Tag Archives: spinach

Craving more Cosmos, I picked up large packets of seed at Wildseed Farms, along with some other annuals I hope will germinate well.

Lady Bird Dwarf Cosmos Blend ×1 1/4 Pound

Mexican Hat ×1 1/4 Pound

Bishop’s Flower ×1 Ounce

Cosmos Dwarf Sensation Blend ×1 1/4 Pound

And because I couldn’t get enough Cosmos and nasturtiums, I picked up more packets at Johnny’s Selected Seeds. I wanted to also grow my own dill in case the aphid apocalypse hits my veggie gardens again.

Double Click Mix Cosmos Double Click Mix Cosmos Seed x1

Double Click Cranberries Cosmos Double Click Cranberries Cosmos Seed x1

Lemon Mint Monarda (Bee Balm) Lemon Mint Monarda Seed x1

Alaska Mix Nasturtium Alaska Mix Nasturtium Seed x1

Bloody Mary Nasturtium Bloody Mary Nasturtium Seed x1

Fernleaf Herbs for Salad Mix Fernleaf Dill Seed x1

Red Snapper Smooth-Leaf Spinach Red Snapper (F1) Spinach Seed x1

Astro Arugula (Roquette) Astro Salad Arugula Seed x1

Finally, I had strong feelings about growing more types of basil, especially the holy basil kind, so I surfed over to Strictly Medicinal Seeds to whet my appetite for some hard-to-find seeds.

TULSI (Holy Basil) SEED SET (5 seed packets): Amrita, Krishna, Rama, Temperate & Vana, all organic	1
Basil, Mtule (Ocimum suave), packet of 30 seeds, organic	1
Basil, Mrihani (Ocimum basilicum) seeds, organic – Packet	1
Wooly Lambs Ears (Stachys byzantina), packet of 50 seeds, organic	1
Skullcap, Helmet (Scutellaria integrifolia), packet of 30 seeds	1
Lime Balm (Melissa officinalis ssp. altissima) potted plant, organic – 1	1
Sage, Jerusalem (Salvia hierosolymitana), potted plant, organic	1
Skullcap, Barbat (Scutellaria barbata) potted plant, organic – 1	1

Ye Olde Garden

Warm Winter Bolt and Plantings

December 31, 2020 epicureasian

Here’s another loop Texas weather has thrown our way.

My spinach seedlings have also begun to show buds. I snipped those off and, as seen on my IG feed, put out the rest of the leafy green starts, plus some bunching onions.

I also decided to plant out the nasturtium starts into the backyard garden beds. These are the Alaska, Jewel Mix and Black Velvet nasturtiums that I started indoors back in November.. I’m not sure what caused them start yellowing (too much light and fertilizer perhaps), but I can always start a new batch when January comes around.

With wet cold weather forecasted for the end of the year, I’m not sure if these young starts will make it outdoors. However, I’m just happy to get at least one salad harvest from current plantings.

Ye Olde Garden

DIY Stock Tank Gardens Part 2

November 28, 2020 epicureasian

I planted the 2nd stock tank garden bed about 2 weeks after the first, to stagger my production. I changed up the filler material and soil composition to see if ultimately results will comparable to the first tank.

End of the season watermelons went into building the foundational layer of the bed, along with stem and brush cuttings. I dearly hope that I’m not growing a watermelon patch in this tank.

In this bed, I used Raised Garden Bed soil, organic compost, peat moss, coarse vermiculite and perlite in different ratios compared to the first bed. I still broadcast Espoma Garden-tone fertilizer over the surface once it was filled up and ready for planting

As with the other bed, tank #2 has cauliflower, brussel sprouts, broccoli, dill and garlic aplenty. This time, I added bok choy and spinach starts. But of course, there wasn’t enough space to hold all the broccoli and brussel sprout starters I still had waiting in the wings. I’ve been discussing with the DH if we should get 2 more stock tanks to DIY into garden beds, but of course the limiting factor will be patio space.

All planted with the winter garden! I left a 12″ square open for the next batch of bunching onions, spinach and lettuce I’ve started from seed. Meanwhile, I plan on using that bouquet dill shortly.

Ye Olde Garden

Nasturtiums! November Seed starting adventures

November 16, 2020 epicureasian

Nasturtium seeds: Alaska, Jewel and Black Velvet

I’m bound and determined to grow nasturtiums this year. I had some old packets of Alaska Variegated, but turns out they were too old to germinate. So I picked up several packets at Calloway’s and online from Amazon. While seed shopping I also picked up Spinach and Lettuce seeds, along with bunching onions, chives, marigolds and coneflower seeds. I’m also looking forward to my order from Baker Creek Heirloom seeds, consisting of baby bok and Chinese broccoli, coming soon!

As it turns out, my last seed starting venture left me with a lot of unsprouted soil blocks: arugula, spinach, bok choy, and various types of basil. Cleaning out the old seeds from my collection turned out to be a simple matter of dumping packets into wet paper towels and storing them in plastic zip lock bags.

No surprise here…well except for a single spinach seed that germinated. It just wasn’t worth the effort to keep it.

I also started another flat of soil blocks. The Parris Cos lettuce germinated within a few days. I’m hoping that the basils germinate. I also broke out the fenugreek seeds and sowed them in a pot. I purchased these seeds from Amazon pantry a few years ago, which sold them as spices. But whole fenugreek can also grown from these spice seeds. Even as sprouts, they are very fragrant.

If this batch of soil blocks fails to produce any basil, I may have to run them all through the paper towel method. I’m still hopeful I’ll get some to germinate. Stay tuned.