It’s November, but no one seems to have told my plants that. This does not seem normal. At this rate, I”m wondering if some of these plants will skip dormancy altogether.
I’ve been letting things go a bit, but I will try to harvest and dry some of the oregano soon.
I know I’ve been absent from the blog for a while, I am probably one of the laziest gardeners in the world. My last baby chard harvest was on in mid-July, and after that, I basically let my garden go a little wild—at least as wild as it’s possible to go in the middle of South Philadelphia. There are weeds everywhere, and things are looking a little… spent. About the only garden task I’ve kept up with is refilling the bird feeder, and that’s not really gardening.
Fortunately, I’ve learned from previous years that I am a lazy gardener. Back in May, I had set up a soaker hose with a smart timer. It took a little tweaking, but the plants now get watered every day for 5 minutes at 6am and 5 minutes at 7am—without me having to lift a finger. It’s a smart system, so it automatically delays watering in the event of rain. And if I think the garden needs extra watering, I can turn it on using my phone.
You have no idea how much I love how lazy this allows me to be. No. Idea. Now if only the garden would weed itself.
The garden is a 9’x14’ patio on which live a 3’x3’ raised bed and many containers. The walls are cinder block, so it’s basically a concrete oven in the summer. I’ve finally learned to work with what I have, although I expect this year to be really bad. The cherry tree out front bloomed 3 weeks earlier than it did last year, and last year already felt early to me.
The perennial salvia, phlox, coneflowers, and asters have all coming back, as has the mint. The asters were mostly dead last year, and I may have to baby them a bit this year. (Also, Leo keeps chomping the leaves.) The coreopsis hasn’t come back yet.
For annuals, I’ve scattered some alyssum and heart’s ease seeds in the 3×3 raised bed. I also have some annual salvia to start from seed, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Of course, we’re still getting bursts of cold, so that’s probably okay.
This year, after a long hiatus, I’m trying food things again. That’s not because of the virus. I ordered my seeds in early January. I’ll be trying painted lady runner beans, baby chard, basil, and alpine strawberries—all from seed. (I do realize that the birds will probably get the berries before I do.)
I also have some lavender seeds, but i”m not sure if I want to try and experiment with it, as I’ve heard lavender is really hard to grow from seed. In addition, I have lots of old herb seeds from previous years, and I may see if they’re still viable. Ultimately, it might depend on when I run out of space, containers, or potting mix. I do have a bag of seed starting mix, a bunch of coconut coir, several quarts of perlite, and about 5 gallons of compost.
All of this year’s seeds came from Renee’s Garden, and I usually order my perennials from Bluestone Perennials. I have also ordered seeds and plants from Park Seed in the past and had good luck with them.
On Plants and Paws 