Tag: lavender

Categories
Vegetables Winter

First official sowing of 2013

Timing

Although I have been working in the garden for several weeks now and throwing seeds into the soil randomly to see what would grow, my first official seed sowing was this weekend on February 16, 2013. This is about 4.5 weeks earlier than last year, and the purpose is just to experiment with the micro-climate on my patio.

Soil

Over the winter I have been watching some interesting YouTube gardening videos and have picked up some tips especially for container gardening. This year I am focusing on building my soil and amending the existing Sea Soil in my containers with the following:

  • Fresh Sea Soil compost (to add organic matter and maintain soil structure)
  • Vermiculite (a natural lightweight mineral substance to maintain moisture)
  • Worm castings (for nutrients and hopefully beneficial microbes)
  • Rock dust (to add/replace trace minerals beyond the usual N-P-K in fertilizers)
  • Dolomite lime (a few tablespoons, much of the soil has been in the containers for years and has never been limed, so is likely quite acidic)
  • Dry ‘organic’ fertilizer (a few tablespoons, just because I have it and to replace some N-P-K)
  • Crushed egg shells (run through the Magic Bullet, in theory it should add calcium to the soil, but I’m not sure it it is in a form that is available to the plants – the granular texture will also help with drainage)

Seeds

I sowed two containers of Oregon Sugar Pod, with both seeds that I had from last year and new seeds I purchased.  As I did last year, I planted in a hanging basket and a 12″ pot, and used innoculant to promote the nitrogen fixing ability of these legumes. I decided not to use the Little Marvel seeds… at least not yet, as I had to re-sow a couple of times last year, so obviously they do not hold up to the cold, damp winter weather as well as Oregon Sugar Pod. I also moved the 12″ pot closer to the house so it is warmer and slightly covered — because perhaps the location of the container last year slowed germination.

 

I also sowed some spinach, as it is a cool weather crop which tends to bolt when the days get too long and hot warm. I have sowed a 12″ pot (that used to contain my poor old woody lavender) with Tyee, which is supposed to be a good year-round variety for us on the west coast. It apparently germinates in temperatures as low as 5°C, so I thought I’d give it a try in mid-February.

I also planted some Toy Choy, or baby bok choy. They grew quite well last year but we only got one real harvest from them as my second sowing bolted really quickly. So I thought starting a month sooner may help us get another harvest in. You may have to zoom in to see the seeds, but I sowed 3 rows in my long container. I also plopped in some scallion starts in the middle… which I’m unsure if they will make it this early in the year!

 

Aside from that, I am still slowly harvesting rainbow lacinato kale, gai lan, and beet tops every now and then, though next winter I will grow more so that I actually have more than a couple of leaves to eat at a time!

   

Categories
Herbs Summer

Fresh herbs

Fresh herbs are some of the easiest edible plants to grow in containers. Many (but not all) herbs are perennial plants, meaning they will continue to grow year after year. Here are the perennial herbs I have in my container garden:

Herbs @ end of May

Chives

Chives grow readily from seed or you can purchase a pot of them pre-sprouted from the nursery. Since purchasing ours in 2006, we have not had to replant them. They just keep thriving, year after year, regardless of how much I neglect them. On my patio, they begin sprouting quite early, usually in February or March. There is usually enough to pick by April. When they flower, I often pick the flowers to put in a vase and let a few dry on the plant then shake the seeds out on the soil to keep building up my clump of chives. I find that they tend to die down in the heat of summer, but then perk up again in Fall.

Lavender

I have a pretty little fragrant Munstead lavender, which is a dwarf variety that I have had for several years now. I actually don’t do anything with it other than enjoy the blooms and watching the bees that come with it. I suppose you can bake with lavender or pick and dry the flowers just before they bloom. It is very low maintenance, and has done very well in its container through the winter. I generally just trim the flower stems some time through the winter, and provide some new compost at the top of the pot in Spring.

Mint

Mint is essentially an invasive weed, so be very careful where you decide to plant it. It develops an extensive and hardy root system that takes a long time to dig out. This is a plant that you definitely want to keep in a container, whether or not you have a large garden. On the plus side, it is easy to care for and thrives under almost any conditions. It’s nice to have a mojito with fresh mint from your garden in the summer, or make a yummy watermelon, mint and red onion salad.

