Home improvement, gardening, upcycling, arts and crafts: proving a streetcar-suburb homestead in the lungs of Seattle.
This is rarely a "How-to" blog and more of an "I did" journal, a record of the ideas, innovations, and renovations that go into my DIY-lifestyle.
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Almost ready for launch! All that is left is a few coats of varnish. Thanks everyone for all of your help!
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kiyo:
174 GRAND, BROOKLYN NEW YORK
The green roof has approximately eight inches of soil and absorbs rainwater runoff. (via Peek Inside 8...
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“I am inspired by vintage or used objects: records, books, furniture, anything that has a history.” —Mike Stilkey
Artist Mike Stilkey, whose...
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Suave Mediterranean Revival by jadalles1533 on Flickr.
738 North Tuxedo Avenue - DeLand - Florida
Architecture by Medwin Peek - 1926
This... -
Interesting bathroom…
via thestyleaddict
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Now that we finished planking the bow, we’ve decided that it would be fun to put another gaping hole in the boat. New shiny transom on the way.
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More pallet porn: Wine racks made from pallet wood.
Adding to our repurposed-pallet Pinterest board.
(photo via MyBrothersBarn on Etsy)
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How we eventually won the battle against slugs #happyherbsThis “summer” I learned the hard way that slugs and snails absolutely love basil and... -
I swear that I can’t go a day without putting another hole in the boat.
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22 posts tagged tomatoes
The brown paper pots were an excellent idea, but not very useful. In just two weeks, basically all of the bottoms of the pots have decomposed without a trace. I’m looking into getting plastic pots for the next round.
Also, I think some of my seedlings aren’t getting enough water. Maybe I should start over-watering and trust that the drainage is good.
Four tomato seedlings after their first spell outside (about three hours in the walls o’ water this afternoon). These are Taxi, Black Prince, Sun Gold, and Indigo Rose varieties.
Set up the Wall O’ Water season extenders today, to start warming up the ground for tomatoes. I’ll start hardening the first batch off Monday, and hopefully drop them in the ground on Thursday.
I found a local article from a guy in Seattle who puts his tomatoes out in Walls O’ Water on April 1 every year, so here goes hoping that mine do a well as his. If not, though, I have more seedlings to take the place of any that fail.
I transplanted one tray of the Round I tomato seedlings to larger containers this evening. This tray contained Sun Gold, Taxi, Black Prince, and Indigo Rose varieties. All are very vigorous, and I’m loving the very dark green/purple leaves on the Indigo Rose plants. If the tomatoes are as lovely as the leaves, they’ll be amazing!
All are planted in 4”x4” origami pots made out of chicken feed bags. A few are planted in leftover homemade seed starting soil (equal parts worm castings, perlite, sifted compost, and coco coir), but most are planted in a homemade secondary soil (equal parts worm castings, sifted compost, and coco coir).
Most seedlings had three sets of true leaves. I stripped the lower set off and buried the plant in dirt up to half an inch or so below the middle pair, then mulched the top with my go-to Soil-Building Compost that I use as mulch. Then I watered them thoroughly.
The roots are very well-developed: some seedlings had to be pried apart from their neighbors. I probably should have transplanted them a week or two ago. Also, I noticed that even though I’d soaked the top thoroughly, the lower dirt of many seedlings were dry. Needs moar water!
Now, to note this and several other garden events in my paper 2013 garden calendar, which I’ve gotten behind in updating…
Round I tomatoes are thriving, though one tray more than the other. I need to figure out why.
Round II Seedling Trays: Tomatoes! And Peppers!
Planted more tomatoes today, as well as peppers. This is “2013 Seedlings Round II,” and consists of:
- Territorial Seed Company “Tumbling Tiger Hybrid” tomatoes
- Territorial Seed Company “Fantastic Hybrid” tomatoes
- Territorial Seed Company ”Japanese Black Trifele” tomatoes
- Territorial Seed Company “Gill’s All Purpose” tomatoes
- Territorial Seed Company “Anaheim College” hot peppers
- Territorial Seed Company “Ancho Magnifico” hot peppers
- Territorial Seed Company “Wonder Bell” sweet peppers
- Territorial Seed Company “Gatherer’s Gold” sweet peppers
- Uprising Seeds “Little Bells” sweet peppers
Also pricked some of the double- or triple-sprouts from Round I seeding into their own cells. Of the Round I seeds, the TS “Taxi,” UPS “Black Prince,” TS “Sun Gold,” and UPS “Stupice” being the most vigorous and reliable, and the TS “Indigo Rose” and TS “Brandywine” the lowest rate of germination. Round I has been in the dirt about three weeks, and everything that’s planning on germinating likely has at this point. Several of the most vigorous seedlings already have true leave, but all at least have healthy cotyledons.
I haven’t decided what I’ll be planting in Round III yet; I’ve planted all planned varieties of tomatoes and peppers for 2013, so I might start broccoli and lettuce to get a head start on main season greens.
Tomato sprouts moved to the higher shelf tonight, to make room for a new planting. There’s about five cells without sprouts, but overall an excellent rate of germination.
More tomato sprouts! Both Sun Gold batches, the Brandywine variety, and the Black Prince varieties are coming up. I watered them all thoroughly this morning, and have pulled back the plastic sheeting on the seed-starting rack to discourage damping-off.
Update on tomatoes planted last Saturday: there is no update, and no signs of germination yet. I watered the dirt on Monday, and it still looks appropriately damp, so I just need to be patient.
Two flats of newspaper cells, planted with eight varieties of tomatoes.
I’m calling this Round I for tracking purposes, and I’ve labeled each cell using a wooden stir-stick cut into a stake. I’m using codes, which aren’t really visible here — the first is for the seed company, the second is for the variety, so Sungold Tomatoes from Territorial Seed Company are TS SGT. The flip side of each stake has the date planted.
So, Round I is eight to sixteen seeds of the following tomato varieties:
- Sungold from Territorial (TS SGT)
- Sungold from Botanical Interests (BT SGT, purchased 2012)
- Sweet Million from Territorial (TS SMT)
- Brandywine from Territorial (TS BWT)
- Stupice from Uprising Seeds (UPS ST)
- Indigo Rose from Territorial (TS IRT)
- Black Prince from Uprising Seeds (UPS BP)
- Taxi from Territorial (TS TT)
Now, to wait. Luckily, I have plenty else to do.
They’ve perked up overnight, I think, and hopefully will continue to do so today. I hand-watered again this morning, and incidentally am gratified by how quickly water drains into my soil — no pooling or dripping, just seeping through the dirt.
Irrigation Woes
Some droopy leaves on both cherry tomatoes tonight, and I have had it with soaker hoses.
I pulled last year’s soaker hoses out during The Great North Side Yard Cleanup last week, and recrimped the ends and tested each one and buried them with little fanfare. I’ve been meaning to make a post about it, but it was seeming to go well — but now it seems that I’m having the same problem as previously (well, minus the “accidentally cutting off the end with a shovel” part, yet): it works fine above-ground and near the end, but doesn’t seem to effectively water the length of the hose, when buried under mulch. I am annoyed.
Also, half the bottles that I buried aren’t draining partially or all the way, for whatever reason — the worm yuck that I poured in them yesterday as fertilizer was still in several, just sitting there. Back to hand watering, for tonight at least. We’ll see how everything is doing tomorrow.
The front terraces in mid-August, continuing to fill out and starting to bear fruit. The peppers are finally starting to thrive — two of them, at least — so we’ll see if there’s enough summer left for them to bear fruit.
This photo also conspicuously shows the gap between partial-shade areas. I think it definitely needs more water.
