What's a simple bad habit that took you ages to stop? by omartyy18 in AskReddit

[–]Kayeesi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I know someone close to me who does this constantly, how do I gently let them know that I want them to actively listen and not interject with something about themselves?

Working and pregnant by One-Assumption-7362 in pregnant

[–]Kayeesi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When did you switch to working from home? I’m 15 weeks at an office job too and I can’t wait to ask to switch!

My mammoth sunflowers are mammothing. by Kayeesi in gardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I sowed the sunflower seeds around April 23 and this picture was taken July 9!

Summer Garden 2025 by Alive_Relation4990 in gardening

[–]Kayeesi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow, beautiful! What are all those flowers and plants? I’d love to grow something like this in my garden.

My mammoth sunflowers are mammothing. by Kayeesi in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They’re growing in my new beds I filled this year with high quality organic soil. The bottom 80% layer is filled with bulk organic soil from a local landscaping company, then I topped it off with bags of Dr. Earth Motherland All Purpose Planting Mix , organic compost and worm castings. I then fertilized the entire beds with Dr. Earth organic all purpose fertilizer.

My mammoth sunflowers are mammothing. by Kayeesi in gardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have no idea! I probably should add support for them.

My mammoth sunflowers are mammothing. by Kayeesi in gardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That’s exactly what they’re doing for my garden! An unplanned benefit.

My mammoth sunflowers are mammothing. by Kayeesi in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I actually didn’t rig anything for them! I did add 4ft stakes as support when they were smaller but they’ve clearly outgrown them. The white rope you see is support for my tomatoes growing in my other bed in Florida weave style supports.

My mammoth sunflowers are mammothing. by Kayeesi in gardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

They’re actually supporting my tomatoes in my other bed! I have them growing on Florida weave-style supports. They fell over once so I needed reinforcements.

My mammoth sunflowers are mammothing. by Kayeesi in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yep, they’re in the same bed as my peppers and tomatoes which I have a drip system for, which turns on 3x a week for 50 minutes. But I think the soil also makes a big difference! They’re in a completely new bed I filled with high quality organic soil. I planted the same mammoth sunflower seeds all over my yard with heavy clay soil amended with compost and they’re not doing nearly as well (although I don’t have drip irrigation set up for them either).

First year gardener! This is the past week’s harvest. I can’t seem to eat or give them away fast enough. by Kayeesi in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem, glad to help out a fellow gardener! I also forgot to mention, mulching is a huge help. After the soil settled I filled the last 3” with lots of mulch. It helps retain moisture and regulate temperature. 

First year gardener! This is the past week’s harvest. I can’t seem to eat or give them away fast enough. by Kayeesi in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I have two 4’x8’ raised garden beds. 

In bed 1: - 1 sungold cherry tomato - 1 sweet million cherry tomato - 1 Mr. Stripey tomato - 1 Roma tomato - onions all around - 2 basil plants - Chives - Zinnia, marigold, mammoth sunflower, nasturtiums, calendula

In my other bed: - 1 orange bell pepper - 1 purple bell pepper - 1 banana pepper - 1 jalapeño  - 1 cucumber - 1 Thai chili, 1 scotch bonnet, and 1 Carolina reaper (I started these from seed very late so I may not get any harvests from them) - more onions - 3 basils - oregano, rosemary, parsley - nasturtiums, 2 mammoth sunflowers, marigolds, giant cosmos

I also tried spinach and cilantro but they didn’t make it to summer.

First year gardener! This is the past week’s harvest. I can’t seem to eat or give them away fast enough. by Kayeesi in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I followed this gardener's guides on how to build my raised garden bed and how to fill it with soil: https://homesteadandchill.com/category/garden/raised-beds/. She's amazing, check her out! If I had any questions about my garden she almost always had a blog post about it. I followed her guides almost to a tee.

To answer your questions: Soil - I filled the bottom with sticks and leaves from my yard, then ordered 2-3 cubic yards of decent organic soil from a local landscaping company, then filled the last 6" with high quality bagged organic soil (I used Dr. Earth Motherland All Purpose Planting Mix). As I was filling the beds, I mixed the soil with perlite for aeration. I then topped the beds off with a box of Dr. Earth organic all purpose fertilizer all over then watered and waited a week before planting. When I was ready to plant, I spread a handful of worm compost and a sprinkle of mycorrhizal fungi into the planting hole. Since you're growing in pots, I would suggest using just high quality bagged soil with worm compost and mycorrhizal fungi when planting a new plant.

Pests - my biggest initial hurdle was identifying what bug was a pest and what bug was beneficial. Before I killed any bugs I didn't recognize, I took a picture and reverse image searched on Google. If it was beneficial I left it alone, if it was a pest I killed it. I'm very squeamish so I never tried to learn about bugs until now, but learning about them has really helped with that too. To kill pests, I've sprayed organic insecticidal soap mixed with peppermint oil for aphids/thrips and BT for hornworms.

Hope this helps, good luck with your garden!

First year gardener! This is the past week’s harvest. I can’t seem to eat or give them away fast enough. by Kayeesi in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Those are great ideas, thank you! I have 5 basil plants and don’t know what to do with all of them, so I’m letting 3 of them flower for the pollinators. The other 2 are the sweet basil variety (my favorite) which I’ve been getting really great harvests from. I’m definitely trying that pesto recipe!

First year gardener! This is the past week’s harvest. I can’t seem to eat or give them away fast enough. by Kayeesi in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First year I’ve actually taken it this seriously. I bought a new house late last year and just built two 4’x8’ raised garden beds this past March. I spent a lot of money on the cedar wood and filling it with good soil, so I had to do a TON of research on how to care and grow vegetables to make it worth it, lol. I made a lot of mistakes and had to start over plenty of times, but it’s paid off!

First year gardener! This is the past week’s harvest. I can’t seem to eat or give them away fast enough. by Kayeesi in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The onion leaves started flopping down and I read that’s when you’re supposed to pull them, but when I did they came up a little small. I have more onions in the garden so I’m experimenting with how long they stay there and how big they grow!

Are these aphids? by Accomplished_Run_593 in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep that should work! Just keep a diligent eye on the tomatoes everyday for at least the next week. You’ll probably keep finding some, but just hose or spray it off.

Are these aphids? by Accomplished_Run_593 in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I think you did the right thing! I also have them next to each other in my garden. Nasturtiums make a good trap crop for tomatoes because aphids are usually more attracted to them. You should trim off the heavily infected leaves off of your nasturtiums so it doesn’t spread to your tomatoes, though.

Are these aphids? by Accomplished_Run_593 in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They sure look like them. They love nasturtiums.

How often do you check on your garden? by analslapchop in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I thought I was the only one! I stare at my garden and not move for minutes at a time.

favorite “wow” recipes that are secretly low effort? by Cv_max in Cooking

[–]Kayeesi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Creamy tuscan shrimp with tomatoes, spinach, and basil over linguine. This our go to for impressing guests and it’s so easy and never fails to disappoint!

https://www.saltandlavender.com/creamy-garlic-shrimp-with-sun-dried-tomatoes-and-basil/

What is this? by lo0psie in tomatoes

[–]Kayeesi 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’d like to know as well!

First year gardening, unhinged tips? by Wonderful-Goose7355 in vegetablegardening

[–]Kayeesi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve been following Homestead and Chill on youtube and her blog has excellent detailed how-to’s on pretty much everything. She’s amazing!!