Whatcha Growing?

aigheadish · March 14, 2025, 07:13:22 AM

I know there are several garden threads on here but I figured it may be nice to have a more general thread (I can't find it if there is one already, let me know!).

We are beginner food gardeners but semi-knowledgeable flower growers, my wife much more than me, as she worked in a nursery for a few years and has a degree in horticulture, I think. She can name just about any plant out there, not so great with trees but we're trying to learn there. I did a LOT of studying on bonsai but wasn't successful in my growings due to a bad location, when I was really into it. Now, I have a good location but haven't gotten any trees started like I should have years ago. I need to go harvest some stuff from the land and get back into it.

I have a 2 acre field out back that I just cut back half of a couple days ago. We also have a guy that keeps bees back there. This morning I got a big bucket of wildflower seeds that I'll take out this evening or early tomorrow morning before the big rain we are supposed to get. They won't be planted properly, as I don't expect to do any soil prep, but I assume a fair amount of seeds will find their way into the ground. It's also a bit early in the season for this, but the seeds were inexpensive enough that I can toss a 2nd or 3rd layer down later if the frosts seems to cause a problem.

It's not quite time yet, but here are a few of my favorite pictures for when spring comes on, should be soon enough!

A redbud tree we planted a few years ago, it's growing slow but that pink is one of the best colors on the planet!

Tulips, I think, were the flowers I gave my wife on our first date, she planted a version of them among the phlox, which is so dang pretty.

Show us what you are growing!

aigheadish · March 17, 2025, 09:41:02 AM

Well, the field from above got about two pounds of wildflowers tossed on before the decent rain we got over the weekend. Upon buying one of the pounds it said it'd have about 650,000 seeds included in it. That seemed like a lot, so I bought it, but then realized that the coverage expected was in the 2000 square foot range, which is fine until I did the acre to sq. foot conversion to find that an acre is about 44,000 square feet, and it showed. I tossed the seeds pretty high into the sky to let them spread a bit but I'd say after the two pounds we only seeded an eighth of one half of the field maybe. We'll see what happens in a few months!

I also started 80 little seed pods, inside, yesterday. A couple different kinds of tomato, a bunch of cayenne peppers (Like 30!), peppermint, oregano, basil. We've also got some garlic, spinach and snap peas to go outside. Once it's a bit less wet out I'll have to cut up another tree for our raised bed design, and maybe another after that one...

I'll also have to remember get a picture of some sycamore trees we planted a few years back, they are already 20+ feet tall and doing well. She started 5-7 Arbor Day Fund mystery trees around the yard last fall, I'll have to get some pictures of those and a volunteer oak tree that showed up in front of the barn a couple years ago.

twar · March 18, 2025, 04:53:21 AM

Quote from: aigheadish on March 14, 2025, 07:13:22 AMA redbud tree we planted a few years ago, it's growing slow but that pink is one of the best colors on the planet!

Love the redbud! And those pink flowers are edible...great decoration on cakes, for ex.

aigheadish · March 18, 2025, 07:14:47 AM

I didn't know I could eat 'em! Nice.

aigheadish · March 21, 2025, 07:06:04 AM

Started seeds inside, last Sunday, and last night I noticed some Oregano and Basil popping up!

doc henderson · March 21, 2025, 07:15:56 AM

cool!

Stephen1 · March 21, 2025, 09:31:08 AM

I gave Cathy some Starter sunflower seeds and strawberry seeds for Valentines day this year, along with some real flowers.
They just popped out yesterday.

aigheadish · March 23, 2025, 10:37:10 AM

I've got some hot peppers on their way. Some of the hottest. I plan to make some hot sauces this year and it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

We also bought a raspberry, which is growing well already and Blackberry starter.

SwampDonkey · March 23, 2025, 05:10:24 PM

I start one variety of onions in the grow tent earlier than anything else to set out. I also have sets that I got locally which look a lot better than ones I was sent by the seed company last spring. I won't put pepper seed in the grow tent for another 3 weeks, then tomatoes in mid May. I have some basal started, just breaking ground and some rosemary started to. I have radish and lettuce second planting going on to in the grow tent. Rosemary grows slow, I burnt some early ones with fertilizer. But some survived in one dish and I still have an old plant I started in the grow tent last year. And I seeded some more. So I've got plenty of rosemary. Basal is pretty easy to grow.

aigheadish · March 24, 2025, 07:09:25 AM

I'm not sure that I'll ever have the timing of when to start stuff down. It'll certainly take a lot more experience for me. I don't have any pictures of my seedlings yet, due to the condensation on lids. Something else poked its head up too but I forget what it is.

21incher · March 24, 2025, 10:25:59 AM

Onions 🧅🧅 . Grow lights are running on solar this year after a spike in electricity cost

NewYankeeSawmill · March 24, 2025, 10:30:13 AM

Quote from: aigheadish on March 14, 2025, 07:13:22 AMThis morning I got a big bucket of wildflower seeds that I'll take out this evening or early tomorrow morning before the big rain we are supposed to get. They won't be planted properly, as I don't expect to do any soil prep, but I assume a fair amount of seeds will find their way into the ground. It's also a bit early in the season for this, but the seeds were inexpensive enough that I can toss a 2nd or 3rd layer down later if the frosts seems to cause a problem.

Looks gorgeous!
Try discing the ground before planting the seeds. Will help them to find dirt.

