Mikhailah's Blog
Mikhailah's posts about: chives
Apr 30, 2007 | 10:21 AM PST
Tags: lobelia , sunflowers , gladiolus , flowers , cauliflower , chives
I haven't been in the garden since early saturday, sometimes I like to have time away, that way I really notice changes that have happened. I'll be out there this evening, just before the sun sets to check on things. We may be having one of those cauli's with dinner tonight. Will be cutting back the unruly chives in the herb bed and adding that to some mashed potatoes, throw in some fried fish and we have dinner!
My flower seedlings are coming along nicely. the Lobelia seeds have all come up, they're so TINY! I'm not sure how I'm going to separate/space them. Sunflowers had to be started again, I had checked thru in the soil to see if any were germinating, only one seemed to be, kept that one and threw out the rest as the cardboard (toilet rolls cut in half!) had been placed too close together and had begun to go mouldy. So I should see at least one pushing thru in the next couple days.
I potted up my gladiolus' (april 28th) in a couple of large pots, they're on the patio for the moment.
I NEED MORE GARDEN SPACE! Now that I'm getting into flower growing. Hopefully I should get two 3x15 ft beds in the front for all my flowers. Will have to pave over the rest for parking space.
Apr 27, 2007 | 2:36 PM PST
Tags: onions , chives , shallots , cricket , birthday
I'm having a birthday tomorrow and I plan on sitting in front of the TV watching the cricket world cup final (Australia v Sri Lanka) and eating lots of birthday cake. So I figured on one more blog this side of the weekend, hoping someone will answer a few questions I have regarding my alliums...
I was thinking about my onions, right now they're the size of golf balls, or maybe a little smaller, I noticed they have begun to brown up some, I'm not sure whether they need feeding or they are done growing? What do they like to eat at this stage? Nitrogen? I would really like them to get maybe twice the size they are right now.
I have some shallot sets that I saved/dried from my last planting but no where to put them right now, I LOVE growing these, will have to wait for the brassicas to finish first. How long can these sets last if kept dry?
My chives in the herb bed look awful, they are long and straggly and have brown tips again, should I just cut them back? If so how much, how tall can they be left?
Apr 24, 2007 | 10:13 AM PST
Tags: peppermint , flat leaf parsley , Lobelia , Zinnia , Balsam , Alyssum , Sunflowers , cabbage , cauliflower , eggplant , scarlett emperor , polestar , onion , chives
I went to a small garden centre yesterday looking for parsley seedlings, ended up buying some peppermint instead. After reading up on mint in general I found that I need to restrict the roots to stop in from taking over the whole bed. So I have potted one plant and will be sinking it into the herb garden.
Not sure what to do with the rest, would like to put them out in the veggie garden out back. Will have to get some plumbing tubing and plant them in that. I would love to get my hands on some chocolate mint seeds.
The question is: is this really a peppermint? I looked at pictures online and the peppermint I saw didn't look like this. I also read somewhere that it should have purplish leaves? Maybe it will change as it matures?
I finally sowed some flower seeds today.... Lobelia, Alyssum, Zinnia, Balsam and 9 Sunflowers - in trays. See picture above.
I checked my baby bean yesterday, it hadn't grown any and I didn't see any more growing either. I think I'll just let it get on with it by itself. The polestar variety over on the other side is not doing too well, not very green and growing/flowering very slowly.
Cukes are still doing well, never had leaves this big before, gotta watch out for bugs all the time.
My cabbages are doing really great, I wish I'd planted more, I'm thinking to get more seedlings, you can never have too much cabbages, it's a pity they take up so much space though.
What else?.... oh yes, I'm getting a lot of sweet and hot peppers flowering and fruiting now, amazing how quickly a pepper grows, I'm giving them lots of water in the evening and they're producing well, compared to previous years.
My oak leaf lettuces that I let run to seed are now flowering, pretty little yellow flowers, hoping it will be straightforward to get the seeds from it.
I think this blog is becoming a 'note to self' . I'm hoping that I can organize my garden by looking back on this gardening diary and make good choices regarding when, where and what to plant and how I have dealt with problems when they have arisen. Sounds good in theory...!
I bought some strawberry seeds from the UK, still trying to figure out what to do with them, so much is against this project being successful, and I only have 13 seeds! (I was given some hope when I heard that they have been grown in the Blue Mountains in Jamaica! )
Another seemingly impossible project is getting rhubarb from seeds to grow here in the caribbean. Those of you in 4 season climates must think I'm nuts!? It can't hurt to try I guess.
