Spring has arrived and I long for my vegetable garden. Unfortunately, I still have to have some patience before I can dive in...
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5 Long Weeks
It’s been 5 weeks since I had my hernia operation. Revalidation is going less smooth than we originally thought - I’m still in a lot of pain - so I have to put gardening out of my mind a little longer.
The garden itself looks abandoned... well, it is, actually. Before winter, I added a layer of mulch. To remove it, I’ll need the help of my girlfriend. Since she’s working a nine-to-five job ánd has to take care of all the household chores, I don’t really want to bother her with my gardening itch. I don’t want her to spend her days off working in what is supposed to be my vegetable garden...
Greenhouse Adventures
Last spring, I had had it with the cheap, low quality greenhouse I had been using, and I was planning to buy a ‘real’ one. But then, a friend of mine offered me something I couldn’t refuse: I could get the frame of a professional tunnel greenhouse for free, if I could arrange to get it removed from the garden it was in and move it to ours.
And so it was done: I arranged just that. Since I was already having back pain at that time, it was my girlfriend and a friend of ours who took it down and moved it.
Last weekend, we had some other friends over, and together they put up the frame.
My job was to lie down in the sun and watch. Easy peasy... I’m so spoiled ;0)
So, it is up. All I got to do now is find a store that can send me the plastic to cover it, and then instruct others to put it on. I can do that.
The upcoming gardening season is going to be a success, in spite of the delay...
The Indoor Garden
Since my surgery, I’ve only been allowed to lie down or walk. Nothing else.
I did cheat a little, though: I’ve already sowed some seeds.
I didn’t buy that propagator to gather dust, did I?
One of my friends keeps calling it the ‘Time Machine’, and it has already served its purpose.
Some of the seedlings have already grown so much they have moved to their own spot on the windowsill, making room for new ones.
This small cape gooseberry plant was one of the first ones to leave the heated environment. It is growing more beautiful every day, and I’m completely in love with it...
I’ve also got some new arrivals, like a small strawberry tree, a carambola plant and 2 paw paws that are impatiently waiting until it is their turn to be planted out in the garden.
Yacon Cuttings
One of the many new plants I experimented with last year was the Yacon or Peruvian Groundapple.
Before I harvested the delicious tubers (that taste like apple, by the way), I took some cuttings. I had read somewhere that it wasn’t very easy to make the cuttings to survive winter indoors, so I took plenty. 21 to be precise.
Unfortunately, they all died on me because of some fungus.
All, but one. This last one has grown a lot these last couple of weeks, and is taking its own place on the windowsill now.
Proud mummy!!
The Cold Frames
Before winter came to town, I had purchased/built a couple of cold frames. At the moment, they’re still providing shelter for the kiwi berries, some lettuce and different kinds of cabbages.
Since I’m not fit enough to prepare one of the raised beds on my own, I’ll have to leave them there for a little while longer.
Impatient
I’m so anxious to get into my vegetable garden again.. I know I’ll have to take it slow this year, and let others do the heavy work, but still I can’t wait.
Meanwhile, all I can do is sow some more seeds. Today will be tomato-time (I have 15 different kinds to choose from), and I will start the lemon apple cucumber too.
I’ll also need to give all the pepper-seedlings their own little pot, and find a way to give the peas and beans their permanent place outside.
I’m unstoppable ;0)
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Oh wow! So nice to have friends to help huh? Looks like you’re going to have quite the garden when you’re finished. I love that one little Yacon made it. I’ve never eaten that?! It’s a sweet tuber? Interesting. Somehow I missed that you’ve had a recent surgery. That explains a lot. I’m certain you’ll be up and about in no time, digging in that dirt.
Oh and also... nice post. giggles
Lol.
Thanks for your reply, @pretty.dorky.
This post was feeling pretty lonely ;0)
Yacon roots are really delicious. You should definitely try those if you have a chance!
Taking off, gonna try and call it an early night tonight. Need some sleep, hoping to be full power again tomorrow.
