Don't despair Kate, by the end of April, I'm sure springtime will have fully arrived in northern Germany. As you know, each country is different and has its own flowering times. Here in England, the daffodils have gone to sleep and some of my Triumph tulips are now dropping. But the 'Queen of Night' is still erect and proudly standing up. Funny how some flowers last longer than others. Celia is coming over tomorrow afternoon to take some photos. If all goes well, I shall send them via email. Give Pepper a kiss and cuddle from me. :)
I really hope so. We are getting a warmer day today. Parts of Germany will be getting summer temperatures. It's very unusual and the news is going nuts but somehow they all manage not to really talk about that climate-crisis-shaped elephant in the room. My mom is in Southern Germany. They are much closer to your schedule of spring flowers. I'll catch up soon ;) I'd love to see that tulip. I hope it stays strong long enough to get the photos.
You had a busy and productive day. I definitely agree about the physical labor vs the social interactions. I’ve been in town more than I’ve been outside working and it’s exhausting. I’m trying to get all the errands finished while it’s raining. We have had so much rain lately. I picked up some new organic tomato seeds as mine haven’t sprouted well at all. The Nematodes were interesting - I learned something new again. I didn’t know you’d get eggs. You’re making progress - I bet that feels great. Keep up the good work.
I feel you on the rain. It's been non-stop here as well. We get the occasional nice few hours but mostly winter is still winning the tug-o-war with spring. Yes, the progress feels so good! Seeing the little things happen is great for the motivation.
New here. What a lovely video. We've been growing and raising our own food for decades. By we i mean my disabled husband. I dont even know how he does it all, but it certainly has benefitted our children (now grown) and us. You seem to be just starting and you're doing great. I desperately want to send you a broom and dustpan. Watching you "sweep" with your little scrub brush was painful. :)
Thanks and welcome :) Yes, I am decades behind you and your husband, just starting out. I do actually own multiple brooms. The outdoor one is at the garden house, so I would have had to drive there to get it. And the other broom is indoor only. I didn't want to get that dirty. So, I usually end up using that little scrubber brush. Luckily, our balcony is tiny ;)
No need. It didn't last. So far, this year, we've had a handful of individual nice days. Otherwise, it has been gray and wet. I'm so sick of it. But we have a warm weekend forecast. Some parts of Germany (definitely not us up here) will get to summer temperatures. It's insane. I am, however, definitely happy that we only have frost, no snow here. I hope we both get to greet spring soon.
Kim, thanks for the advice. How would you use the cinnamon? Sprinkled on the soil? Our biggest offender by now is actually the hydroponics tower, as we could not add nematodes there. I'm manually removing aphids and flies at the moment to keep them in check but it's not the ideal solution. I will probably need to apply more neem oil soon...
Yes just sprinkle a small amount on the soil surface. You could try putting some around the hydroponic unit, maybe hang tea bags with cinnamon oil on. X
Yeah. My basil and peppers don't t look like they are coming up either. Will leave them but are going to start more basil today for sure. Be well from Canada 🇨🇦
I was having a hard time getting my peppers to sprout. I ended up wetting down a paper towel. Stuck seeds in the center of the paper towel and folded it over. Then stick it in a plastic Ziploc bag. I keep the bag in a very warm place. I ended up with sprouts.
I just tried that with some sage seeds (well, between two plates instead of a plastic bag but some method) that would not sprout for me. So far, still no luck but I am hopeful. So glad your sprouted for you!
@@RootsandCalluses I should do that. I'm having issues getting sage to sprout. Didn't realize it until today. I moved plants outside. I have a back porch closed in like a greenhouse. It gets so cold here in New York.
@amysano5424 mine still hasn'y sprouted. I have now tried three methods with a few seeds each. The sage is still not coming up. My only two ideas: too low temperature and bad seeds.
You should wear rubber sandals when you were clearing the gardening. The sole of your feet were black. OMG. I hope you had washed your feet, and scrubbed the soles of your feet BEFORE you entered your house. After you empty your car of rubbish, I hope you washed your car thoroughly. You could get the side porch with brick walls + windows + roofing (half asbestos, half metal). Organise your side porch so that the area is not cluttered. Transfer all your plants to that covered side porch. Hence, your kitchen will be much tidier and neater. Place your rubber sandals just outside the side porch. This is to ensure that when you go to your side porch, you wear the rubber sandals. Don't walk barefoot at the side porch. And when you are about to enter your kitchen, you remove your feet from the rubber sandals and walk barefoot into your kitchen. Plant lemongrass in a huge pot. Lemongrass has a wonderful fragrant and is used for cooking curry. Also, you can make lemongrass drink - very healthy. Flies and mosquitoes despise lemongrass. Wash the lemongrass. Blend it. Take the juice, add some water. Pour into your spray bottle. Then spray it around your house. Put mosquitto aluminium (with no hole OR extremely tiniest holes) netting at all your windows and doors. Your windows can be opened, whilst the netting is still closed. That way, fresh air still enter your house. With the mosquitto netting, lizards, cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies, wasps, bees, rodents, snakes cannot enter your house.
