I’m sorry for missing last week, I was so in the thick of storm cleanup I genuinely forgot how days work. As an apology, here’s a picture of one of our cherries ready to pop for spring: 
What’s growing on with you all?
Amateur balcony gardener throwing stuff in dirt and seeing what grows reporting in! My garden is small but mighty, and it’s all coming together pretty well! My kale seeds have seriously hit the ground running, and I’m so excited to transfer the sprouts. The pumpkin sprouts are looking pretty good too, and it helps that I actually planted them during the right time this year, so I’m stoked about that. If I can just get one single tiny pumpkin this fall, I’d be sooo happy… Microgreens are looking good too, not taking off like the kale seeds did but I’m still proud of 'em for being themselves! My catnip seeds are starting to pop up a little too!
I also have some starters because lazy, and they are taking off! My cats go nuts for fresh catnip, it’s pretty neat :)
Pictures!
Kale sprouts with their younger sibling microgreens on the left.
I am now motivated to clean up my balcony and share the rest with you all :-D
share the rest with you all
Please do! I have it on good authority that it’s practically a jungle on a balcony and am excited to see it when you post it.
Some of those pumpkins look very leggy for the stage of leaf development they’re at, are you using supplemental lights for them?
I have it on good authority that it’s practically a jungle on a balcony
Now who told you that! :D no supplemental lights being used, just natural sunlight from about 8AM to 6-7PM give or take. I’ll have to rearrange and move them closer to the end, there’s a spot that receives more direct light than where they were. Think they’re just needing more light?
I really ought to just set up some sort of secured platform on the railing and get them out there during the day. Thinking that’s a weekend project after we go to the farmer’s market!
A little
birdybee told meI think they would benefit from more light, yes. Many of the pumpkins we start tend to have true leaves come in while the cotyledons (starter leaves) are still within a few cm of the soil. I have to go through some photos later today and I’ll see if I can find a picture of our last set of starts for you
That would be great, thank you! I just moved them to a better spot so hopefully they get the light they need. I’ll report back with results!
i didn’t have time to do a food garden this year, but i do have some general updates. this is only our second spring in this location, so i still feel like i’m getting to know the land.
- planted tons of clover in bare spots around the yard
- we’ve got lots of ground ivy, pink-sorrel, purple dead nettle, and bulbous buttercup growing in the yard
- need to replant the mature rosemary out of the container and into the ground — not sure where to put it yet
- my neglected succulent is flowering??? literally haven’t thought about this housewarming gift in at least six months
I have a ton of respect for folks who express their relationship with the land they’re stewarding in the way you have.
neglected succulent
Plants that do well with the STUN (Sheer, Total, Utter Neglect) method are the best. I bet you didn’t even give yourself credit for practicing such advanced gardening techniques
I JUST WANT TO SMOTHER IT WITH LOVE
Mostly deer food 🙃
I planted 8 Asiatic lilies two weeks ago, and the deer ate them all down to the ground. And my hibiscuses. And stripped my cherry tree I planted last year down to a stick.
Suburban deer are the worst.
Two 4x8 raised beds from reclaimed wood turned into two raised beds + 4 ground beds when we had some leftover compost… the extra beds will probably be purely experimental / chaos gardens, gonna throw some nitrogen fixers like chickpeas in and see what happens.
Most of my summer vegetable starts have germinated, which is exciting, though I think I’ll need to replant the brassicas because they got leggy and the old soil I put them in wasn’t great… the pumpkin seedlings look great though!
Next step is to finish the anti-rabbit fence and finally plant out my onions.
It’s been kinda depressing to learn how many of the plants in my lawn are Eurasian invasives, but at least I’ll get to make lots of garlic mustard pesto!
For your brassicas, how close is their light source? We’ve had good success fixing legginess by shifting lights closer and adding a small oscillating fan to coax stems into getting stronger.
My shelves were pretty crowded with the onion starts and I just waited a few days too long before rearranging things to make room. I thinkt eh bigger issue now is poor soil, though, I’ll need to top them off with compost, or honestly just plant them out sooner.
A fan is definitely something I’m missing - will have to set something up
In a pinch some old bedsheets and croquet wickets from an estate sale make a great frost cloth for early brassicas outside, if that’s a concern at this point of the season where you are
Not growing anything, but wanted to say I love your post title and contributions to discussion on Beehaw. Thanks friend.
“Not growing anything,” says person successfully making my heart grow bigger
