Green Onion Renewal: Who Knew!

I don't want to call this "recycling" as green onions are a living thing!  But that act is exactly what it is--recycling.  Imagine my surprise when I discovered that one could not only recycle the green onions, but propagate an equal amount weekly! For free!  Amazing! As we would say in Hawaii, onolicious, too! I've been buying those weekly forever! As of my discovery, I do not plan to purchase green onions in the future. Like, ever. Not again.

It only takes a bit of the white end of the green onion to renew itself.  As long as there are roots and enough of the base onion to hold those roots whole, it is as easy as snipping and placing in a cool glass of water in a window sill.  I change the water every couple of days because, ewww, don't want to eat something that has been sitting in rank water for long.  I've even left them for 3 days and water appeared fresh and not slimy.  One only needs enough water to cover the roots. The nub needs enough white with roots to proceed.

After two harvests, I planted the original cut onions (which I also cut long to test this recycling deal) into soil, so I have a glass tumbler (a mismatched leftover of a bygone era) holding up my onion stems in the kitchen window and a pot of onions outside.  I plan to rotate them every so often because I cannot find any information as to whether growing in water will maintain full nutritional value. An educated assumption of reason tells me that after some time, the nutritional value may weaken due to lack of renewed nutrients. 

Then again the new onion is well,  renewing, so alas, this question begs an answer.

The onions we harvested this way were perfectly pungent (perfect aroma/oils for a green onion) and were crisp and juicy.  Very impressive.  I cannot even recall the last time I had green onions that fresh or tasty.

My poultry shears are getting a little dull, so I highly recommend a nice sharp pair of shears for harvesting. I will be getting a new pair or using a dedicated pair for this purpose.  After these first few weeks, I am absolutely thrilled that I have garden fresh green onions at my whim!

Luckily, the last grocery store green onions we purchased were organic.  I do have green onions growing from seed after two failed attempts that are now thriving.

Variety: Evergreen Bunching Onions
Sown: 1 APR 2013 (first attempt totally indoors-frail and weak)
Germinated: The current thriving batch: end of April - 4" long as of this writing.

Epic Fails

How many times, no matter how ahead of the game we think we are, do we inevitably have a batch of seedlings that fail to thrive or seeds that act as if they are never going to germinate! 

The bane of my very existence this year seems to be getting my tomatoes warm enough or in enough light.  Lesson learned.  More light.  Many of the first batch seem to stunt after the first couple of weeks.  While I have seedlings from 4/1, they should be much, much larger than they are now.  Subsequent plantings two weeks ago have caught up with and bypassed those original starts.

I've reseeded my Jelly Bean tomatoes time and again--I will be lucky to get a single plant much less a couple of each, both red and yellow and still at this point, I'll be really lucky to get one.  I was so looking forward to that little grape delight!

Amazing, right?

Nightshades. yes, all of my nightshades, same problem.  Same fixit--start over.  I somehow seem to be determined to provide TLC and CPR to those first stragglers who are slowly trying to nap out of it.  Some because I'm running out of a couple of those varieties... my herbs are not doing so hot, I think that is due to bad environment, they get shoved aside time and again.  They are in the right conditions now, so I hope to not have to bother with them any time soon as they were flourishing previously.

I know we all have some plants that just don't grow for us, whether it is level of care, temperatures, weather, light, humidity or lack thereof, and other environmental issues such as soil--too warm, too cold, too damp, too dry.  The list goes on. . .

As for houseplants, specifically, I've never been able to keep a Boston fern alive for long at all, while my father could keep immense ferns alive for decades. I've never really had a problem with my nightshades, so I'll blame it on being in the PNW on the Western side of the slopes, haha.  C'mon, we've all got to have an excuse! ;)

What are some of your lesser successful germination plants and problems?

Luffa! Loofah!

As you can tell by now, my return to the garden also brought with me a few bit necessarily unique, but 'unique' side items.  A friend of mine mentioned growing loofah, while my education is fairly well rounded, who else did not know the "rough scrubbie" (not the soft squishy sponge for afterwards) was borne of a gourd instead of from a pineapple under the sea?!

Me.

I've used these silly things since I was a small child--both the luffa/loofah and sea sponge to exfoliate and smooth. It's not often that I am taken aback with new information, but more so I am taken aback that I just never thought to think more about it.  What I do know, however, is that cheap plastic scrubbies tear the skin and often leave lacerations (I recently got married with a small scratch on my forehead to illustrate this point).  While one can certainly do the same with a natural luffa, the likelihood of leaving a wound is far less is moistened appropriately before use. 

