It’s hard to believe it is time to start gathering the seeds we will be sowing for our garden 2012. The weather in our Ohio garden has been crazy and the ground has yet to freeze completely allowing me to turn the soil in the raised beds where I add my rabbit compost. I can’t help but think our spring will be delayed so winter can run its course. This unseasonable weather only adds to my excitement to start thinking seeds for my spring / summer garden.
The webpage is up for #supersowsunday which will take place on February 5th this year. I can’t wait to share all the seed giveaways as well as growing tips from friends who use social media.
Check out the latest on the official Super Sow Sunday page as well as follow @TheGardenChat for the latest information concerning this event. I hope you will join in the fun and be sure to comment on this blog if you have any questions.
IF you are familiar with my garden networking there is no doubt you will agree I’m a seed addict. I love everything about seeds! How can anyone not love the experience of nurturing your own plants in your home & garden? Saving seeds from the plant and collecting new ones out on the market from various seed companies has helped me collect well over 1,000 different seeds which I keep neatly organized in my Seed Keeper Kit. In this collection I have over a dozen new zinnias to add to my collection this year in the cut flower garden. In this short article I want to share with you some basic tips that will help you plant more while staying accurate on your plant identification.
Basic Number System Identified by a Photograph
Lets face it, there is no excuse for not taking a photograph at least one time a day. Is there a cell phone out on the market that doesn’t have a camera? Why not use the basic principles of taking a photograph to better help your gardening experience?
Here is what you will need for this planting tip:
Sharpy
Seeds
Plant Marker
Camera
Tips on how to identify your seeds making for a quicker growing experience :
Organize your seeds into variety categories. ( Zinnias, Sunflowers, Cosmos, )
Each seed packet will be numbered with a matching plant identification marker (image above).
Take a quick photo of each packet with number clearly visible.
Save images in a file labeled with its category for easy reference as the plant grows.
When planting the seeds be sure to put the correct seed marker in the soil where you planted. ( last image).
No more confusion on which company, variety, color you used in your garden with this simple system I’ve been using for many years. I look forward to sharing some of these fabulous zinnias with you as I prepare to take them to flower shows this summer. This technique of organizing seeds has helped me plant MORE – whats not to love about having more flowers to enjoy?!
If you have a seed identification tip for mass planting that you would like to share I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.
It has been a busy travel spring for me and I’ve been longing to get back in my garden to enjoy what all the adventures are truly about …. GROWING! I’ve been to some amazing gardens and explored how others across the country and Canada enjoy the gardening lifestyle. I have many photos from some of the best garden shows in the states to share with you as the season grows on. My adventures this spring took me across the northern border to Canada with one of my favorite plant providers, Proven Winners for their spring kick off extravaganza where I was introduced to how green the Canadians really are! Taking in all I could to share with my network and to help my own garden in Ohio grow. This container of supersowsunday lettuce mix by Territorial Seed Company featured on the left says it all! The goods have been collected and now it is time to get growing!
It could be all the inspiring information I have collected in the past two months or just the fact that it has been a while since I actually sat at my office desk to share with words but I’m totally struggling with where to begin……
Nothing says spring to me like this view featured above of my greenhouse nestled back in the corner wood-line of our home here in Ohio. Waiting on the rain to allow the raised beds filled with compost and bunny droppings to be turned and the flats of starters from inside the greenhouse to be moved out to their new growing place.In the image above on the right is my new birdhouse that my son built out of left over wood pieces he collected around the workshop. We added that old recycled t.v. antenna to the wooded garden to help support a wild rose climber last spring. The rose loved climbing the new structure even after we painted it so much we just had to add more to it. Before the ladder used to attach the birdhouse to the 10 foot section was collapsed to be put back into the shop a few birds had already moved in. I’m loving what can be done with recycled goods and the lessons of using what you have on hand can be taught even in the garden.
Who wouldn’t be excited to get their hands on these beauties and start digging in the spring soil? Another project completed this weekend was hanging some recycled peg board. The board was found at an auction that took place at a local business that was closing down. At 50 cents a 6′x 4′ sheet you can’t go wrong with organizing. I had to take the photo above quick because those tools only stayed in place long enough for a photo.
Step in the year-round greenhouse to find some of my Christmas treasures blooming and my Costa Farms goodies that have been enjoying winter in Ohio providing me plenty of happy blooms. The amaryillis will be moved to a container out in the landscape after all danger of frost has passed and the cineraria is going to be planted in the shade / sun garden in the front of the yard. I know they both will love their new home outdoors.
