Merry meet all,
My garden is beautiful. I can’t wait to enjoy peas, beans and cucumbers I grew myself. I can’t wait to harvest potatoes in the fall. The potato vines are about to flower. I have never seen potato flowers before. There is one bud that is about to bloom. Hey I might even press the potato flowers. I want to let one go to seed.
This year I want to save as many seeds as I can from my garden. I want to save the seeds of the veggies, flowers and herbs. The plants will be adapted to the climate and conditions of my garden. I would have a better chance of growing plants that are acclimatized, especially herbs. I am seriously thinking about starting a herbal tea business. I want to save good healthy seeds from the herbs. I will keep a chart of the herbs that I saved seeds from. That will help me determine which herbs are the healthiest and what herbs grow well in my garden.
I just came in from adding fertilizer to my herbs and veggies. There might be a thunderstorm and rain today. The rain will help the fertilizer be worked into the soil and let the plants get the nutrients they need. I use worm castings, Gaia green and greensand.
Gaia Green Greensand is mined from ancient, nutrient-rich deposits of oceanic sediment. Over time, this sediment developed into glauconite, which is highly effective as a slow-release fertilizer used to improve the mineral content of soil and other growing media. Greensand is gentle on plants and won’t cause root burn. Greensand is recommended for use on lawns, household plants, golf courses, greenhouses, nurseries, and urban gardens, and is suitable for all plants. I also fertilize with Neptune’s Harvest fish emulsion which leaves a bad scent but works wonders on herbs, flowers and veggies. The Neptune’s harvest fish emulsion is liquid and made from fresh fish, seaweed, molasses, yucca extra and humic acids, this formula was uniquely designed for plants with intense growth or “vegging” stages. I just added the emulsion to my plants in my garden.
I also now have a compost tumbler. Lots of beneficial microbes and insects are working hard in the soil aerating it and enabling the earthy matter to turn into nutrient rich soil. I will love adding the compost to my garden and watching the veggies grow amazingly. It does take a few weeks. I will know when the compost is ready to be added to my soil when the compost looks like soil. I hope that will be soon.
I spied a huge bag of worm castings. I plan to buy it and add it all to the veggies in my garden. I like to mix growing veggies in the soil and in containers. I tell myself that will keep out slugs but it doesn’t. Crumbled sterilized egg shells provide protein and calcium to the soil as well as ward off slugs. The slugs don’t like the hard edges of the eggshells. I also arranged copper tape around the base of my cucumber and cabbage plants and around a few other plants.
With all that, it’s no wonder my garden is growing so well. The purple coneflower is ready to bloom almost. I had lost hope that the marigolds would bloom again but a marigold just blossomed. The cosmos are gorgeous and I hope my elecampane grow flowers this summer too. Summer is wonderful! So much to love about it.
I will keep you posted about more of my garden adventures! Til then, have fun and enjoy the sun
Blessings, Spiderwitch
