April 2023 Garden Tour | PNW Zone 8b

Hello Friends, this weekend has been so beautiful and it is really making me even more excited for summer (if that is possible). In the PNW, we know our secret weapon is the beautiful, and usually mild, summers we have here. This weekend has been characteristic of our wonderful summers.
In this video I take you on a tour of what is happening in my farm starting with the seed rack inside and then the greenhouse and the gardens. It is early in the season so there is so much to do. Soon, I will start squashes, pumpkins, runner beans and sow the last of the seeds for the summer garden. I did just start my cucumbers.
I hope you enjoy the video and I would love to hear how your garden is going as well. Thank you for watching.
Happy Gardening!!
#pnwgardening #gardeningforbeginners #zone8b #gardentour #happygardening

[@stephanied3884]

Thanks for doing these videos! There aren’t many PNW KZbinrs out there!

[@aprilnelson8217]

I thinking the same thing!

[@littlerootsranch]

There really isn’t. I remember I tried to search several years ago and I didn’t find anyone so I started this channel. I love all the comments and community from other PNWers.

[@michelebrooke7436]

How do you deal with slugs in March and April? I have been gardening for decades with no slug problems in CA. I am now like a child. thank you for any real world advice.

[@DonnaMM6361]

I love your outdoor critter videos!

[@littlerootsranch]

Yay!! I love filming them and sharing their personalities.

[@krisk6256]

Add me to the "I'm behind" club too! The weather here turned nice quickly and now it's go time! Everything inside wants out! Everything looks great in your garden! It's nice to follow somebody who is local! Thanks for sharing!

[@littlerootsranch]

I always feel behind in the spring but this spring feels more behind- but everything will work out. I always want to get a million things done, lol.

[@missmaziecat5058]

This past weekend was amazing! I was such a happy camper being outside. Yesterday (May 1st) I seeded my tomatoes, some basil and pineapple tomatillos. I could have sworn that I started tomatoes end of March last year, but I looked back at my notes and it was mid April. They were still too tall when I planted them out, so I'm trying it out May 1st. (And of course, June was so weird last year). My peas are poking along but maybe they'll take off when it gets warmer. I noticed flowers starting on my fava beans! Just a couple months ago, we were chomping at the bit and now it's time to grow all the things! Have a happy and productive week, Christi!

[@littlerootsranch]

My peas are growing slower this year than past years, I have noticed that. I need to start my Basil, I am behind on that. It is crazy to be in May after all winter of waiting for May 😂

[@nouveauvieille]

I always feel behind as well. I think it's because I usually am. :) That's my favorite thing about finding your channel. I LOVE getting the heads up when it's time to start things. Thank you so much! My neighbor is putting in a garden this year and I told her how great you are. I got you another subscriber. Your pepper plants are really beautiful! I had no luck germinating them this year. I have pepper plant envy. :) I took your advice last summer and topped my tomato plants near the end of the season and got lots more ripe tomatoes than usual. I'm grateful for all the gardening knowledge you share.

[@carlakinsman3894]

Love your turkeys! It seems like they know when you are filming and gobble to say hi. I finally got outside last weekend and got my flower bulbs and albion strawberries planted. I am trying to start a few Yum Yum peppers and Zinnia starts inside. One Zinnia has sprouted out of 6 seeds so I'm going to plant more this week. I almost threw away my Yum Yum peppers because I thought they were duds after two weeks of no sprouts and then I spotted a tiny sprout! So far I have 5 seeds sprouting out of the 6 seeds that I planted so I am so excited for those. I just hope I can keep them alive to be able to plant outside. This weekend I hope to get outside to get the rest of my garden planted 🙂

[@littlerootsranch]

The turkeys are so special to me and it makes me so happy to share them with everyone. They are hams for the camera. 😂. I need to get my zinnias started. The beds I was going to grow them in are not ready yet. 😬

[@user-iw2md2gl4q]

Wow, what a beautiful garden! I'm so happy I found your channel recently. I live in an apartment and only have a tiny juliette style balcony. I recently bought some kale, parsley, red lettuce, and cilantro starters. Then, I went to a nearby farm stand and found a cute pea plant that I brought home not realizing that they will grow over 6' (alderman peas)! Not sure what I'll do about that, but for now enjoying my first mini garden🌱

[@littlerootsranch]

My very first garden was on a similar apartment patio. I used sauce cans from a local pizza place though I needed to water them more often than I did.

[@TaliornAI]

Working on planting tomatoes today. Should have those finished. Thinking about moving the sweet potatoes out, but a bit scared of wierd Oregon weather.

[@littlerootsranch]

I have never tried sweet potatoes. You will have to let me know how they do for you. I thought about trying them in a grow bag in the greenhouse.

[@melodygoad9146]

I took your advice and waited to direct seed my cucumbers so I was happy to see we planted them at the same time 😊

[@littlerootsranch]

Yay!! I always hear stories of cucumbers failing and it is usually from starting them too soon and becoming root bound when it isn’t warm enough outside.

[@davesmith6719]

Love your idea of mixing peas and tomatoes on the same trellis. I'm trying to train my peas to grow on the lower portion and allow the tomatoes to grow tall. I'll see how it works out. Cheers from Surrey, BC.