I just hope Gina won’t be a party pooper again... I can’t help myself checking her while I’m in bed, and then one thing leads to another and before I know it it is 2am again - lol. Doesn’t help that everyone’s living on the other site of the globe and that they’re up when I’m asleep and the other way around ;0)
See, @pretty.dorky: you started something - lol
I forgot to tell you: give Jeff a big hug from me. I need to make it up to him after I let him down yesterday. Need to make sure he still likes me ;0)
What a cutie pie! Make a post on this and write about all the steemians Jeff is a fan of. That will give you something from steembasicincome. ;)
That’s a fun idea @beeyou! 😃
You’re such an adorable person, @pretty.dorky. I’m so glad I came across you (sst! Don’t tell jeff, he might get jealous)
That’s sooooo cute 💜💜
Did I tell you I have a photo album with only Jeff pictures? From the pool party, to his paintings, and his trip to... was it Boston? I’ll definitely add this one ;0)
She is truly adorable @simplymike. Brighten our days on here. Jeff too..shhh.
😄 I’m so glad we came across YOU! You vibe with our dorky style. 😉
Oh! I didn’t see the rest of your msg?! You have a Jeff album? 😊💓 now THAT’S adorable. It was Seattle. 😉
Right, Seattle!
Of course I keep an album. I’m a superfan! ;0)
Haha yes, I forgot about that little guy sleeping in a match box.
Nice informative post
You really are unstoppable ... and I'm really curious about something you mentioned, what the h*** are lemon apple cucumbers? Never heard of that one before. Is it tasty? And what kind of peppers do you have, we are real pepper freaks here so we have a few different peppers like the Bolivian Rainbow Pepper and Lemon Drop Pepper. So we hope they are going to grow nicely
I was wondering about that too! What on earth is a lemon apple cucumber?? They sound delish!
They’re like round yellow cucumbers. They have a bit of a softer cucumber taste, with a little hint of citrus in it. Really delicious (citroenkomkommer in het NL)
The peppers I mentioned are actually sweet peppers (paprika). I don’t really like spicy stuff. Before last summer, I didn’t even know there were more kinds than just the regular green, yellow, red an orange ones you find in the supermarket - lol. I should look up the nes of the ones I’m growing now. One is the mini belle chocolate, one of the others has chocolate in its name too, but I forgot.
Will look it up tomorrow. Can you tell me what kind of ‘real’ peppers are not hot and spicy? I want to grow some, but son’t know which ones to choose ;0)
Oke even in het nederlands. Nu moest ik echt even diep nadenken, wij houden juist wel van hete pepers. Maar uhm, je kunt denk ik dan het beste kiezen voor de 'gewone' Spaanse Peper, of een peper uit de Jalapeno familie. En altijd even een kleine vergelijking maken door op te zoeken hoe hoog of laag hij staat op de schaal van Scoville. Hoe hoger hij staat hoe heter de peper is :-) De paprika staat er ook op dus daar kun je al een vergelijking mee maken dan ...
Bedankt voor de tip. Ik weet weeral wat te doen morgen :0)
Unstoppable to say the least!! I know the feeling though! Its hard to stay still when all you want to do is dig in the dirt. ;) Just dont hurt yourself lady!
I won’t. It’s too important to mess it up. Although it’s hard...
Hopefully it will be a bit better by the end of this month. Won’t be too late to get some veggies started by then :0)
Good! Youll have enough time! :)
I bypassed anxious last week, now I'm on full-throttled dancing in my seat to get outside. I have my chore list in hand and seedlings growing... come on spring!
Lmao!
If I could move properly, I would be dancing of excitement with you :0)
https://pixabay.com/en/impatiens-impatiens-walleriana-1239885/
You could always grow impatiens.
Just kidding.
Didn’t know there was a flower called like that. I should definitely get me some ;0)
You seem to be doing all you can to get everything ready for your gardening. Hopefully those little tasks here and there helps to make your wait fly by so you can squat down and play in the dirt!
They do :0)
So is Steemit...
