Self-sufficient & gardening

Yesterday was a gray and cold day and I did not work in the garden. It also became a lot colder in the house. Self-sufficient by gardening? What I have sown does not really sprout.

What have I got so far? Dill, some tomato seeds have sprouted and are 1 centimetre high, 1 potato seems to be doing well and 1 onion seed (2014-2015) sprouted. This is really disappointing.

There is mould on the soil where I planted beans and also 2 sticks in another pot are suffering from mouldy threads. I removed these.

planted onions

At the market I bought tiny onions meant to sow and a small part has been sown outside (the day before yesterday and a few in a flowerpot today).

I put garlic cloves in some water yesterday. They already came out as I bought them and today they already have roots. Tomorrow I will probably plant them in a pot or bucket. Whether this will be successful I do not know. The season is short here, I have no greenhouse and it is cold indoors. I read that it takes 9 months to get garlic and it is better to plant it outside in October before the winter. Night frost would be good. Is that true? Garlic also grows where there is no winter, doesn't it?

I hung a cut piece of onion (kitchen scrap) in some water. I want to plant it outside later on.

kitchen scrap: bought in the supermarket too. It grows faster in water only

I planted my two stems of lettuce (kitchen scrap) that I bought in the supermarket in an old piece of gutter. Due to too much heat, the leaves of the first one have wilted and so far have not grown back. I have also sown some lettuce here, but so far it has not sprout either. How does the farmer do that? Years ago I sown lettuce and it worked great.

Kitchen scrap: lettuce, the big one wilted the smaller one is bigger now

I have sown carrots in sacks, but the soil seems to be increasingly dry and nothing happens. How disappointing.

kitchen scrap: piece of potato sprouted inside I replanted it in a bucket

The potatoes in bags (outside) don't sprout yet. I have one in a pot inside as a test just like I did with the first one. I didn't buy those special seed potatoes but old ones in the supermarket for 33 cents.

The seeds of the woodland strawberries do nothing. Same for everything sown on April 6th (and later) seems a waste. Strange, because I know wild strawberries grow fast. When I moved and took plants with me from my old garden, the woodland strawberry seed moved too. If it comes to my results it looks as if it doesn't make any difference whether the seed is new or old.

It seems that self-sufficient living is not meant to be for me if it comes to plants, vegetables. A lot of work but little result.

On the market I bought 2 more tomato plants and planted them in the ground outside. Straw has been put around them because another cold night has been predicted.

I also bought two peach trees. These still have loose roots. I read that this is actually not allowed anymore but the previous fruit trees all died too. Perhaps water shortage or all those ants that I saw crawling around them all the time?

When 10% of my harvest, probably more because I will not use pesticides, is eaten away then we certainly have nothing to eat.

The only positive result so far is the herb dill and that alone does not fill the stomach but it is my favourite herb.

The potting soil I bought becomes rock-hard once it is out of the package, so I cannot sow in it. The lumps in it also annoy me. That does not work in seedpots.

Potatoes, onions, carrots, beans, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes should be easy to grow. So far, I don't notice much of that. It's years ago I had more tomatoes and cucumbers than we could eat.

Perhaps I should see if I can buy them all as small plants on the market?

It is nice to be self-sufficient, but so far it has been a great disappointment.

The tips given in the many videos on youtube often do not work for me. Tropical temperatures are not here and a garden or vegetable garden is not only a lot of work but also needs to grow. All those great vegetable gardens have not just been started overnight but often the owners started years ago.

"It is good to set a goal for what you want to achieve," is the advice.

Well, I hope to have food from my own garden this year. Some lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and hopefully beans and kale (those seeds won't come out either). I also want to try simple cultivation without spading, too much watering and so I need hay or straw so I can try mulch cultivation.

#gardening #lifestyle #life #food #kittywu