come inside over the few months it has been in use and if it is a really warm and now clean greenhouse, it can be used to store some of your harvests such as hanging your herbs up to dry or drying out your onion sets. The outside of both of our tunnels was decidedly green, the insides were fairly grubby too. Out came the power hose and SO got stuck in. The difference is huge, the sun will be able to get in properly now and do the work we need it to do.

.

I promise you I was not sitting about watching him do all the work. No, besides weeding and raking in fresh compost. I was also repositioning some plants - Spearmint that I managed to get three separate plants from, so now I have one replanted in the herb garden and two for the polytunnels. It is supposed to be a natural deterrent for mice and rats but it should be fired as it didn't do its job at all! Some sage got repositioned as well, and I began laying out the different bamboo canes required for climbing plants. The most important job, however, was the watering in. I call it watering-in because I obviously heard a very knowledgeable gardener saying it at one time and it has stuck. All winter long the polytunnels probably got the odd watering, you don't need to do much when plants are 'overwintering' - you are effectively getting them to a certain stage and stalling further growth until after the first frost. Basically preserving them until you are ready to grow them. Doing this is supposed to help with the 'Hungry Gap' months when growing any vegetables in certain climates becomes almost non-existent. Because our polytunnels didn't get much in the way of watering, it means that now ... the soil is bone dry and no amount of anything will grow there. That means for the next two weeks, I get to go out early in the morning before the sun rises and soak the soil in each of the tunnels. I return when the sun has set, to rewater the soil again. The soil is so dry that it is barely soaking the top, that is why I have to be precious about doing it over the next few weeks. The timing for watering is crucial and it will be the same once vegetables have actually been planted. Before the sun rises because the soil gets the benefit before the sun heats up and absorbs it all. After the sun sets because the water will get a better chance of getting down deep into the soil - if you have plants in, evening watering helps because the water does not evaporate as quickly. And always remember when you are watering your plants - do so from the base and not on the leaves, or you run the risk of blight, mildew, or fungus on your plants.

After a really good watering!

And tucking them up for the Night!

From courgettes, to more tomotoes, chilli peppers to winter squash plants - the seeds got sown this weekend!
I have enough that if they don't take in the next week or two, then I still have enough time to get more in. I used the potting mix with vermiculite again, this time I watered the mixture
before putting any seeds in - with the water added it should be moist without it ever getting sludgy.
Fill up your pots or module trays - add your seeds and hey presto!
Or depending on your climate you can cover with plastic tray lids or with fleece.
For the next few evenings, I am leaving the fleece on mine, just to keep them as warm as I possibly can so they can do their magic.

Last year I tried growing oregano from seed but it never took very well, it could just be the Irish climate or me.
This year I found a plug ... a module of oregano in Lidl (Supermarket) - not in the gardening section but in the herb, fruit and veg section.
I just took it out of its small modular pot and potted it on to a bigger pot. I am hoping it will take and if it does, I will keep it in the polytunnel
as none of last years attempts succeeded in the herb garden.

The tall plant in the photograph is a bell pepper that I grew from seed over the winter in my kitchen. An ordinary shop bought bell pepper.
It needed potting on so that the roots would not become boxed in or 'root bound'. That too will eventually make its way to the polytunnel.

.

[Kendra]

The Waiting Game

You have prepared your soil. You have planted your seeds. What now? You wait. Seeds take anywhere from 10 days to 3 weeks to germinate, depending on the seeds. Some may even take longer again. Water always from the base but do not overwater - you don't want your seeds becoming waterlogged and rotting but you also don't want the soil to become so dry that the seeds can't get the nutrition they need. Although there is always so much work to do in the garden, for your sown seeds it becomes simply a waiting game. The first batch of seeds that I planted are coming along nicely but the cold weather has stunted their timeline a bit. This simply means that they may take another week or so before the seeds really start growing. From left to right in this photo are Chard, beetroot, broad beans and Saxa Dwarf French Beans. All were planted the same day but you can see the difference in the growth quite clearly. The dwarf beans will take longer to germinate, they haven't even begun to push through the soil yet. Whereas the other seeds are well on their way. Over the next few days I will have to begin thinning the chard out and placing the seedlings into different modular trays. I will do another piece on the different tray sets that are available.

These spring onions were planted less than 2 weeks ago but they are germinating beautifully. I did two different batches, a pot shown above and a modular tray with seeds spread out to make it easier for sowing drills of onions. It was interesting that although they were all planted at the same time, they haven't grown equally. The seeds in the modular trays are taking a bit longer. They have begun to break through the soil but at a slower pace. The purple-sprouting broccoli is also doing really well. I planted these into a pot as well and will begin moving them into singular modules in the next few days, so they can grow bigger and better. It is still too soon to plant them into the ground, so they will stay in the greenhouse for another while yet. It really is a waiting game now, probably one of the most boring times in the gardening calendar in my opinion. Plenty of professional gardeners will tell you that there is always something to do in the garden, and they are right there is - but it also depends on the weather, your soil, your motivation, and your time. Professional gardeners do their amazing gardens and vegetables as a full-time job, the rest of us do it for joy, and to help as another food source, but we often do not have the time, patience or perhaps money to put the amount of effort that a professional would put in. Don't get discouraged when you see gardening programmes, and think that none of it is possible. Some things always are. So even if you don't have polytunnels, you may have an indoor space or patio, an outdoor plot that can be used for growing vegetables, herbs or flowers. Do what I did last year and make a start. Journal everything so you know what went well and what didn't. So next year, you will be more prepared.

[Kendra]

Germination

I thought it would be easier to do a short video for you today, and safe me typing up a load of stuff for you all to read.
Seeds are germinating nicely now, the video shows quite a bit of those that have germinated so far.
The photographs below are all of the broad beans. Everything else today was potted on which means thinning out and
putting it into a bigger pot or modular tray. Planting out is when you move them from their pots or trays into the actual
last spot they will grow in, so either a bigger pot or the ground.

The polytunnel is the final home for the broad beans here, they have done really well. I took a photo of the root systems
which are fantastic but getting them out of their pots now is vital so they don't get pot-bound - which is when the roots
have nowhere left to grow but wrap themselves around each other. More times than not the plant cannot recover, but
there are exceptions. I already had an area set up for the broad beans, their own spikes/canes to grow up against and
which I can clip to, to help strengthen and support them as they grow.

I didn't take a photo of the group of them planted but I will in another week or two. Tomorrow I will be potting the
seeds for red lettuce, green lettuce and lambs lettuce. We do eat a lot of it during the summer. I plan to position quite
a few of the lettuce's in and around the broad beans, otherwise, there is just all that space going to waste, so ground plants
like lettuce, radishes and beetroot are perfect. Provided of course that you haven't planted your broad beans too close to
one another.

[Flower]

Look at your babies grow. I wish them continued success. ❣️

[Kendra]

Thanks Flower :)
Leg was too Grrrr today, so had to keep it elevated which meant no planting of my lettuce seeds as yet but I will get there.