Transplants in.

Transplanted the other kale, chard, and two Brussels sprouts that had been sitting outside in their pots the last week and a half. 

Déjà peas

Feels like last year all over again, sigh! Dug around gently in the pea bed around the emerging seedlings... sure enough it appears there are large gaps of nothing where I had once planted pea seeds.

So, today I filled in the gaps with whatever pea seeds I had left, no pre-soaking, no inoculant.

Also transplanted three more of the indoor peas which had germinated and were a few inches tall. Not sure if any of the others will appear later... I sure hope so or else it looks like, once again, a bummer of a pea crop!

One problem with the indoor peas is there seems to be some mold from those decomposing toilet paper tubes.  But I must say, they have held their integrity very well for the purpose of transplanting the pealings -- not falling apart or anything.

Potatoes planted

Planted the potatoes today.  8 potato pieces, all "Chieftain" which the store calls a mid-season variety.

This year I did something different:  After cutting them into chunks, I let them sit on the counter for a day.  I read something on some gardening page that recommends doing this, because it allows the cut surface to scar up and be resistant to rot or something.

Transplanted some of the indoor peas

Well, decision made, I transplanted the indoor peas that have sprouted into the second pea bed.  Fingers crossed!

Oh and wow are their roots every long!  Never seen anything like that in my other transplants!

Tomatoes: repotted, and, flowers already

The big tomatoes looked desperate to be repotted, so I did that today, and figured may as well repot the tinies too.  Oh, and yes, no doubt now about which is which!  Also noticed that the tinies were both starting to flower, which Google tells me is way too early and that I should cut off the flower stems to encourage more leaf growth, so I did that.

Before repotting:



After repotting:

To pea, or not to pea

Removed the plastic from the outdoor peas. Germination is not looking great so far... some are sprouting, but most haven't yet. But, it will be hot and sunny this week so don't want to risk cooking them under the plastic.

And then there are the indoor peas, my "plan B". Again, some have sprouted, but most haven't yet. There is a funky smell from those paper tubes.

I'm not 100% sure what the pea plan will be. If the outdoor peas all/mostly come through for me, awesome! I wouldn't really need the indoor ones. But, then, the indoor ones that have sprouted will need to go out very soon, given how fast they're growing. So, there's no luxury of waiting a few more weeks to see what the outdoor ones will do before I decide what to do.

So, I think I've decided I'll just go with it and plant the indoor ones on their own vertical structure. I set it all up today, prepped the beds, put the posts in. All that's needed will be to drill a couple of holes in a pvc bar, attach it, and add some netting. The indoor peas will go in the mocked up space between the two structures in the photo. Outdoor peas are under the one on the left, and cukes will go in the one on the right.

I would love for ALL the peas to succeed. One thing you will never hear me complain about will be too many sugar snap peas!



The outdoor peas -- not much to look at yet! A few itty bitty sproutlings are hiding in the photo.

Outdoor sowings and transplantings

Transplanted most of the cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, and chard today. They should be well hardened off by now, having been living outside full time since last weekend. Trying some cutworm defence, in the form of paper cups and/or a fort of pencil crayons. For the paper cups, I found it worked a lot better to use two for each plant rather than try to squish one cup around the plant.  Still have a few to decide where they're going to, then get them in the ground.  There are also a few wimpy cabbages inside that haven't thrived.  I tossed two and sure enough, itty bitty root systems.  The bigger I'm giving a chance.










Not transplanted yet:


Sowed more carrots, up to the midway point of the hydro meter, and removed the plastic cage from the already-planted carrots.  No more plastic cages in the garden now.

Finally, sowed all three kinds of lettuce that came in my awesome seed collection.  I wasn't going to grow lettuce this year, because I couldn't think of what to use lettuce for other than salads, and I'm not big on salads without ample mega high fat dressing.  But!  Then I remembered my falafel sandwiches. So, in went the lettuce today, just to be used at the young stage for my falafels... and maybe some tofu tacos too. The lettuce went in the last part of the carrot bed, so once the lettuce is done I'll probably replace them with more carrots.