These late winter growers will be done just in time to start some outdoors. It is amazing the veggies that can be grown to enjoy year-round if you just find the container that will allow it enough room to grow.
Don’t walk away from the dahlia bulbs at your local garden centers. After a fabulous growing experience with them last year I’m loading up this year. In the image above you will see all the containers I’ve started in the greenhouse loaded with some of my favorite dahlia roots that are super easy to grow and put on an amazing show from spring till SNOW! The image in the collage above on the right is what you will find from November – May in my greenhouse. ‘
With the busy travel schedule I had I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing out on my seed starting adventures when it hit me one night during #gardenchat : I GROW YEAR-ROUND! It is never too late to start tomato plants and many other veggies that can be enjoyed in your summer garden.
I would like to encourage you to grab a pack of seeds today and throw them in some dirt! Wishing you a Happy SPRING from my home & garden!
I’m letting the kitties do all the napping this time of year…. no time to rest when there is so much to enjoy about spring in the garden.
Are you interested in learning more about growing in a greenhouse year-round? I’m a contributor of the site Growing4Seasons with my greenhouse sister Glenda who is the creative home and garden writer at Tootsie Time.com
Be sure to click on the link to the left to see what others are growing year-round using and I hope it will inspire you!
As a northern who lives and grows up in zone 5b I see this time of year when my outside canvas is covered with white mulch as a time of collecting to create. This is a time to be used to sketch up what we are dreaming to grow in our outdoors surrounding in a few short months. Before you know it you will be outside watching the sunset as quick as it rises wondering where did the day go in my garden.
While developing #supersowsunday with hopes of sharing ‘what seeds can do for your growing experience ‘ and ‘promoting those who provide the goods ‘ it was also the kick off of sharing fun and easy ways you can collect seeds for 2011 harvest season. I’m a firm believer in the fact that you do not have to spend tons of money to have a beautiful garden filled with blooms and veggies.
One of the best ways to meet other gardeners in your area is to find out what is going on at your local nurseries, garden centers and public gardens. These locations are where the gardeners connect locally and they will most likely have the latest activities and event posted on location. A big event that takes place in most garden communities is an annual seed swap. In my area we have the Toledo Grows Seed Swap which takes February 26th. Last year I collected some fun new seeds that filled my new raised bed project from early spring to late fall.
I would have never dreamed of starting broccoli (pictured above) for my garden from seeds if it weren’t for some fun chats with local gardeners at the Toledo Grows seed swap. I was encouraged to try veggies from seeds like cabbage, beets and even different crops of carrots.
Cabbage in the new raised bed project outside my greenhouse that I started from free seeds I received at the Toledo Grows Seed Swap.
Swiss chard, lettuce and more radishes
Olivia my pup and I are still trying to figure out what we did wrong with this mystery plant in the raised bed above. The carrots and peas that were in this bed produced a bountiful harvest in early June.
I would love to hear some exciting seeds you have collected at local seed swaps. Please be sure to click on the image at the top of this blog entry to see the list of workshops that will be available at the Toledo Grows event. You can also follow them on FACEBOOK for my information and to connect with gardeners in the Toledo , Ohio area.
For my Friday Flaunt I am going to share this passion flower that is blooming on the vine located in my greenhouse here in zone 5b. I had to climb behind the geraniums to get this image so excuse the blur from a few of the vine leaves that were protecting this beautiful bloom. Happy Fertilize Friday.
We are getting close to the big event and with each passing hour I can’t wait to get sharing all the seeds and information I’ve collected for #supersowsunday. Toward the end of the week I was contacted by a representative from @seedlibrary on my Facebook page stating they wanted to donate to this event. HOW COOL IS THAT?!
It has been a blast learning about the people’ behind the seeds this week. I never knew there were such things as seed banks and seed libraries. There is a wonderful piece written about Doug and Ken at New York Times sharing their story that goes back 60 years ago. The articles states that ” The preservation and propagation of the some ghost-white bean have occurred thanks in part to a former colleague of Ms. Lotvin’s at the Gardiner Library named Ken Greene, who founded a group called the Hudson Valley Seed Library three years ago. Ken chose the library model he knew well: the members of his group receive seeds each spring and then are encouraged to “return” the seeds from the mature plants in the fall. “ So that is how it works with a seed library? I love how they talking about lending fishing poles to the residents and so Ken figured they could do the same with seeds as he left his job at the Gardiner Library and became devoted full time to his seed adventures!
