Starting Seeds

Better late than never...
The starting of tomatoes and peppers.
14 varieties of tomatoes
6 varieties of peppers
I also direct seeded 16 ft. of pea pods
 

Happy New Year!

So, the new year is upon us.  Time for thought, reflection, and resolutions.  Boy, do I have some for my gardens this year! 

• Start more flowers from seed.  I always think that I will have these wonderful plans and know just what flowers that I want to put in which containers.  Well...ummm...that never happens.  I tend to be a great veggie seed person and the flowers get put to the side.
• Start reasonable numbers of vegetables from seed.  I need to not feel that I am feeding the masses when I seed.  :)  I always over plan for seed failure, which leads me to the next bullet...
• Rethink how I start my seeds.  I usually start my seeds in small dixie drinking cups.  I know that this is not environmentally friendly which goes against most of what I believe, but I continue to do it.  It reminds me of my great grandma.  She started seeds this way.  I need to be better about starting in small containers and pot up frequently. 
• Better planning of my family's needs.  What veggies do I need and how many.  I have been bitten by the raw food bug and hope to increase my vegetable juicing this year.  That will mean more beets, carrots, spinach and adding some kale perhaps.  Celery would be good, but I am not sure about how to grow it.  Not that I couldn't try and learn.
• Move my raspberry patch from the main garden area.  My husband told me in the beginning that putting the raspberries in the garden was not a good idea.  Being my hard headed, stubborn self, I persisted that I wanted them in the garden.  Now I tell him that he was right.  :)  They have become invasive with their runners.  I think that having them in raised beds in the yard where I can go around with the lawnmower will help keep those runners in check. 
• Redo my south facing flower bed.  I had torn this bed apart when we first moved to this house nearly 11 years ago as well as expanded it.  I accepted a gift of a sunflower type flower from my neighbor that she promised was only a couple feet tall.  Needless to say, my dirt must have radioactive properties.  Those darn things grow to well over 5 feet tall and are as invasive as any plant I have grown.  They have overtaken the bed.  The bed is getting everything removed and replanted in the spring.
• Last but not least, weeding.  Ugh.  The bane of my existence.  What can I say, my blog is aptly named.  Spring always starts with the best of intentions and energy.  Along comes the Illinois heat and humidity which I do not like, throw in a summer vacation or two, and you no longer have a neat and tidy garden, but a rambling plot of opportunistic weeds!  This year's plan is to be a better weeder.  How will I accomplish this goal?  The basics of more frequent weeding.  Weeds in general brings me to the last bullet which I need help with from my gardening friends.
• How to control the weeds between my raised beds.  How do others accomplish this?  I don't want to use a pesticide at all.  We have used straw with some success.  Any suggestions?

Veggie and flower progress

The veggie garden as of this past Sunday (Father's Day).  My husband strawed many of the beds for me.  :)

Baby tomatoes...Roma on the left and Viva Italia on the right.  It won't be long now...

Two of my raised beds of tomatoes on the left.  They seem to finally be growing.  This has been such an odd year for weather.  I have noticed that throughout the country, other garden bloggers are reporting the same conditions.  My okra is on the right.  They are bigger than they look in their bed of straw.  They really like the heat, and there just hasn't been a lot of that over a consistent period.  Today is overcast and in the 60's with highs in only the 60's and 70's for the rest of the week and lows in the 50's.  Great weather in my book, but not good for warm weather loving plants.

I am so proud of my yellow crookneck squash on the upper left.  This is seed from my aunt in Alabama again that I have had for a few years and wasn't sure if it would grow.  I am thrilled to see it sprout!  She says that it is the best yellow squash in her opinion.  I am so glad to have a start of another family heirloom.

Ah, the upper right picture.  This has to be the most pathetic stand of beets that I have ever seen.  The rabbits have been feasting on the leaves that are closest to the fence (the back of the picture).  I hope to harvest these soon and get a second crop in.

Lower left...my volunteer dill.  I love the feathery foliage.

Lower right...onions and a bit of my broccoli and peas.  The blue tubes were over the broccoli while they were still small to keep the rabbits from devouring them.

My broccoli and peas.  The peas are growing along with my carrots.

