Good stuff! I seeded out a tray of ramps this morning myself (it only took two years of trying to break dormancy)

I had to wear snowshoes just to get to the fruit trees for winter pruning =D

I know what you mean - our average last frost date isn’t for another three months

[Image Description: a red plum seedling reaches for the sunlight through a window]

Is the inner pot holding the roots sitting on the bottom of the larger pot? That would be contributing to the issue if it is. Some stones or another material to lift the inner pot off the bottom will allow the orchid to drain more readily.

We do wood chip paths and the weedy growth gets chopped up a bit and tossed on the paths. We’ll weed like that all season - walking on the paths break everything down further as we go. If the winter is wet and warm we’ll use the paths as a fertilizing mulch the following year. If winter is cold and relatively dry we’ll use it after another year

🥰 it’s just the two of us today so we’re playing in the dirt pulling strawberry runners for markets this weekend

Admittedly no, but we’re seeing more predators for the things that are keeping them from their potential. They get hit by potato beetles and hornworms in my experience, but others might have less pressure if they don’t grow as much Monarda as we do.

Ours are just putting on flowers now

Wicked cute, thank you for sharing!

Look at those pollen pants!

In my experience, the ants that nest in our pots tend to favor the species we let have dry periods between waterings - in other words, our driest pots. If we can get the ants out of the picture, the aphids will lose their defenses and your predators can have a field day.

One method we’ve had some success with is submersion in water, using medium to large storage totes depending on the size of the pots. The tunnels flood and sometimes collapse, and you can flush them out.

Something else you could use is diatomaceous earth, which is generally available in garden and hardware stores. Make sure to liberally coat the soil surface and stem, and try to dust the aphids as well. Don’t inhale it. You’ll need to reapply it whenever it gets wet, so I’d recommend bottom watering whatever you can - I have a few small (1m x .3m) rubber boot trays I use for that. Something to note is that the DE is a broad-spectrum tool, so it won’t discriminate between the ants, aphids, or the predatory insects.

We’ve grown butternut and pumpkins on trellising with no significant weight issues - one or two huge guys that I cut off to cure elsewhere while the others kept growing, sure. If you’re doing cukes, zukes, or other summer or small squash you should be good to go though.

I’m so glad the exclusion barrier is working for your squashes! Can you train them up some trellising with any sort of ease?

I think that whst I thought were Brussel sprouts are actually cucumber, and what I thought was cucumber is Brussel sprouts so neither is where I wanted them

Oh no …

I am stunned by how crisp those hoverflies in the photo are! And those lovage flowers are spectacular

I mean this as constructively as possible: that’s not a composting toilet and the practice you’ve described raises health risks for you and the people to whom you give food.

I usually prefer non-human animal manures for that sort of thing. Are you using a composting toilet or some other mechanism to reduce pathogenic potential?

That is a good morning!

I adore how consistently I get to learn about unfamiliar plants when you post! Your space sounds so lovely 💕

We’re in USDA 5, and looking at its cold tolerance we still trend lower than the -10C/14F I see listed for it, sometimes for weeks on end.