Seed Library is Donating 5 Seed Art Kits
Ken of Hudson Valley Seed Library is donating Five tiny tim tomato art packs to the #supersowsunday event. These Art Packs are each designed by a different artist from the greater New York region (this includes upstate New York, the Hudson Valley, the City, Northern New Jersey, and Connecticut). Each pack celebrates the beauty inherent in heirloom gardening. These artist are commission to produce new artwork every year. Ken tells me he ‘feels the artwork really reflects the beauty, diversity ,and the stories of the seeds we grow and sell.’ Ken of @seedlibrary informs me that they grow and harvest seed by hand, thresh, winnow, and clean by hand using traditional seed saving skills, and pack each pack by hand as well. They are truly a company that are hands on with their product. Check out there collection by clicking here to see all the art packs and to learn more. What a great way to share the true art behind sowing seeds!
Thank you Hudson Valley Seed Library for donating these creative seed packs to the #supersowsunday event.
Be sure to follow the Hudson Valley Seed Library on Twitter and Facebook for more wonderful seed planting ideas and events.
Read more about Hudson Valley Seed Library at the links below:
It was a year ago this week I started to feel the power of social networking site Twitter. A group of gardeners who I enjoyed ‘tweeting up’ with met up on started sharing ideas about sowing some seeds. I blogged about the experience as it happen in my entry at Join is for #SuperSowSunday . Below is a collage where I’ve collected the cell phones shares I made during the seed season. I love using Twitter photo shares as a real time blog. In the collage below I share my collecting of the seeds, planting and growing them in the garden. I tried to hide them but that was not successful. You could find seeds in my shoe closet and in my handbags. Once I got those seeds growing they were all over the greenhouse and I had plenty to grow in the garden and raised beds. Most of these seeds came from inspiration from gardeners who shared their love for sowing at #supersowsunday. Now it is my turn to give back to everyone by hosting this years event.
Twitter Cell Phone Shares Make It Easy to Blog
Today I organized the weekly chat called #gardenchat. It has been a wonderful learning experience collecting information and highlighting a topic from the garden world each week. The transcripts that I save from each chat have 100′s of hits each week so I know someone is using the information I’ve collected. #gardenchat has featured garden celebrities like P.Allen Smith, leading plant providers like Costa Farms and Proven Winners as our guest host. The high traffic on #gardenchat is OPEN FORUM like this past week we had over 200 garden twitter users share a thought about up coming garden season 2011. Over 200 garden tweeters on one hashtag is truly a Cyber style garden party!
This Monday #gardenchat will be having the cast and crew from Growing A Greener World as our guest host. You can submit questions for the crew to be answered during the event at GOOGLE DOCUMENT. The team has a fun hour of green updates and wonderful giveaways planned.
I’m a big fan of Joe Lamp’l and team and I’ve been following Joe on his blog for as long as I’ve been blogging. Though it has only been three short years in the past year I can honestly say I’ve learned so much from his shares that I’ve gone natural in my greenhouse,garden and green I grow in my home. I talk about that all the time on my blog so I will spare you the details once again. However, I would like to share with you my image from Shawna Coronado’s garden where Joe and the GGWTV team shot for one of their episodes this summer. I had the privilege of being on location and seeing Joe in action. I’m honored to now have them on #gardenchat to share the love of growing green with you all.
Do you have a suggestion for an upcoming #gardenchat? Let me know what you want to hear more about by commenting here.
You can imagine my surprise to find Joe’s book at the Cleveland Botanical Garden Bookstore. Always a joy to find some of my favorite online authors in a city near me! There are going to be giveaways at this chat so be sure to join in the chatter.
Basic Number System Identified by a Photograph
Here is what you will need for this planting tip:
Nothing says spring to me like this view featured above of my greenhouse nestled back in the corner wood-line of our home here in Ohio. Waiting on the rain to allow the raised beds filled with compost and bunny droppings to be turned and the flats of starters from inside the greenhouse to be moved out to their new growing place. In the image above on the right is my new birdhouse that my son built out of left over wood pieces he collected around the workshop. We added that old recycled t.v. antenna to the wooded garden to help support a wild rose climber last spring. The rose loved climbing the new structure even after we painted it so much we just had to add more to it. Before the ladder used to attach the birdhouse to the 10 foot section was collapsed to be put back into the shop a few birds had already moved in. I’m loving what can be done with recycled goods and the lessons of using what you have on hand can be taught even in the garden.
For my Friday Flaunt I am going to share this passion flower that is blooming on the vine located in my greenhouse here in zone 5b. I had to climb behind the geraniums to get this image so excuse the blur from a few of the vine leaves that were protecting this beautiful bloom. Happy Fertilize Friday.
