You wouldn't think it had been planted in November. I'm not really sure why the fennel failed to thrive. They really didn't start growing well until February, when unseasonably warm temperatures showed up.
Ditto the turnip greens. They're going gangbusters NOW.
In the house the green beans and tomatoes have sent up tiny shoots. They'll stay inside for a bit longer, the tomatoes only sprouted a couple days ago.
LESSON: Start seeds in the house in March, no matter how unseasonably warm it may be.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Different ways to start seeds
Some seeds, like those from Seeds of Change, are very expensive. In this case, I try to maximize every seed and get as many to germination as possible.
Any home pot grower will tell you that the best way to start seeds is to place them between sheets of moist paper towel in a plastic zipper bag.
THIS IS A TERRIBLE WAY TO START SEEDS.
The problem with paper towels is that the wood pulp fibers have a very loose weave. Once the seeds sprout the root tendrils get snarled in the paper fibers. When you try to remove the seedling for transplant, the roots get all ripped up. Instead, place seeds between 2 wet paper coffee filters, the round fluted kind, in plastic zipper bags. A note scrawled in Sharpie tells you the plant, the date, and the expected days to germination. This technique is well suited to bigger seeds like cucumbers.
Some seeds are so small that the coffee filter trick doesn't work so well. Take lettuce seeds. Tiny! I start them indoors to give them a fighting chance against slugs. For seeds like this I reuse cardboard egg cartons as mini planters, and clear plastic bins that held baby lettuce as a mini greenhouse (approx 6 quart container, with tight fitting lid).
Step one- soak a small amount of seeds, say a half teaspoon, in lukewarm water for a few hours or overnight.
Step two- cut the top half from away from a clean cardboard egg carton
Step three- fill the egg carton with damp potting mix
Step four- stir the seeds in their bath water and scoop out a tiny amount of seeds and water. If you use a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon, you should get just a few seeds and a little bit of water.
Step five- tip the seeds into one of the egg hollows
Step six- stir, scoop and tip into the next egg hollow. Repeat until all sections of the carton have seeds
Step seven- place the egg carton into your plastic bin. It should just fit. You can add up to a quarter cup of water, so that the egg carton is well dampened without sitting in water
Step eight- close the lid tightly and put the bin an area that receives a constant cool temperature, away from drafts and direct sunlight
Step nine- use a piece of masking tape to identify the seeds, the date, and the expected number of days to germination.
Step ten- once the seeds have sprung up and sprouted leaves remove the lid to prevent fungus or damping off.
After seeds are a few weeks old, you can plant them directly into bigger containers, or into the ground, weather permitting. The cardboard will disintegrate with time. The earthworms in my garden love munching the cardboard I put out as a mulch and weed inhibitor.
Any home pot grower will tell you that the best way to start seeds is to place them between sheets of moist paper towel in a plastic zipper bag.
THIS IS A TERRIBLE WAY TO START SEEDS.
The problem with paper towels is that the wood pulp fibers have a very loose weave. Once the seeds sprout the root tendrils get snarled in the paper fibers. When you try to remove the seedling for transplant, the roots get all ripped up. Instead, place seeds between 2 wet paper coffee filters, the round fluted kind, in plastic zipper bags. A note scrawled in Sharpie tells you the plant, the date, and the expected days to germination. This technique is well suited to bigger seeds like cucumbers.
Some seeds are so small that the coffee filter trick doesn't work so well. Take lettuce seeds. Tiny! I start them indoors to give them a fighting chance against slugs. For seeds like this I reuse cardboard egg cartons as mini planters, and clear plastic bins that held baby lettuce as a mini greenhouse (approx 6 quart container, with tight fitting lid).
Step one- soak a small amount of seeds, say a half teaspoon, in lukewarm water for a few hours or overnight.
Step two- cut the top half from away from a clean cardboard egg carton
Step three- fill the egg carton with damp potting mix
Step four- stir the seeds in their bath water and scoop out a tiny amount of seeds and water. If you use a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon, you should get just a few seeds and a little bit of water.
Step five- tip the seeds into one of the egg hollows
Step six- stir, scoop and tip into the next egg hollow. Repeat until all sections of the carton have seeds
Step seven- place the egg carton into your plastic bin. It should just fit. You can add up to a quarter cup of water, so that the egg carton is well dampened without sitting in water
Step eight- close the lid tightly and put the bin an area that receives a constant cool temperature, away from drafts and direct sunlight
Step nine- use a piece of masking tape to identify the seeds, the date, and the expected number of days to germination.
Step ten- once the seeds have sprung up and sprouted leaves remove the lid to prevent fungus or damping off.
After seeds are a few weeks old, you can plant them directly into bigger containers, or into the ground, weather permitting. The cardboard will disintegrate with time. The earthworms in my garden love munching the cardboard I put out as a mulch and weed inhibitor.
Time to think of spring
The yard has sat quietly the last 2 months as the winter crops finished up. The broccoli bolted without forming much in the way of edible heads. Everything was started much too late. Then we had the warmest January on record. The parsnips still have their baby leaves. The turnips are the right size for edible baby greens, but that's about it.