The wild black raspberry bush that I have been feasting on recently.

Also checked in on the red raspberries.  There are a few that are getting some size to them.  I was so happy to find that there was a red one.  Needless to say, I ate it right then and there.  Yum!

In keeping with my "old seed" theme this year, my hyacinth beans have sprouted.  My neighbor would be proud.  :)

I have torn out this wren nest so many times from the bluebird house.  One persistent Momma Wren.  Makes me always think of the book....

Peaches!  Growing nicely....

Hostas that I have growing around the trees on the north side of our yard in the front.  I have a flower bed in the backyard that is very shady.  I am thinking of converting it to a hosta bed.  I don't know why I haven't thought of that before.  That will have to be a next spring job.

On the left is a Glowing Embers hydrangea that has never seemed to look like a glowing ember to me.  It was supposed to be reddish in color.  I have always had pastel pink.  I don't think that this hydrangea is supposed to be influenced by the pH of the soil, but maybe??  My Oakleaf hydrangea is on the right.  It is looking very full this year.

My daylilies will be blooming soon.  Lots of buds.  They will likely need thinned out next year.  I really should think about having a plant sale.

On the right is one of my oriental lillies.  So beautiful!

Chameleon plant is on the left.  It can make a ground cover, but I never allow it that much room.  I really like when the leaves get tints of red to them.

My rouge Sweet Autumn Clematis is threatening to take over my suet feeder.  It hasn't hindered the birds from eating suet.

This is kind of a low key time for the flower gardens.  After such a burst of color in spring, everything just seems green now.  I plan to start more annuals from seed for some additional color next year.

Spouting seeds

The seeds are sprouting very well. Yes, they do look crowded, but I purposely planted them like that. Once they get a set or two of true leaves, I will transplant them into their own cups. I really wasn't sure how well they would germinate.  The alyssum sprouted very quickly.  I am definitely a fan of heat mats.

 Pictured above are alyssum, broccoli and several varieties of tomatoes.

 Above-Various tomatoes, broccoli and a couple pepperoncini plants just starting to emerge. Note the leaning broccoli.  They were on the edge of the flat and leaning toward the light.  I keep the florescents directly over the flats, but the plants on the edge have to be rotated to the middle to keep them happy.  It doesn't take long at all for them to start their lean.

 There is a story to this set of cells.  I was moving the cells that had sprouted out of the covered flats so they could get air and this group dumped upside down like a slice of buttered bread.  I was sick!  There were so many varieties of tomatoes in here and no way to tell what was what.  I salvaged the seedlings that I could and just scooped the soil back into the container, replanted the seedlings, and hoping for the best.  My beloved Black Krim tomatoes were in this bunch.  Note the markers all bunched together.  These seedlings could be any of these types of tomato.  If they make it, I will have a surprise.

 Sweet William sprouts

Coleus and one salvia sprout. 



Seed Starting Sunday

With just six weeks until Mother's Day, I got busy starting seeds today.  Our last frost is around the end of April to the beginning of May depending on what source you look at. 

For me, there is nothing quite like being in the shed playing in the dirt.  I can get lost for hours out there.  Somewhat like I did today...  It is therapeutic for me to be out there with nothing but me, dirt and seeds.  My husband always tells me that when I am in my shed that I "glow".  It just makes me happy. 

I am trying to use up all of the old seed that I have.  Some of the seed that I used is from 2006.  The only new seed that I planted today was a pepperoncini pepper.  I didn't have any of those.  I have a bad habit on not being able to throw seed away.  I have a pepper seed that was sent to me as a freebie that has never germinated for me yet I continue to try every year.  Inevitably, I plant enough seed that does germinate that causes another quandry....the inability to throw away a green plant.  I love to be able to give away my extra plants.  I have had many people tell me that I should sell my seedlings, and I just cannot do it.  Another thing that makes me happy.... 

I am about as messy of a gardener as I am a cook. That means I'm good right?

 I look at these tiny tomato seeds and it amazes me every time that this one little seed has the potential to grow into a plant that will produce multiple tomatoes and grow as tall or taller than me. 