Sowed cukes and zukes

Sowed these today -- the last of the indoor sowings.

Cukes:  5 pots, each with 2 seeds

Zukes:  3 pots, each with 2 seeds

Indoor peas are here

Several have sprouted!  That didn't take long.

A special apPEArance

The outdoor peas are starting to appear.  There is hope!  For now I'll keep them under the plastic dome.

Hardening off update

Well it's official, my group of hardies is now living outside full time.  Still in their pots though, except for the one kale and the onions that I planted yesterday.

Last night was their first overnight outside.  Today I had to head out while it was raining and the forecast called for possible heavy rain, so now they're under plastic to protect them. 

Will transplant the rest of them soon.

Peas inside

Alright, so, I've seen some of my outdoor pea seeds stealthily stolen already. So, in the hopes of avoiding another year of major pea disappointment, I decided to start a round of peas inside, using the toilet paper roll method which is new to me.

Put 2 seeds in each toilet paper roll, will thin to one.  The seeds were presoaked overnight, then I added some inoculant.  A few of the rolls I cut and folded to make a floor, but the rest I said to heck with it and will just handle them carefully when it's time to set them out. I'm curious to see how the paper rolls hold up until set-out time...

Of course I forgot to take the photo before sealing them up in plastic -- oh well!

Petunias

I'm truly flabbergasted at how easy these have been to grow!  So simple and undemanding.  They look as good as, if not better than, the petunias I've seen at the stores!

Potato harvest!

First potatoes of the year! ;)   Found two big and two small potatoes in the ground while prepping this year's bed.  Forgot to take a photo before turning them into baked potatoes and gobbling them up!

First transplants in! (onions, and one kale) And, more carrot, beet, and spinach seeds.

I've had the same group of hardy seedlings out in the yard a fair bit this week (cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, onions, and chard).  Thinking it will be time to get them all in the ground soon, very soon!  Today got a start by putting in the medium kale, as well as all of the onions.




Tomorrow I'll buy some paper cups to use as cutworm collars and hopefully get the rest of the hardy plants in the ground this weekend.

Today I also planted one more row of beets and 2 or 3 more rows of carrots.  This time I used the sifter to sift a fine layer of soil on top, just because!  Also planted more spinach.

Petunias round 2 have sprouted!

So tiny and cute, those itty bitty sprouts.

However, no sign of the columbines yet.

Well, hello there

Having a lousy day, but seeing this brought a brief smile to my face.

It's alive! Busy day in the backyard.

(Oh and the "it" in the title of this blog post clearly doesn't refer to my grass! Tee hee!)

Couldn't resist the fantastic weather to spend most of the day in the yard, my first gardening day of the year. Here's the yard after today's activities -- small yard, even smaller gardening area, but amazing how much can grow here!




- Sowed 1 row of beets and 2 or 3 rows of carrots, under plastic dome







- Sowed peas!  Yes that's right, I decided to sow them outside again and take my chances.  Last year's pea seeds were a big failure.  They either rotted, met their end via cutworms, or were plucked out by birds or whatnot.  I suspect all three of those were a factor, no idea why as I had no problems with peas when I last grew them a few years ago.  So, all year I've been saving my toilet paper rolls with the thought of starting them inside this year.  Well, today I decided to get them a shot outside.  Differences over last year:  (1) in a different bed, (2) under plastic cover.  Here's hoping they succeed.  I sure do love sugar snap peas, such a delectable garden treat!







- Sowed spinach, under plastic dome made with garden fence supports




- Planted some multiplier onion bulbs (the ones I planted on February 23rd don't seem to have done much)





- Set out the kale, onions, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and chard (the older plants, not the younger ones) to harden off for a few hours, their first time outside -- although, it was such a nice day I'm not sure how "hard" that was for them!