It's all good now! I've got a packet of seeds and a handcrafted masterpiece of a bamboo cane arbor I lashed together in only 5 hours!  (See post here: The Art of Handcrafted Trellis Architecture ).

The seeds were quick to germinate, seedlings quick to grow.  The luffa did not go through the hardening process well.  While one plant transitioned to the outdoors with ease, the other wilted slowly with the change.  As with all of my indoor starts, I plugged a couple of seeds in the soil when they stayed outside permanently.  A short week later, the surviving plant wilted.  It is still hanging on, but we are now relying on the upcoming starts originally planted directly outdoors.

More on growing and harvesting soon!

Variety: luffa aegyptiaca (H)
Sown: 08 APR 2013
Germinated: 15 APR 2013

The Art of Handcrafted Trellis Architecture

Art? Handcrafted yes, artful, not so much. Simple? Yes! Effective? Yes! Architecturally precise? To be determined.

Materials: 1/4' and 1/2' bamboo cane and twine (jute, sisal, and an unknown kitchen twine (likely cotton)).
Purpose (Arbor): 4' x 4' (3x4 once set in soil) The arbor is specifically to hold up a Luffa gourd vine and the (hopefully) abundant produce.
Purpose (Trellis): For Sugar Daddy snap peas.
Purpose (TeePees aka little oil derricks): Beans, beans, and more beans!  While these are only 4', I am going to have to wrap the 6' over the 4' this weekend to provide enough climb space.  Already the vines are scrambling for more.

Lashing bamboo is simple and so simply complicated. . .

I lashed that bamboo as close to authentic as possible.  The joints were remarkably stable.  I used a (too) long doubled up twine and ended up with the pretty solid and thick joints, but better that it holds up together rather than with so much less, right?

My fingers at the end of building these were simple and complicated, too. . . Oops, I meant, the faintest of blisters from winding so much of the prickly twine had all but failed to prudce the grandest of blisters.  Had I any smarts, I would have purchased simple arbors, trellises.  nah, this was much more fun and my family will not know what to do once I remove that little arbor from the kitchen and set it to action!

The Arbor: Seedling is not yet tall enough to utilize, but looking forward to the transition! It is sized to fit particular pots and tied at a slight angle which straighten with the soil pressure. Works beautiful!

The Trellis styles: The snap peas are loving it so far.

The Plain ol' sticks: Place in dirt, guide vine.  Not very effective on the pole runners.

The Lay of the (Pot) Land (PreStage)



Plot A Full sun from morning until dusk.  The shadowed corner receives at least 6 full hours of spring sun in the morning. Not quite 2 foot wide. The patio is @ 25 foot if not a bit longer, and there are lots of unused spaces receiving full sun from noon to dusk for the heat lovers and long day growth  (once the majority of the pots are placed in the sidebeds).



Plot B - Full sun in the morning  - @ 3 hours and several mismatched hours (3 +/- later in the afternoon. (@ 6 hours of sun, total). Just shy of 3 foot wide. I really would have wished for this side to be the sunny side due to width and more elbow room for developing and expanding plants. But the partial and short time full sun plants should enjoy it.  Thinking lettuce, spinach, brassicas, etc.



Plot K (for Kitchen) Full sun from noon to dusk (@ 7-8 hours).  2.5 feet wide.



I'm Digging Up My Baby Bamboo Shoot...

Sing the post title to the tune of "I'm bringing home my baby bumble bee...".  Add a huge amount of sheer glee, as we have germination and a baby Moso bamboo shoot (whom we shall call "Baby Boo #1")! Count them, just fifteen days to germination and ground break! Mind you, it's only a single seedling, but it lives!

So exciting!

I was expecting anywhere from a month to several to see the skinny green twig of a culm escaping the small plot of soil it would be lounging in, teasing us while we waited.  I've let it sit for a couple of days just to make sure it had sufficient humidity.  Bamboo should not be in the same level of humidity once there is any inkling of green rising from the pot.

This one sprouted on the coconut coir side of the sown seeds.  I will repot in nice soil with about 25% coir to avoid any shock.  As it turns out, this transplant was so simple--just pricked it out with a plastic spoon, set it on the 4" azalea pot, raked the mix over rhizome, tamped lightly, and set it in the window.  I am keeping it under warmth at night however as the window can get drafty with the furnace air return just under the sink.

Moso bamboo is very fast growing, so an inch a day on some days at this infant stage of the lifecycle is interesting to oversee and not uncommon. The growth will slow, but right now it is an amazing specimen to ponder.