 

My first flat on the heat mat and going under the lights.  Once they germinate and get a couple sets of leaves, I will pot them up in separate pots.  Since I am using old seed, I'm not sure what my germination rate will be, so I overseeded.  I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised.  I had to cut my popsicle stick labels in half in order to get the plastic cover on the flat.  So much for looking pretty. 

To the right is my lettuce that I have been growing.

Seeds planted today:

Tomatoes

   Pink Brandywine

   Gold Medal

   Huge Yellow Oxheart

   Roma

   Black Krim

   German Pink

   Amish Paste

   Black Cherry

   Yellow Pear

   Crnkovic Yugoslavian

   Italian Heirloom

   Jelly Bean hybrid

   Juliet

   Marcellino

   Sheboygan

   Viva Italia

Peppers

   Pepperoncini

   Big Dipper

   Buran

   California Wonder

   Jalapeno

   Golden Marconi

   Sweet Chocolate

   Yellow Star Hot

Broccoli

   Romanesco Italia

   Green Goliath

Herbs

   Cilantro

   Oregano

   Italian Parsley

Flowers

   Alyssum - white and purple

   Blanketflower

   Early Sunrise Coreopsis

   Mixed Hollyhock

   Mixed Sweet William

   Salvia - Blue Bedder Sage

   Coleus 

Lettuce update

It seems that my lettuce seeds are having a poor germination rate.  It has been 2 weeks since I planted them, and very few have sprouted in either container.  I was looking online and lettuce seed is supposed to have a 5 year viability and my seed is from 2007 and 2009. It is around 62 degrees in my shed, so not too warm for lettuce.  Not sure what the problem was.  Perhaps they will continue to germinate.  Not holding out too much hope...

Spoke too soon....

It looks like I spoke too soon on the lettuce.  I was working on cleaning up the potting shed with my youngest, Lauren, today when I noticed just the start of seedlings coming up.  I planted these seeds one week ago today.  Granted they are very small, but it is the first thing that I have had growing so I am a bit excited.  :)  I almost need a pointer or an arrow to show the sprouts, but they are there....

Indoor lettuce planting

There is a foot of snow outside and the gardening bug is starting to bite.  I thought that I would start some indoor lettuce in my shed.  I have done this before with some pretty good results.  It is always gratifying to know that you grew your own food, and knowing that it wasn't contaminated with goodness knows what toxic chemical is a definite plus!

I start with a woodburning tool to burn holes in the bottom of my plastic containers.  This tool works wonderfully!  Be careful though, plastic fumes are toxic.  You will want to do this in a well ventilated area.  Long ago, my great-gramma used to do the same thing with a nail that she would heat up.   

 The result of my hole punching.  Ironic that I am recycling spring mix lettuce containers to plant my lettuce in.  :)

 Container filled with soil and ready to plant.  I have turned the lid upside down to use as a tray for water.  All this recycling is good for my soul.  :)

 Two different lettuces in this container.  My seed is getting older, so I overseeded a bit.  The thinnings will taste great!

Another mix in this one.  I planted all looseleafs to add to the romaine that I buy at the store for my salads.  The colors from these varieties will make for a very nice looking salad.

Aging seeds

Continuing to work on updating my spreadsheet of leftover veggie, herb, and flower seeds.  Boy are some of the seeds getting old...a few from 2005 and 2006.  I hate throwing seeds away.  I feel like I am throwing away the promise of a possible new plant.  When I use old seed, I tend to just seed a bit thicker than my usual and hope for the best.  It makes me smile to see an "old seed" come to life.  :)

Garden catalogs

I gathered up my seed catalogs this morning....somehow I am missing a couple...Shumway's and Pinetree Garden Seeds.  I bet if I looked in Lauren's bedroom, I would find them, but I don't feel like risking my life in the pit today.  :)
I particularly like Baker Creek (all non hybrid, non-GMO, non-treated, and non-patented) and Seed Savers (for their work in the preservations of heirlooms), Bountiful Gardens (Safe Seed pledge and heirlooms).  Not that I don't like the others, don't get me wrong.  I order from them also.  Some feature items or seeds that I cannot find somewhere else, and I am not as opposed to hybrid flower seed.