Golden Wax Beans.... Indoors???

Golden Wax Beans!

I am SO surprised! I didn't think the beans would produce indoors, given how small the flowers are, and how difficult they are to hand pollinate! But the vines are covered in developing pods now (not to mention flowers).

I'm so pleased! Now to see if they actually mature and are edible.

Two Tails (of Basil).

The Basil is continuing to do well. Though interestingly enough I've found there's a stark contrast between the pot growing in the living room, and the pot in my bedroom. I sowed two pots, just in case one failed for some reason, I'd have a back-up.

The plants in the bedroom (the one photographed the most) are larger, fuller, and generally look better. The ones in the living room are smaller, leggier, and fewer sprouts matured to this point. I'm thinking it's because early on in their growth, their soil was disturbed accidentally, and many died off and the survivors were stunted due to stress. It'll be interesting to see if they ever catch up to the other group in the bedroom at any point. Or if they'll remain small and leggy...

Here comes the Basil! (Windowsill Garden Update)

Look how big it's gotten in just five days! First true leaves are getting big, and the plants seem to be thriving!

The green onions! You can even see the volunteer leaf lettuce that started growing in the pot. lol

Speaking of Lettuce.... BAM. Lettuce Jungle! Yes, I deliberately seeded the pot a bit thick. ;)


And that's it for this update! I may be planting some "Pioneer" Peas in the next little while. They did really well last year, and were delicious. Will post photos if/when I get around to it.

Spring 2013

Well slowly but surely, it's looking and feeling more like spring around here. We've had a long winter this year, and even now there is still snow on the ground in places... Quite the contrast from last year when we had temperatures around 25c (77f) in March!

Now's the time when all the seeds start coming out in stores. And people's thoughts turn to warmer days and green gardens. Everyone is prepping their seeds, getting ready for this year's gardening season. I love this time of year.

As for what I've been up to...

My green onions did very well over the winter. I'm very happy with how they performed! Even the ones that were cut and used have grown back so fast you can hardly tell them from the ones I haven't harvested yet! I give them an A+! I'll definitely be planting more in the future.

I've also  rooted some Rosemary cuttings for this year. Since the one I had last year didn't make it over winter. It got attacked pretty bad by powdery mildew...

As for my plans for this year. I've already seeded some more leaf lettuce, and will be planting the rest of my Radish seeds even though I failed to get Radishes last year. I eat the greens so it's still worth planting them. I also planted new seeds recently, a heirloom variety of Basil! I LOVE Basil... so this will be quite a treat if it works out.

Indoor Garden Update -Squash and Watermelons!

To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure how well this experiment would go... But so far, so good! Just look at the little watermelon that's growing in my window! Actually, the plant has produced a number of them now and is almost always covered in flowers.

And yes, even the Butternut Squash is doing relatively well. Though so far no fruit has been produced. Frankly, I'm just happy to see that the plants haven't just withered away to nothing. They're actually doing really well! So time will tell whether or not any of them produce. Regardless, it thrills me to see plants you'd think of as outdoor-only, actually doing well indoors.

Eventually this knowledge will come in handy when I either build a four-season greenhouse, or find another way to grow plants over the winter (grow lights and large pots perhaps?).


I think it's an important thing to learn....especially now given how bad food prices are getting.

Indoor Garden Update

Wow, it's been a while since I was able to update this blog.

Well, so far the Autumn crop of Lettuce I planted is doing well. As are the green Onions I started.

But most surprisingly, it's the Watermelon and Butternut Squash that are doing really well! The Watermelon in particular has been absolutely covered in flowers (both male and female).

I really wasn't sure how the Butternut Squash would behave when grown indoors, but so far I've been pleasantly surprised. I had a brief scare with spider-mites but cutting off the effected leaves right away seems to have solved the issue. The oldest of the vines is covered in flower-buds, including a pretty obvious Female (the swelling under the bud itself looks like a squash in super-miniature!). It's fascinating watching how things are progressing...

Things here have been crazy busy the last month, so unfortunately I haven't been able to photograph the plants, but I will try to get a few shots in the next week or so to share.


Here's hoping things continue to do well!

Vegetable Garden List.

 I'm a firm believer in "Grow what you eat, and eat what you grow."

Here's a list of plants I am currently growing, and plants I plan on growing in the future (when I have more space).

-Garlic.
-Lettuce.
-Radishes.
-Peas.
-Corn (heirloom varieties).
-Butternut Squash.
-Pumpkin.
-Apples/Pears.
-Raspberries.
-Blackberries.
-Carrots.
-Potatoes.
-Gourds (Chinese water bottle and long-handled dipper mostly).
-Lavender
-Herbs like Rosemary, thyme, and Basil.
-Cauliflower.
-Green Beans.



What you will NOT find in my garden:

-Peppers of any type.
-TOMATOES (no thanks!).
-Cucumbers (except for pickling cucumbers maybe).
-Cabbage.

Why? Because there's no point in using space in the garden for items you rarely, or never eat. I hate peppers and asparagus, and eat cucumbers and cabbage so rarely, they're not worth taking up space to grow...

Grow what you eat. And eat what you grow!!