Plants in a Jug ..... Worked!

Earlier this Spring, I posted a blog about starting seeds in milk jugs.  I had seen this done on another blog, A Garden for the House.
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I started out on the right track.  Planted four jugs and put them outside to sprout.  First the wind took them for a patio spin.  I replanted.  Next Liberty dog used them for areal toys.  I totally lost all of the lavender seeds on that deal.  I replanted. 

Now down to three jugs, I put them in a clear plastic tote on top of my patio table.  They have been there for about four weeks now.  The only attention I gave them was to bring them in twice before frosts.  You can see that they have done a great job of sprouting and growing into little plants.  The end result is that the plants are not spindly like some of the ones grown inside.  

The tall lacy plants are German Chamomile.  The plants next to them are Holyhocks.  The plants in the back are Zinnias.  The Zinnias are small yet so the lid is going back on that jug for a couple more weeks.  I am going to leave the other two jugs open and in the tote to "harden" for another week before I transplant them in the garden.  

I have learned several things.  This is a really easy and successful way to start seedlings.  Next year I won't mess around with allowing the dog access and replanting!  Also, next year I will plant a lot more jugs! 

Plants in a jug.

One of the food and gardening blogs I follow is "A garden for the house" written by Kevin Lee Jacobs.  This winter (Feb), he blogged about starting seeds in milk jugs.  He has apparently been starting seeds in this manner for several years.  

I was interested.  Especially interested since I am a total failure at starting seeds indoors
The obvious savings when starting our own seeds is enough to keep me optimistic that I may one day accomplish that crop of hardy baby plants to set out in our garden.  

Kevin starts hardy early spring plants in January and February.  More tender perennials are started now and brought inside if there is a threat of frost.  I hope you will go to his blog and see the planting schedule etc...
I am trying to start Holly Hocks, Lavender, German Chamomile, and Zinnias.

This is what I am doing.....  
I started with four clean milk jugs.  You won't need the lids so throw them away.  Be sure to label each jug with a permanent marker.  Next I cut the tops nearly off.  I left the piece under the handle intact to make a 'hinge".  I used an ice pick to punch drainage holes in the bottom and lower sides of the jugs.  

I bought a $6 bag of seed planting soil at the nursery.  This soil is lighter and is a better bed for small seeds.

I filled my milk jugs about 1/3 full of soil and sprinkled in a generous amount of seeds and stirred the soil a bit.  Next, I sprinkled in water until the soil was good and moist.  I pulled the tops down and secured them with duct tape.  I first put them all in a protected area of the patio.  The next morning, Mark brought on of the jugs in.  It had blown to the north end of the yard.  The other three had scattered around the patio.  Plan B was to put them back out on the patio only this time, I put them tightly in this clear tote.  I caught a glimpse of Liberty running around the yard tossing a milk jug!  Plan C is working ..... I put the tote on a table.  I am down to three jugs.

Now I wait.  You will be getting the update in a few weeks.  Let"s hope for the best!

To prune ..... or not to prune?

A little pruning can create a beautifully shaped tree.

If you have the itch to get outside and work in the yard a bit ..... This blog is for you!  Admittedly, there is not much going on out there, in fact, we have had snow on the ground a big share of February?  

February's gardening activity is Pruning.  Pick a nice mild day.  Grab your loppers and pruning shears and get busy.  Deciduous trees can be pruned about any time of year but the time they are dormant works best.  There is less stress involved when pruning is done while they are "resting".  Also, their structures can be seen better without leaves.  

I try to keep our young trees shaped up ..... cross over limbs pruned off and main leader limbs left strong.   I keep our full grown trees trimmed up high enough that I can zip around under them on my mower.  When it comes to reshaping these large trees, I call a professional :-)

Spring flowering trees bloom on old wood so should be pruned AFTER they bloom.  Summer flowering trees bloom on new wood so can be trimmed during the winter dormant period.

While you are out there pruning away ..... This is also a great time to prune those shrubs. Some of our's have grown bigger than the space they are in so they will get a hard prune before they "wake-up"!   Our dwarf burning bush has grown to over six foot tall and six feet wide.  This project may involve a chainsaw! 

This is also the time of year that I prune our grapevines.  Those long, chopped off vines make some awesome wreaths.

January Gardening

As gardening months go, gardening in January is one of the easiest.  The ground is frozen.  It's too cold to venture out.  All that is left is a mug of tea, an easy chair and that stack of seed catalogs!

A productive garden is a well planned garden and oh what fun that planning is!  New seed catalogs began arriving last November.  As I start looking through them I have to remind myself NOT to get carried away with ordering!  

Throughout the past growing season, I keep notes about new flower and vegetable varieties that I want to try.  I add that list to this year's seed catalog "wants" and I am pretty well set.

My current garden is a typical Kitchen Garden.  With the exception of the sweet corn, which we grow bushels and bushels of for the freezer, the produce I grow is consumed fresh.  The days of canning and freezing massive amounts of vegetables are long past here at Taddiken Farm.  

That said, the Master Gardener in me wants to experiment with different varieties of vegetables.  Each year I try a few new ones.  Sensibility and experience tells me that the tomato I need to be growing out here is Celebrity.  I grow them every year and add another something new.  This year I am trying a couple of Rutgers tomato plants.  My nephew Joe is a Master Gardener in Oregon and has convinced me to give them a try.  
Also new this year will be Socrates cucumbers.  I have been reading about their ability to produce masses of dark green sweet cucumbers.  We'll see.  On the flower side, I want to plant more fall flowering periennels along our fence.   Asters, garden mums etc...

 

The biggest change I am making this season?  I am ordering all of my seeds from ONE catalog.  One order to keep track of.  This will be a first.  Happy planning to you!