Cross your fingers and green thumbs for the next!

My Asparagus Corral

Variety: Mary Washington Heirloom Asparagus
Sown: 8 APR 2013
Germinated 23 APR 2013

I thought these heirloom Mary Washington asparagus seeds would never give up the ghost! Really! I've never really known what asparagus looked like in the seedling stage, so it was definitely an interesting wait!  While I've had gardens since my early 20s, apparently asparagus was not on the radar--perhaps it was the 3 year wait, perhaps I didn't care for it back then.  At 40 something, I definitely have more patience and better taste. 

I researched asparagus seedling photographs and care, as well as the growth phases.  I truly thought these seeds would never give in!  I've noticed I have a bad habit of stirring around the seeds in the starter soil, but whether coincidence or not, tiny asparagus popped up soon after. After all, how would I know if they just simply rotted--that's a great justification.  I'm sure I will continue that bad practice until I potentially harm something...

When they reached about six inches, they were drawn to the heat of my hand and fell over.  I will not have perfectly pretty, little and ferny trees growing, but a tangled mass of tiny, green and ferny stalks. It was like a rodeo roundup of  their little stalks for transplant and during transplanting.

I had to manufacture, shall we call it, a corral.  An Asparagus Corral to be exact. While it likely isn't ideal, the seedlings are happy and are standing a bit more upright now.  They definitely have some curl from leaning on each other and the label stick.

As I try to harden them off, I notice a few brown ends, broken (wind blown) tips, so I'm keeping them inside for a bit longer until they can survive without my constant hand outdoors. 

Growing asparagus in a pot is a little out there, but I figure if I'm just going to be looking at it for the next three years, I may as well try.  I will try to document the growth pattern in said pots along the way.  There is definitely next to zero information out there on this particular method for asparagus.

I germinated these seeds successfully in both rich soil and some in coconut coir.  There was a notable difference in the growth in each, with the soil producing faster and heartier seedlings.  The seedlings in the coir needed to come out quickly, while the seedlings in the soil were still thriving wholly in the soil.

The Asparagus Corral is comprised of cotton kitchen twine and shishkabob skewers.  Speaking of skewers, I've discovered that they make a great gardening tool; the skewers hold up label stakes (address label wrapped around), rick out young seedlings for transplant with ease, stir soil when impatience reigns over intelligence (lol), and are great for digging earth out from under fingernails. 

Guardian Gatos of the Seedlings

Our feline family members are strictly indoor cats (all are rescues or adopted from no kill shelters).  The two youngest door dart occasionally and become so frightened of actually being outside that we've never had a problem getting them the two steps back into the door. The oldest rescue we found starved, a mere skeleton, several years ago--she will absolutely not go out the door, ever.  She knows what can befall her. 

We do know they long to explore the mysticism of the great outdoors, but for safety, alas, they must stay inside.   Any time there is something green within their reach, they must touch or taste.  They all simply adore the holiday season having a tree to lounge underneath.

So far, they have let the seedlings be and not made their own kitty salads.  BUT, when the trays are getting their sun bath, we must watch.  Weather is iffy at best, save for the spurts of constant warmth.  We are still enduring spring storms and showers, so the door is the strongest location for the trays. So while we are mistakenly serving up the greens while they are sunbathing also, the cats assume said greens are fresh for their nibbling. 

They have so far:

- Huffed half a tomatillo seedling, fresh from the soil. Literally snuffed it up!

- Eaten jalapeno seedlings, as well as the difficult sweet California Wonders. 

- Plucked thriving tomato seedlings straight from their cups.

If we happen to catch the moment, the oldest of the triad of doom, will just brush her tail across anything it can reach, touching ever so slightly with a curl of her tail.

All in all, it has not been too bad--keeping up with the cats, that is, as I really expected to hear crashing pots in the middle of the night. So far, they have really behaved above all expectations.  They won't have their cat grass back until it is warm enough for the nightshades to go outside and stay.

After all, how's a silly feline supposed to tell the difference between which set of greens they can and cannot have! It shall be their reward.

Moso Bamboo Propagation from Seed

*Whew* Hopefully, my desire for  a privacy screen in a pot will be worth the effort of propagating Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis / Phyllostachys pubescens) from seed.  While this has little to do with my organic pot garden, I shall share my results with anyone who can gain from them. Besides, bamboo shoots are edible!

Delving into the sowing of Moso bamboo seemed daunting after much research.  Not too many years ago, there appeared to be little information on the topic available and those in the know were keeping that information close.  In the last several years, there have been many like me who have journaled their experiences in growing Moso, which has proven to be much more insightful than the generic information of "those in the know" that is so prevalent.

