Papahoa Fibreworks Linen Grow Along - Preparing The Ground and Seed Sowing
Hello friends,
With spring now here, it was finally time to sow my linen fibre seeds as part of the Papahoa Fibreworks linen grow along. But first, I had to choose a 1 m² patch of the vegetable garden to grow them in, and prepare the soil for seed sowing.
Space is at a premium in my garden this growing season for many different reasons, so I squeezed the plot in close to the back of our house, next to the bed where I'm growing my sugar beet plants, and alongside the beds where I'm planting our potatoes.
With the garden bed chosen, the next step was to prepare the bed for seed sowing. I took the advice from the linen grow along, and created a false seed bed, encouraging the weeds to germinate so I could remove them before the linen seeds are planted.
I removed weeds from the area and raked it flat, and then watered it well to encourage the weeds to grow. Within a week, the weed seeds on the surface germinated, and I hoed the patch of ground to kill the weeds which had grown. I repeated this process three more times over the following weeks, since apparently this patch of garden had many weed seeds in the top few centimetres of soil.
With the weed seeds all taken care of, it was finally time to sow the linen. Hand-scattering the seed over the 1 m² patch of soil didn't take very long at all, using the four-pass method recommended by the grow along. The aim is to distribute the seed evenly and densely in a cross-hatch pattern, encouraging the linen seedlings to grow upwards and produce long, straight stems rather than branching. These long stems are what contain the linen fibre that will eventually be harvested. The packet from Papahoa Fibreworks contained 10.3 grams of seed, which was enough to sow the entire 1 m² patch.
I then gently raked the soil over the linen seeds and used the back of the rake to lightly tamp them into place. After giving the bed a good watering to get germination started, I covered the seeds with netting to stop our local birds from eating them.
With the linen seeds finally sown, all that's left to do now is wait for them to germinate and start growing. I'm looking forward to following the linen through the growing season and seeing how it performs in my garden, while learning more about growing and processing linen fibre along the way.
Hopefully, with a little help from some spring sunshine and rain, I'll have a healthy patch of linen ready for harvesting this summer. For now, the linen grow along has officially begun.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
From A Lilac Tree to More Dahlias in the Backyard
Hello friends,
Over the winter months I've been busy in the back left-hand side of our garden, in the area where our lilac tree used to stand. After the tree died after the big spring storm last year, and once we'd taken it down, it gave me an opportunity to rethink and rearrange that side of the garden.
The first thing I did was set up some space along the fence line for growing sweet peas, which is already underway. The sweet peas are now growing happily up the wire netting.
As for the rest of the space, there was now a large area that could fit many more dahlias than I currently had. I decided to lay it out in rows so I could fit in as many as possible. I've become obsessed with anemone and collarette dahlias recently, so I wanted to add more of these to my collection, and also include them in my fledgling breeding program.
The first step was to dig out the lilac tree stump, and it turned out to be much easier than we'd expected. Hubby got the job done in less than half an hour, as the stump was completely rotten. I suspect this may have been the main reason why the lilac tree may have died in the first place...
The next step was to transplant my two damask rose bushes to the back fence line of our backyard. Last year, I had grown a dahlia between my dogwood and feijoa bushes, but it had struggled to survive in that position. Although the area gets sun for most of the day, the soil isn't in the best condition. My two damask roses (Duc De Cambridge and Isapahan), on the other hand, are very hardy, and don't mind what soil type they are in, so I thought they would be much better suited to the space, while also freeing up more room in my new dahlia area.
It didn't take very long to prune the damask roses back to a size more easier to transport, before carefully digging them up, while keeping as much of their root systems intact as possible. Then came the tricky part, walking them across the backyard without getting stabbed by their many sharp thorns. Once they had safely reached their new home, the roses were planted and watered in well. Now, in spring, they are very happily growing in their new position.
By now it was the middle of winter, and in between the frosts, rain, and a snow storm, it was time to tackle the dahlias that remained in the ground in this area. One by one, they were carefully dug up and transplanted into an empty vegetable garden bed nearby to overwinter while I prepared their new permanent home.
The task after this was a big one. Weeding the entire side of the garden took many weeks as I worked my way along the bed, laying out plant tags, and placing schist rocks to create paths between the rows where the dahlias would go. My plan was to plant the anemone and collarette dahlias two abreast, with the shortest varieties at the front and the tallest ones at the back.
I'd really let this side of the garden go in late summer and autumn, and I was paying for it now, dealing with a large number of weeds. The weeding continued into spring, and I even had to go back over some of the areas I'd already cleared as new weeds began popping up.
But finally, after many weeks of planning and weeding the space, my new dahlia bed is now ready. There's now a large, clear area waiting for all my anemone and collarette variety dahlias, along with a bunch of new ones. It has been a much bigger job than I expected, but I'm really pleased with how the space has come together.
And my new dahlias have already arrived, and are in storage in our garage. I'm impatiently waiting to plant them, along with all my other anemone and collarette dahlia varieties. After all those months of planning and weeding, I'm looking forward to seeing this space finally filled with dahlias this summer.
Have a wonderful day,
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
Cozy Nest Cross Stitch Finish
Hello friends,
Recently, I finished cross stitching the Cozy Nest pattern by Nathnolu, which features an adorable raven knitting a sock while sitting in a comfy-looking chair.
For this project, I used the other half of the fat quarter of Fiber on a Whim 18-count Aida in the colour Old Gold, which I previously used for my Abalonia's Apple Tree cross stitch project. For the thread, I used DMC colours as called for in the pattern.
This project originally started out as an autumnal project, but after finishing Frederick the Literate, I decided to work my way through some of my unfinished projects. Cozy Nest was the closest to completion, so it seemed like the perfect one to tackle next. It didn't take long to finish the bottom half of the design, along with the surrounding candles and picture frame.
And now that it's finished, I really love the adorable little raven knitting their socks while wearing a knitted hat, tucked away in a cosy corner of their home.
The Cozy Nest pattern is very well done and easy to follow, with some lovely little details—especially the colourful balls of yarn.
Overall, I'm very pleased with my finished Cozy Nest project by Nathnolu. There are several other adorable animals in this series of cross stitch patterns, so I'm already planning my next order.
The only thing left to do with my Cozy Nest cross stitch project is get it framed, but for now it has to join the growing pile of four other finished cross stitch projects that are still waiting for their frame too...
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
Planting Out My Specialty Cut Flower Pansies
Hello friends,
My specialty cut flower pansies have germinated, and were recently repotted into potting mix once they had developed two sets of leaves. With space in the glasshouse being at a premium while seed sowing is in full swing, it was time to plant them out in the garden.
I wanted to plant the pansies in one area so I could easily compare the different varieties as they grew. Luckily, I had some spare space at the front of the white daffodil growing bed, so on a sunny early spring day, I got to work planting out the first batch of specialty cut flower pansies.
It didn't take long at all to plant out the first batch of pansy seedlings at a distance of about 10 cm apart. I still have another batch of pansies waiting in the wings in the glasshouse, but they're not quite ready to venture out into the big wide world just yet.
Once the second batch of pansies is planted in the garden bed, it will be a matter of waiting for the plants to grow and start flowering. Then comes the fun part, seeing which varieties produce the best flowers for cutting and discovering which ones are worth growing again next season.
For now, the pansies are happily settling into their new home, and I can't wait to see what the coming months bring.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.
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