Increasing plant population

The plant population is increasing. 

Gladiolus are coming up, in the garden and in pots. So are carnations and asters. I was surprised to find the nasturtium pretty much leaped out of the soil (okay, 3 of them) and are already about 4" tall. Since I just planted them Mon or Tue night, that wasn't expected. 

I am on the medical cannabis program and had bought some seeds a few weeks ago. Four of the seeds germinated out of five. They're growing taller. Little slowly but I have not yet had them in complete full sunlight. They are outside now.

Taking a slight chance financially. Ordered some seeds from a company in Amsterdam. The company has been around a while and they have a seriously extensive website including translations of language and currency into a number of languages and currencies. The only company I've seen that offers guaranteed delivery. Doesn't mean they are the only ones, just the only ones I've seen. Long as all works as planned, it winds up much cheaper than buying from the local dispensary, who charges $4 per seed. The seeds I ordered come to less than $2 per seed after shipping to include guaranteed delivery. These are also supposed to be the most prolific producers, up to 1.5 lbs per plant. (I don't use much at all. One lb would last me several years, long as it doesn't go stale.) Down side is a low CBD content. But if the purchase goes well I'll order some more expensive strains from them later. 

A couple of the tomato plants are beginning to flower, Surprising because they're not very tall yet. Though I have seen plants flower and then rapidly gain size while the fruit is small, in a rush to gain strength to support the fruit. 

Glad I got the last tomato plants in the ground a couple days ago. Wind picked up today and probably would have knocked containers over. 

Few days later than planned but got the lavender seeds started today. That's okay, gave them more time to stratify. 

Wow! I have to get more dish tubs. I have like 15-20 of them but turns out they're all in use already. Found out when I went to get seeds for watermelon and pumpkins started. Guess I'll get some more this weekend.

Rainy night

Rainy night tonight. No complaints from me!

Since last posting, the cucumber seeds came up. 

Strawberries look better but did suffer some sun scald because they were greenhouse plants. They seem to be okay, though.

Got plastic sheeting on most of the mounds in the garden a couple weeks ago. Then this weekend I got most of the tomato plants in the ground with tops sticking out of the plastic. Give it a couple more weeks and maybe start pulling the plastic off. I'll wait as long as I can, depending on how the plants look.

Planted carrot seeds. Not completely sure they'll germinate. I think there are just enough nights below 50 degrees for them to do so. Meanwhile, the container carrots are getting close to being ready to harvest. 

Got milkweed seeds in the mail. Had to stratify them for a couple of weeks. Got them started tonight. Hoping they flower this year. Be really good to attract lots of Monarch butterflies!

I have a couple dozen Gladiolus of various colors coming up. If I get them hardened off and in the ground they should flower in a few weeks. 

Wrapping the trees saved the plum and apple crops. Still hoping for blueberries this year. Not sure because the two different types bloomed at different times. 

Got the sunflower seeds planted this evening. Slightly late but not much. The seeds already in the ground in the back yard are just starting to come up. Not seeing Cosmos yet but they start late and then make up for it. 

Need to get watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkin seeds going this week.

The irrigation system is completely up and running. No timer for the front zone at the moment. I have my vacation set up as two separate weeks, so I figure if I seriously soak the ground before leaving town for a couple of days, shouldn't be a big problem. But maybe I'll get a timer for that zone any way. I ran the two back zones for as long as 4 hours (with drip irrigation) at a time a few times to flush surface sodium as deep as possible. I actually hope that if I keep doing that, over time the salt will be flushed too deep for roots to reach. Maybe washed completely away, since the water table is so close to the surface. 

I'm working toward the future configuration of the garden. Tried to order some wisteria. Then Bank of America got their heads up their asses. The order was canceled. Have to reorder when I get a new debit card. Not worth going into all of it on my garden blog. In time, I'd like to have an arbor the length of the garden covered with wisteria. I had ordered seeds for Chinese wisteria before I knew it takes 15 years to flower! Instead, I'll buy Amethyst Falls wisteria, which allegedly flowers the same year and grows very quickly. I also want rows of tomatoes and a small vineyard. Plus a row of blueberry bushes, more apple and plum trees and one pomegranate tree.