Kale and Lettuce ready to eat !!! ... pic.twitter.com/ivut8uK6xl

— Organic Gardener (@backyardorgani1) June 5, 2017

Seed Orders For 2017 Outdoor Garden ... Part 1

I try to order seeds early to make sure I have them. I put my seed inventory into a few categories:

1. Old seeds
2. Seed saved seeds
3. New seeds

I make sure I have plenty of seeds of the plants I want to grow. I tend to start them earlier than I should to make sure I have enough plants. I try to use up the old seeds and then use the seed saved seeds. I also grow about 50% more plants than what I need. There is nothing worse than a possible blank spot in the garden. Or not having enough of your favorite plants. It is better to have seeds left over than missing plants at planting time. 

I bought these seeds from Johnnys  Johnny's Selected Seeds   during a sale. They are Zinnias, Rudbeckia, Coneflower, Lettuce mix, Kale, Collared Greens, Lettuce, Swiss Chard, Broccoli, Cherry Tomato

The flowers are annuals. The collard greens, cherry tomatoes, lettuce mix, lettuce, swiss chard, kale will keep producing new harvests. 

I will use succession planting to supplement the broccoli and lettuce growth. 

As you can see from previous posts, I use a lot of zinnias and rudbeckia in the flower garden. They attract bees, blooms last a long time, and the plants can handle the local climate.  

Garden Flower Pictures And Red Currant Harvest 7/20 - 7/27 2016

I harvested the red currants during this time period. I just glide my had along the cluster and gently pick the currants. I also pick the entire cluster and put it in the pot. It takes me about 2 days to do 2 bushes.

I sit on the porch to take a break from the heat or rain and remove the stems and leaves.

I ended up with 7 quarts of red currants. I froze them to make jam doing the winter.

Red Currant harvesting underway

                                          

Here are some pictures of the different flowers blooming in the garden at this time. Enjoy !

Rudbeckia and coneflowers

Coleus

                                         

The garden gets many animal visitors. A grasshopper is on a flower on the left and a deer is walking down my street. I surround the gardens with deer fencing. But every night the deer pass by looking for an opening to the all you can eat 24/7 snack bar!
                                         

                                         

Seedling Status 4/26/16

The process I use to start all plants from seed is basically the same. Go to the links below to see the sequence. I get good results from this process and have been using it for 10 years.

To see seedling status on 3/14/16 go here: Seedling Status 3/14/16 

To see how I start zinnias from the beginning go here: Seed Saving And Starting Zinnias 

To see how I start lettuce from the beginning go here: Seed Starting Bibb Butter Crunch Lettuce 

I also water the plants very sparingly every day. Remember to water the soil, not the plant. Cuts down on potential for spreading disease.

Full trays of the same thing are labeled with one name tag until they are transplanted into bigger peat pots. Then each plant is given a unique tag with its name and start date. You may have to shift things around in the trays and not labeling each one will cause planting errors.

I keep the lights on 12 hours a day using an automatic timer.

All seedlings shown were started on 3/14/16

Collard Greens and Kale left, balance Zinnias

Zinnias left, Nasturtiums in the back, Coleus foreground

Mixed tray left, Zinnias left rear, Cilantro front, Marigold in rear

Mostly Zinnias, few Nasturtiums in rear 

Zinnias with 2 Marigolds in the center

Tomatoes, Rudbeckia in tray

Marigolds on left, Calendula rear right, some Kale and Nasturtium

Seedling Status 3/14/16

The process I use to start all plants from seed is basically the same. Go to the links below to see the sequence. I get good results from this process and have been using it for 10 years.

To see the seedling status on 4/26/16:  Seedling Status Post 4/26/16

To see how I start zinnias from the beginning go here: Seed Saving And Starting Zinnias

To see how I start lettuce from the beginning go here: Seed Starting Bibb Butter Crunch Lettuce

I also water the plants very sparingly every day. Remember to water the soil, not the plant. Cuts down on potential for spreading disease.

Full trays of the same thing are labeled with one name tag until they are transplanted into bigger peat pots. Then each plant is given a unique tag with its name and start date. You may have to shift things around in the trays and not labeling each one will cause planting errors.

I keep the lights on 12 hours a day using an automatic timer.

All seedlings shown were started on 3/14/16

Zinnia in the front, Calendua in the rear

Calendula left, Coleus foreground, Nasturtium in the rear 

Zinnias

Zinnias, Cabbage and Kale in  the rear

Bachelor Buttons

Cabbage, Kale, Cosmos, and Zinnias in the rear

Zinnias with Nasturtium in the rear

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums and Broccoli

Tomatoes

Garden Photos - August 8, 2016

I took some random pictures of the flowers in the front garden.  Enjoy! 

Zinnia                                                                                    Stargazer Lily
                          

Cactus Zinnia                                                                       Lime Zinnia
                                  

Cactus Zinnia                                                                        Various Zinnia
                               

Zinnia, Coneflower, Rudbeckia                                            Purple Coneflower
                              

Petunia                                                                                 Rudbeckia
                             

Rudbeckia                                                                        Purple Coneflower, Zinnia, Marigold
                             

Cactus Zinnia                                                                   Rudbeckia Goldstrum, Purple Coneflowers
                             


Kale, Cactus Zinnia, Assorted Zinnias                            Assorted Zinnias
                             

Assorted Zinnias                                                              Purple Coneflowers, Rudbeckia
                             

Coleus, Purple Coneflowers, Cosmos                              Various Coneflowers and Rudbeckias
                             

Star Gazer Lily, Rudbeckia, Coneflowers               Star Gazer Lily, Coneflowers, Zinnias, Rudbeckia    
                             

Various Coneflowers, Rudbeckia                                     Coneflowers, Zinnias