Spring is in the air or I hope it is wherever you are!
Mood:
lucky
Now Playing: Willow Tree from the Terra Firma album from Tash Sultana
Topic: Time For Planting O Green
St
Urhos day past n St. Pattrick's day here N time for a serious planting of the green! Peat pots N sterile seed starting mix are flyin. Radio is playing some 70's songs popular when I was in High School at good old Mankato West. They had a greenhouse there where I could hang out and munch on my bagged dannon apple cinnamon yogurt & frosted animal crackers, a carrot and apple from one of the six trees that grew on the south side of the house outside my bedroom window.
We bid a fond farewell to classmate Erin O'Brien from Mankato West class of '78. She was only 61. She lawyered in Colorado for 30 years while a lovely family she raised. Can't say Erin spent much time with farmgirl me but she was a fellow honor society member. Parting is such sweet sorrow!
Posted by sunshinegardens
at 12:40 AM EDT
Basil Blessings
Mood:
lucky
Now Playing: I'm On Fire at www.kaxe.org
Topic: Time For Planting O Green
Basil Brightening!
The days are sweetly lengthening and all our spirits seem to be rising with the temperatures. Don’t get too excited and jump the gun about starting seedlings until March first or later unless you have plant lights or a greenhouse. If you are where your seedlings are all day and are very dedicated like my mom was as I was growing up, you may move the plants window to window as the sun moves East, South, West.
The first seedlings we start are the ones with the tiniest seeds. Check out
www.botanicalinterests.com for a timely chart of which seeds to start first. Petunias, Lobelia, Celery, Coleus, Joe Pye , Monarda and Rudbeckia rank high on my list of flowers to start under our plant lights. I always like to have some flowers in bloom for mothers day. This year the Alysum, Dwarf Lemon Drop Marigolds, and Torch Mexican Sunflower will be started for early blooming. I also start herbs like fifteen kinds of Basil. (Yes, I am a Basil-aholic!) Fisher-people eat Bass, Walleye, Perch, Northerns, etc. and those are all different kinds of fish right? No I really don’t need to justify planting that many kinds of basil. I do it because like the mountain climbers say, because they are there.
Check out www.richters.com if you would like to see just how many kinds of basil there are! I used to plant just the basic sweet basil but then I found two very compact basils, Greek Mini Yevani, and Spicy Globe . Both are perfect to edge the beds I plant with Tomatoes and the interplanting or companion planting keeps the potatoes in the next bed safe from those pesky beetles besides! Napoletano basil is so great for making Pesto and comes by its alternate moniker Lettuce leaf , or Sweet salad rightfully as the leaves are huge. Replace the lettuce you might want to put on your sandwich with this more flavorful variety. Genovese comes from Italy and who can resist it on pizza or pasta. Lemon and Lime basils give the afore mentioned fish a less fishy flavor. Cinnamon, Sacred, Holy, Purple and Red Rubin are flavorful tea plants without caffeine I find myself more sensitive to as I get more advanced in years. The other three basils are tasty for container growing and combining with flowers in beds or pots.
With travel being more expensive I have been planting more “staycation” plantings for our clients so they can just invite family to their own paradise gardens and stay home themselves cooking up a storm. All these flavorful basils as well as other herbs make our gardens much more deer resistant too. Don’t forget to spend some time on the garden bench!
Posted by sunshinegardens
at 12:37 PM EST