While Moso can reach grand heights of 70-80' in the right environment and maintain very thick culms (this is a timber bamboo, after all), I expect for the time we are indentured to our city lot that when the time comes to head South, that they will be bouncy, leafy, and manageable, clump-like juveniles in my current zone and still fairly simple to transport. 

While there are large bamboo growers in the PNW, we plan to work the up potting along the way the first few years.  I have always been drawn to well kept bamboo, but I am especially drawn to the Moso for its large leaves in the juvenile stage and the cascading small leaves at its larger size. 

This is truly a trial and error venture, but there is a certain satisfaction in growing your own from seed.  I may just be a glutton for punishment.  The germination rate is not fantastic, the environmental conditions must be well tended.

To begin, I hunted down two sources of seed as bamboo only flowers every 100 years, thereabouts.  Estimates vary in years and is not quite an exact science.  Did I mention bamboo can flower globally and then it dies?  Really.  Seed collecting is therefore, not too easy to accomplish and not particularly easy to come by from reputable sources.

I purchased a lot of 25 and a lot of 50 seeds.  Imagine the 50 count lot was 13 short.  *panic*  Luckily, the seed vendor sent me another packet of seeds (another packet of 50, which was also 16 short of 50).  In any event, I ended up with well over 50 from that supplier for a total of over 90 seeds.

I've sown 66 and hoping for a handful!  (Photo shows uncovered seed). I have read that the Moso seed can be planted a couple of inches into the soil, germinated in a Ziploc with moist towelette (wetted paper towel, coffee filter, toilet paper, etc.).  Most of mine were planted  horizontally across the top of the soil. I also tossed some in both directions (thick side up, skinny side up and vice versa) just to see if there is a difference in germination rate.

I am saving the last of the seed for experimental germination methods should the soil and coir mix fail to produce.  I did not soak or treat these, though I understand it is best to do so to avoid fungal problems and damping off later on.  I have 62 in a seed tray and 4 outside in large seeded colour pots.  Really, if it grows in near identical conditions in China, it ought to propagate here much the same without human interference.  We shall see how that goes (or not!).

Have any of you ventured into bamboo seed propagation? What species and what were your results?

What Was I Thinking?



It has been a while as I mentioned in the previous post--gardening, that is. Spring has sprung, right in my kitchen. Less than six days after sowing my seed, we've had amazing early germination, but also leggy seedlings that has resulted in reseeding and trying to light up the hyper running stems. 

Lesson number two (number one was obvious, no?) was one of laziness. Scattering seeds in peat pots. Problem number one is with lesson number two--peat pots are great wicks. I'm watering far too often, wondering when damping off is going to kick in. Problem number two with lesson number two is that some things just don't need an indoor start--even in the rainy northwest! Nor do they need to be so plentiful. Seems a waste of seed.  having backup seedlings is one thing--mine were on maximum overdrive.

Overcompensate much for potential crop failure?

Aside from that it is quite the bear to separate not only leggy seedlings, but tangled and leggy seedlings. Did I mention that lesson two included a mass of greenery taking over the kitchen?

Regardless of the previous two lessons, most seedlings are strong and healthy. Beans are, and will always be amazing to watch grow such as the Beanzillas, as we call the overperformers. The black turtle beans were a bit creepy to watch sprout, like they were going to swallow the rest of the seed tray without thought. Plant development is always amazing to watch.

My other half told me that watching my seedlings grow was like watching water boil. I don't know if it was the soil, warmth of my kitchen, light, or a combination of all (I'd like to think it was a combination of perfect everything), but the seeds did germinate and sprout before the eye.

Nature is most wondrous. We never really stop and take the time to appreciate how delicate and strong nature is together and alike.

If you've ever taken a long hiatus from gardening, did you watch in awe when you started the next time?

Potted Colour Spot

I planned to do everything by seed where possible.  But every vegetable garden needs beneficial flowers for colour, variety, and companion and trap plants.  While I couldn't resist the instant gratification, at least something in here will be beneficial, haha.  Old habits die hard!

 

Wallflower - This died off within two weeks and is making a grand return.  I'd never seen them before and the light scent is simply amazing!

These striking deep purple and orange Violas will always be 'Johnny Jump Ups' to me and I find it odd that not many people know them by that name!

Violas, one of my all-time favorites.  Unfortunately, they did not live through a storm that cropped up in the middle of a nice dry and warm spell.  I think the winds all but tore them out of the soil by the root.