Chili pepper (mixed)
At an absolute record pace, almost every single one of my chili seeds have propagated. Their condition is already ideal and I can't wait to see them grow bigger.
Chili pepper hatchling
Things were kept moist, warm and efficient in my apartment. It's helped me realize how much the environment impacts seedlings. They're just as comfy here as I am!
I didn't think it would still feel so fantastic, but I really was thriving when I finally got to plant again. I'm cautiously optimistic about this season.
I thought it would be such a fun idea to NOT label my chilis this year, and I already regret it! God damn it!!! To make up for my silly mistake, I will at least list what I planted here, just to give you an idea. Let's see which ones which in a couple months...
- Habanero Orange
- Scotch Bonnet
- Bird's Eye chili
- Serrano
- Jalapeño
- Chili pepper 'Hot Lemon'
- Bell pepper 'Ora Long'
Bumblebee '???'
I was scrambling for my phone upon spotting this one. Never seen a bumblebee with this coloration before this specimen showed up! Identification in progress...
Garden bumblebee 'Bombus hortorum'
What I believe is a sweet little girl during the last hours of her life. I placed her on my cosmos after finding her sluggishly crawling around in the dirt.
Musk beetle 'Aromia moschata'
A surprise hitchhiker. Also a newcomer in the garden, usually found in heavily wooded areas.
Heriades truncorum
Rejoice, it's a brand new pollinator in the garden! The Large-headed resin bee feed exclusively on Asteraceae, which my garden is densely populated with the entire summer.
Heriades truncorum
The Large-headed resin bee didn't just have nearby food, but also housing in my insect hotel! The female constructs their nests in cavities by using a sticky mix of resin and gravel particles.
Eurasian bee beetle 'Trichius fasciatus'
I finally found one! Unfortunately, the finding involved rescuing it out of a water bucket (why it looks so wet).
Bee '???'
Some kind of wild bee, similar to the Large-headed resin bee, but larger. Identification in progress...
Hoverfly 'Episyrphus'
Beautiful color contrast against a corncockle.
Rose chafer 'Cetonia aurata' and more...
The arrival of the Rose chafer (top right) made a great point out leaving parsnips to bloom.
Tomato 'Silbertanne'
Silbertanne stays winning: this is my only tomato with this much fruit so far.
Common poppy
I'm gonna get so many poppies from two huge, healthy plants! So exciting!
Cucumber 'Marketmore'
I sowed Marketmore a little late this year, but you can not complain about the quality of these plants.
Strawberry 'Loran'
Loran tastes much better this year! Taught me that strawberries have to establish a little.
Pepper 'Ora Long', 'Sweet Banana'
These guys weren't full ripe because they fell off the plants early. Still, not a bad harvest!
This is 'Silbertanne' two months later. Feel old yet?
Mysterious salad
I just want to take a big bite out of it.
(I didn't plant this salad. I have no idea what happened here, but somehow something from last year seeded or survived the winter.
It MIGHT be 'Trocadero'.)
Amaranth 'Pygmy Torch'
The amaranth turned completely purple after transplanting it outdoors. They're doing well and I'm hyped! I have 5 outside and 3 more inside that still needs transplanting.
Creeping thyme 'Thymus serpyllum'
I always wish I had a proper macro camera so I could really get in there and experience the littlest world.
Oh to be a little slug.
Bell pepper 'Ora Long'
I didn't manage to get a ripe 'Ora Long' last year. This time it's looking really promising.
Thyme 'French Summer'
This is what you get from plating ONE thyme. INFINITE thyme in one simple step!
Creeping thyme 'Thymus serpyllum'
Not the prettiest of pictures but a great sight. I plopped these down in various corners of the garden in the hopes of beautiful little carpets of little pink flowers. This one made it, and it's carpeting so well! Let's watch it get bigger.
Sea holly 'Eryngium maritimum'
Now THIS is exciting. I had completely lost hope in ever growing this plant, as I killed every single one but this one last year. It never got big enough to flower, and I thought it was over. But it's coming back!! Look at it!!!
