Nancy's Results

Spring Report

I'm growing Asparagus babies (they don't go to seed until the second year, and are perennials) which are doing well. I think (hard to tell as they all shoot up those needles from the roots) that I have about 25 plants. Need male and female but I'm guessing I have both. The other items I'm growing are the 6 small seeds that came "special" from The Arc, a Daisy that has that anti-bug chemical. I have 6 plants, all trying to get some growth in our perpetual fog around the San Francisco bay, but as summer does not end here (60 degrees always, more or less) I expect them to go to seed eventually. Next year, all the growers get some, and we start multiplying.

 

I estimated that 50% of our growers, and 50% of the seeds sown, would be a loss. But that also, some growers would have phenomenal success, and would specialize in those plants for the next years. In this way, we'll get quite productive. Clipper thought that his tomatoes had died, but his peppers were doing well. Then his peppers died, but his tomatoes revived :-). He will have to take them indoor to get seed, as they have a short growing season. This is indeed our year to learn the ropes, but for each new grower, the first year may be their year to learn the ropes. For instance, I found that fertilizing the bagged black soil I got helped a lot (after reading what Mike had to say about the poor quality of this soil, re fertility.)

Fall Report

Asparagus - 25 seeds 25 seedlings in ground for next year
Red Onion - 6 seeds all died in pot
White Onion - 6 seeds all died in pot
Yellow Onion - 6 seeds all died in pot
Scallions - many seeds grew well, but did not got to seed
Daisys (bug killing) - 6 seeds growing well, no going to seed

 

Basically, I succeed in growing asparagus seedlings, which I know will not go to seed until next year, and transplanting these in Wisconsin. I hope (expect) they will survive and take off next year. Thereafter, asparagus seed from me! I think the weather here was too warm to kick scallions and daisies into seed production, but I will research the daisy needs and if they are perrennial (think they might be!) then perhaps will still get seed to distribute. We were only given 6 seed of this bug killing daisey, and all germinated well. Healthy plants. I'll probably eat the scallions if I can't figure out how to kick seed production into happening. The onions may have had wrong soil type (not acid enough?) as nothing seemed to help. They germinated but never got more than a finger high, then died.

 

Final Report

Discovered that the daisies are probably perennial so will keep growing them in the pots, and that Scallions are biennial so have trimmed them back and put the bulbs in the refrigerator to plant next year.

Nancy