update on tobacco plants and more

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I posted on word press blog so thought I would bring you up to speed! The demo tobacco plants in containers are finally taking off and getting some height! I’ve been battling slugs like crazy with containers of cheap beer and it works! I am sure the store clerk didn’t quite believe me when I bought chips and beer and told him that the chips were for me and the beer for the slugs! LOL

last year when the topiary was first planted

I also am including a recent snapshot of my corgi topiary, affectionately renames my “Tobiary” as he name after my real life corgi, Toby. The white bacopa has been amazing on this statue and brings folks to a dead halt when they see it! 

Well, that’s all for now from the Pacific Northwest and my front porch. Have a great summer!

safer tomatoes

This is very cool. My first cherry tomato from my Aerogarden unit. With the current concerns about safety of our field crops, I can feel good about these little gems grown hydroponically and in less than 3 months from seed to fruit! How great is that?

my first ever You Tube video!

I decided to try my hand at making a movie on planting my topiary. Hope you like it!

Hmmm, for some reason I can’t get it to embed, so here is the url: My First You Tube Video

Joyce

baby tomato growing

Finally my little babies are big enough to take a picture of. The box fan is doing a great job of wind pollination too.

I cleaned out my other aerogarden unit and have planted lettuce mix seeds. Even though our outdoor garden is growing, I figured that having fresh lettuce for summer salads available right from my kitchen was worthwhile. And since lettuce is not very summer-heat tolerant, they will love being in a more controlled environment in the house. And no bugs dining on them too!

Our outdoor garden is now planted with the remaining four tomato plants that were germinated along with my current aero-tomato plants but of course they are no where near ready to flower or produce fruit yet. They are about half the size too.
We’ve got corn, beans, peas, and peppers planted too. Not to mention the Atlantic Giant pumpkin seeds for our local “friendly” competition.

I have just added shade sails to my inventory of store products. These are very popular this year not only for looks but they block out up to 90% of UV rays from the sun and temperatures underneath can be up to thirty degrees cooler too. Check em out!

54 days to blooms!

Seeing is believing with the Aerogarden system. I now have fully opened tomato blossoms so fruit is not too far away. Since tomatoes are pollinated by insects or wind, I have set up a household fan to give a gentle breeze to my plants. Not only will this assist in pollination but stresses the branches with a little wind resistance which will only make them stronger.

I can’t say enough nice things about the “after the sale” customer service from Aerogarden people. They have replaced my defective upgrade hood and all the lights. I got them yesterday and replaced the original hood. Everything is looking great and the plants will do even that much better with all three lights working instead of just the two they had been growing on with.

I reseeded my garden starter tray with new seeds four days ago. Already I have cosmos flowers germinating and I notice a morning glory seed and sunflower seed pushing their way up too!

Tomato flowers forming and plants ready for transplanting

Wow! Tomato flowers are starting to form and in only six weeks from seed planting in my AeroGarden! This is just truly amazing.

We will be transplanting out baby plants from our garden starter kit tomorrow straight into the garden beds outside. Looks like a good day to do that as the weather will be mild and rain is again forecast for the weekdays. On with the battle with the slugs!

Pictured are the cucumber and pepper plants. We got sixteen pepper to germinate out of eighteen! Amazing! I have always failed to germinate peppers, always! Out of seventy plugs, we only had seven no-shows, so a 90% germination success rate.

I will be starting some new flower seeds in the starter kit, cosmos and morning glory vines.

Starting seeds in my slippers

I am so “stoked”! New from Aerogarden this year is a garden starter kit to be used in your existing Aerogarden unit. Very cool. Now, you can germinate seeds for your outdoor garden without the mess of pots, dirt, trays and the like. The garden starter kit contains one styrofoam flat that has seventy holes in it and includes seventy plugs for planting your seeds. You can see in this picture taken today, cucumber seeds and pepper seeds already emerging and it’s been less than four days!

With the timed full spectrum lights warming the seeds from above, I had allysum flowers seeds sprouting in less than 24 hours. How great is that? I can’t wait to get these out of the unit so I can plant my other flower seeds. Additional plugs are available for using this starter flat over and over again.

I also have full size tomato plants growing in my upgraded Aerogarden. The plants are looking awesome and I am looking forward to harvesting delicious cherry tomatoes right in my home office this summer.

Got questions about the Aerogarden? I have been growing in mine now for a year and know this unit inside out! Come visit us at virtualseeds.com to get yours.

Joyce

Hello to March!

Well, here it is March and it’s raining like crazy! We had such nice spring-like weather last week. Nature is such a teaser! LOL

I did make a trip around the yard yesterday with my dog, Toby, and noticed all kinds of bulbs coming up! The honeybees are even out and starting to work the flowers too.

Let’s see, blooming now are crocus and the forsythia is starting to bloom too. Dandelions are blooming and oh yeah, the weeds are doing well to! So, will be out with hoe when weather permits to try and stay ahead of the game.

Joyce

Speaking of Spring

Wow! Finally a day of sunshine and mild temperatures. While my hubby was putting on a new roof on my greenhouse, I transplanted strawberry plants from my old strawberry bed into their new raised bed! I can’t wait to help my grandson pick his first strawberry this June.

I tried out my new Performance gloves from Womanswork. I love them! As usual I was digging with my fingers into the bed soil to create the holes for the tender roots. I gave these gloves a good workout. They were very comfortable and my fingers felt quite protected. Handling the hoes presented no problem either. When I was done, I rinsed the mud off the gloves and then removed them to toss into the washing machine. My hands were absolutely clean and no dirt under my fingernails either. With cloth gloves it was not uncommon for the finer dirt particles to work their way in through the seams or even the mesh of the fabric. I am very pleased with the design and quality of this product and am very proud to offer them in my web store.

Looking forward to spring

Here it is, the end of 07 and I have been busy getting the webstore ready for spring! Over a hundred new flower varieties this year from my seed supplier with 21 of them being pansies, my personal favorite!

Pansies are super easy to start and grow, especially for beginners! I usually start pansies in seed flats at the end of January and have full blooming plants by April ! Considering what the mega stores charge for pansy plants in 4 inch pots, I would rather grow my own. Plus I get to choose what varieties I want for my garden and hanging baskets. Pictured on the home page of www.virtualseeds.com is “Accord Series Violet Blotch” pansies. With three inch spread blooms on compact plants, these will definitely be a good seller for me this year! You can find them on page 2 of of our Flowers-Seeds section.

I hope you find time to add a few of these beauties to your baskets or flower garden area. Pansies are from the viola family so are considered an early spring flower, loving cool weather. Once the heat arrives in summer, they are gone till next year.

Pictured above is a sky blue variety I grew for garden show sales in 2002. Sorry, I don’t remember the exact variety but it is pretty enough to share anyway.

Happy New Year and see you in 08!
Joyce