N & C Midwest: January 2017!

What kind of screws?

Brass washer head wood screws.

OK, I was really happy with my veggie haul last year, except didn't have enough to leaves (lettuces).  So big focus on that with the seed order.  Plus need to really learn how to do the succession planting....never seems to work.  Everything catches up with each other....

Gonna put in my seed order in the next week or 2.  Gonna try Romanesco broccoli, a new melon, Charentais, a mini belle pepper blend, Spce spinach, Brandywine tomatoes (missed them!), Muncher cuke, Lunix lettuce and Spinach Gigante d Inverno.  

YAYAYAYAYAYAY

Yay!!!  Sounds like a very tasty growing season ahead for you!  I've been thinking about trying some Brandywine toe-maters sometime, but I've already got my tomatoes and bell peppers lined out for this season.  It wouldn't be hard to convince me to try them next year.

Shipment of Rutgers tomatoes, King Arthur bell peppers, and Mucho Nacho jalapenos has already arrived. I hope the Mucho Nachos have more heat than the early jalapenos I grew last year.  Those were not hot at all.  More like "fooled you" or "tricked you" peppers.

No basil or spinach this year - still got tons of dried basil to last a long time.  Kale did so well, and I have acquired a taste for steamed kale to have with breakfast that I decided to grow more of that.

I decided to try the King Arthur peppers after all that landarch posted about them last spring.  The Keystone Giants didn't do well for me, but that was probably because of the ridiculously hot June we had.  Interestingly, it wasn't until I decided to bring their growing season to a merciful end and topped them (down to about an inch above ground) that they suddenly started growing and setting fruit like crazy!  They did great after that, and I got a small late season crop from them.  

This may be a case for topping your pepper plants, too... I'm still debating about that, but I think I'm going to try it again, on at least a couple of them, this year.

Now, I'm figuring out what I need to set up a bed for cucumbers.  What would Mel do?  Hmmm... I have the book, just need to do some reading.  ;-)

CK, I am in the sane boat...

So decision, I am gonna do Brandywiine maters, I really missed them last year, first time in forever I had not grown the,.

So glad you are back! 

Scorpio Rising wrote: CK, I am in the sane boat...

So decision, I am gonna do Brandywiine maters, I really missed them last year, first time in forever I had not grown the,.

So glad you are back! 

SR - Would the sane boat be the opposite of the crazy train? I'm on that right now, mucking about with my seed ordering plans and trying to optimize shipping costs.
CK - good to see you again! I think of you whenever I think about sowing spinach.

I KNOW!  LOL!  I just re-read the past few posts of mine and they are rife with typos!  Interesting, at times funny typos.....Sane Boat, definitely not on that one!    I have a list for seeds, still trying to cheapo the whole thing....cross referencing and adding in the S&H....math!

I too have the Kate Method of germinating spinach in my faves!  You are famous, CK!  

I need to give kale another try...I said this, I think, I need to grow it closer to my house so I can harvest early and often and eat them right then.  The early kale was very mild, later on it tasted like cabbage....Dwarf  Curly Blue Vates.  

Plus I do have quite a few seeds from last year.

Gorgeous day here, strangely warm, no complaints from me!  Picked up sticks in the yard from the big wind and ice thing....got Spring Fever.....

Beetles, I think I have 2 asters.  One is pink, Alma Potschke from Bluestone Perennial, and one purple one called Woods Purple or something?  Not sure which seeds I have....both very Hardy, New England type asters, fall bloomers.  No attention needed at all...

Not sure which seeds I have. 

Big planning going on here....getting ready to order some seeds.  

What about the rest of the N&C Midwest!?

This is the name of the purple one

https://www.bluestoneperennials.com/process.html?mv_search_map=%0D%0A%09%09mv_searchspec%3Dsearchcoup%0D%0A%09%09mv_searchspec%3Dsearchdisc%0D%0A%09%09mv_searchspec%3Dtop_searchtext%0D%0A%09%09&mv_session_id=oEGE2M3k&mv_todo=search&mv_click=Clearsearch&user_specified=1&co=yes&mv_more_decade=5&mv_return_fields=*&mv_sort_field=soldout%2Cbest&mv_sort_option=f%2Cn&st=db&sp=results_2014&mv_matchlimit=20&sf=is_coupon&su=0&op=ne&sf=disc&su=0&op=ne&sf=%3Acode%3Aname%3Aauto_keywords%3Acommon_name%3Agenus%3Avariety%3Aspecies%3Amsearch%3Aseries&su=1&op=aq&searchfromtop=1&searchcoup=1&searchdisc=0&top_searchtext=Purple+aster#

Still, not sure what color I collected.....

I was hoping for purple, but superior to that is my desire to simply grow asters for the bees (and butterflies). They are both beautiful, so I'll grow them and enjoy whichever I get!

If those are the pink, I will be more attentive and get you the purple ones next fall.  Honestly, they might be the purple....no way to know.  I am gonna plant another purple out back.  East side.

Seeds ordered:  All Pinetree, trying to keep S&H costs down

Cauliflower Romanesco

Lettuce:  All Year Round and Merveille De Quatro Seisons

Melon:  true Charentais 

Pepper:  Mini Belle Blend and Early Jalapeño 

Spinach:  Space and Gigante D'e Inverno

Tomato:  Brandywine

Cuke:  Summer Dance

Sunflowers:  Floristan, and Earthwalker

SOO EXCITED!

BeetlesPerSqFt wrote:
CK - good to see you again! I think of you whenever I think about sowing spinach.