Common ladybug 'Coccinella septempunctata'
Strawberry 'Loran'
Not surprised to find strawberries being prolific perenneials as I've had to fight to pull some old ones out of planters they shouldn't be in. My own coming back, however, is much more fun.
Snapdragon (mixed colors)
I was like "what the heck is this orange stuff in my shelf-" Oh. My snapdragon is flowering inside as well. That's a first.
Black-Eyed Susan vine 'Aurantiaca Oculata'
Surpised to find the Black-Eyed Susan flowering already! Indoors!! I'll grow these every year from now on, she appears to be very low maintenance.
Pelargonium 'Apache Violet'
Pelargoniums are extremely popular in Sweden, for good reason: they are so extremely resilient, cold-hardy and flower the ENTIRE season. The first out of the two I managed to propagate is seen here.
Very excited about my new stupidly expensive cultivar of tomato- 'Silbertanne'. It's special in terms of these very bushy fronds. Super cool!
Bell pepper 'Sweet Banana'
They grow up so fast... Goes without saying that 2025 is going to be a very lucrative pepper year!
I just love chili's, especially at this very precious stage. So fresh and wonderfully green. (This is also the stage before they get annoyingly tall, so I savor these moments lol)
Chili 'Jalapeño', 'Scotch Bonnet'
Bell pepper 'Sweet Banana', 'Ora Long'
The peppers are poppin' off!
Strawflower 'Xerochrysum bracteatum'
Jumpscared by the most amazing flower coloration I have ever seen late in the season.
Sunflower 'Ms Mars'
A slow-growing, short-lived miniature sunflower that is so so worth the wait.
Sunflower 'Teddy Bear'
The coolest guy in town.
Hollyhock 'Summer Carnival'
Garden bumblebee 'Bombus hortorum'
Hollyhocks have a ton of pollen for the bees.
China Aster 'Chamois Turm'
Garden ants searching for nectar on an aster.
Marigold 'Calendula officinalis'
Crab spider 'Thomisidae'
Crab spider with prey.
Love-in-a-mist 'Nigella damascena'
In Swedish the lady in the greens. Stunning.
Dahlia x pinnata 'Redskin Mixed'
Dahlia with beautiful petals!!!
Cornflower 'Centaurea cyanus'
Tree bumblebee 'Bombus hypnorum'
In 2024 the wildflower mix i sowed in 2023 came back and created a beautiful meadow! Growing native flowers always attract pollinators.
Petunia 'Sophistica Lime Bicolor'
A favorite in 2024. Petunia with striking coloration and pattern. Petunias are so much fun to grow!
Beet 'Chioggia'
One of the last delicious harvests of the year. These beets made me obsessed with going WAY harder on the root veggies in 2025.
Beef tomato 'Brandywine'
You'll always be proud of growing a giant tomato.
Pattypan squash, beetroot, white carrot, parsnip, thyme, potoatoes (olive oil, salt, pepper)
An entirely home-made garden roast!
Summer carrot 'Harlequin Mix'
+ Many more delicacies (see roast)
My biggest carrot ever!
Pattypan squash 'Pâtisson Blanc'
My pride and joy.
Huge potato harvest with little effort!
Stay tuned for my blog post about growing potatoes in mulch without having to work the ground at all!
Strawberry 'Loran'
I'll be honest. This wasn't a very tasty strawberry.
Squash 'Atena Polka', 'Genovese'
I grew 2 types of squash in 2024. They both tasted about the same, being mild and buttery. As usual with these, I got way more than I could eat.
Cucumber 'Marketmore'
Marketmore can get gigantic without ever getting bitter.
Cucumber 'Ayda'
One of the first impatient harvests of the year is always little cucumbers. At this stage theyre obscenely sweet and tasty, but I often prefer waiting for a bigger one anyway.
Sunflower 'Giganteus', 'Red Sun'
These giants is the exact way I want to end each season. If planted in June, they will finish flowering by September.
Spanish slug 'Arion vulgaris'
Slug romance.
