GARDENING 2025

[Tony Page]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this?

Look forward to gardening this year 2025 to add color to some of our beds that got destroyed ( trampled) because of a house fire we had in 2022. I'm very happy that my grandson (10 years old) is taking an interest in gardening this year he'll be a big help.

My tomato seedlings are looking good, some pots have more than one plant, and the excess will be transplanted. I only started 10 pots it's a far cry from the over 400 pots I would start when I was younger. I find it interesting that's some of my seeds were dated 2012 & 2016. They germinated fine.

Some purchased dry rooted plants and bulbs were delivered last week. I potted the Skaugum Begonia this past Saturday. They will stay inside until the weather gets warmer.

My wife found some beautiful hostas online, they were very pretty colors, so I sent away for the seeds, I'm hoping to plant them in pots soon.

I also purchased a raised bed for my vegetable plants. I will assemble it on top of a weed blocker Mat.

 

[Joe Riley]

Great plans for your garden, Tony! Good Luck!

Skaugum Begonia

 

[Yvonne Smith]

Those Hostas are truly beautiful, @Tony Page ! I have some hostas, but mine are just the plain green variety, and I enjoy those, too. I divided one last summer, so I am hoping that I have several more when they come back out this year.

I tried starting the Oregon Grape seeds in the aerogarden, but they are not sprouting in there, so this time, I am going to put them in a planter outside and see if they come up better that way. They are one of the best sources for berberine, so I am hoping to grow some of them this year.

I think that I won’t be planting a regular garden, but you never know. I think that every year, and then the Gardening Bug bites me, and off I go, planting tomatoes and such. But otherwise, we are just going to get them fresh at the farmers market this year.

 

[Don Alaska]

Those Hostas are truly beautiful, @Tony Page ! I have some hostas, but mine are just the plain green variety, and I enjoy those, too. I divided one last summer, so I am hoping that I have several more when they come back out this year.

I tried starting the Oregon Grape seeds in the aerogarden, but they are not sprouting in there, so this time, I am going to put them in a planter outside and see if they come up better that way. They are one of the best sources for berberine, so I am hoping to grow some of them this year.

I think that I won’t be planting a regular garden, but you never know. I think that every year, and then the Gardening Bug bites me, and off I go, planting tomatoes and such. But otherwise, we are just going to get them fresh at the farmers market this year.

Maybe the Aerogarden is too warm @Yvonne Smith. One site I mentioned that they thrive in relatively cool soils--15°C to 20°C (59°F to 68°F)
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Do you look for specific varieties when you purchase plants and seeds? As many of you may know, we sell plants in the spring. It is one of my wife's pet peeves when someone asks for "cauliflower", or "white cauliflower" or "whatever they sell in the grocery store". Why garden if you just want what the grocery offers? We offered purple cauliflower for several years, and almost nobody would buy it until they saw it offered in the grocery store. Now it is one of our biggest sellers. They same goes for tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, and broccoli. We work hard to offer a variety of stuff that will grow in our climate, but5 it is seldom appreciated. Do you try new varieties of vegetables or flowers?

 

[patpat2025]

Beautiful, maybe I should start gardening too

 

[Tony Page]

Maybe the Aerogarden is too warm @Yvonne Smith. One site I mentioned that they thrive in relatively cool soils--15°C to 20°C (59°F to 68°F)
[automerge]1742861063[/automerge]
Do you look for specific varieties when you purchase plants and seeds? As many of you may know, we sell plants in the spring. It is one of my wife's pet peeves when someone asks for "cauliflower", or "white cauliflower" or "whatever they sell in the grocery store". Why garden if you just want what the grocery offers? We offered purple cauliflower for several years, and almost nobody would buy it until they saw it offered in the grocery store. Now it is one of our biggest sellers. They same goes for tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, and broccoli. We work hard to offer a variety of stuff that will grow in our climate, but5 it is seldom appreciated. Do you try new varieties of vegetables or flowers?

When I had the larger garden plot, I used to research every plant I put in. Between December and January, I would get roughly 20 seed catalogs. I would review them for new varieties.
For instance, tomato plants, which I planted between 80 and 100, I would review for taste, size, disease resistance, and time to harvest. Every year, besides my standard variety, there was always a new, highly rated tomato I would try. I would also sequence the harvest time so that some variety of tomato was ready to pick.
Each year, I would try a vegetable I never grew. One year, I grew celery blanched and unbleached, I wanted to see the difference in taste.
Each year, I would extend the variety of vegetables I grew. I tried everything from asparagus ( perennial patch) to zucchini.
For me, two varieties of tomatoes I tried to grow every year are Tiny Tim and Celebrity.
The past few years, my garden has decreased to a few container plants because I can not, for physical reason, get down to plant in the ground. This year, I'm hoping to extend my garden a little by installing a raised bed. Hopefully, that will make planting easier.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

I planted a bunch of flowers in some window boxes I bought for Cindy, but since I have no green thumb, they died. The lady at the nursery said I didn't water them enough. Then I watered them too much. So I just put flowers in there that were already grown and let nature water them. (It rains a lot up there...)

