I pre-sprout pretty much all kinds of seeds Bucky. It is beneficial especially when you want to test the viability of the seed. With new or older seeds, it's a crap shoot sometimes when planting directly in the soil, you can't see if the seeds germinate unless they pop green growth With pre-sprouting you can also see if the radical root that comes out of the seed is healthy. With bad seed or older seed where the DNA has degraded, the radical root will look puny or deformed and will not continue growing.

I've used the paper towel method before, you can also use coffee filters, sand, diatomaceous earth, anything that will hold moisture in a sealed container.

As far as catnip, not all cats are attracted to the scent or get a high from the nepetalactone in it. Your cat isn't an alien, they say catnip. will show no effect on 40% of cats.

I normally do the pre-sprout thing using paper towels or coffee filters like you mentioned to weed out seeds that won't crack. Didn't think of diatomaceous earth. White paper towels or coffee filters are readily available in most homes so that is what I use. Peas and beans and I'll do some cucumbers from seed too.

Tomato and peppers I just buy them in the 6 pack thingies at the local garden nursery. Probably about a month or a month and a half away before the risk of frost is behind us so we have time. Probably start some herb seeds later today.

My son and daughter are getting into it too. When they were toddlers they enjoyed spending time doing gardening. As they grew they lost interest. As teens they both are gaining interest again. If only they could tap that same interest to clean up their bedrooms.

Got both gardens tilled, went over them twice.

Mended the fence on the big garden and the small garden.

Went to hardware/farm store and bought another 300 feet of wire fencing and fifteen 6 1/2 foot posts so we can either build an entire new garden or, at the very least, build out our small garden. Might do both idk. Depends on time and energy...

Planted 1 apple tree and 1 peach tree. Fenced them and mended/extended the fences on the other 3 fruit trees.

Transplanted some of our plants into bigger containers--maybe around 50 of the 200 or so that have sprouted.

Still havent had to mow yet, but that will be this week I'm sure. Got around 4 acres to cut and weedeat.

Plus I've been doing a few things on the other wooded 40, up on the mountain. Put up a deer feeder on the acre or so of completely flat land up there. Got the deer cam up as well.

That's the lawn and garden report. Got blisters on my hands and I'm tired.

You gotta watch and defend against those deer, they'll eat your tomato plants, leaves, stems, and all.

They'll almost eat anything out there...

We brought one of our Mimosa saplings up here from Virginia, and it got decimated by the deer. It lived, we built a fence around it to keep the deer out.

They've eaten our flowers and limbs of an apple tree too. We knew to fence our garden in from the get go.

I think I'm going to go Rambo on them this summer. "They drew first blood not me."

The damage they do to crops is enough to make you sick.

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Started a handful of herbs in pots today. Oregano, Basil, Chives, Lavender, Rosemary, Sage, Parsley, Dill, Cilantro, Thyme. They will probably break ground in a weeks or so.

Still too early to do put the plants outside but give them an early start inside. Yesterday bought bags of potting soil and time release fertilizer to fill up the grow bags when it's time to get them going. The indoor peas and bean seedlings seemed to have paused on growing, probably putting energy it make their roots. Will so some flower boxes too to attract the pollenators.

It's still a month or so before the risk of frost is clear so no rush.

Been moving my plants inside at night. Trying to get them tough before transplanting in about a month. Prolly be a couple weeks and I’ll cover them up at night if frost will be possible. I have lost plants before trying to get in this early

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Agreed. It takes a week or two the indoor plants that are destined to be outside and acclimate to the outside temp and the sunlight schedule - they need a "harden off" period. I still have some cucumber seeds to get going. For Cukes, I pick pickle size versions. I haven't tried growing the English cuke but maybe I'll add it to the list to try.

My son's bedroom closet is pretty big and would make for a nice indoor grow room but I wouldn't do that (take over his closet). If the Zombie apocalypse happens, all bets are off. Kids closet will be a grow room.