Which is fine, because the middle of March is the time to start the spring/summer garden.
Seeds started today:
bush beans
tomatoes
sugar pie pumpkins
Tomorrow I'll start dill, basil and scallions.
Which is fine, because the middle of March is the time to start the spring/summer garden.
Seeds started today:
bush beans
tomatoes
sugar pie pumpkins
Tomorrow I'll start dill, basil and scallions.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Quarterly overview
Here we are the first full month of winter. Sadly, we've had very little rain. It's sunny and 76 degrees outside. That smashes 60 year heat records.
Clean up:
The last of the cherry tomato plants were pulled out of their planters on December 20th, along with most of the pepper plants. Although they still bore fruit, nights of near freezing temperatures had killed the plants.
The last pepper plant came out of the half whisky barrel today. It was covered in small green anaheims.
Constant weeding of the wood sorrel is keeping it to a dull roar in the areas planted with broccoli and fennel. Everywhere else it's going like gangbusters. It would be great to hit it with the weedburner and then dig under the ashes.
Planting:
New plantings of parsnips, turnips and radishes were sown directly in planters outside on January 12. Successive plantings of broccoli and fennel were started on January 9th. Still to be planted are garlic, onions, lettuce, kale and chard.
Growing:
The fennel is still limping along. The broccoli still looks great. The biggest plants appear to be on the verge of sending of flower stalks. Very little of the interspersed dill seems to have germinated. New seeds were added in the first week of January, but no new growth is apparent. Peas in the pea barrel are small but healthy looking. The onion seeds all germinated and a thin, green chivey line stands erect in a shallow planter. Many of these will get used like scallions.
The pale purple icelandic poppy has emerged from underneath the white carnation in its flower pot. The carnation is sending up some small white blooms.
Looking ahead:
Towards the end of February, Scarlet runnner beans will be heavily sown over the long strip to fix nitrogen and choke out weeds. Also to be planted are freesia and perhaps some gladiolus bulbs.
Clean up:
The last of the cherry tomato plants were pulled out of their planters on December 20th, along with most of the pepper plants. Although they still bore fruit, nights of near freezing temperatures had killed the plants.
The last pepper plant came out of the half whisky barrel today. It was covered in small green anaheims.
Constant weeding of the wood sorrel is keeping it to a dull roar in the areas planted with broccoli and fennel. Everywhere else it's going like gangbusters. It would be great to hit it with the weedburner and then dig under the ashes.
Planting:
New plantings of parsnips, turnips and radishes were sown directly in planters outside on January 12. Successive plantings of broccoli and fennel were started on January 9th. Still to be planted are garlic, onions, lettuce, kale and chard.
Growing:
The fennel is still limping along. The broccoli still looks great. The biggest plants appear to be on the verge of sending of flower stalks. Very little of the interspersed dill seems to have germinated. New seeds were added in the first week of January, but no new growth is apparent. Peas in the pea barrel are small but healthy looking. The onion seeds all germinated and a thin, green chivey line stands erect in a shallow planter. Many of these will get used like scallions.
The pale purple icelandic poppy has emerged from underneath the white carnation in its flower pot. The carnation is sending up some small white blooms.
Looking ahead:
Towards the end of February, Scarlet runnner beans will be heavily sown over the long strip to fix nitrogen and choke out weeds. Also to be planted are freesia and perhaps some gladiolus bulbs.
January planting
Where once there were cherry tomatoes... I put parsnips in one big gray planter and turnips in the other. Radish seeds went into a long, shallow box. The other long, shallow box has onions planted last month. A skinny line of green has erupted like single chives all in a row. Since these are meant to be bulbing onions, quite a few will get plucked and used like chives or scallions to give the others room to grow.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Indian Summer continues
The unseasonably warm weather has held for the past week. Tomatoes are continuing to ripen on the vines, as are red peppers. The basil which was heavily pruned has put out lots of new growth. I may get another batch of pesto out of this.
The broccoli plants are now just about a month old and are looking good. Several nights ago I added Dill seeds to the troughs between the plants. No sign of seedlings yet. The soil has been warm and I've done a good job of keeping the soil moist.
The fennel, also a month old, is not developing as quickly as I thought it might. One of the plants got munched by slugs, although not enough to destroy the plant. Sometimes I wish I could rent a chicken.
The broccoli plants are now just about a month old and are looking good. Several nights ago I added Dill seeds to the troughs between the plants. No sign of seedlings yet. The soil has been warm and I've done a good job of keeping the soil moist.
The fennel, also a month old, is not developing as quickly as I thought it might. One of the plants got munched by slugs, although not enough to destroy the plant. Sometimes I wish I could rent a chicken.
Onions
Onion seeds went into planting troughs today. I think I may germinate some in coffee filters as a test group. I found a packet of seeds called Candy. They're supposed to be a short season onion, which is in keeping with the higher water content, sweeter onion types. I'm dubious of the packet which promises maturity in 80 days. Everything else said 100+. I'll know when the tops fall down.
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