We started soaking our first seeds for the garden this year — Anya has quite a few herbs getting ready to be started, and I have an assortment of peppers.
Category: Fruits and Vegetables
Home Automation and Gardening
Something like 20 years ago, I tried to grow a plumeria flower in my apartment. I had a broad-spectrum light, plenty of heat, and plenty of humidity. But getting the light turned on and off at the right times wasn’t easy (especially if I was at work all day!).
This seems like a really good use for home automation — our home automation system tracks the sunrise and sunset times for our zip code. It’s possible to essentially cron “stuff” off of these times — e.g. get the birds ten minutes before sunset. I could easily track sunrise and sunset in Honolulu then have my light turn on at sunrise (or first light) and off at sunset (or last light). Voila — “sunlight” that runs for the proper duration every day.
2022 Seeds
We’ve saved seeds from the garden (and seeds from both ground cherries and hot peppers that we picked up at the farmers market) that will make up much of our garden this year. I purchased a bunch of flower seeds to expand the bee garden, and a few new vegetables. And I really hope to get asparagus established this year!
| Seeds for Honeybees | ||
Autumn Beauty Sunflower Seeds – XL Packet |
Ballerina California Poppy Seed Mix – XL Packet |
Ball’s Orange Calendula Seeds – XL Packet |
Butterfly Weed Seeds – 1/4 Oz |
California Giants Zinnia Seed Mix – 1/4 Lb |
Globe Annual Candytuft Seeds – XL Packet |
Fairy Bouquet Snapdragon Seed Mix – XL Packet |
Dwarf Shasta Daisy Seeds – XL Packet |
Swiss Giants Pansy Seed Mix – 1/4 Oz |
Single China Aster Seed Mix – XL Packet |
Painted Daisy Seeds – XL Packet |
Money Plant Seeds – XL Packet |
Ice Plant Seed Mix – 1 Oz |
McKana Giants Columbine Seed Mix – XL Packet |
Indian Blanket Seeds – XL Packet |
Imperial Rocket Larkspur Seed Mix – 1 Oz |
Imperial Pincushion Flower Seed Mix – XL Packet |
Iceland Poppy Seeds – 1 Oz |
Sparky French Marigold Seed Mix – XL Packet |
Common Milkweed Seeds – 1 Oz |
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| Seeds for Food | ||
Sugar Beet Seeds |
Anise Seeds |
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Chioggia Beet Seeds |
Easter Egg Radish Seeds |
French Breakfast Radish
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Sparkler White Tip Radish |
White Icicle Radish Seeds
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 Hickory King Corn |
 Pencil Cob Corn |
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 Triticale |
 Winter Rye |
 Dundale Pea |
 Hull-less Barley |
 Burbank Hull-less Barley |
Oats |
Wheat |
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German Extra Hardy Garlic |
 Chesnok Garlic |
Music Garlic |
Dutch Red Shallot |
Dutch Red Shallot |
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Hazelnuts!
Our hazelnut bushes are finally growing the male part of the flower that comes out in the Autumn! Fingers crossed, we’ll be harvesting hazelnuts this time next year. It’s been seven years since we planted the bushes, but deer and rabbits chomped them down to little nubs the first year they were planted.
Strawberries!
The strawberries I planted two years ago are starting to produce! Anya picked fourteen ripe strawberries a few days ago, and she found a handful again today.
2021 Garden — Seed Starting
It’s almost time to start seeds for this year’s garden. I’ve got about two weeks to get some pots ready — we’ll get the peppers, asparagus, celery, and verbana started. There are a few herbs that we can start too — oregano, rosemary, and thyme. I’m not growing any eggplant this year.
| Plant | Indoor Sow Date Start | Indoor Sow Date End | Transplant Start | Transplant End | Direct Sow Start | Direct Sow End | Action Date |
| Bell Peppers | 17-Feb | 6-May | 17-Feb | ||||
| Celery | 17-Feb | 6-May | 17-Feb | ||||
| Oregano | 17-Feb | 29-Apr | 17-Feb | ||||
| Rosemary | 17-Feb | 6-May | 17-Feb | ||||
| Thyme | 17-Feb | 29-Apr | 17-Feb | ||||
| Asparagus | 22-Feb | 21-Mar | 28-Mar | 16-May | 22-Feb | ||
| Eggplant | 22-Feb | 7-Mar | 16-May | 30-May | 22-Feb | ||
| Verbana | 22-Feb | 21-Mar | 16-May | 30-May | 30-May | 22-Feb |
Watermelons Grow Fast
Watermelon!
I’ve got tiny watermelons forming — four so far, each about half an inch across!
2020 Garden Update – Early August
The peppers are getting bigger
The corn is taller than Anya
I’ve still got plenty of green tomatoes growing, and for the first time ever I have carrots growing. We’re enjoying the bush beans. There are a lot of flowers on the climbing beans, but no beans yet. I do have a large wall covered in green, leafy vines and a collection of purple and red flowers.
2020 Garden Update – Late July
It’s almost time to plant the broccoli, brussle sprouts, and kale! We’ve gotten a few harvests from the bush beans (and I planted more seeds a few weeks ago), and the wall of pole beans is covered in flowers. Anya and I have been snacking on pea leaf microgreens (and macrogreens!) — and rabbits apparently love pea plants above any other plant. The little bed of microgreens seems to have saved the rest of my garden from nibbles. The corn is almost as tall as I am, and the cucumber plants are covering the A-frame. Tiny peppers are starting to form on the plans
And I’ve got dozens of green tomatoes
It looks like moving the garden to a sunnier spot has been a huge improvement in production.
Next year,I want to adjust the planting schedule:
March: Start the peppers, tomatoes, watermelon, pumpkins, squash, and cantaloupe indoors. Plant snow peas outdoors.
Late April: Start the corn indoors.
Mid/late May: Plant the plants that have been growing since March. Sprinkle carrot seeds around the tomato plants — that worked quite well as I’ve never had carrots grow before. Plant the bush and pole beans outdoors.
June: Plant the corn outside. Start the broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower indoors.
July: Plant second round of bush beans outdoors.
August: Plant broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower