Tag: Denver urban gardens

Garden W7: out of space

Posted in GardenTagged , Leave a comment

Plot update

Well, I ran out of photo space on my WordPress account so, I gotta figure that out. Just a quick update this time as we move out of April and into May!!

Critters have started to appear. I have an ant problem I’m hoping to solve before I plant the north plot. Sun age and borax slurry did not work.

The appearance of creatures

Caterpillars, beetles, ants, grasshoppers and spiders have started to appear in droves.
The south plot as of May 1

I’ve almost planted the whole south plot, and started staging the north plot. Peas are coming up, carrots are barely sprouting, spinach is starting to look like spinach, and one each of my kale and Swiss chard plants have survived past the seedling phase.

Portable greenhouse!

Since many seedling struggled being put into the ground, I’ve got a transitional plastic box on site that I’m using as a halfway house between indoors and outdoors and in ground. I’m letting the seedlings mature a bit more in the box. It helps with my lack of space for all of these guys in my grow rack, and they seem to thrive! Then I can plant them once they’re a little bigger.

I just put them in this tote, then put the lid on askew so they can get air, with a weight on top for wind. They stay moist and seem happy.

Out of town plan

I ventured into the world of auto-watering this weekend and I haven’t quite cracked that nut yet. I’m going out of town Monday thru Friday and thought I’d give it a try. I don’t feel good about the system so I’m just going to overwater and cover and hope for the best.

The top of the gravity system.

That’s it. More next week when I inter my new ollas and commit to a plan in the north plot!

Garden Week 2: seedlings and pollen bank

Posted in Continual Learning, GardenTagged , , , , Leave a comment

Garden plants update

I started all of these seeds on March 17. On day 5 things started to get exciting! (This post running late)

Day 5: Signs of life for tomatoes, honeynut squash, zucchini, and cucumbers.
Day 8: Honeynut and tomatoes get up-potted

Garden plot update

I’m having trouble committing to a layout, but I do have some early volunteer plants from the plot’s previous owner. My best guess is that the green guys are garlic.

I started laying out a rough grid but didn’t want to go crazy because I assume it will be easier to plant and mulch without working around a grid.

Indecision town
Early volunteers

Premature plants update (started in January)

First cucumber blossom
Cucumber making itself at home

My one remaining cucumber plant popped out it’s first blossom this week. It appears to be a female flower with a teeny cucumber behind it, but I don’t have anything to compare it to. It’s also making itself right at home grabbing onto the shelves for stability.

This is my first season with cucumbers and I am delighted to report that cucumber seedlings and roots really do smell like cucumbers! Unexpected, but I guess of course they do.

This baby was evicted from the shelf for taking up too much space. She can try her luck at climbing.
Butternut squash
The greenest Zucchini plant
Pollen bank

Pollen can be hard to come by as squash blossoms usually bloom for about a day, and there has to be a male and female flower in bloom simultaneously for the fruit to get fertilized. As such, I’m using my indoor plants to bank pollen in the freezer. I’m not sure how effective it will be but it’s my backup plan.