Author: hwalksintoabar

Funds raised in 2025

Bouquets are $12, where 10.50 goes directly to the Civil Rights Trip, and 1.50 goes to the grower. When there is produce available, all of the pay-as-you-are-able funds are donated, and the same goes for tips, keeping-the-change, or, well, donations. Financial documentation is available upon request.

For the 2025 growing season:

  • Gross Sales: $2412
  • Donation to the Civil Rights Trip: $2169
  • Seed money (literally!): $243

This nearly ties our second-highest grossing year yet!

Past years:

  • 2024: $1848
  • 2023: $2485 (Last sale 11/3; our first frost came wonderfully late)
  • 2022: $1680
  • 2021: $1150
  • 2020: No sales due to COVID, but my neighbors sure saw a lot of flowers on their doorsteps 😉
  • 2019: $800
  • 2018: $400+

The deer are eating our tomatoes

Yup. Right here in Baltimore CITY. That’s right, we’re in the city, and the deer are ravaging the garden. I’ve been growing tomatoes here since we moved in 2017, and the deer have never touched them. Until now. We even have to chase them out of the yard in the middle of the day. Poor things should be bedded down. It’s a darn good thing they’re so beautiful…

PSA: If you are also having issues with deer in the city, please visit this site about Baltimore’s Deer Program. They want to hear from us.

In the news: WBAL, 7/17/25, Baltimore Brew 8/1/25, The Baltimore Banner, 8/1/25

A bouquet for me ;)

Once upon a time, I bought a case of flower foam, before knowing how yucky it is, environmentally speaking. So now, I can either die with it in my basement or use it…

Lisianthus, Zinnias, Coleus, Celosia, Asters, Buddleia, and Euonymus… in my mother’s pedestal bowl.

More Flower Bombs!

The garden is really popping, but school hasn’t started yet for selling bouquets. What to do?! Flower-bomb people!

Bright bouquet: Zinnias, Celosia, Rudbeckia, Snapdragons, Amaranth, Buddleia, Euonymus

Purple bouquet: Asters, Lisianthus, Dianthus, Snapdragons, Salpiglossis, Mahogany Hibiscus, Buddleia, Amaranth

The grow room at the end of February

Left to right, front to back: Sweet William, Snapdragon, Lobelia, Foxglove, Lisianthus galore.

Asters, Ageratum, Heliotrope, Coneflower, Foxglove, Yarrow, Clarey Sage.

I’ve been having issues with grey mold this year, and sprinkling cinnamon has definitely been helping.

Canterbury Bells, grocery-store garlic that sprouted, Lisianthus, Foxglove, Artichoke (peat pots), Blue Daisy (Felicia Heterophylla), Craspedia. Out of view: Peached-leaved Bellflower, Asters, Coleus

Mahogany Hibiscus, Strawflower, Stock, Alla‘s Wisteria, Salvia, Milkweed, Gomphrena, Amaranth, Baby’s Breath.

Cuttings from last year: Coleus, Aucuba, and Sage Amistad.

Seed Science

I am excited to be participating in an APADT seed study this year, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving biodiversity and heirloom varieties, as well as educating growers. They are celebrating their 50th year of doing this work. I started the Amaranth seeds last night.

As a physicist, grower, mountain biker, and citizen, I deeply appreciate the need for good data to inform good decision-making. Whether it’s what to wear on a hilly ride in the winter (I have a spreadsheet for that) or when I started the tomato seeds last year (yup, spreadsheet) or something far more serious, it is important to gather and share good data. I am happy to be a part of this work for Seedsavers.

This is yet another reason why I worry about rampant access to our nation’s data by an unelected, lie-to-your-face, grifting, break-first-and-ask-questions-later creep. As if we didn’t have enough to worry about.

Plant labels

I was finding that I kept having to buy more plant labels. I had tried removing the ink on them with alcohol for reuse, but it took too long and really didn’t work well. I finally got around to making a file for them — with a set of letter-size envelopes and a shoebox.

Today, I had labels at the ready for each kind of flower seed that I started, and they were easy to find!

The Grow Room in December

Sweet peas, Digitalis, Campanula, Lisianuthus, and Artichokes, which I’ve never grown before

I accidentally started so much Campanula; I had misidentified the seeds. Doh. More Lisianthus (mostly wishful thinking) and Digitalis under the hats.

Some cuttings from the yard… Aucuba, Salvia ‘Amistad’, Coleus, and some purple sage

Leaf Mold, Part 2

Lucky me! We had another delivery of leaves that were raked up by students on the Civil Rights Trip as a fundraiser. Soooo many paper bags full of leaves. I feel rich.

We looked at the paper bags full of leaves. We looked at the roll of contractor bags we planned to put them in. We looked back at all of those leaves.

And all of the sudden we were totally grossed out by all that potential single-use plastic. So I cleaned out one of the compost bins and started emptying bags. (And our Resident Expert folded up the paper bags to return for reuse.)

  1. Dump out a bag of leaves.
  2. Climb into the bin and stomp them down.
  3. Water liberally.
  4. Repeat.

I am so pleased that they all fit! It will take a little longer to decompose than they would in those plastic bags, but I can wait. Gardeners play the long game.

Rain is coming —

Funds raised in 2024

Latest update: 11/19/24

This year’s breakdown:

Bouquets are $12, where 10.50 goes directly to the Civil Rights Trip, and 1.50 goes to the grower. When there is produce available, all of the pay-as-you-are-able funds are donated, and the same goes for “tips” or keeping-the-change. Financial documentation is available upon request.

Final amounts for 2024:

  • Gross Sales: $2,048.00
  • Donation to the Civil Rights Trip: $1,847.90
  • Seed money (literally!): $200.10 (a fraction of the seed bill alone)

Past years:

  • 2023: $2485 (Last sale 11/3; our first frost came wonderfully late)
  • 2022: $1680
  • 2021: $1150
  • 2020: No sales due to COVID, but my neighbors sure saw a lot of flowers on their doorsteps 😉
  • 2019: $800
  • 2018: $400+

Leaf mold

Student who go on the Civil Rights Trip do a lot of fund-raising, and one of those activities is to rake leaves. Yesterday, the adult leaders dropped off the spoils!

I should really move them into the sun… but the process is so easy and low-maintenance.

Bag the leaves, poke some holes in the bag, and add water. It’s best to water as you fill the bags to get the moisture throughout (and even faster if you chop up the leaves with a mower; I do not).

Decomposition happens.

Update: Leaf Mold, Part 2