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Keyhole Garden Progress – February 26, 2020
Winter crops are petering out in the keyhole garden. Broccoli is heading out, cabbage is ripe, peas have been picked and the Romaine lettuce is about done. Just in time too. Cucumbers, more lettuce, tomatillos and tomatoes are all waiting in the greenhouse for their turn in the garden.
Fresh Cilantro Hung to Dry
We have so much cilantro in the Keyhole garden that we're having trouble eating and/or giving it away (and I live in an area of the U.S. where Cilantro is used in everything). The end of winter is fast approaching and some of it is start to bolt. Rather that let it all go to seed, I cut the plants back to the first set of leaves, bundled up the cut plants and hung them to dry. If you're not familiar, fresh cilantro is quite strongly scented. The entire front half of the house currently smells like the world's largest [keep reading...]
Cyclamen in Bloom, no Photo Filter Required
The cyclamens outside the family room bay window have begun to bloom. The plants are on a well-shaded slope and it's gray and raining, but the flowers are literally glowing in the low light. Amazing. Bonus: I bought them off the clearance rack at Lowe's last fall for $1 each. Booyah. Bargain! Anyone have any guesses as to the variety? The pot labels were struck out so I couldn't tell.
Keyhole Garden Progress – February 20, 2020
We've been harvesting romaine lettuce and cilantro for several weeks, and we cut our first head of broccoli just the other day. Tom Thumb peas are all ripe and ready to be harvested too. Good thing. The greenhouse holds spring vegetable seedlings getting close to transplant time.
A Brassica Bouquet for My Bride
Yesterday was my 31st wedding anniversary. I told my wife the traditional gift was "A Brassica" and gave her this beautiful brassica bouquet fresh from the keyhole garden. Then, she ate it.
Time to Tally the Bananas
Nights below freezing has fried my tropical plants, including the Ice Cream (aka Blue Java) banana, so I cut the bunch and brought them indoors to ripen.
Getting Ready for Spring
It's five weeks until spring and a mere days until our last overnight frost. Unlike many a previous year, the greenhouse seedlings are off to a great start. Today we'll be dividing and re-potting into larger containers so everybody will have strong roots when we finally transplant into the vegetable garden in a few weeks.
Happy Valentine’s Day – Have a Tomato! (Video)
Last spring I planted a grape tomato variety from Johnny's Selected Seeds called Valentine. A definite 5 out of 5 stars. Here's a short video from the garden
How to: Make a Clock from an Old Pallet
Here's how to make a cool rustic clock using an old pallet, some clothes pins and a $10 clockworks from Amazon.com. It's a super easy and fun project to try!
Peeping Pride of Madeira
About a month ago, my wife said she felt like this Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans) was looking at her so I gave it bottle-cap eyes. I went outside yesterday morning and noticed that our peeping friend had his hair color changed courtesy of the recent freeze. Very stylish.
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