Laughing Ravens

  This year's iris seedlings have reached the point where it is time to move them from the seedling trays and into the new beds. Last year, we planted them far too close. As a result, this spring it was apparent that they were so close it was going to be difficult to distinguish one plant from another. Some irises were easy enough to lift early in the spring, while we were getting rain nearly every day. Other irises will just have to wait a few more weeks to be moved. Normally, I would wait until late summer to move an iris... but this year we need the bed space. For some of the larger irises, there might be some transplant shock. I plan on moving them right before a long rain, but that's never a guarantee. One of the other things I anticipate making use of this year: Miracle-Gro Quick Start (4-12-4). I started using it on my seedlings last year as a way to help build strong roots mid-summer.    One of the things we discovered last winter/early this spring is that critter...

  What the heck is this?  Anyone who knows me would agree that organization is NOT my strong suit. Curiosity, absolutely. When May rolls around (and in April too!) and I start looking at signs of new growth in the garden, one of the first things I say is: "What the heck is this?" Sounds funny when I write it that way, because as anyone who has been around me for five minutes knows, there's a whole lot of profanity left out of that question. Why is this an issue and why should anyone care? Organization is a very personal thing... on the same level of personal as what happens behind the bathroom door. Organization is what separates everything (see what I did there?).  Years ago, when I first started gardening, I could remember all the names of all the plants I put in the ground. My neighbor, Marge, told me the name as I stuck the cuttings into the South Florida sand/dirt and that was that. The plant grew. The name was the name. Done. Then I got old. I gardened in lots of di...

Winter sowing in trays, stacked in layers This year, I wanted to try a couple new ideas with our winter sowing. For those who haven't tried winter sowing, at its simplest, it is just planting your seeds during the winter to give them a jump on spring. Perennial seeds do well, some hardy annual seeds do okay, and tender stuff doesn't survive.  One of the issues we have this winter is carryover from the spring/summer/fall. There are lots of pots of seeds that didn't germinate in the spring. A lot of the things I am reading about some of the more difficult seeds to start, indicate that it can take 2-3 years for seeds to germinate. And that also includes scarification/stratification of some form. Winter sowing usually makes that a simple solution, with the repeated freezing and thawing cycles.  We picked up these flat blue trays on Facebook Marketplace. I have seen similar things in use for bread delivery. They are lightweight, rigid and affordable. Best of all, they are perfor...

Attempting to create order Sorting of seeds last year was a melange of the best of intentions meeting with the stark reality of not having enough time or resources to do it right. Luckily, the outcome of last year's attempt informed the changes I made this year. I am not sure if hording of seed is a trauma response or simply what happens to everyone who starts saving seed thinking that "next year I'll use it all". Last month, I sat down and resolved to sort through boxes and bags of seed packets, envelopes, etc.  One of the things I learned about saving seed: I don't need to save pounds of bean seeds. Even a nice wide row (over-planted in the extreme) of bean seeds couldn't consume 1/100th the amount of seeds I had saved. Luckily, bean seeds are mighty tasty after an hour in the Instant Pot.  The grocery bag full of lupine seed was a whole different issue. In early November, most of the pods were still tightly clamped around their tiny black seeds....