Lisianthus update. Planted 12/26/24. We are working with 175 or so viable seedlings right now but the melt rate will probably be about 25-30%. Fingers crossed for a good batch this year.

This is the bullshit he pulls when I have a deadline to meet.

Ahh, yes. The NYT once again absolutely zeroes in on the beating heart of culture in the moment. It was K-Dot pants that everyone is talking about this morning. The Grey Lady does it again!

Its tempting to want to shout from the rooftops how we are standing up against this administration but if you truly represent the interests of vulnerable populations now is the time to STFU and just do the work without talking about it. Stay in the middle of the pack and don't invite attention.

Lisianthus update. Planted 12/26.

My coworker walked into my office today and said "Your office smells like home fries" which is an odd thing to say but upon further investigation all of the offices on the Western side of the building smell of rich and savory breakfast potatoes.

Hello, yes, I moved from Oregon to Western Mass and tolerate Hell's deep freeze for 4 months of the year in exchange for not having earthquakes. That was the deal.

Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson

"Believe me, nice people don’t go Nazi. Their race, color, creed, or social condition is not the criterion. It is something in them." Dorothy Thompson, Harper's, 1941

Growing plants for yourself, for your family, for the birds and the pollinators is a fuck you to the oligarchs. Grow some basil, grow some flowers, grow your skill set and your self-confidence.

If you think you have a black thumb, you don’t. Most gardeners learn through trial and error. Even if you can grow some basil this year it is a start; it will save you money and set you on the path to understanding the ways in which our food systems are broken.

Winter sowing is another reliable way to start produce for the summer; poke holes in the bottom of a gallon ziplock bag, fill it 1/3 of the way with soil, scatter your seeds, close it until there is a 1” gap and leave it outside. The seeds will start to grow when temps even out.

Many libraries have seed libraries free to the community. Dollarseeds.com is one of the most reliable sources for affordable, good quality seeds. Look at Seed Savers Exchange and Experimental Farm Network for community seed swaps.

I use plastic garage shelves from Walmart to hold my seed trays w/ 4K lumen garage lights zip tied to them. The biggest investment each year is the soil but even that is a luxury. Seeds want to grow; you can germinate in wet paper towels and transplant to a growing medium.

One of the lessons I have learned from 15+ years of gardening is that it can be as expensive or inexpensive as you want it to be. I am lucky enough to have a basement to start thousands of seeds each spring, but my set up is extremely basic.

Lisianthus progress. These are just shy of a month old, planted on 12/26. They will bloom in another 5-6 months.

It is glorious for 3.5 months!

Rocking 6° at the bus stop this morning. Only 3.5 months until the last average frost date.

The texture of these baddies was also great. They were intermittently sown in a sweet potato bed and provided visual interest from May-October.

One of the unexpected finds of the 2024 garden was the popularity of leek flowers with the pollinators. I would like to get on a cycle of planting every year and letting some go to seed until it becomes self-seedling and self-sustaining.

I was having a once in four months good hair day today but sub-zero temps forced my hand and I had to wear a winter hat. We can put a woman in space and leave her stranded for 7 months but we can't solve the bangs-hat interface problem.

I had started to lament things by saying "We can put a woman into space but we can't do [X]." But now I'm giving it a l'il twist: "We can put a woman into space and leave her stranded for seven months but we can't do [X]."

This was the garden the year of the flooding. It looked fine but the tomatoes and squash took the brunt of the flooding, and since we didn’t know what was in the flood waters we didn’t risk eating the produce.

This was my first garden year without the ducks. I was already struggling with the sadness of their loss, and then faced a huge number of setbacks with the weather. A record breaking rainy season flooded the space at least twice and called into question the edibility of my crops.

This video is a great example of what no till/deep mulch can do for a garden. Laying down layers of straw in my rows and free wood chips from ChipDrop in my paths made a huge space manageable.

I bought the sloppy babies as pest control, specifically for invasive jumping worms. They were excellent at their job and I trained them to come running when I called.

In 2022 I brought my sloppy babies home. They were with me for a year before a bobcat broke into their enclosure. It was a devastating experience and only now have I been able to even think about introducing ducks into my garden again.

By the end of the 2021 gardening season I realize tilling is for fools. I started prepping for the Ruth Stout method for the following year.

Still 2021