I made a few more seed purchases from Baker Creek and Amazon! I can’t wait to get these started. Watercress, baby bok choy, Chinese broccoli are Asian greens that I’ve been wanting to try my hand at. Hopefully, these will do well in my stock tank garden.
On a separate note, I do need to replenish my supply of basil seeds, because it seems my current inventory isn’t passing the towel germination test. Alas, I already retried starting them in another batch of soil blocks but it looks like I’ve struck out.
No germination in sight
Over 5 years old basil seed
Wishlist: Pesto Perpetuo and African blue basil, both of which are vegetatively propagated. Unfortunately, I had a Pesto Perpetuo that I acquired this year but neglected to take care of. I will have to wait again next year to get a new starter plant.
Why does my catnip (nepeta cataria) smell like low-grade lemon balm? To add to my confusion, they look nearly alike.
I’ve discovered that the various catnip plants growing around my yard smell different.
For example, the potted plants I picked up at a nursery have a faint skunk-like odor, which intensifies when dried.
Store bought catnip smells faintly skunk-like
On the other hand, seed grown catnip have a faint minty-citrusy scent. I’ve observed that the minty scent intensifies in catnip grown in-ground versus container-grown catnip. Or maybe I’m just imagining it.
Catnip started in a grow bag
I had forgotten I had dumped some potting soil laced with catnip seed in my flower bed and the seedlings emerged between the perennials, well protected by its taller neighbors. Catnip is supposedly a mint relative, but I can’t attest to its invasiveness. I am waiting to see if this colony will survive the winter and spread during the warm seasons.
A side-by-side comparison displays how catnip can be easily confused for lemon balm: look for the fine hairs on catnip leaves and the golden hue on lemon balm leaves. Here’s an article enumerating the differences.
Lemon Balm closeup
Catnip closeup
In-ground catnip behind a grow bag of lemon balm
Regardless of the smell, my cats still react the same way to the skunk-odor catnip and the mint-scented catnip. Here’s Conan going after the mint-scented variety.
It’s not difficult for the cats to distinguish between catnip and lemon balm. The cats have a habit of destroying catnip plants whenever they are in reach, so identification is easy usually in the aftermath. As a result, I have elevated the potted catnip plants and take cuttings to hand out to the catkids.
A takeaway from all this is to label your seeds and cuttings!
I was always an ornamental plant grower and landscaper for all the time I’ve tended gardens in Texas. Somehow I’ve always felt that growing vegetables in the harsh climate required too much effort and resources for a family of two trying to hold down full time jobs and paying the bills. Any vegetable that I’ve dropped into the ground usually involved some kind of plant that could endure the grueling Texas heat. This usually meant peppers of all varieties, a potato or two, and maybe something from the onion/garlic family. I know tomatoes are said to do well in our summers, but I don’t like eating tomatoes. Of course, when I can manage to irrigate them properly, I’m always growing herbs…I tend to have a lot of success growing warm season herbs such as rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme and basils.
With the state of the world in 2020, I’ve had the opportunity to work from home and sharpen my growing skills. I’m happy to report that mostly everything I’ve grown from seed this year has survived with the attention given them. I have lost very little in terms of new and existing outdoor/landscape plants as well.
With achievement under my belt, I’ve set out to grow some cole crops (vegetables I’ve always wanted to grow and eat) starting the fall/winter season. I anticipate starting in the cooler climate will guarantee me some vegetable harvests by next year, especially growing broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and Asian cabbages.
I’ve done my research by this list of resources to help plan with vegetable growing in my zone for this season.
I recently learned of a work perk offered for free through my job. I recently signed up for online courses with Start Organic. I’ve been attending webinars hosted by the Start Organic team to learn about urban organic vegetable gardening. If your workplace/company offers this educational course to its employees, it’s well worth participating in if you’re interested in learning to start organic gardening.
