african violet i got for seebs some years back. it continues to bloom on the regular, and probably could use a bigger pot again. edit: it REALLY liked being on the pebble tray on the radiator over the winter. it was kind of looking sad inn the kitchen's south window last fall, and i guessed it wanted more humidity and less sun, so i moved it to my west facing window in my bedroom and put it on the pebble tray with the fern. it began to perk up, and now it's blooming with great enthusiasm again. very pleased.
how is it u have tender daikon to nibble already and we barely have grass. minnesota is letting me down. i'm just gonna greenhouse over my whole yard. grumble. ok but for reals that looks delicious, good job!
It went from rainy 45f to balmy, breezy mid 70s on the span of about a week. May got here and suddenly it's SPRING!!! I didn't get most of my Swiss chard to sprout and what did got over taken by weeds though. It's what was going to be behind the peas. I figured they'd get sun early on in the growing then shade from the peas later would slow them from bolting in the heat, but alas.
i can never get lettuces and the like to work because the weather always goes from slush to bake without pausing at cool -- except this year when i didn't bother trying to plant anything that likes cool weather, and we're getting weeks of it. SIGH. i didn't get any sleep last night, because when my cortisone shot kicks in it makes me hyperactive and hyperalert for a while, but i still might manage to plant out some seedlings in the raised boxes roach built me. that is some good black dirt just begging for snap peas and squash and maybe some small sunflowers. the big hopi dye sunflowers are going on the south side of the garage, to shade my grapes. THE GRAPES SURVIVED. i'm so happy about that.
aldi had a very sad tree baby on clearance so i took it home (buckle up for safety!) it's a bloodgood japanese maple and i'm going to do my best to make it less sad and do bonsai stuff here it is after a bit of a hair cut
in other bonsai news, garold the rhododendron survived another winter and is about to bloom! i really need to repot it next year
What Is This Jerkass Plant i grabbed it while weeding, and it stung the HELL out of me, way worse than a nettle, still hurts like 20 mins later i was revenged upon it, of course, i just had to go get gloves, but DANG, the merest brush was like a hornet sting closeup of DEATH PRICKLES the most-hurty spot is swelled up and red, so i think one's still in there, but if so it's microscopic. Fuck This Plant.
Yeah, think that's probably a nettle. Smaller than the ones that I'm used to (they get up to 6 ft or so on the island, fields of them) but the leaves and the hairs look very familiar. Are they not common in the Midwest? I kinda assumed nettles would grow basically anywhere
well i'll be. i didn't recognize it with the spear shaped leaves, i've only ever seen the heart shaped type around here. but google says you're right. edit: also i've grabbed our usual local nettles many times, and while they sting in the moment, the sting doesn't last for SIX FREAKING HOURS OH MY GOD GET OUT OF MY GARDEN final identification: Jerkass Nettle
you can eat the leaves as salad greens to if you blanch them properly and they're young enough I'm told but I haven't tried as much, we don't get near enough trying to invade our garden and the only places I know where they'd grow are frequented by foxes and thus would probably give you worms
google tells me the kind i'm used to is wood nettles, and these stinging nettles are a whole nother kind of bastard. considering how incredibly annoying it was to deal with, i find myself wondering how anyone discovered it's edible. D:
Famine desperation They're such an iconic food staple in the UK I constantly hear about people getting excited for nettles season. It used to be a lower class staple green, popping up before you even got your first veg going on the garden.
Yeah in germany too. They come up almost first thing in spring so back in the day of no fridge and no supermarket, they were among the first green things you could get after Winter. and aside from medical and culinary use, if you let them come high (like, we're talking 'almost as high as a Person') you can get fibers for fabric out of them too
