We’re halfway through potting up all the plants we’ve overwintered, but are looking at temps below freezing for the next two nights. Today will be about getting covers ready for everything and setting up ambient warmth for several of our plants that are currently flowering. On my way home from a doctor’s appointment, I stopped to pick up a cutting of a curly willow (Salix matsudana) from a woman in town whose tree was damaged in a recent snow storm.
This one cutting was turned into a dozen after I got home. I’ve planted out three or four and the remaining sections were loosely bundled and placed into our five gallon bucket with several other varieties of willow we’re rooting in water.
What’s growing on with you all?
It’s a busy spring for me! This is year two in a new home, and I’ve started converting larger chunks of boring grass into wildlife gardens and raised beds. So far this year I’ve put together:
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New herb garden - Thyme, oregeno, borage, chamomile, sage, you name it! Already Planted!
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A small cornfield - currently growing crimson clover and lettuce greens.
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A small squashfield more crimson clover! And getting the eventual companion beans going!
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A small wildlife garden - sunflowers, more clover, blue hubbard squash, and scarlet runner beans. Food for critters (and also trap crops to keep em off the human food!)
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A second raised bed (for square foot gardening) - Currently has little gem lettuce, red fire lettuce, oak fire mustard greens, carrots, turnips and moooooore~
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I also got a small plastic greenhouse this year, so now I have TEN MILLION tomato babies. Hooray! The peppers I’m growing are not quite ready for transplanting yet, but they’ll get there.
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What’s a good way to create ambient warmth for overnight?
Today’s temperature didn’t get as high as I would have liked, so I’ll be filling some buckets with warm water, closing them, and then placing them near the plants before covering everything with light blankets. Another nursery near us has electricity access for many of theirs, and use incandescent string lights to buffer their plants against the cold. The family owned orchard the next town over has said that if the frost is later than a certain amount of flowering, they’ll do small bonfires throughout the orchard to provide protection.
I love that you live in a town where people offer up cuttings rather than let it go to waste.
Our Aerogarden is doing an amazing job growing greens for our pet rabbit. I’ve been succession planting lettuce mix and just put some mint seeds in another open pod.
Hardly any of my green beans have sprouted. Some of the seeds are a few years old so looks like I need to order some new ones. My kid asked for a plant tepee she can play and read in. I need to see if we can find a sunny enough area for one.
I love how the folks in my town are too, but think many of us could live in similar places if we just broke/pruned plants and offered the cuttings up! I make a point to donate a bunch of plants to our town’s food bank and library fundraisers every year, and that’s been a great way to meet those people who make my town like that; I’m sure there are folks like that around you too.
Plant tepee sounds like an awesome project, please offer her a high five from me for being so cool.
