April 22, 2012

comparing tomato planting dates from previous years

Yesterday I transplanted 6 tomato seedlings to my side yard garden. Its been so warm this spring that it seems like tomato planting time already to me. Temperatures the past 2 weeks have been in the 70s and 80s, nighttime lows staying up near 50*F. The forecast is for a week of rainy weather in the 60’s – perfect for tomato roots to take hold and grow. I plan to plant another 6 plants out at my community plot. I will try to wait until mid May to be safe…

April 18, 2012

time to plant potatoes

My seed potatoes arrived in the mail today. I will see if I can get time tomorrow to start to prepare their bed. I want to gather a few wheelbarrows full of compost from the piles at the edges of our community garden, then turn these under. Then I will dig two long trenches and plant the tubers in these. I ordered four varieties of potatoes from Fedco and they are waiting in the cool basement now for planting. Other updates, we had a super work day at our community…

March 28, 2012

my peas are up!

Such brave little sprouts “the sturdy seedling with arched body comes Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs”. I planted my peas on March 17 – St Patrick’s Day. Today I looked out the window and thought I saw something in the soil. Sure enough, five rows of pea sprouts. I will plant a couple more rows at Easter for a later crop. Peas (leaves and stems but not the pods) are very hardy to the cold and I am sure they will be fine with whatever weather comes…

March 28, 2012

planting and transplanting

On Sunday I turned my dining room table into a planting bench by spreading out an old sheet. I transplanted 12 early tomato plants. And I planted 6 6-packs of seeds (carrots, parsnips and 6 types of chili peppers). The chilis are under my fish tank now, since they like it warm for germination. Its 80*F under there. I just have to remember to water them now and then. (varieties: Amelia’s cayenne, Thai hot, yellow sweet, Joe Parker, Nardello and Ancho) I’ve always direct planted carrots and parsnips before, but…

March 27, 2012

my plant shelves today

February 28, 2012

sowing seeds

These are pictures from Saturday when I planted a couple trays of seeds. I also planted 8 new begonia tubers in pots. (A bag of pink dahlia tubers waiting on my shelves for outdoor planting.) My indoor lettuce is doing well. Time to start thinning it soon!

February 26, 2012

seed sowing

My first big day of planting seeds! The local True Value Hardware store had their planting trays in stock – I got 8 trays and 8 6-packs of seed cells. Also some 4-inch and 3-inch pots. And 50 4-cent wooden labels. I planted 2 full trays of seeds this afternoon. I am a bit late starting my onions. I planted 4 6-packs of white storage onion seeds and one of bunching onions. I started a few seeds of very early tomatoes. Only 3 varieties, 3 seeds each. These will be…

February 8, 2012

lettuce seedlings

Instead of waiting for spring, I planted some lettuce seeds right after I got home from holiday travels – I think it was Jan 5. Little lettuce plants are now growing fast under the lights.

December 9, 2011

sweet potato sprouts on the window sill

My sweet potatoes I dug last fall finally sprouted this fall. As Donald recommended, I potted them up. They are on my kitchen window sill with cacti and a poinsettia.

November 16, 2011

sweet potato sprouts

Since last fall (Oct 2010 – over a year ago!) I have held a basket of small sweet potatoes to see if they would sprout. Finally it seems they are sprouting. I am thinking about howI can set them up so they will grow inside over this winter. Looks like sweet potatoes may be a biennial crop for me.

weeks and counting until my last spring frost