Radishes

Well, second year without much success in growing radishes. I never thought it can be any problem but still...

This is what we've got this year. A few almost normal size for several salads. All the rest went to compost.

Here is the story.
We planted to kinds: Cherry Bell and Crimson Giant Champion on 28 April, 2015.
The Cherry kind should be ready on 23 May. But we waited another week hoping it will grow more.
It didn't grow. So no point to wait. Anyway it was better than Giant kind.

At first I thought that the reason for a fail was absence of fertilizer. But after studing the topic more I think that it was planted too late. So the goal for the next year is to plant it as soon as the ground melts.

In 2014 it was even worse. I planted it on 17 May. Most of the seedlings were distroyed by flea beetles which I had no idea about... The rest stayed in the ground until middle of July! And of course no result.

Because of these fleas, I even tried to propogate seeds inside and then planted the seedlings. Crazy idea with no result.

This year I used this stuff

Neem oil is ok for organic gardening so it must be safe. The Safers End All I used when I was too lazy to make neem mix. It says it can be used until harvest day. But still I think neem is better.
In Russia they use tobacco powder against flea, but we don't have that one in garden centre I guess...

Another thing that I want to try with radish as well as carrots and beats is to make seed tape. I know I can buy it ready with seed but I also want to try collecting my own seeds.

P.S. I planted more radishes to try on 1 June, this time in composed cow manure. Now I think it's not gonna work. But it's already done.

And I left two plants of Cherry Bell for seeds.

Miracle Gro Garden Feeder review

Recently I purchased this thing

I wanted it so hard that I even ordered it online after not finding it in local Walmart.
Anyway I tried it today on some of my garden plants and was slightly frustated.

Now after reading reviews on the internet I understand why!
Like most of the people I expected to see the blue water coming out of it. Well it's not! I shaked it all the time to get it out, and it was wrong thing to do.

So I'll give it another try in  two weeks. Or I'll use it just for flowers as I'm not sure if I want nirtogen in my veggies.

One thing that I realized too late that my garden size could be easilly satisfied with fertilizing from watering can. Because this thing is meant for the big gardens. It covers a lot and uses all the pack of fertilizer in 15 minutes! I guess with watering can 1 tbsp for gallon of water I could use it forever! Well ok, not forever but more then 15 minutes for sure.

Anyway here what I used it for today 6 June:

My wild strawberries

My Columbine flowers

Peas

Carrots

Lettuce

Another peas planted later

Spinach

Dill

And potatoes

My target was seedlings that wasn't fertilised before. I also did Camomile seedlings and Calendula, and some other herbs. 

It seems that I have a lot diluted fertilizer left. But... After doing all this.... I started to think about using organic fertilizer in my garden))) 

Introduction

First introduction! I'm housewife 34 years old. Have daughter almost 4 years.
Gardening experience - almost zero. This year (2015) is my second.
We live in Regina city SK, Canada. It's in the prairies in the middle of the continent. Zone 3. Cold long winters and short summer.

This is how my backyard looks.

My garden area

And this is my garden view to this date 6 June, 2015. 

I guess this is it for introduction! Let's get started! 😉