Still Growing

Even though we had some really cold weather, a large portion of my plants didn't seem bothered by it. The cactus had some damage but all in all has survived the frost and the herbs and veggies I still had out all live and are perking back up with the warmer weather.
I've been helping out the wife with some crafting she's been doing (see her blogs) and have come up with some neat items. So far it's mostly practice but we plan to build some boxes from scratch and decorate them with various things.
For some reason the turmeric isn't producing any new leaves and the older leaves are shriveling. Looks like it's dying but I don't know why. I'll try putting in more dirt since it looks like it's lost some.
Lemon tree is doing well as is the kaffir lime tree. Neither has grown any inside but they haven't lost any leaves either. The last of the key lime trees isn't doing very well. They all froze and only one still has any green to the stem. That's probably why it's called a "key" lime. A little cold here. Oh well, maybe next time.

Broccoli Indoors

I have harvested the seeds from my bolted broccoli plant and planted some of the seeds in various pots around the office where I work. I don't think some of the places will be very conducive to actually having plants but you never know until you try. The majority of seeds have already sprouted and seem to be healthy. A good number of them are in nice sunny locations and have a good chance of becoming edible in the future as long as no one gets upset that there's broccoli in the office plant containers.

Garden Update

It's been a while since I last posted an update of my garden.
I'll start in the front.
The bed along the driveway is growing well all except for the tomato plants. We started with small plants and they haven't taken well where we put them probably becuase the other plants are a little close and hogging the space. For instance the broccoli is really bushy and making seeds so I can have more plants next season.
The plants near the walkway are doing pretty good. My pepper plant from last year already has peppers on it and the new plants are growing fine but no flowers as of yet. Yhe cabbage plant that we harvested and replanted has a lot of new leaves on it again and we could probably make a nice dish of cole slaw in about a week.
The lemon thyme and oregano are both taking off again this spring and will need to be cut back and thinned under the thyme at least to get the old dead stuff out.
As my wife was pointing out earlier today, all of our lavender survived last winter and continues to grow and flower. We have cotton lavender and it was first to flower this year.
Around the side of the house we have the bean plant which has reached over seven feet high and growing, the key limes which I still need to separate into their own pots, the sunflowers which are all flowering, some of which are making flowers along the stem, and various other plants in pots, the least of which is not the beets which are good for the prostate.
In back you come first to the assorted herbs in small pots, not doing so well, which I will probably put in a planter or raised bed next time in the same location. Then the kaffir, or kiefer, lime tree, yes it's still growing and now has six leaves but still not very tall/
After these comes the main back yard beginning with the 4x4 boxes. Our strawberries are producing several berries every couple of days and so far we have beaten the birds to them. the onion and garlic patch behind it is doing well as far as I can tell but it's the first time I've tried it. Just behind both of these is some lettuce and carrots and other things I didn't bother labeling so all I know is that I can eat it.
The shade garden in the back looks very healthy. The elephant ear plants are getting big as well as the St John's wart and monk's cap. There's also some thyme back there and some other shade ground cover.
The melon/squash patch is finding it's way into the yard several feet and will soon block off any need to mow that area, no dear I didn't plan it that way, not entirely.
The fig tree has a boat load of figs on it even if the early figs all fell off again. The grapevine planted by the shed isn't growing a lot but it's holding in there.
And of course my lemon tree is doing great! I don't know if it will get any taller in the pot it's in and am really leaning toward planting it in the ground this month.

Bolting Broccoli

I wasn't sure if anyone would actually ask me anything but yesterday I opened my email quite late in the evening, around 11:00, and there it was, an email.

Reatha wrote to me the following:

"Hi! You told me to e-mail you with questions. Talking to a friend at church this morning, we are both having problems with our broccoli plants going to flower (seems like) too soon. Any suggestions? Thank you."

Well, I have had the exact same problem. I like to plant something and just let it grow the first time to see what happens under normal conditions. I really like things that just grow without me having to nurture it alot.

The thing about broccoli is that it likes cool weather. If you need a jacket then broccoli is thrilled, at least as much as a plant can be. It can take below freezing temperatures and likes it. This is a winter vegetable as far as eating the florets goes. Once it gets above 70 degrees it thinks it's time to make babies which means all that lovely veggie goodness you have come to know a broccoli becomes yellow flowers. This isn't bad as long as you want seeds for more plants next season.

To solve this problem there are a few things you can do. Depending on the temperature depends on how much you need to do. The object is to keep the roots cold enough that the plant doesn't think it's warmed up yet.

First off you can mulch around the plants to insulate the ground. As long as the average temperature, that is day and night, is still well below 70 then this may be enough.

Second, you may need to water frequently. Let the waterhose run for a little bit so that the cool water from the underground water lines starts to come out so the cool water can bring the ground temperature back down.

Third, and this is something I have done just to keep moisture in the ground is to use ice. Don't worry about killing the plant. What will happen is that the sun will melt the ice and nearly freezing water will saturate the roots.

Once again this goes back to my citrus growing. I had my lemon tree on the back porch of the office where it was getting hot and I probably needed more dirt in the first place. I realized that our ice maker made an entire bin of ice every day and I figured that it needed to be used. So, I poured it on the dirt making sure it wasn't against the trunk and there you go. It kept the soil moist for hours during the hot part of the day.