Oregano

Oregano is a lovely plant with soft fragrant leaves. It spreads nicely and shares a container with Rosemary and Thyme. Unfortunately, this container has had a spittle bug infestation over the last couple of years, and my oregano has been a particularly favourite home for them. Spittle bugs secrete a bubbly mass from their bums, so I tend not to eat this oregano. However, it flowers and attracts bees to my garden, so I’ll keep it around for now.

Rosemary

Rosemary has been quite simple and low maintenance. It is an evergreen and handles our winters well. We use some fresh sprigs for roasted chicken or lamb. This is a handy herb to have around, even though dried rosemary is pretty good too. It has remained a low growing, woody plant in the container. I’m not sure if it is supposed to be more bushy, but it seems to be healthy enough.

Thyme

Thyme is also an easy plant to grow as it just comes back year after year. It flows over the edge of the container nicely, and the sprigs dry easily. We have gone many years now not needing to purchase dried thyme because all we need comes from the garden. It too flowers nicely attracting bees to our little garden.

What hasn’t worked too well

I have tried to grow Basil, but I don’t have enough sunlight for it to thrive. It needs a lot of sun and warm temperatures. Cilantro (or Coriander) is also an easy one to have in the garden, but mine have always bolted, or gone to flower and then to seed, much too quickly. Neither of these are perennials, but they may grow well for those with sunny, bright and warm balconies and patios with no sunlight restrictions. Because my patio faces the inner courtyard, the east and west wings of our building cut off the sunshine in the morning and evening. This also cools off our patio in the evening whereas plants like Basil like their roots to be warm as much as possible.

Categories
Spring Vegetables

Patio overview

I should have posted overview pictures of my patio at an earlier date to show the space that I have to work with. My patio is roughly 8′ x 12′ in the inner courtyard of our ‘U’-shaped building on the main floor of the east arm of the ‘U’ (the top of the ‘U’ faces north). I only get about 6 hours of direct sun at the height of summer on the outer half of my patio.

These pictures were taken 3 weeks ago on April 20th (facing west). The first photo is taken from inside my bedroom looking out toward the patio.

Three weeks later on May 13th, pots have moved a bit and things are a lot more green!

Moving from left to right on the patio (and in the photos): 1. Toy choy is in the long grey-brown container on the ledge; 2. hanging in the top left is the trailing Oregon Sugar Pod peas; 3. butterfly bush is in the white ceramic pot on the ledge on the left; 4. columbine are the pink flowers; 5. crocosmia are the tall spiky leave in the dark brown ceramic pot; 6. Swiss chard are in the smaller clay-coloured pot; 7. the larger clay coloured pot (with white rocks sitting on top of soil) is the future home of butternut squash; 8. the smaller clay-coloured pot sitting on a pedestal is the Little Marvel bush peas; 9. lavender is in the white ceramic pot on the ledge on the right; 10. rosemary, thyme and oregano are in the dark brown ceramic pot; 11. above the herbs in the long container sitting on the ledge are beets and radishes; 12. the grey-brown long container sitting next to it holds chives and mint; 13. the black pot at the very right of the ledge holds Skimmia; 14. on the patio table are mescluns and squash seedlings that will go to my dad’s garden.

Categories
General Update Herbs Spring Vegetables

General update – Container progress

This week has been slightly warmer, with temperatures around 7 degrees Celsius. Here is a photo log of seed and plant progress:

Toy Choy (planted 10 days ago on March 20) – I’m unsure if this is a Toy Choy sprout… or just a weed. It also appears something has been digging in the soil to pull out a larger piece of eggshell and exposed an ungerminated seed.

 

Buckwheat (planted 10 days ago on March 20) – No sign of life yet to cover and protect my soil!

 

 

Peas (planted 5 days ago on March 25) – No sprouts yet for both Little Marvel and Oregon Sugar Pod. The package says 7-10 days for germination.

 

Crocosmia & Calla Lily (perennial) – Crocosmia continues to do well. Still no sign of Calla Lily.

 

 

Columbine, Lavender & Herb container (perennial) – All are doing well. The rosemary always flowers early in the Spring.

Mystery plant – This is a plant that I won as a door prize one year. I’m not sure what it is, but it always survives the winter. However, when I transplanted it a couple of years ago its roots looked pretty sad. Given the sparse yellow leaves I’m not sure that it’s doing much better, though it is flowering. I know it is a cool weather, shade liking plant. However, I’m not sure how to help it thrive.

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