What are you growing and cooking?

[Troyrissa]

Just today I went out to thin the mulch on my garlic. All survived the winter and have leaves sticking out! This is the first crop I’ve ever planted. My sister in law is advising me. I plan to plant sweet peppers, cucumbers, lettuce and strawberries but I need to get going with my indoor seeds. It will be cold here a while longer.

 

[DeniseM]

You need to order strawberry starts asap - not a seed crop. You can buy the bare root starts for a fraction of the cost of single plants.

 

[Troyrissa]

You need to order strawberry starts asap - not a seed crop. You can buy the bare root starts for a fraction of the cost of single plants.

I was researching that just yesterday as I didn’t really see many strawberry seeds out there. There are strawberry plants I found but you think the bare root starts are better? Will I get any fruit this year?

 

[DeniseM]

You will get fruit this year if you plant them early enough. Strawberry plants cost 10-20 x as much as bare root starts where I live. You can plant them after your last frost date, which you can google.

Here are some examples:

Strawberry Plants For Sale | Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co.

Gurney's strawberry plants are the perfect addition to your garden. Browse our selection of everbearing, junebearing, and other varieties for delicious strawberries.

www.gurneys.com

Choose your climate zone on the left side of the page to see the best options for your climate.

Last year I ordered ever-bearing, but after going through the growing season with them, I realized the sent me June bearing But they were in the ground and doing well, so I am working with it. I plan to freeze a lot of strawberries this year. Here in warm northern CA, I already have lots of blooms and fruit on last year's plants.

You can get more than one season out of strawberry plants, and they will send out runners and start new plants forever, under good conditions. So, I don't think I will ever have to buy more starts. I have two, 3 x 4 ft. raised beds, and I planted about 5-6 extra bare root starts in each one last spring, and they spread and completely filled the beds.

If you have slugs or snails, do some research about organic prevention, because they love strawberries. I put regular (non-organic) snail bait outside the raised beds, and organic snail bait, in the raised beds.

 

[Marsbar]

I have two very understanding house plants, a philodendron and wandering Jew. I was given a Christmas Cactus that sits in the dark and is so far surviving neglect.

Thanks for the tips. No matter how hardy and how much I have followed instructions on how to care for either houseplants or garden plants, they all die on me. It's demoralizing!

 

[davidvel]

Marijuana and brownies.

 

[geekette]

Thanks for the tips. No matter how hardy and how much I have followed instructions on how to care for either houseplants or garden plants, they all die on me. It's demoralizing!

Yeah, it can be absolutely demoralizing! It’s pretty much same as everything else: Determine the needs, fill the needs.

 

[geekette]

I am attempting to propagate roses, Venus Flytrap and a succulent.

The next succulent clip I’ll put in perlite, the others are in good soil in pots. My aloe disappeared in Helene so I’m asking around for a start but haven’t located one yet. I could buy another but it’s more fun to try from one little leg.

I’m treading carefully with Venus as she is rather particular and I believe I missed the dormant window. She’s supposed to be native to Carolinas but can’t handle below 40F so I don’t think she’ll ever survive outside in mountains. I really want the pest control inside anyway. It’s fun to watch the very slow demise of a daddy long legs as leg after leg gets trapped. Low bar for entertainment here…

Meanwhile, another cold snap coming so seedlings are getting repotted to larger pots as they all have to come inside vs into the ground (bigger pain to try to keep them covered outdoors in harsh wind). Hopefully they will be quite big and strong when they finally get their ground homes.

Meanwhile, working some ground, digging and disposing of dandelions, throwing some wildflower seeds around. Birds will eat a lot of them but will presumably poop some out. I’m excited that sunflowers are peeking up, I envision a lovely patch of them along my ridge with big bonus if I can see them when I first turn onto our street down below. All of the sunflower seeds are recovered from various varieties I’ve grown the past few years so could be interesting mix.

 

[geekette]

Marijuana and brownies.

Apparently there used to be a cannabis crop uphill from me, but now it’s available in most every gas station or vape shop and unfortunately many around have turned to meth. I think I probably prune my brownie crop too much, never seem to take off to abundance.