Sunday Potager (Food Garden) Ramblings #85 (Planting tips, painting, spreading plants)

Well, hi there! Happy Sunday!

Are you all busy bees? Planting your veggies, sowing your seeds, and getting your patios summer ready? Now that it is the actual May 2-4 weekend, we are all good to go!

I have a huge list of things to do. It is going to take me the week to get it all done! We had two pallets of mulch delivered to the house, I have weeding to do now that things are starting to grow again, plus doing up all my pots and garden beds.

Direct sow your cukes and squash! They fare much better that way.
Remove some of the bottom leaves on your tomatoes and plant them deep!
Plant your tomatoes 18′ to 24″ apart for good air flow with no mildew issues.
Add flowers to your garden to attract pollinators and beneficial insects.
Set up your weeping hoses for summer, while your plants are still small.

A raised garden bed with flowers and vegetables being watered by a flat, weeping hose.

I find weeping hoses make my life much easier. I hook up the hose to the soaker for 15 to 20 minutes twice a week and just walk away.
If you are able to set up a timer with a drip system, that would be even easier and more efficient. As I am not able to do that, I like the flat weeping hoses. This 2 pack has a coupon with it, if you purchase today, making it a pretty great deal (yes, I bought them, lol.)
Do not use the flat sprinkler hoses as wetting the foliage can cause fungal issues. They are more for grass, kids to run through, etc.. fun, but not for your gardens.

Deep watering your veggies once or twice a week is better for them than a daily shallow watering. You will have strong healthy plants with deep strong root systems. This makes them less attractive to pests and less prone to diseases.

32 Plants for Sun and Shade That the Deer Won’t Devour – psst, I have never had deer go after my ninebarks, not even new/little ones.

Lamium spreading between shrubs and perennials. — *Lamium is another happy spreader that is not mentioned in that article. I love it though, it brightens up this dark corner by my front door.*

Thugs, aggressive spreaders, and possible invasives in my garden and what I do about them – A great article about happy spreading plants that might not make you so happy…

Map of Canada with weather predictions for the summer of 2026. — *Summer 2026 Weather Predictions from The Old Farmer’s Almanac*

Summer 2026 Weather Predictions from The Old Farmer’s Almanac – I mean, this looks fine, but not sure I can take it seriously as it says the island is going to have a wet summer. That would be something, eh?

A cute patio seating area with a wooden table and green chairs. Set in a corner on a gravel patio with potted plants and a rose growing around it. — *16 Garden Decor Ideas So Clever They Make Store-Bought Styling Look Boring*

A squash that has been trained to grow upwards. — *How to Stake and Prune Zucchini Plants*

How To Grow…

How to Stake and Prune Zucchini Plants (The Secret to a Better Crop) – by the way, if you find this hard to do with your regular zukes, Renee’s Garden Seeds sells a zucchini that naturally grows like this. Super easy to do, less propping up needed.
Spring Sowing…. Seeds, Starter Plants, and Succession Sowing
growing-a-pot-of-spaghetti-herb-and-vegetable-garden. Great idea for a pasta sauce garden in a pot. If you have more room, grow it in a bed and multiply the numbers of plants.
How to Build a Sunflower House: A Fun Garden Project for Kids and Birds

*My dried herbs last summer, in these cute bamboo lidded jars.*

When you are planting this spring, think about what you will want to freeze, process, or dehydrate in late summer.

Homemade Chili Powder Recipe
Holy Hot Peppers, Batman!
Christmas (Prep) In July (gifts from your garden – plant now to gift later)

Did you know that you can dehydrate all your own herbs? (Grow lots and lots) Make your own garlic powder and garlic salt? Onion powder and onion salt? Make your own paprika powder (from any red peppers!), pepper flakes, chili powder, cayenne powder? You can even make a tomato powder by dehydrating your extra tomatoes and tomato skins. Gives depth of flavour and colour to all your soups, sauces, spice mixes, or rehydrate with a bit of water for instant tomato paste.

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A jute looking printed rug that is machine washable.

Homey Things & Inspo

You all know how I love the machine washable rugs, eh? I usually share the ones that look like some version of this. Today, I found this one, this black and beige checkered one, this one with a border for a different look, a neutral rug that works just about anywhere. As always, they are great for folks with dogs, kids, spilly husbands. Are machine washable and non-skid.

Professional Painting Tips – I really want to paint my hallways and main living areas this summer. Okay, let me fix that… I really want to hire someone to paint my walls, but may have to do it myself as I am too poor for that right now, hahaha.

My New Favorite White Paint Color: Farrow & Ball Slipper Satin – While I am not a fan of the viral colour drenching idea, I absolutely love that it is now considered okay to paint both baseboards and walls the exact same colour in the exact same sheen (satin). This is what I am doing the next time we paint!

A book called Wildwood by Elinor Florence. A Canadian author.

Oh, and I just read this book called ‘Wildwood’ by Elinor Florence. If I was rating it the way we do at the book club, I would give it a 7 out of 10. It is set in a fictional town in northern Alberta. The town is based on several northern Canadian towns, the author is Canadian.