Gardening Seminar

Michele and I had a lovely day today attending a gardening seminar at Sweetwater Farm Greenhouse in Denison. SueZanne Peterson, rose expert, spoke on how to propagate roses from cuttings, and also shared general knowledge with how to keep roses in our area happy and thriving.

While both of us have been growing roses for years, neither have ever tried to propagate any. It just seemed too large a hassle. Ms SueZanne made it seem very easy with a few great tips:

- Start with well watered seed mix.

- Prune your cutting to have only a few leafy branches at the top.

- Make sure you plant your cutting with a good 3 grow nodes in the soil to take root.

- Keep well watered for a year. Yup, I said a year.

- After that it can be transplanted into a rose mix soil and kept watered and fed for another year.

She unpotted one of her transplant ready cuttings to show us how the roots had grown from the nodes. It was amazing to see how this formerly green branch had formed roots! I was lucky enough to win this small propagated rose plant to take home.

SueZanne also spoke a bit on companion plants, which are plants that can be grown beside roses (and in your veg garden, as to that) to serve as bug deterrents and/or soil improvers. She made the point that when we plant in monothematic ways (a whole bunch of one type of plant together, like an exclusive rose garden), we potentially open up our gardens to more diseases and problems. With roses, the only way to combat these issues is to spray, spray, spray. Using companion plants like garlic, salvia, and marigolds not only increase the visual variety in our gardens, but also increase the healthiness of them (less spray, spray, spraying).

Afterward we spent some time walking around Sweetwater's two lovely greenhouses, and the array of plants and trees that they offer. Of course I couldn't help but to grab some of the lovely plants that owners Barb Palmer and Dave Kenyon have to offer, including a few six-packs of marigolds for the vegetable beds and a cute little fig tree.

Sweetwater Farm Greenhouse is hands-down my favorite nursery and garden shop in the Texoma area. I was happy to spend an informative morning there. Armed with new knowledge, I am ready to propagate!

Jenny - Raised Garden Beds

My husband and son spent time today hacking together some raised garden beds for our garden. With food prices rising in the markets, we're more committed than ever to expanding our vegetable garden this year. I should have some pictures soon. It warmed my heart to see the two of them hanging out and working together on this project! :)

Quick Update

Believe it or now, I went out and pruned the roses right after I made my last post.  They are all looking fine now!  The flower beds have been weeded and mulched and things are blooming like crazy.   The flowering pear and Redbud trees are showing off their stuff and the Irises have poked their heads up once again.  The blackberry bushes are filling out and the pecans are getting leaf buds on them.  The seeds that my daughter and I planted in the garden are sprouting and we're looking forward to finishing the planting now that March is here. 

The bees are out, my eyes are red, and all of our noses are running.

Must be spring time in Texas.

Spring is just around the corner

Confession time - I still haven't pruned the roses!  Last year I put it off until the bushes had started leafing out and swore that I'd do better this year.  Hmmm, if I don't get busy I'm not going to make it.  It's on my ever expanding list of things to do today.

Although there is probably still a bit of cold weather ahead of us this year, it is certainly time to get the vegetable gardens going.  Get your cold weather plants in now!  By June, it's just too hot in NE Texas for peas, lettuce, spinach and all your other favorite cold weather veggies.  I put the kids and husband to work over the last few weekends and now have a nicely tilled garden fertilized with rabbit and chicken droppings.  My daughter and I spent yesterday morning planting seeds.  The rows are crooked, but I'm hoping the plants will forgive us!  My husband and oldest son spent the afternoon fixing the raised beds - tightening all the loose screws and repairing boards, and I cleaned them out and got them ready for planting.  Today is asparagus planting day.  It's a new venture, but experimenting is a great way to learn.

Oh yes, and I have to prune the roses!

Seeds, Seeds and More Seeds!

I really need to stop buying seeds. Today's haul....

Peach Preserves - Yum! And Other Things....

I'm trying my meatball recipe again tonight, only this time using Michele's peach preserves. I believe it must be basically the same recipe she uses for her wild plum jelly, though I noticed some peach chunks in it. Here's a link to her original post on jelly making: Link! Well, I tried some straight from the jar, and these preserves are DELICIOUS! She is definitely getting tapped to tutor me in the fine art of canning this season!

I'm still waiting for my big seed haul to arrive. I don't intend to start the seeds until early February. I had a problem last year with late frosts. The weather was too cold to put my seed trays out in the warm sun. I don't have a great sun spot for seed trays or a grow light (yet). Consequently, some of my seedlings grew "leggy" (long and skinny, kind of like alfalfa sprouts) and ended up in the compost pile, too weak to survive Texoma's winds and spring rains. So despite receiving several emails from plant selling companies advising me to start now, I'm holding off a bit longer.

The warehouse depots in our area are selling seeds and bulbs right now. I know that Michele already picked up her onion bulbs, and I think I'll do the same. Onions are about the easiest thing you can grow round these parts, and so tend to be in high demand. They sell off pretty quickly, so you may want to grab yours while you can. Just store them in a dry place for now. You can get them in the ground even in cold weather, though I usually like to wait until the danger of frost is gone. But onions are very, very hardy and can take a lot of abuse.

Whup, I hear the water boiling for the egg noodles. Must run. Looking forward to dinner tonight!

Jenny - Seed Shopping

I'm having a great time tonight seed shopping online! I have a few favorite places: Penny's Tomatoes, Pepper Joe's, and good old Burpee, but there are lots of great places to find seeds, including your local home repair warehouse or supermarket. My husband and I have plans to expand our vegetable gardens this spring, so I'm sure that I'm getting carried away with seeds. :)

If you're a nut like me, here are a few tips on seed shopping and storage:

- Read. Read. Read the growing information. Seeds become plants. Make sure that those plants will grow well in your climate and soil. Don't waste your money on anything that clearly will not suit your garden.

- Store your spare seeds in a dark, dry place. I keep a seed case in my kitchen, tucked away next to my cookbooks, away from the fridge, stove and sink. Moist seeds are ruined seeds, so a damp basement or next to your stove where steam will get to them are bad places. Your motto: dark and dry.

- If you don't use all of the seeds in a packet, don't be too hasty with trashing it. Tape the package firmly shut and store it away. While an old seed packet tends to have a few more duds than a newer one, I have yet to fail with growing successful plants from seeds 3-5 years beyond the date stamped on the package. Might save you a little money.

- Consider taking the time to put together a card or electronic catalog of your specific seeds and their growing information. I know there are some smartphone apps out there too, but I have yet to find one that I like. While this kind of information is also readily available online, you'll want something close at hand. When you can spread out your cards and see how long each plant will take to fully grow, it's easier to plan out your garden space and know when to sow, especially if you don't have a lot of space to work with!

More on starter plants later. In the meantime happy seed shopping!