[@littlerootsranch]

Let me know how yours works out. This is my first year trying this way so fingers crossed. I did think my peas were going to be a little further along but I still think it is going to work out well.

[@davesmith6719]

@little roots ranch I started my peas in the greenhouse and transplanted out, but it has been a very cold spring and they are behind. Hopefully, the warmer weather will allow them to take off. Cheers!

[@cloudwolfbane7704]

Not to far away from you in mount Vernon, so I get a lot of help from your videos and seeing where you are in planting. My fruit trees are just starting to flower and yesterday I finally noticed my carrot seeds sprouting. My mixed greens are growing like mad, had a nice salad yesterday with some chives. All of my berry bushes seem to be doing well so far so fingers crossed for some berries this year. My raspberry bush is really going to town. I definitely planted my broccoli and cauliflower too close together but they are really taking off, I hope this new heat doesn’t bother them, might need to move the bed to a shadier spot. Either way loving that spring seems to finally be here.

[@littlerootsranch]

Your garden sounds fabulous!! This fall and next spring I plan to add a lot of berries to the farm. How did the garden do with the heat we had last week?

[@cloudwolfbane7704]

@@littlerootsranch oh it loved it, a lot of my plants are probably more shaded than they are supposed to so we’ll see on production but I watered everything every day and it did great. Green beans and cucumbers really taking off. Just added 3 grape plants and I’m getting a bed together right now to do a tea garden with elderberry, rose of Sharon (hardy hibiscus), lemon grass, holy basil, camomile, feverfew, marshmallow, and bergamot. Should help attract some pollinators for my Kurt squash I just started in the bed beside it.

[@littlerootsranch]

@@cloudwolfbane7704 oh wow, that sounds fabulous!! One day I hope to add grapes but I have a bad habit of getting too many things at once and then becoming overwhelmed- life of a gardener right?

[@cloudwolfbane7704]

@@littlerootsranch considering all the planting I’ve done this year, yeah I know exactly what you mean

[@alexkunnen]

Love that you talk about how you feel behind. I do too. Im trying to do everything myself all at once 😅 gotta remember the permaculture principle of slow small solutions. My hoop house still isn’t up I ran into site issues with my trying to fit a relatively large 14’x20’ hoophouse into my backyard. Had to take out pavers and gravel fill, so the site is half lawn half used to be patio. Trying to get the areas evened up before I put the structure up. So although I don’t have it up for spring as I would have liked. I’m doing my tomatoes, peppers, eggys, in grow bags so Ill be able to get the greenhouse up and at least have it for season extension in the fall. ❤

[@belindadunne4312]

Thank you for the tour! I've been trying to follow your planting schedule for my own garden. I sincerely appreciate your videos. 👍🏻

[@littlerootsranch]

Thank you for watching. I hope everything is going well in the garden.

[@jasmineshomegrown]

Your starts look amazing! Everything I put out earlier in the season went from suffering from too cold temps and lack of sunshine to getting a sunburn...oops!

[@littlerootsranch]

Thank you. Some of my celery is now laying down and some of my starts that I transplanted are bolting. I swear, spring is always the hardest, especially when trying for early season stuff. It was too cold and then too hot for a couple days. Now it is perfect weather, lol.

[@jasmineshomegrown]

@@littlerootsranch this year has definitely been a struggle! A bunch of my cool weather greens are bolting from the heat last week as well - so frustrating!

[@littlerootsranch]

@@jasmineshomegrown I hear you on that.

[@Mybarndream33]

Feel like I’m going slow this year but doing my best my tomatoes where growing slow at first now they are getting there slowly

[@littlerootsranch]

Honestly, I wished my tomatoes grew a little slower this year. I hear you about being behind. I think I am doing okay, just a few weeks behind on a few things.

[@theyeeters3019]

I have been watching you for 2 years! You are wonderful!! I'm close to Portland and my tomatoes and peppers are the size of yours. QUESTION can I put my tomatoes out in pots in my unheated green house now or still too cold at night? Also what about flowers seedlings? ♡

[@littlerootsranch]

Thank you for following a long since the beginning, that is so cool. My greenhouse is also unheated. It really depends on your microclimate, but I would say yes- big pots to hold more heat or close together. This weekend it is supposed to rain and be overcast so I plan to harden off my peppers during that time.

[@franciscolopez8553]

I did my cucumbers a week ago they grow to fast😂 also do you know why tomato seeds stem and leaves turn purple?

[@jasmineshomegrown]

I had a lot of purple on my tomato start stems this year - it was down to them getting a bit of a shock with cooler temperatures. I absolutely panicked but everything recovered!

[@franciscolopez8553]

@@jasmineshomegrown thank you

[@littlerootsranch]

Yes, purple is usually because of cooler temps and goes away when it warms up. How are they doing now?

[@franciscolopez8553]

@@littlerootsranch they doing better getting big fast is it possible to grow them in buckets or containers if so what size?

[@littlerootsranch]

@@franciscolopez8553 personally, I only grew tomatoes in buckets a long time ago and they all failed because I didn’t water them enough. So my tip would be to make sure they get watered every day and sometime a couple times a day when it is really hot out and the bucket is black. I have a friend who uses 7.5 gallon buckets and says they work great. I would always do as big of a container that you have. You can do smaller but you need to feed them and water more.