I think that being gone for a whole month would be a bit too long , even for an aerogarden, @Chrissy Page . So the best thing might be waiting until fall and planting some dinosaur kale , or other plant that thrives in winter, and then you do not have to worry about it if you are gone. Once mine is planted and growing, I can post pictures of what it actually looks like in my yard, and we will have a better idea of whether it might work for you as both an edible plant, and a yard ornamental. My seeds have not arrived yet; but should get here in the next couple of days, and I am looking forward to growing them and seeing how they all turn out. I don't remember seeing the stink bugs on my tomatoes, or any other plant before either, @Diane Lane . I guess the main time that I actually noticed them was when one came buzzing into the house and night and landed on the lamp beside me. They are just the smelliest and ugly things. I read that they are from somewhere in Asia, too; so they must have come over in some kind of produce. I can't imagine them being imported for any kind of a purpose; and I am sure they would hate them over in Asia, too.
My dinosaur kale and red mustard seeds arrived today. The ebay seller had advertised a BOGO for half price; but I accidentally got charged the whole price for both packets of seeds. He sent me a little note and apologised, and said that he instead included double the amount of seeds that I had ordered; so I was exceedingly pleased with that, of course ! I really love getting my seeds and plants on ebay. They have just about everything you might ever want to grow, the prices are good, and the shipping is fast. I just got another one of those grow kits with the peat pellets, o i can start some of the kale and mustard greens tonight. The tomatoes and pepers in the Aerogarden are starting to leaf out as well, and in another week or so, I can transplant them and start new seedlings in there.
I'm looking forward to seeing the progress of the kale, Yvonne. I don't get excited about gardens too much or too often but the Dinosaur kale has me hooked so far. I like that it's not a summer crop here, that's problematic for me.
I got what little potting soil I bought into the tomato pot and topped off a few of my other plants. Hopefully next week i can get some more potting soil and then can start putting in a few plants. I just found my seed packets, and am going to go through them in a bit, to decide what I want to plant, besides the tomatoes. I still have to clean out the pots downstairs, but I'm waiting until the storms pass and the weather dries out, since I'll have to carry them through the carpeted house, upstairs, and out to the balcony. Sometimes I wish I had a set of stairs leading to the balcony, but most of the time I like not having them, for security purposes. I hope you keep us posted with pictures showing progress @Yvonne Smith, that might spur me on.
The kale and red mustard have sprouted; but they are both looking pretty puny thus far. I think we just need some more sunshine and they will perk right up and look better. I have some pepper plants that will be large enough to transplant out of the aerogarden maybe as soon as this weekend, and once I do that, i am going to start a few more of the kale in the aerogarden. It really seems to help everything get off ot a much better start than just planting in the little peat pellets or even in potting soil. I also started some four o'Clocks, and they have sprouted and look awesome. I thought they might be the kale until i looked at my planting chart to see which row was which.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who forgets what I planted where @Yvonne Smith. I usually just stick the label from the package in the dirt of the pot, since I put one 'crop' in each pot. I put in some tomato and carrot seeds yesterday. I'll probably only add a few more, probably lettuce and maybe beets, since I love those, or something else easy. I found an herb seed kit in my bag of seed packets, but I'll have to think about where I could put those. I tried mint last year on the balcony, but it died up when I forgot to water it. I really just need easy care plants.
I used to put the package in the container so I would know what I planted, and unless the packet gets ruined or lost, then I can tell what was planted there. Now, I have two methods that I use more often. I got a packet of plastic silverware spoons, and I write what was planted on the spoon, and stick the handle in the dirt. I also try to put a date if there is room. That way, if something doesn't sprout, I can replant more. I also have been writing on a piece of notepaper when I plant seeds in the aerogardens, and that way I can tell what is supposed to be growing in there. The ones I have the most trouble with are those large trays that hold the peat pellets. They hold about 72 pellets in each one; so I plant each row different, and then write down on my paper what i am putting in each row. Sometimes, I still can't tell which is which, especially when the sprouts all look about the same. Definitely, some dinosaur kale and a few more of the red mustards are going to get started next in the aerogarden.
