2015 Garden thread

I took a look around, and didn't see a garden thread for 2015, so I thought I would start one.

This has already turned out to be an odd year. I was wandering through the gardens yesterday and found new growth on my raspberries already, as well as a Maltese cross who is already an inch tall. It seems my season is starting early this year. This week I'm going to be starting my celery seed, today actually. I also have to transplant the rest of a flat of forget me nots that I'm growing for my sister's wedding this spring.

I live in Alaska, in zone 4, and my typical frost free plant date is June 1. This year I'm going to be pushing this crazy season to see what I can get out of it. I have access to free pallets and am going to start several of them growing with lettuces and spinach. I think I'm going to give them another week or two though, just because it could still drop to -10f.

I try to start as many of my own plants as possible. I have slowly taken the steps up to an LED grow light for my starts. It was a gift from my husband. Last year was the first season I used it, and my tomato crop was the best ever. I will be starting seeds steadily over the next several weeks! Wish me luck!

Please share your trials and results, and your own beautiful gardens! Here are a few photos of mine. Or not, my pictures aren't cooperating at the moment. I will add some as soon as my uploads are working for me.

For the past few weeks I have been saving all of the seeds from shop bought tomatoes, chilli's, bell peppers, and cucumbers.

I am going to plant them to see what results I get although I got a little carries away, I already have around 1500 seeds!

Seeds are not all that cheap so I figured I have nothing to loose. I was somewhat startled that a single red pepper has over 200 seeds and a chilli around 25-30.

With packet seeds at around £2-3 for 50 I might be on to something.

a reply to: nonspecific

I love saving my seeds! It's the best way to freshen up your supply every year.
There's a little trick to the tomato seeds, it helps to wash them off with some warm water before trying to germinate them. They have a nice protective little coat on them, so it really speeds things up. I try to wash mine after their original glob dries out. I dry them thoroughly the second time around and then package them up. Good luck with your seeds!

There are some really beautiful heirloom tomatoes out there. They are a bit pricey in the store, but not only do you get to enjoy an incredible treat, you also end up with a good seed stash to last a couple of seasons possibly. I'm personally limited by my greenhouse space, so I only grow a few of each variety every summer. One of my absolute favorites is the Cherokee purple.

Any tips on growing edible mushrooms in Canada, more specifically Saskatchewan? Zone 2b (yuck, I know)

a reply to: superman2012

I don't know a lot about mushrooms other than they like a sterile medium to start in and they need darkness. There are companies out there who sell spore plugs, mostly from the Washington and Oregon regions.
A master gardener who is a dear friend of mine liberally sows her compost with overripe button mushrooms and almost always ends up with some surprise treats. The wetter the years, the more mushrooms. I imagine it might work with any mushroom. She is in zone 3. I haven't tried it myself since I have puffballs and boletas everywhere.

Starting from seed is great but if you have lights or a green house, imo clones is the way to go if you have a vital parent plant.

a reply to: olaru12

I have tried and failed with the tomatoes. My mom pulled it off once years ago. She had the perfect south facing window and In floor heat. That thing got huge, she had it trained along the ceiling. It just gets so cost prohibitive to run lights or heat a greenhouse this far north all winter long. Unless of course you are on a commercial scale.

Edit to add- I got my seeds all started. A dozen celery starts, a dozen snapdragons, two dozen alyssum (also for the wedding) and a small flat of green onions. It's now 45 degrees and sunny, I'm on my way out to do spring chores. If this keeps up I am only waiting a week to start those salad gardens.

a reply to: woodsmom

Happy gardening...

My SO and I have about a 1/2 acre in blueberries and asparagus. Commercially grown for the yuppie high dollar restaurants in our little village. We have a nice greenhouse for the produce we eat. Flowers too for the yuppie tables. Nice long high desert growing season.

a reply to: olaru12

Thanks! You too!
My poor asparagus just never liked where they were planted. I have about a quarter acre to expand from my current set up. We are going to build some hugelkulture mounds. Hopefully the asparagus will like it there at the base. We have another half acre of woods after that, and more than enough rotting wood to build them with.

a reply to: woodsmom

YAY!! I was literally just about to start a thread on gardening and suggest a gardening forum!!

Last year was a super odd year for my gardens. This year looks favorable. I used to be much more eclectic with my gardens but the past few years I have focused on chilis and tomatoes. Few years ago I had 80+ chili pepper plants of varying varieties and they thrived. I mean really kicked butt! This last grow season my peppers did horribly. Last grow season was cursed. So weird. I am hoping for more luck this year.

I did something this winter I haven't tried before. Instead of treating my peppers and tomatoes as annuals I left them in the buckets/grow bags over winter outside. I'm in zone 9b. Guess what" Most of them look like they survived it! So I will be growing year two peppers and tomatoes. Super excited about that! I will be transferring those ones to 10 gallon containers to see if I can get monstrous growth.

I also have an impressive collection of peppers and tomato seeds from rare varieties rarely found in nurseries. I'm getting ready to sprout them indoors. That setup is simple. I just put seeds in some Miracle Grow stater mix [I make custom soil when I transfer them], put an oscillating fan nearby, and position a shop light above them but nearly touching. I don't even cover them for humidity usually.. Most crucial part... I place a heat mat under them.

I think I will have some beautiful photos of my chili/tomato garden later on. Also of the blooms from my cactus/succulent garden.

a reply to: nonspecific

Keep in mind that those seeds may not produce the same pepper. Depends on what pepper plant pollinated them. Then again getting something different could be a good thing!

I am not at home right now but will be on Wednesday and than can post some pics.
I have 2 kinds of basil,cilantro,mint,bamboo,rosemary and a whole lot of flowers....not now because it is freezing cold here but we take pride in our gardens here.