Charlie the cat enjoyed some good sun time.




It occurred to me that I'm in the process of hardening off not only my veggie plants, but also my little dog who's coming off 8 weeks of cage rest due to a disc issue with his back.  Both the plants and Scooter need to ease themselves into life in the real world!





Charlie had no qualms with Scooter being confined while he was free to roam :D

Soil warmers

Picked up a roll of wire, a plastic paint drop-sheet, and some clothespins to get some soil warming underway.  Tent pegs secure the wire to the ground, and hopefully the wind won't wreak too much havoc with the plastic covers.

 I figure these domes can later serve a second purpose, offering some protection for some of my transplants once that time comes.

Spot 1:  Half of the carrot bed.


Spot 2:  Here's where I'll put the first of the Brussels, cabbage, kale, and chard transplants.

Let the hardening off games begin

Today set up the oscillating fan.  I never did this in past years, but figure why not give these plants the best chance at making it out there in the real world.

The fan seems to affect only one shelf, so I aimed it at the middle shelf which houses most of the more mature plants which are also the cold weather ones that will be going out within a few weeks per my schedule info -- yikes!  I've plugged the fan into a timer, will start with a few hours on, a few hours off.

Today I also rearranged everything into how it is in the photo, with the tallest plants on the same shelf so that the lights can be set up optimally.  Amazingly, I didn't snap any stems in the process!  (that I know of, anyway!)

Sowed more petunias, and, some columbines

With how good those February-sowed petunias are looking, I was thinking, wouldn't it be cool to not buy any flowers this year because I'm using my own flower seedlings?  (Ok, perennials are the obvious answer here, but oh well.)


So, today I sowed another tray of the same petunias, as well as a tray of a veined variety that I couldn't resist buying at the store yesterday.


I also sowed a tray of several-year-old columbines that I found in my seed jar.  I didn't have any success growing those outside when I tried a few years ago, but why not give them a try inside to use up the rest of the seeds.


And yes, I'm starting to freak out just a little that I may end up running out of room under the lights!  Hence getting the fan going today, and some outside soil-warmers to get things ready for the first outside transplantings soon.

Petunia!

Can it be? Can it really, really be! A flower on one of my petunias!



And more on the way. Wow. Petunias have got to be the easiest thing to grow from seed. I love how there seems to be zero potential for legginess compared to the oodles of veggies where that can be an issue. Nice and stout!

Seedling update

I think the accidentally unlabelled tomatoes have made it clear which two are the Tiny Tims and which two are the beefsteak!



Very happy with some of the older Brussels, kale, chard, and onions -- they look great.



Generally, the other things are coming along too:



However, the cabbages aren't looking too great in general.  Seems some are just failing to thrive... but maybe they will rally.  Worse comes to worse, off to the garden store I will go for some good healthy transplants.  Loved harvesting the cabbage last year, hope to do it again this year one way or the other!

April 2nd sowing: Round two of bok choy, and, a couple more swiss chard

Round 2 of baby bok choy sowed.  3 joined-pots plus 1 singleton pot, 2 seeds each.  This time, I added in some left over vermiculite as I find the Go Pro mix dries up fast and hard.  Will see if the vermiculite makes a difference.

Also filled in a couple of gaps in the swiss chard.

Oh!  And, transplanted some of the older bok choys into their own pots.  Will see if they survive or not...

Begonia leaf!

Check it out!  Looks like a real honest to goodness actual begonia leaf is starting to form from one of the little nubbins!  Bummer it's one of the white plants -- give me some colour darn it!



Another view!  (Maybe I'll get a proper macro lens for my SLR sometime!  Flower mode on cheapie point and shoot not great!)




One of the colour plants also has a little nubbin (though not a leaf yet) -- so there is still hope for some begonia bonanza in the garden this year.

Fun to have little experiments like this that really don't matter whether they succeed or fail. (Woops, spoken like a true human... of course it matters to the plant!)