Getting ready to try growing my fresh greens again this year. Every year so far, nothing has done well. However, my little backyard garden last year did pretty good, so this year I am going to try planting the greens out there. I have zillions of kale seeds from the few kale plants that did grow, and then went to seed, and I harvested them last year; so it is about time to think of starting some sprouts in the house, and then I can set them out early this spring. Hopefully, they can get a good start growing before we hit the hot summer weather here. I have ordered collard and Swiss chard seeds on eBay, and those should arrive by the end of the month.
Yvonne, collards need to be set out in very late August or early September here. We sow kale, mustard and turnips about the same time. They are cool weather crops. Collards are not as tasty until it frosts on them a couple of times.
Maybe I can do two crops, Shirley ? I tried putting a late crop in before, and it didn’t work any better than my spring plantings did. If i pick it as it is growing , and not let it get fully mature, maybe it will be okay ? I ordered lots of seeds, so if the first trial doesn’t work, i will try a fall one as well.
We only have a small suburban type of house block ..from memory it’s about 800 square mtrs We don’t live in the suburbs as we live 170 km from the nearest city ( Adelaide ) However many know despite not having allot of spare room in our yard I grow lotsa fruit .,and a few veggies / herbs . We have soil that’s limestone and with age creeping up on us and the crap soil Ron built me a sturdy raised garden bed just prior to breaking his hip ....so I’ve been filling it with straw / compost / burying veggie scraps in it till he’s well enough to get the soil to fill it for me ( I will help as well ). it’s kinda hopeless trying to grow stuff in mid summer here it’s so dry nothing survives , but as we are drawing close to the end of summer in a few weeks ,Im already planning on what I’ll plant in our new garden bed .,we love silverbert ( very similar to Spinach ) and I always have parsley / mint and few other herbs growing as well as beetroot / beans / peas. Winter tends to be very windy cause we are close to the sea ,despite it being a quieter calmer Bay Area just 1/2 km from us we get an awful lot of strong artic winds in winter . So I’ve bought 3 mtrs of shade cloth I’m planning on making wind breaks from to place around the three sides of the raised garden bed to protect anything I plant from the strong winter winds The raised garden is 2.5 mtrs x ( 8 foot ) 1 mtr ( just over a yard ) and 600 mil high ..(that’s about 2 foot )
@Yvonne Smith , I have sowed greens in the spring. I have gotten a couple of pickings off of them but our weather warms up so fast that they go to bloom quickly. It seems to not be worth all the hard work to only get so little in return.
You are right, @Shirley Martin ! Mine came up, and even though it is still cool weather , they are trying to bloom and go to seed already. I am going to just let these go to seed , and then I can save the seeds and use it for a fall planting. I have been out working in the yard and garden, trying to get the pine needles raked out and the little under-the-tree garden areas weeded so the flowers can grow and bloom. The mint just keeps spreading more and more each year. It is supposed to be very healthy, so I am going to try and drink more mint tea and mint infused water. What do you do with your mint, @Kate Ellery ? I have used mine in some rice dishes, and as part of a salad, and in tea, but I need to learn how to use more of it, or find something to do with it.
My kale went to seed again, so I harvested some of the seed, and will harvest more as it gets ready to be harvested. I planted some and it has started to come up; so I am hoping that by the time it gets growing good we will be getting into fall weather and I can get a longer crop, like @Shirley Martin does with hers. I have been having really good luck with the Malabar spinach and also the sweet potato greens, since they both love the hot summer weather. I just picked another batch today and have them in the dehydrator to make the green powder and add it to foods this winter. I almost always add some greens to the batter (blended greens) when I make chocolate cake, and you never even taste those greens in there, and it adds a lot of good vitamins and minerals. I trimmed down my herbs and have some of those in the dehydrator as well, so things are progressing with food preservation.