My indoor tomato forest needs to migrate outside, but the weather has been not ideal. I started moving the plants beginning with the more resilient ones that are supposed to be better accustomed to this gloomy drizzle - Siberia and Oregon Spring. Altai will be next, followed by Black Krim and Kahuku Golden.
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So far this spring the star of the show has been the lily of the valley I planted in a tucked away spot a few years ago and forgot about. They have really spread and filled in the area nicely and are now abundant enough that the smell is the first thing you notice as you walk up our driveway. So lovely!
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So far the star of the show has been the WEEDS. I cleaned out the weeds from the roses (front yard) and filled up the entire compost bin. Then I did 1/2 of the backyard and filled up this weeksā compost bin (and it is heavy). The weeds are growing up through the rose bushes, and are 15-20" long because I canāt see them till they get above the rose bush itself. Explains quite a few of the scratches on my arms.
Oh, and we know it is Wednesday as it is raining. Trash night= rain night. More weeds.
One rose bush has a sprinkling of buds, and the Clematis has 10 or so flowers open. Iāll take it.
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Yeah weeding is definitely not a one and done! Do you ever use Preen after weeding? I think it HELPS.
Thanks for the Preen rec. Iāll look for it.
I think my mother didnāt have this many weeds as she was out in the garden every morning and night and would just pull them as she saw them. I donāt do that. In fact, I canāt really take the sun so I tend to go out for 30 minutes from 6:30 to 7 every night (after Jeopardy) as it is still light but not hot. Itās not enough to get it all done.
Iām thinking astroturf.
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I think the stuff is amazing! It stops seeds from germinating. I use it around my yard but not anywhere near vegetables or fruit trees. This time of the year Costco has a tub of it in stock, a yellow box. Good price but not easy to use so I bought a smaller shaker container of Preen at the local big-box store and use that in the yard, refilling from the Costco tub as needed.
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I will have to try this. I have several beds where I have perennials planted that I am hoping will spread. Will using Preen stop that from happening?
Shouldnāt stop any growth! I think the variety Iāve always purchased (usually at Costco cause itās such a good price)also has plant food in it.
Maybe you should get a hungry, semi-feral cat? 
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I thought Iād post a plug for ladybugs in the garden! I have an apple tree that every spring gets infested by woolly aphids. They kinda look like white cotton candy on branches. I wanted to avoid using chemicals and I figured ladybugs eat aphids so give them a try. Local garden stores carry ladybugs so I released them near dark hoping theyād hang around the tree for at least the nite. The next day I didnāt see ladybugs on the tree with a quick look but then within a day or two the aphids were gone!
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Thatās awesome! I think praying mantis are also suppose to be a gardenerās best friend. 
Howās everyoneās gardenās doing. The May weather here has been not great for gardening! Everything is planted but it has been cold, rainy, and limited sun. Suppose to turn around this week but I feel Iām not seeing a lot of growth yet cause you need a combo for growth - some rain, sun and warmth!
Someone gave me a bunch of peppers, several varieties. I really donāt have space for them but Iāve managed to sneak them in any area that has dirt and gets sun so we will see how they do.
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I live in New England and usually wait until after Memorial Day to plant, but this year I went to a charity auction and someone offered 10 tomato plants (different varieties) and 5 basil plants and I was the winning bidder. I planted them May 11th. Despite rain and 40 degree lowsātheyāre doing fine. We also put in some herbs in our herb garden earlier than usual as well. Iām also growing nasturiums and theyāve started to flower. I love nasturtiums and am always inspired by the ones on display every Spring at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. (Mine will never be like theseāsee below)
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I love them too and those are beautiful! Iām glad your veggie plants are thriving.
In other edible flowers I recently realized that the flowers on chive plants are edible - and delicious! This may be timely for others like me in the Midwest or east coast.
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I love the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston!
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Here in East Tennessee my tomatoes, shown here, have been in the ground for about a month; they are about 3ā tall, and are starting to have green tomatoes on the vine for each plant:
Elsewhere, my potato experiment of Ruth Stout method vs. straw-bale method has lots of green leafy growth for the potatoes (the Ruth Stout potatoes are in the foreground, and the straw-bale potatoes are behind them, although you canāt really see the straw bales). You can also see a large pot in the right rear with mint, and if you look closely in the left rear you can see some bush pickling cucumbers in another large pot:
Finally, I went down a rabbit hole on the internet recently, and found a short video on taking suckers that have been removed from tomato plants and putting them in a cup of water to start growing a new tomato plant. I had a couple of 6" suckers that I pinched off some of my tomato plants, and stuck them in a cup of water for about 2 weeks, and they had started growing vestigial roots. I guess this is really a version of hydroponics, but I had never thought of doing this before; I have put the cuttings in some potting soil in containers to grow them out, and in another week or so I will put them in the ground in my garden to see what grows:
I was talking with a friend at church yesterday, and he told me that he has taken a cutting from a cherry tomato plant at the end of the last couple of seasons, and planted it in some soil and grew it in a greenhouse over the past couple of winters. He is in his third year on the same cherry tomato plant.
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Wow this is so interesting! Keep us updated on your hydroponic experiment.
Rest of the garden looks great!
Nice experiment!
Tomatoes are apparently a good crop to grow hydroponically or even aeroponically!
On my travel bucket list. And it could happen because we are in the Boston / Cape Cod area at least once a year.
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I loved the movie about the theft that took place there.
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I just pinch the suckers off and stick them right in the dirt and they seem to grow
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