Planting – Nine by Eighteen

Planting Garlic

SabineNovember 10, 2026Leave a Reply

*Softnecks (left) and hardnecks (right) ready to go in the ground*

Today, I planted my garlic. It had been super warm this past week (77 degrees on November 4!) and then we had a lot of rain, so the conditions were less than ideal for planting garlic. We will have night frosts in the next few days, so I decided to get my garlic in the ground.

*Garlic patch 2027, the holes mark where I planted the cloves*

I planted my biggest cloves (24 hardnecks and 32 softnecks). The ground was still damp, and I am a bit worried about rot, so I am leaving the garlic patch uncovered for a couple of days, hoping the sun and wind today and tomorrow will dry it out a little before I cover the garlic. I covered the rest of the plot with hay.

Fingers crossed the timing was okay and I will have yet another great garlic harvest next summer.

*24 hardnecks and 32 softnecks, ruler for scale*

Fall Bulbs

SabineOctober 25, 2026Leave a Reply

*Botanical tulips and grape hyacinths, October 22*

This week, I planted fall bulbs in both my back porch flower container and my garden plot. In the container, I planted 25 Little Princess botanical tulips and 25 blue grape hyacinths.

In my plot, I took out all the flowers towards the fence and replanted the irises and lily of the valley (and the strawberries). In the center, I planted an Eden’s Perfume peony, surrounded by 21 Mixed Triumph tulips and 25 mixed botanical crocuses. I then surrounded the bulbs with chicken wire to protect them from nibbling rabbits. I felt it was better to do this now when I know where I planted the bulbs. In the spring, I will readjust the “fence”.

*Freshly planted peony, tulips and crocuses (rabbit-proofed), October 24*

Next week, I will plant the remaining bulbs (28 large tulips, 25 botanical tulips, 75 crocuses and 25 grape hyacinths) in my front and back yard.

Fall Sowing

SabineAugust 15, 2026Leave a Reply

Yesterday and this morning, I spent a few hours in the garden weeding and cleaning. I also started my fall sowing: Coreless Amsterdam carrots (a fast-growing variety), cilantro, Golden and Detroit Dark Red beets, and a fall greens mix (a mix of lettuces, chards, greens, Chinese cabbage, spinach, endive).

Plot Update

SabineJune 12, 2026Leave a Reply

This morning, I harvested two heads of lettuce form the garden plot. The garlic scapes are coming in, and with the recent heat, things are growing nicely. I also finished weeding the communal bed, planted the last Zinnias there and mulched the entire bed with straw.

*My disorderly lettuce, kale and Swiss chard patch, with shallots to the left*

*Calendula, lavender and sage border (with now spent grape hyacinths towards the corner) at the front of the plot*

Planted!

SabineMay 28, 20264 Replies

Over the last two days, I completed almost all the planting for my plot. I transplanted my tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, squash, hot peppers, marigolds, strawflowers and dahlias, and also added an Asian eggplant seedling I had purchased from The Neighborhood Farm. My lone surviving Delicata squash was leggy and did not survive transplanting, so I will pick up two more Delicata seedlings from The Neighborhood Farm this weekend. All that’s left for now is to inter-plant everything with more marigolds, and sow nasturtium and beets. I may move the dill I had planted last week closer to the cucumbers. I also need to stake the tomatoes and refine my cucumber teepee.

Getting Ready

SabineMay 23, 20261 Reply

Today, I spent several hours in the community garden to (finally!) finish getting the plot ready for planting. Because of a major leak, the water in the garden was turned on super late – only about a week ago – which delayed everything.

I weeded and amended the soil with manure and city-provided compost, and I also got my first seedlings in the ground: leeks, chives, dill, snapdragons and zinnias. The flowers were inter-planted with chives. I also sowed two rows of cilantro.

*Love my little lily-of-the-valley patch*

Spinach

SabineMay 18, 20261 Reply

This morning, I harvested the spinach on my back porch. We have had a couple of warm days (in the eighties), and it was starting to bolt. Tomorrow, it will be in the nineties, so time to harvest. In total, my two 12-inch containers yielded 190 grams (6.75 oz.). Not bad. It will be a nice addition to our dinner tonight.

One of the two containers has a parsley plant in the center, and I am adding nasturtium around it. In the other, I planted some tiny Iceland Mix poppy seedlings. It is my first time growing poppies. They are supposed to be difficult to transplant as their roots do not like to be disturbed. Fingers crossed.

Late Start

SabineApril 23, 2026Leave a Reply

It has been an excruciatingly slow start to the season. Such a cold and rainy spring so far, which after this long and cold winter is especially hard. So, things in the garden have been slow to come up. I did not plant peas this year, and have not started anything yet in the garden plot. But both, the garlic and the rhubarb are coming up nicely. As are the grape hyacinths and a few tulips, which have yet to open.

My dining room table is full of seedlings. I thinned the basil seedlings on March 30th and plan to re-pot tomatoes, Swiss chard, sage and thyme this weekend. I will also start hardening off the snapdragons. The kale has been living on the porch full-time for about a week now. This weekend, I also plan to plant my shallots and start my cucumber and squash seedlings.

The radishes and spinach on my porch are coming up nicely. I had started them on March 30. Because it was so cold (we even still had a few frosts), it took them a while. On April 21, I also started leaf lettuce mix in one of the big containers.

Starting Tomatoes

SabineMarch 22, 20261 Reply

Today, on this raw and rainy early spring Sunday, I started my tomato seedlings. As usual, I went for a mix of early, mid-season, and late tomato varieties. This year, I am growing some favorite heirlooms and some new-to-me disease-resistant hybrid varieties as I had a lot of issues with some mysterious (fungal?) disease last season. I started two each of Stupice (early), Mountain Sunrise (early), Ailsa Craig (mid), Marmalade (mid), Galahad (mid), Dr. Wyche’s Yellow (mid/late), Caiman (late), Purple Zebra (late). I also started four Mountain Magic and two Peacevine cherry tomato plants for the communal flower/vegetable bed.

*Hot pepper seedlings* *(with basil seedlings in the background)*

Today, I also started strawflowers (Tall Double Mix), Swiss chard (Five Color Silverbeet), and butterhead lettuce (Salanova green butter and May Queen). And I repotted the kale (7 plants).

Hope

SabineFebruary 24, 20261 Reply

This winter has been brutal. The record cold temperatures we had in December and January and several major snowstorms (the last one – the historic Blizzard of ’26 – just yesterday) make me long for spring. My seedlings have all sprouted. First was the thyme, followed by leeks, snapdragons, sage and peppers. The marigolds I sowed on February 20 are also sprouting, and this morning, I saw the first kale seedling (also sown on February 20) making its appearance.