I turned over my plot(s) and put veggie seeds in on Sunday, along with dividing and moving some daylilies. (And am I SORE all over as a result!)
I’m thinking of planting some flax (upstate NY area, zone 5) so a spinning friend can spin some. Anybody ever plant flax? How’d it do?
All I’m going to say about growing your own flax is this: The “retting” part of the processing will stink to high heaven. You’ll want to do this outside or in a shed away from your home and downwind of your residence.
A suggestion – plant a few radish seeds among the other longer germination seeds…That will let you know “Yes,something is there”
I have a tomato bloom!
An accidental carrot is growing and blooming in my miniature rose bush… looks like a bouquet 
I’m silly,I like to let a carrot or radish bloom,so many people don’t know what they are and are struck by their beauty.
My cherry tomatoes have a couple of teeny, tiny, not-quite-marble sized tomatoes!
Oh-the bean seeds I planted were at least 3 years old and every one came up!
No, they sure don.t Soooooo jealous, bleeding heart is something I drool over in seed catalogues, along with blue columbines, and it’s just too darn hot here for both of them here, I believe.
Yeah, raise your hand if you haven’t done that. :o
I planted a pot of kitchen leftovers: a sweet potato gone to sprout, an avocado pit, and some papaya seeds that are several years old but what the hell, here’s hopin’ … plus some store-bought chive and white alyssum seeds for company.
My tulips have a little bit to go. Lylacs are just starting. But the dandelions are doing well
The dandelions always do well!
It may rain as much as 7" this next 7 or so days.
Everything that had sprouted so far, and all the direct-sow seeds, went in today: 3 rows of different carrots (red, yellow, and orange ball-shaped ones), Easter egg radish mix, a row of red cipollini onions, a row of snow peas, Armenian cucumbers, Charentais melons, 3 rows of mixed heirloom tomatoes, broccoli, and basil (the stuff that the cat dumped over a couple of weeks ago - it’ll be a surprise what comes up, that’s for sure!), 3 rows of different kinds of peppers (I hope the pardon peppers work!)…
Still waiting for the thyme and mint to sprout before I transplant them - no idea where I am going to put them. And the morning glories are starting to sprout in the window boxes on the back porch.
Also planted a bag of bleeding hearts, hostas, and astilbe in the front yard. The tulips are out in force, though they haven’t been handling the rainstorms very well, and some of the hyacinths are spent already. The clematis have grown a foot in the past week, I swear! And the violas I transplanted from the middle of the lawn (and the cracks in the sidewalk along the side of the building) are perking up nicely.
What to put in the planters by the front door? I did some purple amaranth last year, which was kind of funky-looking.
Padron peppers, not pardon peppers (missed the edit window). I have never seen them in any form in the U.S., so fingers crossed.
If I get the onions in today it will be a victory.
The chard patch turns out to be a total loss (&#*! feral cats!). Fortunately, I have more seeds. Also need to get in the beets and turnips and this what’s already up and growing.
Raining here – wrong side of the lakes that supply Austin,but they’re talking perhaps 7 inches!
There are leaves sprouting on some rose cuttings!! This is the first sign ever of success with rose cuttings…
Feral cats – well,hot pepper powder helps… Moth balls are supposed to run them away but I can’t enjoy being outside with those around. Perhaps throw orange peels in the Chard patch.
I got Squirrels. Hablanerio pepper sauce sprinkled around helps with them.
My pared down garden this year has only tomatoes. I got romas going and Missi chose a yellow grape variety. In the pots we put marigolds, celosas, and red salvia. I put two peppermint and two spearmint seedlings in the front lawn. I’m hoping they will choke out the weeds-- the grass is dead and gone.
I then read that mint likes shade and one thing my east facing lawn does not have is shade. I think I may put down creeping thyme. Either way, I’m going to have the best smelling front lawn in the neighborhood.
Let me know how the shade stuff works. Our front yard is totally shaded, and the grass looks like crap. I am trying to come up with alternative ideas.
I use coyote piss, I just may not have applied enough or the rain washed some of it away.
Thinned out the sprouts, got a couple of micro-radishes for the effort, and planted my onions today in the ravaged chard patch - it looks like two sprouts survived.
Radishes, salad greens, and chard went in last weekend.
Everything else goes in over the next two weeks.
Including the 1000 sunflowers! Well, okay not all of them at once, I’m staggering the plantings. I still can’t believe I’m doing this.
Well, it wasn’t really in my weekend plans, but I’ve begun my “steathy” takeover of the other half of my community garden bed. I’m supposed to wait til the teacher OKs it, but she’s never around, and doesn’t seem to know I exist anyway. I pulled weeds for an hour this morning, only found 4 snails and one (shudder) slug, but lots of other nice bugs, including purple isopods and a gorgeous daring jumping spider! Like lots of community gardens, the weed load is odd - along with the dandelions and thistles, there are misplaced ornamentals that just go bonkers. I had calendula, feverfew, madder, borage, as well as other things I couldn’t name but mostly recognize.
I am sheet mulching the new half with cardboard, in fact, I laid it down today in the hope it would stop some of the (masses) of weed seeds germinating. Tomorrow I’ll cut a few Xs, put down some plant collars, (cut off plastic pots) and plant… hmm. Not sure. Any suggestions? Melons, maybe? I think having just a few plants, meaning just a few holes, would be good for keeping the weeds down, and then the cardboard (and whatever other mulch I find to start spreading on top) can protect the fruit. Watermelon or cantaloupe?
In my already-planted bed I have four kinds of cherry tomato, “Homemade Pickles” variety cukes, Hungarian wax peppers, and I threw down a lot of dill seed. (Guess why!) No dill seedlings yet, I think I’ll start some more in a pot here at home, just in case.
My herbs are looking nice this year - big pot of mint is finally doing well, although I had to move it to part shade as it was getting wilty in the heat. I also have a few fenugreek plants, which have seedpods on - I’m waiting for them to dry before I harvest. That was kind of fun, and the greens are quite nice chopped in curries and the like. Just replaced my parsley bush, which went to seed; my marjoram and sage share a pot and are doing well, but a bit leggy, time to cut them back and dry the excess, maybe. Thai basil going great guns, and a handful of lettuce leaf basil seedlings just poking through. Tarragon, thyme, rosemary, no problems, they just keep on giving. I planted some cress and chervil seeds last week, the cress is up but no chervil yet.
Update: I did one of each of Charleston Grey watermelon and Sweet and Early cantaloupe.
Got the first “fruits” of the garden today - double handful of the easter egg radishes. We’ve had great radish weather. Still think the feral cat is around, but the replanted area is doing better. Still have some expanding to do over the next month as the overnight weather warms up, but it’s nice to be getting something already.