It sounds like you are new to the channel. I live barefoot, so I walk barefoot a lot. I don't worry about my feet getting dirty. When I get home, I wash my feet in the bathroom sink. The garden is not attached to our house. It is a neglected piece of land that I took over last year. The garden house is just that: a garden house. No one will live there. There is no kitchen or anything. The terrace will slowly get tidier over time but I'm not too worried about it. It's cluttered and I have too many more urgent things to do to prioritize that. The previous owners left me a mess. There are two Q&A videos (#051 and #053) that go into the whole barefoot and allotment garden thing in detail. We don't really eat curries, so lemon grass isn't on the list to grow. I'm also not sure it would be happy in our climate. But there are other more local things that deter mosquitos, and we plan to take advantage of that this summer. Covering the windows with netting is not an option for us here. We live on the third floor, so only flying things and good climbers make it up into our apartment. Rodents and snakes, for example, are not an issue up here. Cockroaches are not as big a deal in Germany as they were in Los Angeles, for example. Most people don't worry about them at all. Oh, and no. The car has not been cleaned yet but that's on the schedule for very, very soon. I am driving off the rest of the trash today. After that, my car is getting cleaned. Welcome to the channel :) I hope you like it here.
Don't despair Kate, by the end of April, I'm sure springtime will have fully arrived in northern Germany. As you know, each country is different and has its own flowering times. Here in England, the daffodils have gone to sleep and some of my Triumph tulips are now dropping. But the 'Queen of Night' is still erect and proudly standing up. Funny how some flowers last longer than others. Celia is coming over tomorrow afternoon to take some photos. If all goes well, I shall send them via email. Give Pepper a kiss and cuddle from me. :)
I really hope so. We are getting a warmer day today. Parts of Germany will be getting summer temperatures. It's very unusual and the news is going nuts but somehow they all manage not to really talk about that climate-crisis-shaped elephant in the room.
My mom is in Southern Germany. They are much closer to your schedule of spring flowers. I'll catch up soon ;)
I'd love to see that tulip. I hope it stays strong long enough to get the photos.
You had a busy and productive day. I definitely agree about the physical labor vs the social interactions. I’ve been in town more than I’ve been outside working and it’s exhausting. I’m trying to get all the errands finished while it’s raining. We have had so much rain lately. I picked up some new organic tomato seeds as mine haven’t sprouted well at all. The Nematodes were interesting - I learned something new again. I didn’t know you’d get eggs. You’re making progress - I bet that feels great. Keep up the good work.
I feel you on the rain. It's been non-stop here as well. We get the occasional nice few hours but mostly winter is still winning the tug-o-war with spring.
Yes, the progress feels so good! Seeing the little things happen is great for the motivation.
New here. What a lovely video. We've been growing and raising our own food for decades. By we i mean my disabled husband. I dont even know how he does it all, but it certainly has benefitted our children (now grown) and us. You seem to be just starting and you're doing great. I desperately want to send you a broom and dustpan. Watching you "sweep" with your little scrub brush was painful. :)
Thanks and welcome :) Yes, I am decades behind you and your husband, just starting out.
I do actually own multiple brooms. The outdoor one is at the garden house, so I would have had to drive there to get it. And the other broom is indoor only. I didn't want to get that dirty. So, I usually end up using that little scrubber brush. Luckily, our balcony is tiny ;)
It takes Bell peppers longer to come up, I would give them a little more time. I enjoy your videos.
I am not giving up on them, though all the chilies have sprouted long ago. But I will probably sew more soon 🙂
The quality of this video was excellent. My seedlings look a lot like yours right now. My garlic are a little smaller than yours.
Thank you :) I'm glad you liked it! I hope your garlic grows well :)
you can use the washmachinentrommel as a ready to go root cellar or a firepit ;-)
You mean the thing I carried in early in the video? That was a fire pit. 🙂
I am jealous of your warmer weather. We are having a big snow storm today. April 4th! Already a foot of snow has fallen, more is expected.