You are always welcomed to expand your green thumb to my garden. Not much luck growing things. Sometimes I try but it doesn't help that I never go back to water the plants, lol. It's terrible. I bought a bunch of airplants that all I had to do was water it now and then and give it sunlight. All but one have withered away from lack of attention.
Lol. When it comes to keeping houseplants, I’m like that. Last year we managed to let a couple of succulents die. They needed to be watered like once every two weeks or so, but sometimes we completely forgot for 4 weeks, and sometimes we watered them twice a week. They didn’t survive very long - lol
Belgium is a ‘rainy’ country, so all plants that are outside only need watering during a heatwave, which we don’t get that often.
Maybe you should consider an ‘automated’ self-watering system... Then you just need make sure the main source of water doesn’t dry out
Hello @simplymike! I'm so glad to find your blog, I can see you're very passionate about gardening and have huge experience regarding plants. Let's say that I'm an inspiring gardener hehe, I would love to learn more but for now I can mostly practice gardening on my balcony and windowsills :) It looks like you're going to have a great harvest in the summer and in the autumn!
I wish you good health! All the best,
Klaudia
Thanks. I don’t have huge experience. In my early twenties, I experimented with some herbs and lettuce on my tiny balcony. Then I didn’t do anything for like 15 years, and this is the 4th year I have a garden. The first two years I started small, with just one square foot garden bed, but last year I got a little obsessed. Lol. Since I was unemployed, I could dedicate all my time to experimenting in my garden. I developed an
Interest in plants that are not so common here in Belgium.
I did some research, but I basically like to wing it. Sometimes with more luck than other times - lol
There are a lot of options on a balcony and windowsill, if you get creative and go vertical.
I do love the ‘Windowfarm’ idea: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windowfarm
And when I’m back up on my feet, I’d like to do this with one of our downstairs windows:
I do all my gardening in raised beds or containers, because the ground in our garden is full of pieces of concrete and other junk. Almost anything can be grown in containers.
Thanks so much for your generous reply, @simplymike :) The system in the photo surely is something!
I've read once about growing potatoes in a container at home, but never gave it a serious thought. I have some experiences with herbs on the balcony, and I also collect wild herbs when I have the chance. Are you at all interested in wild herb/plant/fruit picking, like nettle etc.? Anyway, I would love to start growing sprouts on my windowsill, I hope that your great example will prompt me to finally do something about that because it would be lovely to eat a sandwich or a salad with your own sprouts :)
All the best,
Klaudia
Hi @shinyforest,
Sprouts are pretty easy to grow, so I think you should give it a go.
This is the first year I’m trying potatoes. I’m growing them in bags. Very curious how that will turn out :0)
Wow! I would love to know how your experiment will work out! :) I'll keep my fingers crossed :)
Thanks :0)
Yes... unstoppable! I was curious to find out what peruvian ground apples taste lole untill you said they taste lile apples. Cool.
I'm interested in these cold boxes, we might want to build something like that for next winter, but it gets really cold in the catskills mountains (even at the base where we will be).
Thanks for the inspiration and sorry you have to wait to garden some more... patience and heal fast!
Ps: Nice find on the tunnel frame and good work laying down there
Thanks.
Glad I could fill you in on the Peruvian groundapple :0)
I’ve read about people using cold frames in piles of snow. Niki Jabbour has written a popular book about it. This is one of her articles (link to the book is in the article): https://savvygardening.com/cold-frame-gardening/
Oh great thank you for the link and the idea about snow!
I feel yah! I've been impatiently waiting for spring to arrive. We just had snow fall two days ago and no my garden is nothing but mud! I can't wait to get out there. I have so many plans! Jealous you found the greenhouse frame! I'm always looking, but I do have plans to build my own which may happen one day! I've got my seedlings going well! I will have to do an update soon! I like your cold frames! And is that Vanagon I see?
I had to go look up the word Vanagon. Lol Never hear it before. We just say T3.
