NataliePortland

I planted a few here last year and I guess they like this spot

And I have no one to share it with!

With their 'Tale of the Cedar Planter Box.' This beautiful planter is now the new icon for our community and they are credited on our sidebar! Question for the winner: what would you choose for our next theme if we do another contest in the fall or winter?

The variety is Homemade Pickles by Territorial Seed Co

Why does it seem like a yard is so much bigger than 3 bags of soil. What’s the deal

Situation: using a screw gun to drive in the self-driving screws (the star shaped ones) horizontally, and sometimes at a difficult angle above my head. Hard to get good leverage like that. The driver starts spinning the screw but it doesn’t catch right away and then the screw jumps out and falls on the ground.

Has this happened to you? Is there a trick for that?

Sorry for the glare making it hard for you to play along. I’ll have to take better pics. I came up with the idea last year, but I live on a dead end street. Then my cousin said I could put it at his house. He was helping me glue in the pieces when the concept of it finally clicked for him and he got so excited about what clues you could give to search for and things to put inside. It’s so fun. I went to the Goodwill “bins” and just filled up a box with every little object I could find. The pieces are hot glued in place just in case the box rattles. Maybe in a few months we can change the sign so you have to find new things. I can also remove entire shelves or maybe just pop off the toys. Hot glue comes off easy enough.

I live in Portland and would love to make another and find someone around willing to host it in their yard. So if you’re interested let me know.

This variety is called homemade pickles. I waiting until the first hot day of summer, which was June 8. I poured 1/2 cup of complete organic fertilizer into three spots each, then mixed it up with the soil. Then I billed those three spots up into low mounds 2 inches high and 18 inches wide. Then I watered the soil. After watering I pushed my fist deep into the middle of the hill and laid 5 seeds on top and sprinkled dry soil over. I DID NOT WATER until they sprouted, then I watered. As the days got hotter I laid down straw and watered wider and wider around avoiding the stem and the leaves. They just made the first male flower today. I’ll side dress fertilizer tomorrow. Hoping to can a years worth of pickles

The plants in front of them are called huazontle, a Mexican vegetable related to lambs ears.

I am making this post because after years of frustration, I have finally learned how to do it consistently. Most sources say that Papaver Somniferum needs to be cold stratified and have light to germinate and this is basically false. Forget about the cold part, that's completely unnecessary. Get a wet paper towel and squeeze out all the water. Lay it out and put the seeds on top. You can lightly mist the seeds but I don't think you have to. Put the paper towel with seeds on top into a ziploc and seal it. Put the bag on the counter in a bright room in your house. Not in direct sunlight, and keep it at room temp. The seeds will begin to open in 2-3 days.

Then drop those seeds onto the soil in a large pot. Lightly sprinkle some soil over them. Put the pot outside and keep it moist by misting it gently. If it's too hot outside to keep the soil moist, you can put the pot in a shady spot. They will sprout in another 2 days. Then move into the sun.

Poppies thrive on neglect. Don't overwater them, don't fertilize, and make sure that the soil drains very well. You don't want fertile soil for this. They would grow like dandelions out of a crack in the sidewalk and be happy. Just when they first begin to make buds, give them Calmag or something similar. I use lime and bonemeal.

The poppies are the most potent 10-14 days after the petals drop off. Look for a brown line to appear just under the round part of the pod. Look at the photo I posted. Do you see that brown line under the pod? That's NOT the one you're looking for. This brown line will appear ABOVE that line, right where the round pod tapers to it's 'neck'.

For years I tried leaving them out all winter, or putting them in the fridge, and nothing worked nearly as well as this method. Now that you're growing them on your schedule you can grow them in 3 seasons. The seeds are easy to purchase online. Look for one called Lauren's Grape. It's beautiful. In the US it's legal to grow them, but illegal to harvest opium from them- so don't do that.

If hybrids produce seeds that aren’t ‘true-to-type’, then how do they keep making the same ones every year?

What the heck? Is this normal?