Homemaking Organized Blog

Posts Tagged ‘gardening’

I’ve been sorely neglecting cleaning the home. I prefer to clean a little each day as opposed to an all out cleaning in the Spring and Fall. This method helps me keep up with the home better and if I miss a day or two it doesn’t matter because the room gets touched up every several weeks.

I’m starting out in the dining room because it’s annoying me. I started with decluttering. Then moved on to cleaning overhead light fixtures. I’ll dust the ceiling today (I know I should have done that first) and then move on from there.

Trays of Plant Starts (Photo credit: OSU Master Gardener)

I put out my plant starts this week to start hardening them off. I have sweet potatoes, peppers, and basil (should I have started that from seed outside). That’s nothing to my friends 25 plants of Swiss Chard. I’m so jealous! I’ll also train the peas up the trellis and…make some calcium tea from egg shells.

That’s it for my procrastinating.

How about you? Visit New Nostalgia for more anti-procrastination posts.

Well Spring is officially here and even though I can see snow in them thar’ yonder hills, I planted some spring veggies anyway.

We got started with our onion starts (nothin’ but red this year!), some swiss chard, carrots (purple) and peas. And I’m being very lazy with the tomatoes. Instead of starting my plants from seed this year I ordered some starts. I’m so lazy I want the company to just ship them when it’s time to plant them. Yawn! Tomatoes give me such a headache every year.

I have some potato multipier onions (which I’ve never before grown) that have been out in the garden since last fall. If you don’t know what these are they are perennial onions which produce multiple heads that you can harvest and then replant in the fall.

They tend to be mild in flavor and the size you get can depend upon the size you plant (so I’ve heard). Apparently there are various varieties but the only ones I’ve found to buy are the yellow.

Originally I had ordered the Egyptian Walking Onion. This is also a perennial onion but the new bulbs set on the top of the greenery as opposed to underground. Last year Territorial Seed was unable to get any from their supplier so they sent me these instead. I wasn’t that happy so I just planted them in one of my Garden Patch pots and forgot about them… until now when gardening season is upon us. Now I’m blowing them kisses and so excited to see what they do down there.

Here is some more information on how to grow Potato Multiplier Onions

I love onions. They make the dish so this is only right that I should have them constantly coming in. You know a nice, never ending supply. Fresh from the garden.

Next up I would like to try onions from seed.

I don’t have any pics…yet but I have little green tomatoes all over our many plants. Again this year some are unlabeled (the ones my husband gleaned from our starts). My husband wants to see what will happen when some tomatoes are left to their own devices so we will see.

We have Brandywine (some rogue lonely dying plant that I picked up at a store), Green Sausage, some cherry tomatoe variety I have to go read the pack again. And my favorites, Black from Tula, Amish Paste (these grew well last year) and Gold Medal.

More to come…

As you know I’m planning a serious container garden this summer. The pots are on their way and the seeds have been started. The ones that need starting indoors.

Gardens seem to be in this year. I hear and read about kitchen gardens all the time. I always try to grow something in pots and it’s been many years since I’ve gardened in the ground. This is the first year I’ll be trying so much in pots.

There are many reasons to grow your own vegetables. I have three.

1) It’s a great learning activity my daughter and I can do together. She loves, loves dirt, plants etc.

2) I really need to know where my stuff comes from. I’m one of those label readers at the grocery store and lately I’ve been really discouraged by the low quality.

3) Have you every tasted garden grown stuff? Amazing! Much better than the year old stuff in the grocery store.

But alas I have learned onions from seeds are not the easiest to grow. I learned the hard way.

After watching my puny onion seed leaves fall over and seem to die at the root I called my close friend who God blessed me with and who is also Master Gardener information. She must shake her head every time she talks to me.

Turns out the little onions seeds had too much water. I’m going to blame my daughter here. So they had some sort of root rot or something.

In an onion funk, because what is a garden without onions, I traipsed off to the grocery store with my family (we like to shop together).

Low and behold as I wandered past the seeds for who knows what reason since I have the makings of a small farm in my closet I spotted a little bunch of some tiny plant. There weren’t many left so I picked one up. Yahoo! It was a huge bunch of mini Walla Walla Sweet onion starts. They are so cute! It was definitely more than I can fit in my pots so I’m going be sharing these with family and friends.

As far as the rest of my plants are doing.

1) Tomatoes – 3 varieties doing well although I think they are a tiny bit leggy

2) Cucumbers – Was I supposed to start them so early? I heard I can grow them in summer too for a late fall harvest. The plants are doing incredibly well

3) Onions – Starting over with starts

4) Lettuce – I started some indoors because I wanted to. Not so sure this was smart but we’ll see.

The rest (corn, potatoes, peas(maybe)

5) Lavender – I’ve heard this is hard to start from seed and maybe the fact that my seeds never sprouted should be a clue. Back to the drawing board.

Although I know this was posted back in 2005, gardening is never old or goes out of style so here is some more great info on gardening onions at Farmgirl Fare

And another article on growing potatoes in pots