Are You Getting Excited for the New Garden Season?

 

I am certainly getting excited for the next garden season to get started.  I have already begun planting some seeds indoors at the beginning of the month of March.  The most of the planting was just my flowers that I always start first.  They are usually the first start the season and the last to end the season each and every year.  They are very important for the garden and that is why I love giving them the biggest head start that  I can.  Once they start sprouting and growing they are just about ready to go outside.

 

This does not mean that they are ready to be transplanted into the garden, but they are ready for cooler temperatures than what they have been growing in indoors.  So far the temperatures are still a little bit too cold for them and that is why I will keep them indoors for a little while longer while the temperatures warm up a bit.  So far they are growing well indoors and look forward to getting them outside as quickly as possible with weather permitting of course.

 

With cold frames it is possible to start a spring crop right about now, but I have decided to just have a very small spring crop with some cabbage, kale, lettuce, and maybe some celery.  Still deciding whether  I should be growing radishes and snow peas.  Depending on how some of my seeds sprout will depend if I grow more in the garden for the springtime.

 

Celery is one of those seeds that is best started  in peat pots.  Starting them in the ground is a difficult as starting other small seed plants in the garden.  Some of these seeds include carrots, celery, and possibly a variety of flower seeds which tend to be very small.  This is why I start them indoors in various types of containers depending on what I happen to be planting.

 

In the beginning of the season I start out with dill, alyssum, and a mix of different wildflowers that help get all the insects I need for the season hopefully.  These three I have found to grow best in large containers with hundreds of seeds and plants.  This method works well for me and makes it much easier to transplant them into the garden once all the roots have wrapped around each other.  For now it is just time for waiting for a little bit better weather and spring time is just around the corner.

 

Spring Seeds Sprouting and Some Rows of Corn Planted

The time has finally come to start transplanting some summer crops now that all spring crops should be in the soil.  I finished planting my spring crops last week and all that is left is to place my carrots in the ground.  They were started in peat pots this year so I still have plenty of time to put them in the ground.  I also started planting some corn and looking forward to setting up my bean trellis and planting my beans as well. 

I finished my spring crop transplanting beginning with spinach, lettuce, and then broccoli.  This type of broccoli will probably not last long because they don’t grow well in hot weather unlike the sun king hybrid that I am growing outside in pots.  This type of broccoli can withstand the heat and I am hoping that I can start planting them as soon as they are big enough to withstand the garden soil.

My potatoes, peas, and radishes are all sprouting and they are looking good at the moment.  I will have to thin out my radish and pea plants, but I am waiting until they get a little bit bigger before doing so.  I don’t want to wait too long otherwise it will become much harder to thin them out and might end up harming the plants that I want to keep in the garden.

I added both alyssum and dill into the garden as well and put them all near my potato plants.  I also have some perennial alyssum that is already flowering and will probably last for another week before they are done for the season.  My dill will soon flower and hopefully this will attract the insects that I need in the garden.  I have planted my sunflower seeds and they are sprouting as well which should be a good attracter of bees. 

I have placed corn seeds into rows this week due to the good weather we have been having the past couple of days.  This is a good time to start planting corn, beans, and possibly tomatoes as long as the temperatures are between 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit.  I also have some peppers which will probably be going into the ground about the same time as my tomatoes.

Lots of Transplanting and Lots of Seed Planting

This week was a week full of seed planting and transplanting of many plants and seeds.  I began with obviously seeds that were made for cooler and spring type weather such as broccoli, spinach, and lettuce.  I wanted to get as many seeds into the ground as possible before the warm and hotter weather arrives which should come in a couple of months or so.  Two full rows of seeds should provide a good amount vegetables if they all sprout.

Transplanting both flowers, broccoli, and brussel sprouts I had to finish today.  I started with my flowers since they are much easier to transplant into the ground.  I placed them in between the two rows above and between the two rows of corn that I planted a couple of days ago.