If I can figure out how this computer works,I might be able to do pictures but I have posted them before in another thread somewhere.

a reply to: Lucid Lunacy

I'm usually late to the party, but since the weather has apparently inverted on us all this year things are looking up here a bit sooner. I'm glad you popped in!

I'm curious about your tomato and pepper varieties. Do you have any suggestions for a short season sweet pepper by chance. I do great with my hot peppers, but my season is typically about 90 days. Most of my varieties are in the 80 day range. I just seem to not have the best of luck with my sweet peppers. I currently have California wonder, and another rainbow variety that I can't remember the name of at the moment.

You might have great luck on the growth in the five gallon bucket for your tomato. My mom's plant lived it's entire life in that bucket, and it lived at least three or four years. It was essentially a very spoiled house plant, but she even fruited in the winter once that I saw.

I would love to see pictures! All of mine are from previous years, if I can get my uploads to work, it pulls up, but won't show my the pics...

a reply to: DrumsRfun

I would love to see those pics again, I believe I have seen them before!

You mention freezing cold and bamboo, what zone are you in? I've always loved the bamboo stands in Hawaii, I would love to replicate that on any scale. I erroneously assumed they would only grow warm. I'm going to have to dig into that a bit, thanks!

I had to sadly push melting snow up over my thyme yesterday because it was happily growing like it's the end of April. If this weather keeps up for one week, it will be the start of March and I can trust that it's here to stay at that point. Too many times have I been over excited at the odd warm up in February, this year really is different though, it never really even got cold. We only had about a week of ten below.

originally posted by: Lucid Lunacy
a reply to: nonspecific

Keep in mind that those seeds may not produce the same pepper. Depends on what pepper plant pollinated them. Then again getting something different could be a good thing!

I am aware of that but the fact that they will be free makes it worth the gamble!

I accidently mixed up the seeds so it will be a real suprise as to what if anything I get out of it.

a reply to: nonspecific

I did that last year with my squash, well kind of on purpose. I planted what I wanted and was happily surprised at what decided to grow. Each plant was a mystery until it fruited. It was kind of fun.
It was a grand experiment to see what would be happy in my little greenhouse under the tomatoes.

a reply to: woodsmom

I haven't yet started thinking about what I may plant, but then I have worked my small space for over 23 years now, it has mature perennials, bushes and trees, and as I am getting older, I am more unwilling to do the hard work that comes along with vegetable gardening, I usually plant herbs and annuals every year for the 'punch' of colour, interest and culinary purposes.

According to the map below, I reside in zone 5a and 5b, while other maps indicate I reside in zone 6, however with the biting cold weather lately (up to -30 degrees C with wind chill), I may have to change my gardening habits by protecting my plants better with many layers of mulch.



Lately, I always plant herbs and now that I have a renewed interest in herbal medicine, I will allow the dandelions and nettles to grow wild so that I may collect them for drying and use as medicinal teas. A friend of mine, in zone 3-4, is is allowing Milk Weed and Mullein to grow wild, so I may borrow some seeds for my own garden. Perhaps I will ask her to mail them to me, so that I can start them indoors, but they are weeds and I would suspect I could just sow them in the ground after the last frost and they will be hardy enough to take off.

a reply to: InTheLight

I like your map, I wish I could make it so! It shows me as a 5b when my space really hovers between 4a and b depending on the year. I don't count this year. Your thirty below pushed you into my usual 4a.

Mints, chamomile, thyme, pulmonaria, bergamot, valerian, rhodiola roseacea, tansy, artemisia, and feverfew are some of the medicinal perennial herbs that like zone 4. A few others like lemon balm, lavender and sage should like the zone you are in during most years. They are all super easy ones to grow, except that I lose my feverfew to winter kill every once in awhile and have to replace it. I lost my pulmonaria last winter too, it got too cold with no snow cover. I should start mulching better because the snow just hasn't been cooperating.

My herbs and flower seed are spoken for this spring season, but my gardens make a new batch every year.
I will send you seeds for next spring if you would like, just pm me. This spring we are making flower bombs for my sister's wedding, it was a good way to absorb some seeds that we're getting a little older too.

Have fun! It's so nice to add to an existing space, it's more fun and less chore! I doubt either the thistle or the mullein would need to be started indoors. They may even be the type of seeds that like to be scattered on the snow. My poppies are always happiest that way. I tried to scatter some out without their chill and I ended up wasting seed. I have discovered that the plants that naturally freeze in the wild are happier that way. The babied seed tends to be weak or not even germinate. I did it with a batch of Siberian iris too.

Eta- looking closer I'm actually a 3b according to the map, but though we typically hit -30 every year, it's not enough to hurt most of the time. The years it does are probably the years I have winter kill issues.

a reply to: woodsmom

I too tend to just sow the seeds right in the ground and let them sink or swim. Interestingly, quite a few of the commercial seeds just don't make it. By the way, it's milk weed (good for liver complaints and detox) not thistle, however I do love the wild thistle.

I very much enjoyed reading this thread while drinking my coffee this morning ! Thank you! I am also in alaska, and am learning all my gardenin skills from my mother in law.

The year before last we had lots of beans, peas, broccili, bunch of different lettuce, cucumber, zucchini , tomatoes , potatoes, carrots, an strawberries. This year we are going for beets , peas , carrots, sweet potatoes, lettuce, artichokes( don't know how they will do !) and asparagus. We have a huge patch of strawberries that have come back every year as well as chives ! I just love gardening! Coming from California I never thought it would be possible in alaska ! for farm to table !

a reply to: woodsmom

Any kind of root vegetable seems to do well in Alaska (potato, radish). I've had luck with tomatoes, but only with the help of a greenhouse. I've never been able to get hot peppers to grow (even in a greenhouse) up here...