What did you do in your garden today?

[Tundra20]

Do you like the red ace over the Detroit Dark Red @tundra?

we like the detroits better and they tend to have more juice in the stems i noticed but that could be just something here idk

 

[big rockpile]

I quit it’s 90F I planted 2 rows of Leeks and half a row each of Chives and Lavender.

The Greenhouse is a Hot angry place. I’ve been doing what I can to cool it down.

big rockpile

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Been mixing a whole load of compost and potting on tomatoes to final containers. Empty the old containers into the wheel barrow through the riddle, put the wood that's left back in bottom of container, a lot has rotted away, or breaks up into small stuff that goes through the riddle, so then making up with 'fresh' wood. Mixing rotted manure, a little blood fish and bone and some wood ash with the compost before refilling the container and planting on tomatoes, staking them and tying them in, done three so far and one bucket ready for the next.
Planted another experimental row of carrots, red cored chantenay this time, chopped a bit of kindling, not easy left handed.
It's all very long winded with one hand, but it is good to get something done.

 

[Tundra20]

I quit it’s 90F I planted 2 rows of Leeks and half a row each of Chives and Lavender.

The Greenhouse is a Hot angry place. I’ve been doing what I can to cool it down.

big rockpile

mine was warm today too may be streaching shade cloth sooner than later

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Mine reached 30.5C yesterday before I went down and opened the window. It was 5C this morning at 6.30am, now an hour later, the sun is starting to cut through the mist and it is already up to 8C

 

[Meadowlark]

Pickled beets pulled yesterday.

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

Pickled beets pulled yesterday.

View attachment 113175

And here i was thinking maybe i should sow mine soon

I tried a few orange beets last year and they outperformed Detroit and i was really pleased with them. If you haven't tried oranges i recommend

Has anyone tried the all red or orange turnips?

 

[Meadowlark]

Has anyone tried the all red or orange turnips?

@Martin Mikulcik would that be the heirloom orange beet...bright orange ribs and intense green leaves? Not sure what it is called, but I will try it.

Tomatoes are supposed to be red not purple, black, or yellow but they taste good in those other colors ...so I guess orange beets might be worth a try.

On the turnips question...Would that be the rutabaga? Yes, I have tried them but prefer the standard purple tops which I have a bunch of growing right now.

Feature	Turnip	Rutabaga
Flesh color	White	Yellow/orange
Size	Smaller	Larger
Flavor	Sharper, peppery	Sweeter, milder
Skin	White/purple	Tan with purple top

​

I have to differ with the above table in that some of my turnips get significantly larger than any Rutabaga.

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

I've bought both of these but i think they're the same

Golden Grex Yellow Beet Mix - Organic

55 Days to Maturity. Certified Organic. Your friends and family are going to love this highly potluck-able Beet. Follow the green tops down the light gold stems to the enormous roots and you'll find a mild and sweet gold-orange beet. The beets retain their flavor and texture up to ~7" long and...

driftlessseeds.com

'Golden Grex' Beet

Beta vulgaris Origin: Oregon, via Maine Improvement status: Grex/Breeding material Seeds per packet: ~120 Germination tested 11/2025: 91% Life cycle: Biennial A vigorous, delicious, and brightly colored gold beet. This population was selected from Fedco's golden breeding stock of Dr. Alan...

store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org

Apparently they came from fedco's 3 root grex

3 Root Grex Organic Beet - Fedco Seeds

The genius of Alan Kapuler at work, this is an interbreeding mix of three heirlooms: Yellow Intermediate, Crosby Purple Egyptian and Lutz Saladleaf that absolutely wowed us and continues to get raves from customers. Grex, a term from orchid breeding, means that there is variation within this...

fedcoseeds.com

I imagine most orange beets are similar

Speaking of tomatoes, i was blown away by Aunt Ruby's German giant which is green when ripe. I didn't know that was a thing i wanted