 

[Tony Page]

I've been doing a lot of sitting, playing music, and thinking, mostly about my past.
My family lived in Brooklyn until after I graduated high school, and then we moved to the suburbs of Long Island. We went from an apartment to having our own home, a house with 75 X 100 ft piece of land. The first spring in that house is where my love for gardening first started. I knew nothing about gardening, Brooklyn was a concrete jungle. We didn't even have a tree growing on our street. The only place where there was dirt was the Lots or the backyards. My grandmother was a great gardener her backyard was filled with vegetables and flowers, that was her domain, even her Sons, we're not going in there. I wish I had learned some gardening from her she passed when I was about 10 years old, I remember seeing her garden we lived on the second floor the view was great, to me it was just beautiful seeing flowers and vegetables flourishing.
I remember our house on Long Island having a band of dirt around most of it's perimeter, I didn't know it was called a "bed." I did know it would be ideal for growing something. I went to a nursery and picked up what looked like a cotton mat that was filled with a variety of flower seeds. I followed the instructions, laid it down , covered it with dirt, and watered it daily. I checked it every day for activity. After about a week, some seedlings were growing. Eventually, I got flowers. Of course, I didn't know a Marigold from a zinnia. I went out and bought a book on annuals so I could identify the flowers. It was like it was branded in my brain, I couldn't believe what I started, I wanted more, and gardening has been with me ever since.

 

[Joe Riley]

 

[Schwallenstutter]

 

[Schwallenstutter]

 

[Don Alaska]

Some of you may recall my "experiment" with seed storage. In 2010, I purchased extra seeds and canned them (cold) and froze them. Last year I opened the can and did germination tests on the seeds. Most did quite well, with the exception of peas (green peas for the southern U.S.) which all melted. This year I am noticing that the poor seed quality that began during Covid is continuing, with new seed quality and germination and vigor being significantly less that the deeds I stored frozen 15 years ago. I don't know if this is a conspiracy to lower the food supply or just laziness on the part of the seed producers. This seems to span most seed producers I have purchased from for years. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Tony Page]

Some of you may recall my "experiment" with seed storage. In 2010, I purchased extra seeds and canned them (cold) and froze them. Last year I opened the can and did germination tests on the seeds. Most did quite well, with the exception of peas (green peas for the southern U.S.) which all melted. This year I am noticing that the poor seed quality that began during Covid is continuing, with new seed quality and germination and vigor being significantly less that the deeds I stored frozen 15 years ago. I don't know if this is a conspiracy to lower the food supply or just laziness on the part of the seed producers. This seems to span most seed producers I have purchased from for years. Has anyone else experienced this?

Here's an internet article I thought you might find interesting.
"In 1980, archaeologists in the Judean Desert discovered a 1,000-year-old seed that germinated and grew into a tree"

 

[Tony Page]

This is a new gardening item for me, a bamboo cloche. It's a protector for seedlings and young plants. Made out of old, and young (Green) bamboo shoots. Personally I wouldn't have a need for one, however I can see it being useful if you have animal that will eat or trample your garden, or get a lot of wind or hail.


Bamboo Cloche

 

[Smithy]

Here is my garden.

 

[Sheryl]

Very nice. What does the pan of water with the rock represent?

 

[Yvonne Smith]

This recipe for a rooting solution just came up on my facebook page today, and i wanted to share it. I have not tried it, but it seems easy enough to make. I asked CoPilot of it works or not and he said that it is a good way to root cuttings, and will work on all sorts of plants, even hardwood ones.
I am going to try making some and see if I can root some rose cuttings.

 

[Don Alaska]

This recipe for a rooting solution just came up on my facebook page today, and i wanted to share it. I have not tried it, but it seems easy enough to make. I asked CoPilot of it works or not and he said that it is a good way to root cuttings, and will work on all sorts of plants, even hardwood ones.
I am going to try making some and see if I can root some rose cuttings.


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I have never heard of making rooting compound from sweet potato and rice, but it can also be made using willow shoots.

 

[Mary Stetler]

Some of you may recall my "experiment" with seed storage. In 2010, I purchased extra seeds and canned them (cold) and froze them. Last year I opened the can and did germination tests on the seeds. Most did quite well, with the exception of peas (green peas for the southern U.S.) which all melted. This year I am noticing that the poor seed quality that began during Covid is continuing, with new seed quality and germination and vigor being significantly less that the deeds I stored frozen 15 years ago. I don't know if this is a conspiracy to lower the food supply or just laziness on the part of the seed producers. This seems to span most seed producers I have purchased from for years. Has anyone else experienced this?

I didn't see it during covid but I am now. The last couple of years seed I have bought has not germinated well. I found a small no name company and I am growing some heirloom stuff from them to put up as seeds.
Fingers crossed because I see bad things on the horizon--like those Chinese 'students' researching killer fungus that invade soil and seed.

 

[Don Alaska]

I didn't see it during covid but I am now. The last couple of years seed I have bought has not germinated well. I found a small no name company and I am growing some heirloom stuff from them to put up as seeds.
Fingers crossed because I see bad things on the horizon--like those Chinese 'students' researching killer fungus that invade soil and seed.

I don't know which small no name company you chose, but I think High Mowing and Seed Savers are still reliable, and Johnny's is coming back. I haven't tested the one that disappointed me most recently--Reimer's. Territorial really tanked during Covid, in part because Stokes referred all their "retail" customers (people whose seed orders totaled less than $200 and who ordered less that 1000 seeds of any variety). The little family-owned company couldn't cope with the influx of new customers. Gurney's and Farmers and some other don't ship here, so I cannot test them. I haven't yet ordered from a lot of the companies I use since the pandemic since I am downsizing due to age.
Those "students" confessed they had already bought several other pathogens into the country already, probably during the lax surveillance under the former regime.