What’s Growing?
The cool season is finally here, and here’s whats growing in my square foot raised bed garden..
You can go through these photos for a garden tour:
Archive for the tag “seedlings”
Its hardening off time!
The growing season is here! And this means its time to get those seedlings planted outside, but before you do that, make sure you harden them off..
Your seedlings have been pampered indoors for weeks. They need to be introduced slowly to the elements of wind and intense sun.
Initially, you will put plants outdoors only for short periods of time, perhaps for a couple of hours. You’ll want to set them in a semi-shaded area. Gradually, you will increase the time plants are kept outdoors; you also will gradually increase their exposure to sun. after about a week, these plants will be ready for the outdoor life
As part of acclimating the plants to the outdoors, you also will cut back on watering. This will allow plants to toughen and will prepare them for being transplanted.
If you still havent prepared your soil, now is the best time; work some compost and mineral rock dust in your soil, turning it and preparing it for those hungry seedlings.
December 9 Photo Tour
Tomatoes:
Zucchini:
Leafy Greens:
Swiss Chard
Spinach
Dinosaur Kale seedlings
Beet root:
November Garden Update Photo Tour
Cosmic Purple Carrots
Hand Pollinating Zucchinis
Hand pollination is done by picking the male flower (which doesn’t have a growing zucchini as a stem), removing its petals, and rubbing it at the female flower repeatedly. Hand pollination is a step I’m doing just in case the bees in my garden aren’t doing they’re job.
Corn
Zucchini taking over its neighboring squares
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes & Companions
Here are tomatoes with companion plants such as basil, borage, marigolds, and carrots.
Cilantro
Rainbow Swiss Chard
Garden Update Photo Tour
Butternut squash female flowers
baby watermelon
first sunflower
Tomato grown sideways
Here’s a tomato trick, I’ve grown this tomato plant on its side, its original root ball is right next to the basil plant in the same square. The trick is to lay the entire plant on its side, and only let the leaves and branches out, this way all the buried hairs on the stem will develop into roots, giving the plant an extra strong support.
baby spinach and swiss chard
Raised Bed Tour:
Tomato and carrot bed on the top, and sweet potato bed on the bottom
Lemon grass in the middle
corn in the middle and zucchini on the corners
my herb bed
What’s Growing In The Sun
- Basil and rosemary growing side by side
Mint
Okra
Corn
Sunflower bud
Tomato plants
Sweet potato
Zucchini
Butternut Squash female flower
Sugar Baby Watermelon female flower
My Planting Process
1- Moisten the soil
2- Mix in a handful of Mineral Rock Dust into each square.
3- Pop the seedling out by squeezing the pot to slowly slide it out.
4- Flip the plant over, removing it from the pot.
5- Gently massage the bottom roots so the plant wont be root bound.
6- Apply Rootgrow granules to the planting hole and on the visible roots on the seedling.
7- Place the plant in the deep hole, and snip off any branches that will be covered in soil.
8- Gently cover the plant, slowly pressing down and creating a saucer-like shape around it for the water to gather in.
9-Water generously
10-Watch it grow
In this case this is a tomato plant, tomatoes like to be buried as deep as possible, because the tiny hairs on the stems turn into roots when coming in contact with soil, making it a stronger plant.
If I had a deeper box, I would’ve buried it until the top branches, or maybe next time I can plant the seedling sideways.
What is Mineral Rock Dust?
Minplus is 100% Natural, Multi-Mineral, Rock Dust.
Minplus instantly replenishes soil with minerals and nutrients found in volcanic rock.
This is a video explaining the role of rock dust in the growing of better vegetables:
I get my rock dust from True Value. You can learn more about Rock Dust here.
Author
Readers
Alzainah
