Farm And Garden Chat

[moonshadow0825]

Looking at those pages I found this:
https://www.rareseeds.com/store/herbs/p ... so-perilla
I want to grow this! Mmm Japanese themed foods!

neat! hadn't seen that

[moonshadow0825]

Yes, their packages are often smaller than the more common places but their catalogue is eye candy and while it's fun to consider all the different varieties, I usually go with the usual

i was hoping they had the cosmos but it looks like they are out of stock. I'm going to look and see what other neat veggies or flowers I can find. hopefully black I love it when I can plant dark purple and bright orange or pink near each other.

i'm tempted by these zinnias https://www.rareseeds.com/store/flowers ... nge-zinnia

[Roberts Creeker]

i was hoping they had the cosmos but it looks like they are out of stock. I'm going to look and see what other neat veggies or flowers I can find. hopefully black I love it when I can plant dark purple and bright orange or pink near each other.

i'm tempted by these zinnias https://www.rareseeds.com/store/flowers ... nge-zinnia

Those are pretty and that would be a great colour combination. I like the dark coleus for the dark purple: https://www.rareseeds.com/store/flowers ... mix-coleus

Have you seen the pink dandelions? https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetab ... -dandelion I wonder if they'd be invasive? Sold out but they do have white ones in stock.

[moonshadow0825]

Those are pretty and that would be a great colour combination. I like the dark coleus for the dark purple: https://www.rareseeds.com/store/flowers ... mix-coleus

Have you seen the pink dandelions? https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetab ... -dandelion I wonder if they'd be invasive? Sold out but they do have white ones in stock.

those dandelions are fantastic! although I would be afraid of them being invasive we bought our house from someone who was apparently very fond of bishops weed and morning glory, after 24 years we still haven't managed to get it out of our garden! I

aside from those black cosmos these hollyhocks would be amazing
https://www.rareseeds.com/store/flowers ... -hollyhock

[moonshadow0825]

so I had some fun with the rare seeds catalogue. placed my order and bought:
grey poppy https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetab ... grey-poppy
those black hollyhocks linked above
queen lime orange zinnia linked above
albino beet https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetab ... lbino-beet
and King Tut purple peas https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetab ... purple-pea

these should all be fun and I can match these with seedlings I get from West Coast Seeds when they have their sale in early May

[Roberts Creeker]

Looking at those pages I found this:
https://www.rareseeds.com/store/herbs/p ... so-perilla
I want to grow this! Mmm Japanese themed foods!

Looks delicious! You'll have to share pictures when you do...and of the dishes you make with it.

[Roberts Creeker]

so I had some fun with the rare seeds catalogue. placed my order and bought:
grey poppy https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetab ... grey-poppy
those black hollyhocks linked above
queen lime orange zinnia linked above
albino beet https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetab ... lbino-beet
and King Tut purple peas https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetab ... purple-pea

these should all be fun and I can match these with seedlings I get from West Coast Seeds when they have their sale in early May

Oh, I looked at those grey poppy too, so tempting. The black hollyhocks are a good substitute for cosmos imo

I hadn't seen those beets but I was thinking of trying sugar beets and making sugar out of them but it's something like 10lbs of beets to 1/4 cup of dried raw sugar...might be fun just for the experience. Hadn't seen King Tut's peas either. I love the story that goes with each variety, and the reviews.

We should have a seed swap this spring!

[Roberts Creeker]

those dandelions are fantastic! although I would be afraid of them being invasive we bought our house from someone who was apparently very fond of bishops weed and morning glory, after 24 years we still haven't managed to get it out of our garden! I

aside from those black cosmos these hollyhocks would be amazing
https://www.rareseeds.com/store/flowers ... -hollyhock

Had to look up bishops weed, It said useful in the right setting morning glory I know.

My top invasives are
- burdock, a real hassle when the horses or sheep get the burrs stuck on them, I try to cut them down but sometimes they manage a sneak attack,
- canada thistle, roots go down 4-8', it doesn't like shade so I'm going to try that this year. The chickens won't eat it either, they solve a lot of my vegetation clearing problems
- buttercup, the worst part of this is the ones I pull up, I can't even feed to the chickens, they're toxic. At least most of the other weeds, the chickens can eat.
thought I was done with the major ones but one more
- comfrey, I started with one plant and after a year dug it up because I read it was invasive and every little bit of root grows a new plant. this'll be the second year of digging up rootlings.