This one is a first generation LT35. (1995)
Loved it so much. But last year it got too expensive to get it fixed, so now we keep it in the garden :0)
I want to build my own greenhouse out of old windows one day. They look so cool. But I’ve learned it’s not as easy as it sounds. I got to work on my construction skills first ;0)
I always wanted one! Maybe one day? Making a greenhouse out of the glass would be neat!
I remember when my dad got a hernia and he couldn't do anything either. Those lemon apple cucumbers look tasty! I'll add those to my list for a future season. I want to try the tubers as well! Did you know tubers are modified stems?
They are really tasty, both the yacon roots and the lemon apple cucumber. :0)
What do you mean with ‘modified stems’? Never heard of that before...
Potatoes for example are tubers, not roots. Although they serve as nutrient storage, they appear to be structurally more similar to stems than roots. It's interesting what Wikipedia has to say about this:
"The tuber has all the parts of a normal stem, including nodes and internodes. The nodes are the eyes and each has a leaf scar. The nodes or eyes are arranged around the tuber in a spiral fashion beginning on the end opposite the attachment point to the stolon. The terminal bud is produced at the farthest point away from the stolon attachment and tubers thus show the same apical dominance as a normal stem. Internally, a tuber is filled with starch stored in enlarged parenchyma like cells. The inside of a tuber has the typical cell structures of any stem, including a pith, vascular zones, and a cortex."
Source:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuber
So if I get it right: the parts of yacon you eat are the roots, while the part you dig up to store in a frost-free place to plant it out again in spring (so it will grow a new plant) are the tubers...
Guess that’s right. ‘Cos I remember now where I got the word ‘tubers’ from: it was the part of the cucamelon plant to dig up and replant in spring.
Thanks! Another thing learned today :0)
There is something so basic about gardening, isn't there? The feel of the dirt in your hands, the idea that you are creating or growing something, the smells, the anticipation of the first harvest...all of it! And the one thing that doesn't fit in it all is "impatience" ;)
I grew up on a farm, and as a kid, often wished for my friend's city life, but as an adult, gardening became my solace. It must awaken something ancient in all of us I think! Go slow, and enjoy!
True! There’s something about it that makes me feel relaxed and at ease. Gardening is the only thing in my life I do without overthinking it. It’s just a hobby, so it’s not a problem if something goes wrong. Maybe I like to keep it a bit too spontanious, because I don’t do like extended plans and calendars and stuff. I’m afraid I’ll start to think too much and take all the fun out if it.
It’s hard enough to take into considerarion companion planting (which I think is very interesting) and crop rotation (which I think is very annoying)
I always gardened very spontaneously as well; sometimes it worked, sometimes not, but like you, I enjoyed it nonetheless! Your idea of not over-thinking it is a good one I think...you'd hate to do that and suck all the fun right out of it!
Right!
Overthinking is one of my few talents - lol, I try to keep it out if the garden ;0)
haha overthinking is a curse! I used to be 'blessed' with it, but one day I simply decided to stop doing it. Was it easy? No!! But I play a head game where I envision a huge bank vault and when I begin to overthink, I imagine myself opening the vault, putting that *thought" in it, and closing it up tight! It took practice, but now it works like a charm :)
I should definitely try that...
Give it a go...you never know if it will work until you try it!
Wow. My brother bakes and you do gardening. I only wish I can be good at both. :D
You have really good and helpful friends. Out of everything you wrote only Yacon stood out to me. I only know sweet potato and have yet to taste yacon. We have some locally but I haven't seen any supermarket selling it. Or maybe I'm just not looking. Haha.
We don’t have them here. You should really try it, if you have the chance ;0)
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I would love to have my own little garden !
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Looks like you're going to have an awesome garden!
I really love the idea and concept behind your indoor garden, @simplymike! Also, speedy recovery from your recent operation! :)
very cool @simplymike- Such beautiful plants - and a really nice setup you've got there. I love gardening - I also cant wait to start my garden - I snuck a few potatoes into the ground - and I just transplanted some Swiss Chard this week - but we are really looking forward to getting everything set up - my wife and I work together in the garden and we love it -
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