seedlings « Velvet Kerfuffle Kitchen and Garden

@jamjarring Japan center popup. Sushi & groceries. I think it's close to entrance when coming from overground but I could be hallucinating. 5 days ago
@jamjarring heck lets meet outside umai and i can get some grocery shopping done too... 5 days ago
@jamjarring yep that works! Phone is about to die so will call on tommi's. Know a good place to meet? 5 days ago
@jamjarring shepherds bush 5 days ago
@jamjarring think we could meet at Westfield instead? Running late on touristy activities :-( 5 days ago
Morning coffee chat: "Doraemon is like Terminator." "Only with a round blue cat." Hi, Friday. 2 weeks ago
Hubby is just now learning to post to peeps on FB. It is both hilarious and sad. Am wondering whether to intro him to Twitter... 1 month ago
General life updatish. pierydys.livejournal.com/476663.html 1 month ago
Why my luggage is never stolen, or, London Food Haul 2011 wp.me/pMJ06-IA 2 months ago
The one with the dumplings. wp.me/pMJ06-HR 2 months ago

Weekly Garden Update!

#gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } Bought another aloe at Plantagen last weekend. Can’t have enough of these guys, I think. I will definitely have to invest in more fall bulbs if they all do so well here.

Did I mention some tulips made a guest appearance? I suppose we do have the sort of weather they enjoy.

View of my cleaned-up greenhouse interior. Still looks pretty tame.

White dicentra, which will go where there pink one goes.

Pink dicentra I got on sale last week. Don’t know where it’s going yet.

Repotted peony. Still don’t know where it’s going yet.

My 2 year old calamondin has once again been repotted and is enjoying its new greenhouse home.

The clivia T’s granny gave us has been repotted and is now also in the greenhouse.

The droopy lavender I seeded last spring is now looking much happier in the greenhouse.

I put in 9 rows of “cold weather crops” the first weekend of May. We’ll see when they sprout.

Parsley, purple carrots and cilantro.

Leaf lettuce, spring onion and salad dandelion.

Leaf lettuce, mixed carrots and spinach.

I also plan to plant my cucumbers directly into these bags once the weather warms a bit more.

My first (and probably temporary) raised garden bed. Made from… bed frames :-)

There’s a few different types now, but I totally will continue adding varieties starting this fall.

I love narcissi. Can’t get enough of them. Always wanted a giant bed of them in my garden and now I have some!

Spring garden rush has begun.

The evenings are still just a couple degrees above 0C, but daytime temps are now between 10-20C and very sunny, so it’s definitely spring. Everything is budding, flowers are starting to appear and butterflies are everywhere. I’ve started cleaning up the garden and grounds best as I can, though I’m sure it will take at [...]

Last of early seed starting.

I did the last batch today, so now all my cucurbits/melons/squashes and tomatoes/eggplants/etc. are cozy in their little plastic incubators. I already can see a few germinated pumpkin seeds from the ones I planted Monday! I’ll wait until they actually sprout before proclaiming it a milestone, though :-) But still, pumpkins in Finland! I’m so [...]

Baby orchids and more seeds planted.

#gallery-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } My miniature phalaenopsis is having babies! Here, it sprouted both a baby and another flower from the same node. Another shot of the bonus flower. I’ve never had this happen with my orchids before, so hopefully it means I’m doing something right!

Another baby growing on the other flower stalk. This one has much bigger leaves, probably because it doesn’t have a flower as well.

And the beginnings of a third one :-) I’ll let them all grow until they have about 2 inches of root before separating them.

My rapidly growing seed germination tray.

I had a wildly successful run with these last year, so am planting them again. I’m faithful to those who treat me well :-) These produced bountiful, tasty cukes and were very happy doing it within the confines of the bag of potting soil allotted to them. 4 planted.

I admit to being attracted to weird cultivars. Plus, it would look so cool to have slices of various colored cucumbers on a salad, don’t you think? We’ll see what happens with these. 5 planted.

I hear melons can be tricky. Both the boy and I adore them, though, so I’m going to give it a try this year. They can get expensive at the store and we could probably eat one apiece if it weren’t so spendy. These might actually end up going in the greenhouse, since I’m not entirely sure they’ll crop fast enough otherwise. 4 planted.

I know I already planted the golden version of these, but you know how I get about have rainbow colors. And cucurbits really are some of my favorite plants. They make you feel really accomplished, with such large fruits. Anyway. 9 planted.

Classic summer veggie that I know I should be eating more of. I do like these roasted, so no hurt in planting some. This type in particular looks like it doesn’t even need to live in the greenhouse, which is a plus. 5 planted.

Spring is here! Sort of.

At least, the calendar says it is. The snow is also mostly gone and the ice is nearly melted off all the bodies of water. The leaves aren’t out on the trees yet, but we’re seeing all kinds of stuff starting to emerge. Like these pretty little snowdrops sprouting right next to our building.

