by Briscoe White | Mar 19, 2010 | Exploring, Flowers, Growing, Life on the Farm |
I have been absent from the office and everyone has been asking where I might be? Some of you readers may remember my notes and pictures about collecting wildflower seeds last fall. It is a yearly ritual I look forward to, each bag of seeds are sifted and cleaned before being stored for winter.
All that is great fun in the fall, but spring is here and those seeds need to be planted now. Timing is everything when planting seeds, and you never know the exact time until it is upon you. So this week I knew all conditions were right and the wildflowers needed to be planted this week, at least before the next rain.
All there is to show are slits cut in the ground by my seed drill. But as any gardener knows, nothing holds more promise than a well planted seed bed. Soon little annual flowering plants will be sprouting all up and down the slits. Later the perennial plants will emerge. And soon, just a month and a little more, I will be showing you fields of wildflowers waving in the wind!
Spring is here, stop planning and get planting!
by Briscoe White | Mar 17, 2010 | A Year in the Life.., Growing |
Looking at the salad patch this morning I was pleased to see we had a good stand of seedlings. Using a cold frame for early season protection, we get a month or more growing time over outside. The plants are also safe from wind and rain. A windy cold day outside is warm inside the cold frame. It is amazing the difference a sheet of plastic makes.
Finally I can begin to report on plant progress, not just winter preparations. Growing now we have most of what we need for a salad. Leafy greens come in all shapes and flavors so we have a good selection. Lettuces are represented by: Braising Mix, Wildfire Mix, Spicy Mesculin, and All Greens Mix. Check out the details on our site. Even though they are herb plants, I am adding Salad Burnet and Sorrel for their distinct flavors. Last but not least is Arugula for spicy greens.
The plants are growing so it will not be but a few weeks before we will be cutting and tasting these greens, spring is really here!! In the greenhouse this week we started four types of melons and two cucumbers, these will be planted in the cold frame beds when night temperatures are warmer. The plan is to train the vines to climb the cold frame bows, melons will be supported in little hammocks. Watch the garden grow, and let us know some of your gardening ideas.
by Briscoe White | Mar 11, 2010 | Exploring, Flowers, Growing, Inspiration |
Greetings from Abaco! I have found the most beautiful garden on the whole island. Right next door to where I am staying is a tropical paradise; plants we use as houseplants or summer annual plants are used as landscape trees and shrubs here. It is so nice to see all the blooms after our long cold winter at home. Since I am still on vacation, I am out the door again soon. Next week I will be back at the greenhouse and soon we will begin shipping all of our customers their herb plants and flowering annuals so they can start their own tropical paradise.
I came to the Bahamas to escape the cold and see some color, after so many months of cold gray skies and brown earth I couldn’t wait for spring in Virginia. My neighbor Valdo is an expert tropical gardener and like all good gardeners has shared his garden with me, carefully explaining what it takes to grow lush plants on a rock island. The beach is calling, so I hope you enjoy the picture of Valdo and Marilyn’s beautiful bouganvillea. And remember, spring is just around the corner. It couldn’t possibly snow again? Could it?
by Briscoe White | Mar 8, 2010 | Miscellaneous |
Here I am in the Bahamas, after months of snow I was hoping to be warm for a while. Even though I am standing under a palm tree, please note I am wearing blue jeans. The Bahamas have been cold this year too! Not freezing, but not all that warm. Compared to Virginia it feels great. I have located some blooming bougainvillea and some other flowers. My next blog photo will be off masses of flowers, something all us gardeners have been dreaming about. Because it has been unusually cold here, no one has set out their annual plants yet, only the perennials are blooming now. Until then, I will be gone fishing. Talk to you later!
by Briscoe White | Mar 5, 2010 | A Year in the Life.., Flowers, Gardening, Growing, Herbs, Indoor Gardening |
We are finally able to report actual planting in our “A Year in the Life of a Garden” cold frame. Today we began by helping ourselves first with a salad garden. We are growing all the lettuce varieties offered by The Growers- Exchange.com: Wildfire, Arugula, All Greens, and Spicy Mesculin. All these annual plants will be finished by June, the lettuces wilt in the early summer heat.
The night temperatures restrict us to cool season plants for now, but as spring progresses we will add a basil plant along with any other herb plants useful in cooking. Our small gardens will produce plenty to eat from our veggies and culinary herbs.
We plan to add lots of flowering annuals to compliment our herb plants. Annual vines such as Moonflower and Hyacinth Bean will climb trellises and frame our beds. We like to grow old fashion favorites like celosia. We have several varieties: the brain varieties ‘Cramers Burgundy’ and ‘Lemon Lime’ always draw attention in the garden and as a cut flower. The plume type celosia plant has an entirely different flower and makes a great filler in bouquets. I am getting ahead of myself, celosia planting time is at least a month away.
For now we will grow salad plants and a little collards, kale, and broccoli too! Soon we will begin planting example gardens for our herb gardening kits. We hope to have pictures of all growth stages, which we can post on here on the blog. Herb gardening can look like weed gardening so our challenge will be to add flowering annuals for color and texture.
Next week we will have photos of the baby salad plants! We encourage you to follow our garden and makes suggestions if you like…
