Summer Seed Starting for Winter Vegis

Recently I've become aware that seed starting should not be limited to the spring.  A prime seed starting time is in the summer, when you can plant so that your garden continues into the fall and even the winter.  I went through my seed packs and selected some fall/winter appropriate seeds.  Choosing the right "winter-hardy" varieties is important.

The packs on the right have now been planted

I've already got some seeds started - these are primarily for the late summer and the fall.

Red Leaf Amaranth

Kale and a few lettuce varieties

More lettuce

Here are the seeds I planted today.

Notice the stickies - great for labeling

I used the Planters Pride window seedling trays available from Canadian Tire - great value at about $3.  They come with inserts and a clear lid.

I decided to use a different type of insert - the one shown below gives a little more flexibility.  When the seedlings are ready to plant into the garden I will "prick them out" using an old pen as a dibbler.

Insert used

I like the "Dutch Treat" seed starting mix.  You should be sure to pre-moisten the mix before adding it to the inserts.

Dutch Treat seed starting mix

July Flowers

Here's a slide show of some of the flowers in our garden in late July.

Wildflower Garden

This year I decided to devote part of the backyard to a wildflower garden.  The idea is to be friendly to all the beneficial insects that make their home in our garden, as well as to have an attractive flower garden.  With it being such a cold, rainy spring, it took a long time for the plants to develop.  At one point, I even rigged a tent made of clear plastic garbage bags over the area to allow the plants to germinate and develop without being bothered by the rain or pests.  The area is just coming into its own now at the end of July.  Currently there is a real display of various types of poppies as well as some Asiatic lilies I planted this spring.  It'll be interesting to see what other flowers are in the mix.  I got the seed pack from Westcoast Seeds - I think it's called the "Pacific Northwest Blend".  Here's a photo of the area.  Much better than grass!

Quick Make-Over

For the last few months this area was covered with Shasta daisies.  However, despite being staked, heavy rains and time took their toll, and the daisies needed to be cut back.  This took a while and over four large paper recycle bags.  When the daisies had been cut back, the area changed from a real show to a little on the barren side.  I made a trip to the garden shop, but didn't want to spend the cash on annuals for a quick display.  What to do?  Well, because I grow a lot of plants from seed quite often I put extras in pots.  Most of these were in the back yard, gradually developing in unused spots.  I thought, why not move some of these into the front where the daisies were?  The photo above shows the view looking down the driveway after the pots were in place.

Here are some of the pots I added.

 Nasturtiums

 Miniature sunflower

 Petunias

 Miniature butterfly bush (bought as a small plant last fall)

 Strawberry/geranium planter

Having plants growing in pots in a "staging area" is a great idea.  Next year, I think I'll try this with some dahlia bulbs.  I bet these would look great after the Shasta daisies are finished.  I had a good suggestion today from my better half ... why not bury the pots so that only the flowers stand out?  I'll be working on that tomorrow!

The view looking up the driveway.

Miniature Sunflower

This spring I had fun making this pot of miniature sunflowers and sweet alyssum. All the plants were grown from seed. There are 3 sunflower plants in the pot. Each one will have multiple blooms, so I'm hoping for quite a show. Today the first sunflower is fully showing, so I'm excited. I may cut the alyssum back soon so that they don't get too leggy. Hopefully they will grow back nice and thick. Last year I tried the same sunflowers without success. This year worked because

1. I started the plants inside and didn't put them in the pot until they were fairly far along

2. I put the pot in the front yard where there is more sun and less pests. (Last year something dug up the plants!)

Sunflowers are one of my favourite plants. I've got different varieties started in the front and back yards. It'll be fun to see what happens.

Asiatic Lilies

It's the middle of July and the Asiatic lilies have just started making their appearance. These are great plants. Why?

1. The flowers are truly exotic ... showstoppers.

2. The plants are super easy and inexpensive - just buy the bulbs, plant them in the spring, that's it!

It's easy to forget or not get around to planting bulbs in the spring. However, its well worth the minimal time and expense involved. I also really like dahlias. However, unlike Asiatic lilies, dahlias should be dug up every fall unless you are in a very mild climate.

Here's some more photos of the lilies that have just started blooming. Amazing plants!

Replanting the Earthbox

The Earthbox is a great planter, particularly for decks. It's self-watering and comes on casters so it's easy to move. I like the fact that it's big enough so you can treat it like a mini square foot garden. As you can see from the photo on the left, there is a tube that makes it easy to fill the storage tank with water. The storage tank will keep the plants watered for a few days, although I try to top it up daily. The Earthbox being on casters makes it easy to move into the sun or under shelter if it's raining. I do my Earthbox organically - no chemicals for me, only planter box mix, my compost, and Sea Soil. I try to update the Earthbox periodically. I've got a tomato plant, basil, chard, a snap pea pyramid, and a few small flowering plants.




Today's project was to tear out some of the old vegi's from the Earthbox and replant with some starter plants. As you can see from the photo above, there is a bamboo pyramid of snap peas. These have just about finished bearing, so it's time for them to go. Here's the replanted Earthbox.

The peas are gone, replaced with a small Kale plant (foreground right) and some Mizuna (upper right). I've had the Kale and the Mizuna growing from seed 0n the deck for since early July. Here's another photo of the finished project. I've moved the new plants so that they're being shaded.

I got my Earthbox from GardenWorks in North Vancouver. They're quite expensive, but I went in June of last year for the big 1/3rd off everything sale. I'm a big Earthbox fan, and think the expense is worth it given you will be using it for years. Especially if you've got a deck or patio I think the Earthbox is a great way of growing vegis.