This & That

Hey Dudes and Dudettes! It's been about a week since my last blog post. Many ideas have come and gone since then.  I change my mind like I change my underwear. The first idea I got was when I was at homedepot last weekend.  They had start your own mushroom kits.

Homedepot had them in sale for 10 bucks.  Honestly I don't know how cost effective this kit would be. So i started looking at some youtube videos on DIY kits. There is a lot of effort into growing your own shrooms. And at every step something wrong can happen. And right now I have to my efforts into getting my Patch going.  But maybe this fall I might try to to start my own mushrooms.


Last week I started some seeds

Mammoth Sunflower: These things get insanely huge! They are suppose to be great for sunflower seed harvest. Also sunflower attract the bees. I planted 6. I have to find a good spot for these.

Jerusalem gold hybrid sunflower: I really like the look of these. Will bring some great color to the patch. These aren't known for their seeds.

Long Island Brussel Sprouts: I should have really started these a couple weeks ago. I forgot I wanted to plant these this year. I tried last year and it was a giant fail! I love brussel sprouts.

Broccoli Romanesco: These guys a so cool looking. They look like sort of alien plant

 I started one last year but with our short growing season last year it didn't make it.

Next I started a variety of basil. Lemon, lettuce and herb fine Verde basil.  Basil might be one of my favorite herbs. Brings so much flavor to any Italian dish. 

Bee balm: Bee balm is a wonderful plant for attracting butterflies and helpful bees. They also attract hummingbirds

Lavender: Many gardeners consider lavender a somewhat old-fashioned plant but its wonderful fragrance makes lavender truly a classic. Bees also are attracted

That's what I planted last weekend. And this is how they look now.

The sunflowers started to sprout 2 days after I planted them! The roots are starting to burst out!

I'm starting to think I could have started these directly outside.   But whatever we will see what happens. 

The tomatoes are starting to get their second leaves. The real tomato leaves.  I have a few double plants per the plant starter thingy.  I'm going to try and save some of them rather then thinning the herd. I might kill both plants but it's worth the risk. I would like to be able to give away lots of plants to friends and family.

In the next couple of weeks I plan on starting squash and melons. Last year's melon and squash crop was a real success.  And now I'm kind of hooked. I really liked watching the melons and squash grow.  So this year I bought a few more variety of melons and squash. Buy here is the dilemma.  I don't have the space.

But there is a solution to this!  If I don't have the space to grow out. I must grow up!  So that what I'm going to do.  I'm going to build a bunch of trellis out of conduit.

I built some of these about 3 years ago for cucumbers and beans. But I have never tried them for squash and melons. A watermelon weighs a lot more then a cucumber.  So how is this going to work you may ask? We just have to support the fruit!

This guy used potato sacks. It gives the fruit plenty of support! I have seen plenty of people not even using supports for smaller melons and squash. This is how I'm going to really expand my little urban farm! 

I went to homedepot this afternoon.  (Actually during the middle of writing this blog. I got the itch!  )They are having a black Friday week special. I believe it ends Sunday.  But all seeds are buy one get one free. So i loaded up on some seeds that I wanted. Mostly herbs. Because I really don't have much for herbs.

But I also picked up a pack of Pansy flowers. Yes that's what they are called.  They are a edible flower. I have never tried them. Like ever. So I'm going to give them a shot.

I was able to score a couple nice deals on a couple things that I need but I wasn't necessarily looking for. I scored 10 tomato cages for 10 bucks. Seems like a really nice deal. They are not the biggest cages. I might end up using them for my pepper plants. 

I also picked up some mesh weed guards. Normally 10 bucks on sale for 5!! I plan on lining my watermelon and tomato beds with them.  There are multiple reasons I'm doing this. One of course is weed control. The mesh will also help with warming the soil and watermelon will like that. Also this will help keep soil off my tomato leaves. Because that's were blight lives! That's the brown and yellow spots the tomato leaves get and it kills them.

Well that's about it. Next week is easter and I have to spend time with my In laws and family so I may or may not have a blog entry!

Dude & His Garden