Anyone do succulents/cacti or orchids?

I’ve always wanted to try orchids. One day. Feel pretty damn confident I can grow them

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All I have is Aloe plants and a Christmas Cactus indoors right now.
I'll take the Aloe plants outside for the summer, but you have to ease them into the outdoor climate because otherwise, they will get sunburned.

Easy Peasy in the right climate or with the right non-watering. Basically,indirect sunlight and only water them like 1x every month or two depending on your climate (Arizona?). Different varieties annually bloom for long periods, on different schedules around the year.

How big are you aloe plants? What are they potted in what kind of soil??
Christmas cactus is beautiful year round as its foliage changes color.
Have you ever had an Easter Cactus?

I don't have huge aloe plants although I've had a good-sized plant in the past that faded. The aloe I have now are the offspring of that plant and need to be repotted in larger containers. They also they have a lot of baby offshoots coming out of them so it's crowded in there.
The leaves will get a lot bigger and thicker after repotting and getting accustomed to full summer sun outdoors.
I use loose good draining potting soil or cactus soil sometimes.

No, We've never had an Easter Cactus.

Bought a roll of snow fence stuff. That plastic fence stuff you see at constructions to try to hold back any erosion. Figured I'll use it as a trellis for the cucumbers, pole beans and peas to climb up on.

Days are getting warmer so transplanting the indoor seedlings into the outside containers is around the corner. I tried herbs from seed a couple weeks ago in pots but they haven't broken ground. I'll try another round of seeds (maybe had a bad batch) but if if they don't sprout I'll go to the nursery and buy some in the 6 pack thingies to populate the pots.

I got 6 crook neck squash , 6 zucchini . Bunch of sunflower , 6 watermelon , 6 cantaloupe , and 6 cucumbers to grow on chain link fence all seed planted and up. 2 banana peppers , 10 gaint jalapeño spot with seed not up yet probably will have to replant. We had a hard rain I think it washed my seed away before they had a chance to come up. Also girlfriend got me a limequat tree.

I planted my tomatoes had a wicked wind storm and think I’ve lost 2-3 of 6. I’ll replant I’m gonna hit them hard with fertilizer soon. I start with liquid nitrogen which I wouldn’t recommend unless you’re extremely careful. The nitrogen will give the plant a jump start but you wanna run about 10-15 gallons per acre. So very little. I put it in a dish soap bottle and make a small circle around the plant staying back about 6 inches from the trunk I’ll follow up with a little p and k later. Probably already have enough p residual from the sweet corn patch that was planted there last year that got a heavy dose of p rich fertilizer. Gonna plant peppers soon. Next couple weeks. It’s still very early here. Frost is still a danger. I will cover the tomatoes with baskets or buckets if frost is possible at night for the next couple weeks

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Crook squash are my definite favorite

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I too am a bit leary of frost in my latitude. Couple more weeks or so and we should be out of the frost danger. I'm doing container garden so they will be on the deck and close to the house so they'll get some heat from the house but as of last week we still have been getting mild frost overnight a couple times a week. Hopefully we've turned the corner.

For fertilizer I would like to use compost but I don't have a compost going. Bought some organic soil for outdoor container gardening then mix in some 10-10-10 slow release fertilizer for the season. In the beginning use I'll spike the water with some nitrogen rich fertilizer to promote stalks and leaf growth. Maybe some K (potassium) rich to promote root growth. I don't like to use a lot of fertilizer as long as the soil contains it's own nutrients.

I'd like to mix some shredded leaves and grass clippings in the soil for additional organic matter that would decompose over the summer but I don't have shredded leaves or grass clippings. When it's time to cut the grass I might use the clippings for mulch. I'll sprinkle in some epsom salt in the soil. Some people say no on the epsom salt some say yes. I'm more in the yes camp. I think it's beneficial but I'm rather biased and have had good results using it plus it's a family folklore that has been handed down to me. It may not help but if used the right way it doesn't hurt.