You know you are getting older, when the chaos starts in the nursery/green house

You know you are getting older, when the chaos starts in the nursery/green house.
What I have labeled as broccoli, turned out to be wasabi, and I have no idea why I started radishes indoors, and lettuce already in August. I am pretty sure my lettuce will have fully matured before it gets cold enough for me to plant them. They do look amazing though 😂
I am glad I figured it out now, and not later. The flavor profile between wasabi and broccoli are so different 😝.
I panicked for a while, until I found 4 four packs in my nursery that also says broccoli. Now I will just have to hope, those actually turns out to be broccoli.
If I seed broccoli too late, they usually end up bolting. Bolting means the birds take over the planting and seeding for the next season. That’s how I ended up with a huge broccoli growing in the crack between my carrot planters, and our patio, during the hot season, when they aren’t supposed to be able to grow.
Sometimes I think the birds are better gardeners than I am. 👩🏼‍🌾 when I direct seed anything, they always come and and steal the seeds. I used to think they were eating them. Instead it turns out they just want to mess with me.
It’s fair that they do some work though, since they think I am working for them, not the other way around.
Last spring and summer, I had sunflowers growing everywhere and I got many compliments for them. I didn’t tell anyone that I didn’t plant those, so the birds did. I only had problems, when people asked me that type of sunflowers they were, and I had no clue. 🤷 next spring I am just going to toss out seeds, and let the birds put them where they want them.

Ain't that the truth!   My problem is weeds - went out to get some rhubarb, and every where was up-knees in an assortment of weeds. Take your eyes of 'em for a minute. . . Rained overnight (a surprise) and everything was wet, so did a pull and drop.  Found lettuces!!! And last years capsicums are still hinging in. There's cabbage seedlings in the Aloe Vera pot, and several unidentifiable sprouting things in the compost. Oh, and then the birds have nipped off the baby spinach plants - my fault for not replacing the mesh cover on the raised garden bed.  Just not enough hours in the day, or resilience in the back, or knees.

Jill Dyer wrote:Ain't that the truth!   My problem is weeds - went out to get some rhubarb, and every where was up-knees in an assortment of weeds. Take your eyes of 'em for a minute. . . Rained overnight (a surprise) and everything was wet, so did a pull and drop.  Found lettuces!!! And last years capsicums are still hinging in. There's cabbage seedlings in the Aloe Vera pot, and several unidentifiable sprouting things in the compost. Oh, and then the birds have nipped off the baby spinach plants - my fault for not replacing the mesh cover on the raised garden bed.  Just not enough hours in the day, or resilience in the back, or knees.

That’s why I add a thick layer of straw mulch on all of my raised beds. With a thick layer, I don’t get as many weeks

Thick layer of any sort of mulch would be great - however this is not encouraged due to fire risk.  Rocks/stones are the preferred solution.
You may hear mumbling and muttering from this direction . . .

Oh noes! So the birds are messing with it. I thought it was the ants!
Luckily for you chaos gardening is a thing. It confuses snails. They have to wait a day before they have their stomach adapted to new crops, do it ain't all bad.

Oh Ulla, I love this!  It’s so relatable,  the mix-ups, the surprise plants, and of course the “helpful” birds doing their own thing. I’ve had similar moments where I swear my garden is running itself (and sometimes doing a better job than me!). Honestly, it sounds like you’ve built a little ecosystem where everything,  including the birds,  works together in its own funny way. And hey, accidental wasabi isn’t the worst surprise!

Jill Dyer wrote:Thick layer of any sort of mulch would be great - however this is not encouraged due to fire risk.  Rocks/stones are the preferred solution.
You may hear mumbling and muttering from this direction . . .

Jill said, My problem is weeds - went out to get some rhubarb, and every where was up-knees in an assortment of weeds. Take your eyes of 'em for a minute

Those weeds are probably more of a fire risk than a mulch would be.  A mulch would have moisture under it where the weeds do not.

Patrick Edmonds wrote:Oh Ulla, I love this!  It’s so relatable,  the mix-ups, the surprise plants, and of course the “helpful” birds doing their own thing. I’ve had similar moments where I swear my garden is running itself (and sometimes doing a better job than me!). Honestly, it sounds like you’ve built a little ecosystem where everything,  including the birds,  works together in its own funny way. And hey, accidental wasabi isn’t the worst surprise!

Good, it was supposed to be a funny post. Sometimes you just have to laugh about the things happening around you. I manage a 3300 square feet food forest garden, and a raised bed garden with 20 raised beds. If I take things too seriously I would drown. Instead I see it as natures way of making my life more interesting and enjoy the shenanigans the critters get up to, while embracing mistakes. Nothing and no one is perfect, and that’s just fine.
When we moved in here 10 years ago, it was a house sitting on 1/2 acre of dirt. Now I have a huge thriving garden with more insects and critters arriving each year. This year the first grasshoppers appeared, and while I don’t like they ate my parsley, it makes me proud that the land has healed enough for them to return. It’s also good exercise chasing them, so I can give them to my chickens.

Anne Miller wrote:

Jill Dyer wrote:Thick layer of any sort of mulch would be great - however this is not encouraged due to fire risk.  Rocks/stones are the preferred solution.
You may hear mumbling and muttering from this direction . . .

Jill said, My problem is weeds - went out to get some rhubarb, and every where was up-knees in an assortment of weeds. Take your eyes of 'em for a minute

Those weeds are probably more of a fire risk than a mulch would be.  A mulch would have moisture under it where the weeds do not.

Yep. The straw mulch get enough water, that they compost within 6 to 12 months. It’s the reason I have to add more each time I replant the beds. It’s also what makes the bugs in the soil prefer the straw to my seedlings.
We take fire prevention very seriously here, since we live in a high risk area.

This year the first grasshoppers appeared, and while I don’t like they ate my parsley, it makes me proud that the land has healed enough for them to return. It’s also good exercise chasing them, so I can give them to my chickens.  

That's a good thing i heard, you're moving up in this things called brix if grasshoppers show up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnNOvA3diDU&pp=ygUMYnJpeCBpbnNlY3Rz