What have you done today in the Garden?

Do you plant your leeks from seed SJoerd? I start mine in January for a May plant. I always hope for the size of a pencil at transplant, but not this year for sure. I'd like to ask about the paper towels on the leeks. I've read about that. Do they rot and fall off? What stage do you place them on the leek?

 

I love hearing about the fig orchard. This may sound silly...but I have never tasted or eve seen a Fig. I've always wanted to. I do purchase organic dried turkish figs, and they are very delicious ( quite sweet but no added sugar). I looked at a Northern Fig ( dwarf and potted) that could be brought indoors during the winter, but it would not work where my home is located in proximity to the green house ( way way uphill). Also, I worry that outside pests could get into and destroy my indoor gardens.

 

Pruned my roses for the first time. I was a bit conservative ( it being a new-to-me practice) & I am eager to see the results this year.

Also pruned some very old blueberries. These plants must be ?? over 30 years old. We'll see how they do this year.

 

I gave away tomato seedlings, Nice day though it was, after 2.25" rain its still a bit wet for digging and planting.

 

I am interested to see your results as well.

 

I sometimes start my leeks from seed. I should say that I used to do so. Now I go out into the countryside and there is the son of a farmer that grows little plantlets from seed and sells them to the public. I buy them from him @ 15 cents per plantlet. I enjoy supporting this young man in his early days of farming. He learns plant germination but also the business side of farming. I like that.

Now then Mel, the paper towel tubes: I sometimes re-enforce them with plastic tape so that they will not fall apart. One of these years I am going to make an investment in some grey plastic tube lengths the same diameter as the paper towel tubes.

When to place them: of course I earth up the leeks to get nice, long blanched areas on the stems; but when I runout of soil to earth them up, I slip a tube over the leek plant. I first measure that enough of the leaves will come out above the end of the cardboard tube, as the plant must continue to grow.

After a few seasons, you develop a certain experience to help you get it right. There are several factors involved in my decisions.

 

You will enjoy the new growth on the roses! When I pruned my blueberries last it was a hard prune and took a season plus some to get back to business.

 

Mowed both lawns this afternoon.

The grass is recovering well,. still one or two small moss patches,. but gave them a dose of iron sulphate, "to help them on their way."

As it wasn't too warm decided to paint the back of the security fence. The door didn't need doing. You can see the long trunk of the wisteria that grows from the little bed near the corner of the garage, along the top of the fence and onto pergola on the back of the house. The main part of this wisteria I grew over the pergola on the side of the garage, but it died. What's left is a couple of branches from this trunk and a few from a bit that self rooted from the part that died, near the garage side door.

The door looks rectangular here, that's how this replacement one started life a couple of years ago.




But I had to shape the top as it was replacing one with an arched top I'd bought eighteen years ago and built the fence around it.
This side doesn't get the weather.



The wisteria in the bed on the right hand side, in the photo before this one, is the one that grows up and over the fence and along the side of the house. When it has blooms, they are pink, but it doesn't get much sun. You can train wisterias to grow any way you want them to.




I moved the second trail camera....again!
It wasn't getting a good field of vision where it was. That was my fault as I put it where the short lead from the adapter could reach it. from a bank of sockets on the wall in the garage behind it.

To put it where it is now, on a block of wood in one of the trellis "squares"
I had to put another socket in the garage roof void. and connect that up to the garage lighting supply.





It's remarkable how quickly these acers have filled out in a couple of days. I'll leave them a week and then shape them a bit, the big one needs it more than this one.









The first of the azaleas are coming out, it's always the red ones.

 

Did a lot of weeding in the back garden.

 

Today I woke up to snow flurries again,but the eased off by noon. I moved all of the brasica and leeks/onions outside on the deck for some cool sunshine. Then it was soil cable time for the greenhouse. I measured and placed the cable so that it loops around each tomato planting sight. Tomorrow it will be plugged in to slowly start to heat the soil. I'll keep an eye on the temperature so that I can adjust the cable depth accordingly to reach 14 C in the soil. It's a new soil medium that I'm not used to so it will take some time I believe.

 

@Doghouse Riley - I love that bush...Acer?? it is so beautiful. I would want to sit by it regularly. Does it lose it's leaves? Or do you get to enjoy it year round? So pretty.

 

Sowed some beetroot seeds and did a bit more weeding. Noticed that there's a cow parsley plant in between the currant bushes that will have to go.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately the look rather ugly in the winter and shed quite a few branches from the bottom of the canopy, but they are replaced by new ones at the top.

 

It is very cool that you can see the unique winding trunk in the winter time. I would have some mini clear lights on it in the winter time - highlight it's hidden beauty. Mind you..if my circuits and hydro bill could handle it I'd have trees lit up everywhere outside with clear mini lights in winter. It's a weakness I have. I do the inside trees though hahaha.

 

Yesterday was laying out the heating cables in the greenhouse, and topping up the soil. Today everyone will be plugged in, and heat lamps set up. No one will be overnighting in there for a while, but I want to be sure everything works before the next trip to town on Friday.

It is quite tedious as I need to bury the cable, and stake and mark where it is for when I transpant the tomatoes. I can't let it winter because mice love electrical cords.

Excuse the mess in the middle....it's the blankets and remay needed for my wee row of spinach to survive on the other side.