[moonshadow0825]

Oh, I looked at those grey poppy too, so tempting. The black hollyhocks are a good substitute for cosmos imo

I hadn't seen those beets but I was thinking of trying sugar beets and making sugar out of them but it's something like 10lbs of beets to 1/4 cup of dried raw sugar...might be fun just for the experience. Hadn't seen King Tut's peas either. I love the story that goes with each variety, and the reviews.

We should have a seed swap this spring!

that's a great idea!

I have a small suburban lot so there is no way I am using 200 grey poppy seeds or even all the beet ones. the peas will get planted, in fact this weekend I'm going to plant some, my aunt always maintained that peas like a good freeze before they sprout so hopefully that will still be the case as in other years.

[moonshadow0825]

Had to look up bishops weed, It said useful in the right setting morning glory I know.

My top invasives are
- burdock, a real hassle when the horses or sheep get the burrs stuck on them, I try to cut them down but sometimes they manage a sneak attack,
- canada thistle, roots go down 4-8', it doesn't like shade so I'm going to try that this year. The chickens won't eat it either, they solve a lot of my vegetation clearing problems
- buttercup, the worst part of this is the ones I pull up, I can't even feed to the chickens, they're toxic. At least most of the other weeds, the chickens can eat.
thought I was done with the major ones but one more
- comfrey, I started with one plant and after a year dug it up because I read it was invasive and every little bit of root grows a new plant. this'll be the second year of digging up rootlings.

I have the thistle problem too, just in a small patch of my front garden. This past year I've been trying to uproot them as soon as I see them but not always successful in that endeavour

even though chickens are allowed here my lot is too small and one of my dogs far too rambunctious for chickens, which is too bad as my other invasives are chickweed and spearmint (although I don't know if the last one would be good for chickens)

[Hound]

Looks delicious! You'll have to share pictures when you do...and of the dishes you make with it.

You can get Shiso plum rolls at some 'real' Japanese restaurants in the Lower Mainland. Pretty rare though even though it's pretty simple.

[Roberts Creeker]

I have the thistle problem too, just in a small patch of my front garden. This past year I've been trying to uproot them as soon as I see them but not always successful in that endeavour

even though chickens are allowed here my lot is too small and one of my dogs far too rambunctious for chickens, which is too bad as my other invasives are chickweed and spearmint (although I don't know if the last one would be good for chickens)

chickweed i dont' find much of a problem, it sprouts up in the spring but is easy to pull out and dies off early, plus the chickens do love it so I get 2 for one when weeding it, clearing out the garden and feeding the chickens

I tried planting peas early one year and then planted the next batch 3 weeks later and they grew at the same speed so now I just wait till it's warmer out...could be the variety I had.

[Roberts Creeker]

You can get Shiso plum rolls at some 'real' Japanese restaurants in the Lower Mainland. Pretty rare though even though it's pretty simple.

Yum!!! Now I'm hungry Read up about it and it can also be used for pesto, sounds useful.

[Roberts Creeker]

Finally decided on my Baker rareseeds.com order:

Cherokee Long Ear Popcorn: https://www.rareseeds.com/cherokee-long-ear-popcorn
Grew pink popcorn one year and it was great, this is really pretty and got good reviews

Dragon Tongue Beans: https://www.rareseeds.com/dragon-tongue-bush-bean
I've grown these before and they're my favourite bush bean, I also like Scarlet Runners but I have seeds for them

Urizun Japanese Winged Beans: https://www.rareseeds.com/urizun-japanese-winged-bean
I've looked at these for 3 years so it's time to try them

Collective Farm Woman Mellon: https://www.rareseeds.com/collective-farm-woman-melon
Hope we have a warm enough summer for it.

I took several things out of my cart too, so many beautiful and interesting seeds.

[Antares]

Looking at those pages I found this:
https://www.rareseeds.com/store/herbs/p ... so-perilla
I want to grow this! Mmm Japanese themed foods!

I had a perilla plant in 2018, indoors, and it got attacked by pests. Only lasted a few weeks.

I had other plants nearby and it was near a door so maybe that is how it became infested.

But yes they are very good.