[...]

Indoor Plants of 2011

Just more chronicling of my gardening ventures, both indoors and out. The kitchen window has plants in it all year round, though they start looking a little peaky in deep winter. The sun’s back now, though, and I can’t wait to pop some fragrant narcissi and primroses into those hanging pots. Maybe as soon as [...]

Balcony and Kitchen Garden Updates, July 2011.

Did some much needed work on the plants in the apartment this past week. The two backyard gardens thrive on benign neglect, since they have access to plenty of sun and rain, but the ones here need a bit more attention to be at their best.

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My hanging herb garden, before the monthly harvest/grooming session.

My hanging herb garden, after the monthly harvest/grooming session. You can see out the window again!

A handful of the old standby, sweet basil.

A new herb this year — Mexican hyssop. I grew this from seed but am finding it amazingly similar to store bought lemon balm.

Store-bought lemon balm. Second year planting this. It supposedly overwinters well, so I’m gonna put it out this year.

Home-seeded peppermint is coming along nicely. Will be overwintering outside as well.

Home-seeded cilantro! Hard to come by at the market, so glad to have some on hand.

I had to give Misu a blade of lemongrass to keep her occupied and out of the way while I was tending the herbs.

All harvested herbs packed and ready for freezer storage.

The balcony garden, end of July 2011.

The nasturtiums are going nuts! They should cover the balcony by the end of summer. The yellow flowers are so cheery.

First time planting sweet peas, so not sure if this is normal. They seem sort of slow, though. Too sunny, maybe?

Baby leaf salad basket is starting to see the effects of heat. This lasted for a few good weeks of plucking, though.

Amaryllis bulbs are enjoying the sun! They should have plenty of energy for a winter display of flowers this year.

These mini bell pepper seedlings were starting to get gangly from sharing the same pot so long.

So they have all been transplanted into roomier accommodations to be moved to separate gardens.

The baby strawberries are taking their time. I should probably transplant soon, but they are growing so slow that I’m not too worried.

The Garden – July 2011

Just finished updating my folia account with the latest happenings in my backyard gardens and thought I’d share the photos here as well since I like to look through these galleries during the cold months :-)

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Vegetable garden mostly growing in bags of potting soil at a friend’s house.

Transplanted tomatoes on their first day in the same backyard garden I used last year at T’s parents’ house.

Transplanted tomatoes on their first day at the other garden. It’s been fun to watch the different growth rates in different gardens.

Some nasturtiums stashed in a pot with datura at the parents’ house.

Backyard II tomatoes a day later, looking a little more comfortable with their transplant.

Pots of sweet peas, cucumbers and basils also coming to live in the backyard where there is more sun.

Baby tomatoes starting to leaf out in backyard II.

Basils in backyard I looking comfortable in their bag. 1 of each variety ended up dying, leaving 2 of each. The lemons look the best — the reds aren’t bad and the Thai basils are just scraggly :-(

Beans in bags are starting to flower! They’re still not huge — hope the cucumber sharing their bag doesn’t cover them up.

Backyard corn patch is growing impressively fast. My friend’s patch, which she planted a couple weeks before me, is already tasseling!

Cucumbers in bags are flowering liberally. These guys are gonna get huge.

Tomatoes in bags are also flowering liberally. I’m thinking having their rooms in soil kept warm and insulated by the plastic is good for them.

Potted sweet peas at backyard II are getting very leafy. Their balcony counterparts are scraggly.

Strangely enough, these basils in pots at backyard II are looking much better than the ones in the bag.

Backyard II cucumbers are in pots and growing a bit slower than the bag ones. This one just started popping out a few flowers.

Backyard II tomatoes are growing at about the same pace as the bag tomatoes, but having started flowering yet. I wonder why?

Gooseberry bush with fruit at backyard II.

Currant bush with green fruit at backyard II.

Wee baby apples in backyard II.

Thriving stand of raspberries at backyard II — we’ve been picking handfuls every day.

Plenty of rhubarb also at backyard II. I’ve been cutting and freezing a few bags to keep for later in the year.

And yet more currant bushes that should be ready to harvest in a few more weeks.

A pretty honeysuckle vine growing on the house wall :-)

The Garden: June in Finland

And this being my cat, she also has to pause and mug for the camera.

Just a quick pictorial update of what’s been going on in the VK garden. June is the first month here when it’s warm enough to work outside daily and leave seedlings in the ground with no fear of frost. So, this past week and this coming week will pretty much be a gardening frenzy as [...]

The Garden: Expanding Up and Out

A week and a half since my last garden update, but these super-long northern summer days mean that we’ve had more than two weeks worth of sun in between. And it shows! You can practically hear the plants growing. I’ve already harvested three colanders full of salad from my box of lettuce and it’s still [...]

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