I was reading this about turnip colors

Towards new colours in turnips

Towards new colours in turnips

opensourceplantbreeding.org

And I've seen them elsewhere, bakers Creek got a yellow called aji kogane

They're not rutabagas they're still b. rapa, i think, but fedco has a napus x rapa apparently they hybridize. Fedco also has this red one

Red Round Turnip - Fedco Seeds

Very similar to Scarlet Ohno turnip, Red Rounds root is a little rounder, but with the same tennis ball size and bright red skin. Inside flesh is white with a bit of variable rose blushing. Slice them on a crudit platter or use them to make a beautiful magenta kimchi.

fedcoseeds.com

What even is a species anyway. Brassica is one heck of a genus

 

[Meadowlark]

I've bought both of these but i think they're the same

Golden Grex Yellow Beet Mix - Organic

55 Days to Maturity. Certified Organic. Your friends and family are going to love this highly potluck-able Beet. Follow the green tops down the light gold stems to the enormous roots and you'll find a mild and sweet gold-orange beet. The beets retain their flavor and texture up to ~7" long and...

driftlessseeds.com

'Golden Grex' Beet

Beta vulgaris Origin: Oregon, via Maine Improvement status: Grex/Breeding material Seeds per packet: ~120 Germination tested 11/2025: 91% Life cycle: Biennial A vigorous, delicious, and brightly colored gold beet. This population was selected from Fedco's golden breeding stock of Dr. Alan...

store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org

Apparently they came from fedco's 3 root grex

3 Root Grex Organic Beet - Fedco Seeds

The genius of Alan Kapuler at work, this is an interbreeding mix of three heirlooms: Yellow Intermediate, Crosby Purple Egyptian and Lutz Saladleaf that absolutely wowed us and continues to get raves from customers. Grex, a term from orchid breeding, means that there is variation within this...

fedcoseeds.com

I imagine most orange beets are similar

Speaking of tomatoes, i was blown away by Aunt Ruby's German giant which is green when ripe. I didn't know that was a thing i wanted

I was reading this about turnip colors

Towards new colours in turnips

Towards new colours in turnips

opensourceplantbreeding.org

And I've seen them elsewhere, bakers Creek got a yellow called aji kogane

They're not rutabagas they're still b. rapa, i think, but fedco has a napus x rapa apparently they hybridize. Fedco also has this red one

Red Round Turnip - Fedco Seeds

Very similar to Scarlet Ohno turnip, Red Rounds root is a little rounder, but with the same tennis ball size and bright red skin. Inside flesh is white with a bit of variable rose blushing. Slice them on a crudit platter or use them to make a beautiful magenta kimchi.

fedcoseeds.com

What even is a species anyway. Brassica is one heck of a genus

...Speaking of tomatoes, i was blown away by Aunt Ruby's German giant which is green when ripe. I didn't know that was a thing i wanted

I wonder how you can tell when it is ripe?

 

[Martin Mikulcik]

I wonder how you can tell when it is ripe?

It gets soft

 

[Logan]

Friday i cleaned up the gladioli corms, 2 went soft but i still have to lot.

 

[dirty hands]

I did some ground leveling and moved about 15 wheelbarrows of dirt to where I want my garden. I put it in 2 rows that I may eventually put raised beds.

 

[Meadowlark]

I'm giving asparagus another chance...but this time in containers. Previous attempt resulted in asparagus popping up all over the garden and outside.

Planted Jersey Knights today and will plant Mary Washington another day.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I've started planning for two more additions to my native plant gardens. One is around 40 sq. ft. It'll be planted with a variety of native species but the long term goal is to fill it in with common ninebark.

The second plan is around 250 sq. ft. and will extend my garden all the way to my eastern redbud tree. I'd like to get the grass removed sometime over the next month but we'll see. I have a few other projects I have to get to first including some pond maintenance. But my goal is to have these spaces cleared so I can start adding seedlings and plant divisions later this spring. Normally I'd save a project like this for fall so I can just spread seed in winter but this wasn't planned, so I'm just going to figure it out as I go.