February 5, 2020

my onions are sown!

I always look forward so much to the first day of planting seeds. For me, that’s TODAY, February 5!! Seeds in the onion family are my the first vegetable to go in. I planted nine 6-packs. I like to grow a lot of onions for myself and I also plant some to give some to my gardener friends. The onion family (Alliaceae) includes onions, leeks, bunching onions, shallots, and others. Varieties I planted this year are: ONIONS: Red Wethersfield, Yankee, Patterson, Bridger, and Cabernet. LEEKS: Bandit. BUNCHING ONIONS: Red Beard.…

January 18, 2020

herbs on my window sill

These are the herbs I started the day after Thanksgiving, so it’s taken about two months to grow to this size. Cilantro, dill, thyme, and basil. (There’s also a pot of summer savory at the end that I started last summer.) I started these herbs under lights in the garage where its pretty chilly (about 50F). Now that they’re out on the kitchen window sill it’s warmer for them, but there’s not much sunlight coming in through the window yet. Still, I think they’re looking pretty good. The basil has…

November 29, 2019

black friday seed planting

Everyone’s at the mall and I’m planting seeds! I planted seeds for some herbs that I plan to grow on my kitchen window sill in February and March. I also planted arugula that I plan to grow in the garage under lights to add to our winter salads. I have not planted at this time of year before – so don’t take my word for it that this will work! But I love to experiment. Photo two days later: the arugula is up. Why do I always plant arugula so…

April 24, 2019

planting peas

I planted my peas today. I started them indoors in big flat boxes and cut off paper bags. I’m a fan of planting indoors, mostly because I can watch them grow. But also I can baby the seedlings, making sure they get the right amount of water and light (under plant lights). For peas, another reason for planting inside – my voracious chipmunks. There are so many chipmunks in my garden and they have, in the past, gone right down the rows and dug up and ate every newly planted…

March 13, 2019

my planting progress

I’m planting way too many varieties of vegetable seeds this year. Last year, I cut back on different varieties and planted only my favorites. This year, the opposite. I’m planting a few plants each of many different varieties. I have a big Excel list to keep track of them all. So far I have planted: Feb 5: rosemary and thyme Feb 23: lots of onion varieties, also celeriac and parsley. March 4: 11 cabbage varieties, also escarole and endive. March 10: 4 basil varieties, 5 marigolds, 5 eggplants, and 15…

March 13, 2019

seedlings

May 14, 2018

favorite week – planting corn and beans and transplanting tomatoes

This is one of my favorite weeks in the vegetable garden. Highlights are transplanting tomato seedlings outside and sowing bean and corn seeds. I transplant my hardened off tomato seedlings to the garden when night time low temperatures are routinely above 45F and mostly above 50F. I transplanted my mom’s tomatoes today (Mother’s Day). In the next 10 days, no local temps below 45F are predicted, and over 50% of nights are above 50F. Another good measure is soil temperature, which should be above 55F for planting our tomatoes. I’m…

May 3, 2018

planting brassicas

Today I planted a half bed of brassicas: Red and Murdoch cabbage, broccoli Blue Wind and Bay Meadows. Also cauliflower Snowball Y and, in my lettuce bed, radicchio. My seedlings are all about 3 inches tall. I will need another bed for more brassicas. I have some nice broccilini seedlings: Happy Rich and Piracicaba. Also bok choy. The weather has turned warm so fast. I don’t see any nights below 47 through May 10. I am thinking it’s Ok to plant tomato seedlings out soon. But I’ll plant out in…

April 19, 2018

My cold seems to maybe be getting a bit better. It’s been dragging on almost a week now. Today I finally got done work done and planted my cucumber and winter squash seeds. One tray each. Also up potted 4 or 5 types of flowers and brought them down to my new greenhouse. The greenhouse is running about 60-70F during the day and 40F at night. Perfect for peas, onions, and other cool weather crops. for now, my tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and other warm weather crops are still on my…

April 6, 2018

up-potting

I transplanted my peppers and eggplants into larger pots today. …a bit of a mess in the kitchen, but I love working with all these little seedlings.

weeks and counting until my last spring frost