Spent yesterday morning planting the next batch of seeds. Six varieties of tomatoes (including my first attempt at saved seeds thanks to my mother in law) with the majority of them being Roma's for sauce. Also got some more lettuce going and cauliflower.
Although we are not big users of herbs, I keep trying them. We have a small clump of chives near the back door, though we didn't use them at all last year. I planted oregano, basil and coriander to create a small herb garden with. I didn't grow any last year, it would be nice to get some decent growth this year to add to our tomato sauce.
For the non-edible portion of our landscape, I started some left over forget me nots, black eyed susans, purple cone flowers, and alyssum. In addition I started some flowers to include in the veggie garden to help attract pollinators (marigolds and nasturtiums, also saved seed).
I was tempted to try the plant peas on St. Patrick's day saying, but I'm glad I didn't as we got an inch of snow today and the rest of this week looks cool and wet. Better to wait and ensure the seed doesn't rot in the ground. If the long range forcast looks good come this weekend, I may plant some just to try.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The first seeds are in! - Update
After two weeks the green and jalapeno peppers are not doing well. One 6 pack of green peppers has mostly germinated, but that is it. None of the other 18 are showing any signs of growth. Although I may have jumped the gun a little, I went ahead and bought some replacement seeds and planted them this past Wednesday.
For the bell pepper I chose "Big Dipper", and for Jalapeno, "Gigante" both from Burpee. Although I did get some bell's from my existing seeds to sprout, I chose to plant a full 12 cells of each. If I end up with extra they could always be given away.
I knew the lettuce seed I was attempting to use was old and unlikely to germinate, and I was right. I have a total of 3 plants started. I threw in some additional seed as a hope against hope measure.
Two of the onion varieties are growing well, the third is struggling. I think I have been keeping them too moist which the Australian Brown and Ailsa Craig handled fine, the Noordhollandse Bloedrode has not. There are lots of malformed sprouts that won't make it and overall a lower level of germination than the other two varieties. I may add a follow on planting to boost the overall success rate.
I am also considering direct planting some onion seed to see how that does in my southern New England climate.
The broccoli came up very well and are growing rapidly. Perhaps too rapidly. I was fearful when I planted them that it was too early. Their rapid progress is proving that out...
For the bell pepper I chose "Big Dipper", and for Jalapeno, "Gigante" both from Burpee. Although I did get some bell's from my existing seeds to sprout, I chose to plant a full 12 cells of each. If I end up with extra they could always be given away.
I knew the lettuce seed I was attempting to use was old and unlikely to germinate, and I was right. I have a total of 3 plants started. I threw in some additional seed as a hope against hope measure.
Two of the onion varieties are growing well, the third is struggling. I think I have been keeping them too moist which the Australian Brown and Ailsa Craig handled fine, the Noordhollandse Bloedrode has not. There are lots of malformed sprouts that won't make it and overall a lower level of germination than the other two varieties. I may add a follow on planting to boost the overall success rate.
I am also considering direct planting some onion seed to see how that does in my southern New England climate.
The broccoli came up very well and are growing rapidly. Perhaps too rapidly. I was fearful when I planted them that it was too early. Their rapid progress is proving that out...
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