Thanks, I'm so glad to know sharing that info made a difference. And I didn't really mean to be away so long, I guess I just go a little dormant after my growing season ends. I plan to stick around... this place is such an island of abundance and tranquility compared to the rest of the world.

Scorpio Rising wrote:Gorgeous day here, strangely warm, no complaints from me!  Picked up sticks in the yard from the big wind and ice thing....got Spring Fever.....

Beetles, I think I have 2 asters.  One is pink, Alma Potschke from Bluestone Perennial, and one purple one called Woods Purple or something?  Not sure which seeds I have....both very Hardy, New England type asters, fall bloomers.  No attention needed at all...

Not sure which seeds I have. 

Big planning going on here....getting ready to order some seeds.  

What about the rest of the N&C Midwest!?

The weather is making wild swings here in Kansas from warm to cold, but generally, it's been a mild winter here. The big ice storm of 2017 ended up just being a lot of drizzle here. Spring fever is an understatement - I'm aching to get started on my next gardening season.

I've got all the veggie seeds I plan to sow, so now I'm thinking about flowers. I want to plant stuff that will attract and nurture bees and butterflies. I never was able to get around to it last year, but this year, it's a major priority. These will mostly have to go in containers, because all our sunny ground space in the backyard will be devoted to veggies. Any suggestions?

Yes!  

https://www.bluestoneperennials.com/NEWL.html

This one plant is the bee MAGNET in my garden!  Going to put many more in.  Big, Hardy, gorgeous space filler.  You will love it!  

These guys' plants rock, and they are guaranteed.  I have been with them from pre Internet.  Lol!

CitizenKate wrote:I've got all the veggie seeds I plan to sow, so now I'm thinking about flowers.  I want to plant stuff that will attract and nurture bees and butterflies.  I never was able to get around to it last year, but this year, it's a major priority.  These will mostly have to go in containers, because all our sunny ground space in the backyard will be devoted to veggies.  Any suggestions?

Oregano. My neighbor's honeybees love it. I felt guilty harvesting any, and couldn't bring myself to cut the flowers back. As a plus, it seems to do fine even though it's in a shadier part of my garden, though the internet suggests this may result in less flavorful oregano. If you put it in the ground, there's a good chance it will be perennial. I'm in zone 6a, too, and mine keeps coming back.

I haven't grown oregano in a container, but the thyme filled strawberry jar/pot I made this year and put in the garage to overwinter seems ok so far. The bees liked the thyme flowers, too, but not as much as the oregano. My in-ground thyme is also shaded and also perennial.

Borage is another one that bees like that I had some success growing in a container. I've heard it can reseed itself aggressively so I've struggled to find a place I can grow it without worrying that it will become a weed for me.

The bees liked the catnip, too... which I need to replace because it didn't come back last year.

Calendula is often recommended, but my pollinators didn't like it as much as the plants above. It might have been the variety I got, which was a double flower variety. You may know this already, but in case anyone reading doesn't (I knew but forgot to read the packet): Look for varieties that have one layer of petals, and aren't 'double' flowers. Single flowers are better for pollinators because double petal blossoms generally have less nectar. Unfortunately, single flowers are often considered 'less pretty' and in my experience, can be harder to find seeds for.

The honey bees also appreciate anything in the brassica family that I let bolt (radishes, arugula, bok choy, mustard, etc). The bumblebees like my red clover. My edible chrysanthemums tended to attract predators (spiders, predatory bugs) as much as bees. The butterflies liked my echinacea, but I don't think that flowers until it's 2yrs old?  I remember the evening primroses attracted hummingbirds, wasps, and carpenter bees, but I don't recall it being of much interest to the honeybees (not that they avoided it, just wasn't a 'magnet'.)

I agree with Beetles' list, and also want to add lantanas, they are an annual, but so pretty, bumbles love it, and so do hummers!  It goes showy all summer up to frost.  They also loved my sunflowers!

Scorpio Rising wrote:I agree with Beetles' list, and also want to add lantanas, they are an annual, but so pretty, bumbles love it, and so do hummers!  It goes showy all summer up to frost.  They also loved my sunflowers!

Butterflies, too -- it's their fave!

Truth!

By far, the biggest showing of bees I've seen in our yard was the year I grew cucumbers. I'd see dozens of them buzzing around them just about every morning all during the growing season. And I'm definitely planning to get the cucumbers out again this year. They also seemed to like basil blossoms, but not like they did the cucumbers. As for all those big, beautiful squash blossoms, it seems the ants (of all things) did the most work of pollinating them.

Other than that, I'm only going to have space for a few containers on the patio for flowers. Also, I finally decided on a spot to plant some milkweed for the Monarch butterflies.

Corn! Oh.... my.... goodness! Bees LOVE the pollen of corn.

CK, Rose Franklin online has great milkweed starts , very reasonable.  Their germination from seed is hit or miss....

AM, really?  Interesting!  Probably all the GMO corn that is messing with the bees 

AtlantaMarie wrote:Corn!  Oh.... my.... goodness!  Bees LOVE the pollen of corn.

AHA! That explains it! One year we left the lid off the chicken feed (mostly cracked corn) and had thousands of bees swarming all over it.

CitizenKate wrote: They also seemed to like basil blossoms,

Last year I had to stop pinching off the basil flowers when the bees took over. Thanks for reminding me. I'd better plant more basil this year -- just for the bees.

Yes!  I agree!  Basil, dill, etc!