SwampDonkey · March 24, 2025, 12:25:47 PM

I see the inspector looking things over, 21incher.

aigheadish · March 24, 2025, 02:39:32 PM

Too late NewYankee, and I haven't gotten a discer for the tractor yet. Everything I do turns out to be a test run for something I may do better in the future...

aigheadish · March 25, 2025, 06:54:28 AM

Tomatoes already getting tall and the oregano, I think! Ooh! And something else poking up too! I didn't notice until right now!

newoodguy78 · March 26, 2025, 08:59:39 PM

aigheadish all is not lost on those wildflower seeds and planting them the way you did. Something to keep in mind, Mother Nature doesn't own any tillage tools well maybe squirrels burying acorns

. Those seeds if left to their own devices would blow off in the wind or be taken down and driven in by the rain.

Often times staying in the seed bank for years until the conditions are right.

Not sure if you're familiar with frost seeding or not. Very common and effective method in certain circles especially folks grazing livestock. Late winter early spring you go out and broadcast your seeds. The freezing and thawing of the ground naturally creates the seed to soil contact necessary for germination. I've had great success establishing clover this way especially.

I'll agree with Newyankee sometimes disking it up to get things established works great. Other times ehhh not so much, depends a lot on your long term goals.

Mother Nature builds healthy soil from the top down not the bottom up. Something modern agriculture has forgotten.

aigheadish · March 27, 2025, 06:47:01 AM

Thanks newoodguy! I've heard a little about frost seeding, though I don't know if I've heard it called that. That's why I felt ok throwing 50 bucks at it to see what happens. Clover is another on my list to get into that field sometime, and buckwheat, as I understand both are great for bees.

More than anything, since I don't plan on haying the field, I want to get some good plants out there rather than the stringy, thorny tree things that grow. They aren't a huge issue, and if I mow back there occasionally it's not a problem, but if I want trees I'll go with real trees rather than whatever these things are. It'd be nice to have some fruit trees or oak or maple out there, but they'd be grown from scratch and I may be to old to see any benefit from them, and I'd really like some maple syrup... I should have started a while ago!

doc henderson · March 27, 2025, 08:02:36 AM

Walnut syrup is just as good, but the trees may not grow as fast as maple. Then in 30 years someone will be thinking what a great idea to plant walnut, if they happen to be a woodworker

aigheadish · March 27, 2025, 10:30:02 AM

I do have some walnut already started but it's growing from a stump from a previously fallen walnut, I think, basically lots of suckers and probably too close to the house for it to become a big tree, if I were to treat it as such.

Unfortunately, most of the trees in my yard are dead ash, cottonwood, and there are a couple others I haven't identified yet. I may have pignut(s) but I'm not convinced after looking at the details of one. I'm not great at identifying any tree but I know nothing in my yard looks like the maples that I see with taps in them.

aigheadish · April 01, 2025, 07:30:06 PM

An update, tomatoes are growing very quickly, peppermint and oregano is coming in nicely but is likely overcrowded, and the Cayenne peppers are coming up. I also got a variety pack of peppers, some pretty hot, started tonight, and I'm supposed to get some scotch bonnet seeds tomorrow, along with better grow lights. Woop! I'm learning there are a lot of seeds in a pack! I've got lots of leftovers kept in their paper pack, is a ziploc bag OK to store them in once they are open?

doc henderson · April 01, 2025, 09:05:13 PM

might read about it but often seeds are frozen to preserve for another time.

SwampDonkey · April 02, 2025, 02:46:50 AM

I keep them for another year beyond that and they get less viable quickly. I have not had great luck with onion seed this year, usually the trays fill with germinates. But I added fertilizer in the mix before potting and stirred it all good. And I think it's too hot for starting seed. So won't do that again.

Oh well, I'll have enough along with the bulbs.

Refrigerate don't freeze. ;)

aigheadish · April 02, 2025, 07:01:33 AM

Thanks guys. Seems like, if things go well, I'll have peppers for miles. I doubt our raised bed area will be big enough, though I'll weed some of the seedlings out as time goes on. I think I have probably 120+ pepper seeds started. I may have gone a bit too far with it! Folks at work will tire of my sharing peppers, hopefully.

doc henderson · April 02, 2025, 08:58:13 AM

I did plant research at KU and we kept them frozen. the seeds have to be dry like under 10% (sound familiar) or the ice crystals can destroy the DNA. a fridge is better than nothing and may be better for hydrated seeds. Some seeds do better to mimic winter then spring. fridge is prob. fine and safest for a short term (one year).

SwampDonkey · April 02, 2025, 11:35:53 AM

Reforestation seed was never frozen at the seed centre, it was their annual seed for next summer seedlings. It was refrigerated and humidity was up. The Feds froze experimental stuff for long term in special freezers, which was done for endangered trees like butternut, ash, American elm and even red spruce. I'm sure others. I worked for the Feds one summer in their experimental orchards one summer. A few years ago I cut some red spruce as big as pine on a town lot, I called the Feds to come collect cones out of the slash. One of the forestry companies was real interested in trying that seed. Most of the red spruce is growing on glacial sand here in softwood forest, those big ones grew in a hardwood ridge where it was shaly soil on the hillsides. It was always a component of the climax Acadian forest, much as white pine and hemlock are. They can live 400-500 years at least as specimens have been aged in recent times.