Above is just some dill that I have planted into the garden and I also put both alyssum and wildflowers into the garden as well.  Some of them between corn rows and some between my spring crop rows.

Although it is still spring it was time to get as many corn seeds into the garden as possible.  Two full rows will provide enough corn that I need to enjoy when they start producing some time July and into August weather permitting. 

Thinning out plants is an important part of gardening and that is what I did with my radishes and my pea plants that I had planted back in April.  They were starting to crowd each other and that will cause some issues in the future if you do not remove all the plants but one in a bunch.  I plant the seeds in bunches and if they all sprout they will crowd up all around each other and that is when you start thinning them out.

The last thing I did today was getting all of my transplanted broccoli and brussel sprouts into the garden right next to my spring crop.  I wasn't sure if I was going to plant them today, but I decided that getting them into the garden as soon as possible was the best possible way to get them out of the way.  This way I don't have to think about them later on and is one less plant that I need to transplant into the garden.

So far this is all I have done in the past week and hope to get some more plants into the garden with the next couple of weeks or so.  I will probably start planting some of my squash seeds indoors including pumpkins and zucchini.  I also have some flowers that need to get outside in the near future once they get a little bit bigger.  I have been placing my tomatoes, melons, eggplant, and peppers outside to harden them off in order to get used to the weather.  It was a little cool today so I left them inside for the moment and hope to put them back outside this week again.

Getting Ready for the New Strawberry Season

Last year I planted the first set of June bearing strawberry plants and since it was the first year I wasn't going to get anything from my plants.  Today I removed all the straw from the plants and found that all of them had survived the harsh winter.  Now that they have survived there is a good chance that this season they will begin to produce the fruit and berries that I am looking forward to consume.  Some weeding was done today as well and wanted to just loosen the soil for some air circulation to the roots.

Most of my plants indoors have been getting enough sun to grow, but not enough for successful flower production.  I decided to place most of them outside especially my alyssum, dill, tomatoes, and rhubarb.  They need as much sun as possible and by putting them outside I am also getting them used to the weather and preparing to harden them off.  This is the process of getting them acclimated to the elements that they will find outside once I place them in the garden for good.

Here is my rhubarb plant that I purchased this season.  I have two of them, but this one was the first to get some leaves and the other is getting leaves, but a little bit slower than this one. I plan to put them in the ground once the roots start pushing through the peat pot.  Right now there is just one root that happened to show itself through the pot recently.

Weather is Right for Planting Onions Outside

It seems like the weather is just about right to get onions planted outside into large totes.  I love planting them in totes and is the best way for me to get good sized onions.  This year I have decided on two types of onions to place into my growing totes. 

I chose the usual yellow onions and I also picked some red onions which will be added to the garden.  I am only using a couple of totes for red onions and the rest will be filled with the yellow ones.  For now I am only going to use two since these onions are new for me to grow.

Now that my onions are planted it will soon be time to get some other spring seeds planted as well.  I plan to plant seeds such as spinach, snow peas, lettuce, and others in the garden real soon.  I am just waiting for a little bit warmer weather before I start tilling the soil.

I also will be removing the straw from my strawberry plants real soon as well.  I took a peak underneath the straw and it looks like many of the plants did survive over the cold winter.  As long as you put a thick layer of straw they should come back every year bigger and hopefully with more fruit.  It does take a couple of years before you get a significant crop.

For now I am focusing on what I have already planted indoors.  This includes many flower, fruit, and vegetable seeds at the moment.  Almost all of them have begun sprouting one way or another. 

The best plants right now are my flowers which are some of the first things that I planted this season.  Dill and alyssum have been growing for the past month and a half and will be ready to go outside with some warmer weather coming around.  I will probably start planting more alyssum real soon because I like to have at least three containers or more of these flowers.



I also have all three tomato seeds beginning to sprout along with melons.  I will keep them under the lights for a short time and then soon place them in the windowsill for some natural light.  Right now my tomato plants are in the windowsill getting as much sun as possible.