Beef tomato 'Brandywine'
On the vine.
A chunk of my garden at sunset. I built this section in 2024 after removing our (unusuable) greenhouse. I adored how lush it looked over the season.
Pelargonium 'Apache Violet' (potted)
Pea 'Champion of England' (left)
Don't you love the greens?
Cucumber 'Marketmore'
Cucumbers are quick growers!
Petunia 'Ingrid'
Petunias, big plans and a good beer is where it's at!
Beer: Fat Lizard TDH NEIPA 'Haze Oddity'
First potato harvest 2024!
Cucumber 'Ayda'
Twinsies~
Strawberry 'Loran'
Growing your own strawberries from seed is both easy, exciting and very interesting!
Pattypan squash 'Pâtisson Blanc'
A Pattypan teenager! I absolutely love this plant. It's much more lush than regular squash plants, and it's such a wonderful dark green.
The cucumber corner.
This corner gets lots of sunlight throughout the day.
Getting ready to plant my chitted potatoes!
Stay tuned for my blog post about growing potatoes in mulch without having to work the ground at all!
A beautiful 'chitted' potato ready for planting! Chitting is letting the seeded potato sprout by keeping them in a bright, cool place. This gives them a huge head start once in the ground!
Watermelon 'Orangeglo'
I also SOMEHOW grew a watermelon this year. It was so annoying and disappointing I never want to do it ever again (but never say never).
Squash 'Atena Polka'
My first ever squash! I was obviously so so normal about it /s
Tomato 'Currant Red'
As cute as this one is, this is the worst type of tomato I have grown. It is the sweest, cutest, tiniest tomato ever. The plant itself, however, gets over 2 meters tall. 0/10, do not recommend.
Cucumber 'Delistar', Tomato 'Venus', Chili 'Lombardo', Bell pepper 'Sweet Banana'
Having this big of a harvest in May is nuts, and it took a lot of annoying work to accomplish it.
Here's how my garden used to look like before we ripped out the greenhouse! It was removed because the building was about 10 years old, the material had been replaced several times and made for an absolutely terrible greenhouse.
Bell pepper 'Sweet Banana'
I've mentioned it elsewhere, but Sweet Banana is quite simply the fastest pepper harvest you can get. The taste, however... Do cook these.
Chili 'Lombardo'
My sweet, beatiful Lombardo felt like such an accomplishment.
I was a little too ambitious with the chili's in 2023.
Sunflower 'Giganteus'
I was enamoured by the way this sunflower attracted several bumblebees at once.
Strawflower 'Xerochrysum bracteatum'
Stinkbug 'Carpocoris sp.'
Stinkbug lost in the sauce.
Strawflower 'Xerochrysum bracteatum'
Red-brown longhorn beetle (male) 'Stictoleptura rubra'
Creatures existing peacefully.
Calendula officinalis
Nelson Mixture
Northern European wildflower mix, featuring cornflowers, corncockle, marigold, and malva.
Godetia 'Orange Glory'
Chrysanthemum carinatum
Pelargonium 'Apache Star'
Malva
A great, uncomplicated flower for beginners in the Northern Hemisphere. Malva's grow in most substrates and never ask for much.
This is what is now the 'cucumber corner'. The mess of colors and shapes is a little rustic, but it was quite a chaotic sight.
Sunscalded or not, I got a lot of tomatoes!
China Aster
This was my lesson to plant Asters much earlier than I did this year. This flowering was an amazing feeling, but August was WAY too late.
A group of embarrassingly sunscalded tomatoes. I had not learned what hardening was yet this season, and I felt the consequences pretty hard. They recovered well, but it took some time.
Cucumber 'Gunnar'
The first cucumber I ever harvested!
Cucumber 'Gunnar'
Another big W, the first cucumbers.
Then the tomatoes just got bigger and bigger!
I remember sending this photo to all of my friends. Like holy crap, I made a tomato!
My first plants.
I'll continue to be impressed that everyone survived, considering I had no grow lights and had no idea what I was doing, at all.