No need. It didn't last. So far, this year, we've had a handful of individual nice days. Otherwise, it has been gray and wet. I'm so sick of it. But we have a warm weekend forecast. Some parts of Germany (definitely not us up here) will get to summer temperatures. It's insane. I am, however, definitely happy that we only have frost, no snow here. I hope we both get to greet spring soon.
Kate, try using griund cinnamon to keep the flies at bay. I'm glad your plants are sprouting for you.
Dont forget to rest after such a busy day! X
Kim, thanks for the advice. How would you use the cinnamon? Sprinkled on the soil? Our biggest offender by now is actually the hydroponics tower, as we could not add nematodes there. I'm manually removing aphids and flies at the moment to keep them in check but it's not the ideal solution. I will probably need to apply more neem oil soon...
Yes just sprinkle a small amount on the soil surface.
You could try putting some around the hydroponic unit, maybe hang tea bags with cinnamon oil on. X
@kimbrooks2305 thank you! I will try to make it work 🙂
Yeah. My basil and peppers don't t look like they are coming up either. Will leave them but are going to start more basil today for sure. Be well from Canada 🇨🇦
If they don't come up by this weekend, I'll start some new ones as well. Good luck with the next batch of seedlings :)
I was having a hard time getting my peppers to sprout. I ended up wetting down a paper towel. Stuck seeds in the center of the paper towel and folded it over. Then stick it in a plastic Ziploc bag. I keep the bag in a very warm place. I ended up with sprouts.
I just tried that with some sage seeds (well, between two plates instead of a plastic bag but some method) that would not sprout for me. So far, still no luck but I am hopeful. So glad your sprouted for you!
@@RootsandCalluses I should do that. I'm having issues getting sage to sprout. Didn't realize it until today. I moved plants outside. I have a back porch closed in like a greenhouse. It gets so cold here in New York.
@amysano5424 mine still hasn'y sprouted. I have now tried three methods with a few seeds each. The sage is still not coming up. My only two ideas: too low temperature and bad seeds.
@@RootsandCalluses i think that's my problem to.
Where did you get those grow lights!
All our grow lights are cheap grow lights we ordered online. I'm sure you can find them where you are.
You should wear rubber sandals when you were clearing the gardening. The sole of your feet were black. OMG. I hope you had washed your feet, and scrubbed the soles of your feet BEFORE you entered your house.
After you empty your car of rubbish, I hope you washed your car thoroughly.
You could get the side porch with brick walls + windows + roofing (half asbestos, half metal). Organise your side porch so that the area is not cluttered. Transfer all your plants to that covered side porch. Hence, your kitchen will be much tidier and neater.
Place your rubber sandals just outside the side porch. This is to ensure that when you go to your side porch, you wear the rubber sandals. Don't walk barefoot at the side porch. And when you are about to enter your kitchen, you remove your feet from the rubber sandals and walk barefoot into your kitchen.
Plant lemongrass in a huge pot. Lemongrass has a wonderful fragrant and is used for cooking curry. Also, you can make lemongrass drink - very healthy.
Flies and mosquitoes despise lemongrass. Wash the lemongrass. Blend it. Take the juice, add some water. Pour into your spray bottle. Then spray it around your house.
Put mosquitto aluminium (with no hole OR extremely tiniest holes) netting at all your windows and doors. Your windows can be opened, whilst the netting is still closed. That way, fresh air still enter your house.
With the mosquitto netting, lizards, cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies, wasps, bees, rodents, snakes cannot enter your house.
It sounds like you are new to the channel. I live barefoot, so I walk barefoot a lot. I don't worry about my feet getting dirty. When I get home, I wash my feet in the bathroom sink. The garden is not attached to our house. It is a neglected piece of land that I took over last year. The garden house is just that: a garden house. No one will live there. There is no kitchen or anything.
The terrace will slowly get tidier over time but I'm not too worried about it. It's cluttered and I have too many more urgent things to do to prioritize that. The previous owners left me a mess.
There are two Q&A videos (#051 and #053) that go into the whole barefoot and allotment garden thing in detail.
We don't really eat curries, so lemon grass isn't on the list to grow. I'm also not sure it would be happy in our climate. But there are other more local things that deter mosquitos, and we plan to take advantage of that this summer. Covering the windows with netting is not an option for us here.
We live on the third floor, so only flying things and good climbers make it up into our apartment. Rodents and snakes, for example, are not an issue up here. Cockroaches are not as big a deal in Germany as they were in Los Angeles, for example. Most people don't worry about them at all.
Oh, and no. The car has not been cleaned yet but that's on the schedule for very, very soon. I am driving off the rest of the trash today. After that, my car is getting cleaned.
Welcome to the channel :) I hope you like it here.