Compost Tea

I lucked out the other day and a friend of mine had a bunch of liquid that had drained out of her vermicompost.  It's not a fancy mix like you might see in certain books or websites but in a time strapped city life, this is pretty grand!

For those who don't know what compost tea is (I didn't until about 6 months ago), compost tea is a great natural fertilizer. There are fancy recipes with many ingredients and processes, but the basic idea is a (vermicompost)

My Spring and Summer Garden is Planted!

The last of my garden is planted–my tomatoes and peppers!  We got a batch of late season coldness (down to 1 Celsius at night) so I was waiting to not kill my most delicate plants.  But now, my spring and summer home garden is fully planted! All I'll be planting now is potentially some successively planted kale, radishes, lettuces, basil, parsley, things like that.  And then later–my winter veg!  Although I'm also hoping to have another plot come up for those....  We'll see soon enough...

Rain Barel Overflow Solution

I realized after setting up my rain barrel that I might have a problem with this water conservation solution....  Overflow if it rains a bunch a few days in a row....   My hopeful solution–planting watercress!!  Watercress loves water as it tends to grow on the edges of bodies of water.   So, crossing fingers that this solution keeps up the moisture enough for the cress to grow!

More of the Last Frost Planting

I did a whack more of my planting and have almost finished up my home plot!  I added carrots, some more bush beans, and parsley. I also prepped the soil for planting tomatoes and peppers tomorrow (tilled the soil a bit, pulling out any leftover tree roots) and hammered in a bunch of stakes. It's been cold the last few days so I've been waiting to plant out my tomatoes and peppers.  I don't want them to die in an overnight frost....  Soon they will have a new home!

My Second Plot!

Planted out my amish paste tomato seedlings today and lay down some mulch to keep in moisture when I water. I have about 8 tendergreen bush beans coming up in the back, not everything survived germination (maybe squirrels? There were some empty seedpods lying about...) so I'll plant a few more soon.

My pattypan squash don't seem to be coming up, though...  And I'm out of seeds...  Need zucchini!  Plan B may have to start soon...

Strawberry Patch!

I'm so excited for this!!!  It was completely unexpected and unplanned.  My friend Derick gave me a whole flat of alpine strawberry seedlings, and I had 6 everbearing plants given to me from various places.  Now i have strawberries, rhubarb, AND raspberries!  What a wonderful fruit bearing surprise!  Next year, I'm totally adding currants to this beautiful perennial garden that developed!

Planting Out Leeks

So I'm a bit behind with these but I planted out some leeks today.  They were given to me by a friend of mine and I hadn't gotten around to planting them until now!  Oh well, going as fast as I can! The onions in behind are doing great, though!)