Tending to the seedlings + artsy photo

Garden gone wild.

The weather has been extremely favourable. Kohlrabi was the first to germinate and the seedlings are growing fast. Also beet have germinated, but they are still tiny. The kohlrabi seems to have alreay been infested with a coleopteran evildoer, of which I have a picture here:

Of course, weeds are springing up just as quickly as everything else. After I sowed the seeds I have not picked any weeds, but let them grow. When you pull them out, the earth around them is turned with such violence that I believe it might harm the seedlings of your crop plants when they are still very small. I cleared the kohlrabi patch today, since the kohlrabi seedlings were easily identifiable and had already gained sufficient robustness to survive the upheaval of earth around them.

The garden right now:

When picking weeds and watering your patch, you see a lot of different arthropods. This cocoon-carrying spider was subjected to an unexpected shower:

You've got to work with what you have.

24 degrees!

Hello again.

I had to put all my germinated plants outside. Apparently a mold was growing in the pots and it was making me sick for weeks on end. I put all the seedlings in my greenhouse, but unfortunately that was when the temperature dropped again and they all died. This was just after the last article I posted here. What followed was a period when the days were about +5 degrees centigrade and the nights occasionally below zero.

Right now the thermometer outside my window says it's 24 degrees, so it's time to resurrect this blog. Here's what I've sown last week:

Patch 1.

A. Kale, lehtikaali (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica). I tried these a couple of years ago but with abysmal results. I think it was because they were in a dark spot. Someone told me they grow very large and you can pick leaves from them as the season goes on, so I sowed six of them with generous intervals. They are in the sunniest spot of them all this time!

B. Parsley, persilja (Petroselinum hortense). Alternating rows with carrot, porkkana (Daucus carota subsp. sativus nantaise 2). I've never grown carrots. I know they need a light soil, which they certainly won't have in my garden... but we'll see what happens!

C. Beets, punajuuri (Beta vulgaris). I love these! Easy to grow and yield well.

D. Radish, retiisi (Raphanus sativus) together with kohlrabi (Brassica oleracea Gongyloides group). Both are new experiments for me.

E. Salad. Two varieties in alternating rows. I can't figure out their proper names... but there will be pictures.

Patch 2.

I haven't put anything in patch 2 yet. For the seeds I went to a supermarket (kupittaa City Market) and bought EVERYTHING they had that could be sown directly outside without being precultivated inside. If I find more interesting plants to grow, then perhaps I shall sow something here too.