Dill, Alyssum, and Wildflower Plants Ready for Transplanting

It was time for my flowers to be placed into the garden now that the weather is warming up in the beginning month of May.  This is the month that I usually start planting most of my plants that I have started indoors.  Only my flowers are ready for now and all my other plants will have to wait for a little bit more warmer temperatures.

My dill, alyssum, and wildflowers have been outside for quite some time and it was about time to place them right into the garden soil.  It doesn't take that long to transplant them and once they are in the garden you don't have to do much with them for the rest of the season.  You may have to occasionally water and weed them, but nothing too time consuming.

All my lettuce is finally in the ground as well so I don't have to worry about transplanting them anymore and can now focus on possibly harvesting some of the leaves from a few of them.  The ones I planted today I will not harvest for another few weeks and most likely by the end of May.

Taking Advantage of Warm Temperatures in the Beginning of April

It’s that time of the year when warmer temperatures will start to arrive and more planting outside will be necessary.  Today was one of those days when onions need to be added to the garden.  I always aim for the beginning of this month to start planting them since they love cool weather.

I also had some lettuce plants that were getting too big for the Styrofoam coffee cups that I had placed them in back in February.  They needed some more space before they went to seed or showed signs of a sickly plant.  I put only four into the garden for now and very soon I will be putting many more once their roots start poking out of the bottom holes.

 

Hardening off plants is the next phase of having plants grown indoors.  Today was warm enough that I could place them outside.  It was not that windy either which made a great day for giving plants some fresh air.

Melon, Pepper, Eggplant, and Cucumber Seed Planting

It is not time to start planting them outside, but it is time to give them the head start they need by starting them indoors.  I am using peat pots this time because it will just make things easier later on in the season when it is time to transplant all of them.  If they don't take I can always grow them directly in the soil.

I will place a fluorescent light on top of them once I fill the containers they are sitting in with water.  This is how I like to water my plants especially seeds because there is no need to use a spray bottle because the soil will soak up the water from the bottom up.













My plants are looking good especially my strawberry plants.  They have been soaking in water for about a week or so and I will be placing them in there own peat pots.  It is too early for them to go outside and I don't want them to just sit in a container of water for a month.  I will most likely put them into peat pots either this week or by the end of the weekend.

Alyssum, dill, and wildflowers have been sprouting and are just about done with the germination process except for dill which has just begun this process.  It was planted later so naturally it will be a little bit behind my alyssum and wildflower seeds.

Just Beginning My Indoor Planting With New Flowers

I wasn't sure if I was going to plant some new flowers this season, but in the end I found an interesting flower mix that is supposed to lure hummingbirds and butterflies into the garden.  To be honest I have plenty of butterflies in my garden each year, so I won't be surprised if I get the same amount.  I am looking forward to hopefully get some hummingbirds buzzing around in the garden.  They are rare in my area and it would be nice to see at least one this season.

Along with these seeds I also planted my normal alyssum and some dill for the new season.  I like growing them because they are quite consistent and bring some amazing insects that I will need for the season.  I hope to continue planting through the weekend and finish up in a few days.

Getting Lettuce, Flowers, and Seeds Added to the Garden

The very first thing after tilling the garden is getting as many plants as you can into the garden in order for them to get accustomed to the soil quickly.  Lettuce was the first plants I got into the garden and they were easy because I didn't have to take them out of the containers because peat pots can go right into the soil.  The plant roots will go right through them very easily.

Next up were my flowers.  I like to plant them in between rows throughout the garden.  I placed my alyssum and dill along the borders of the garden so that they are not in the way of my plants and still have plenty of room to grow.

Yesterday I got some of my corn rows and beans completed.  Once I had setup my bean trellis I could start planting seeds for my beans and corn rows.  I wanted to get my carrot seeds in the ground before it started raining so that it could benefit from a small rain shower.  Sadly I ran out of time and I will have to plant them a little later.  Luckily it doesn't take long for them to grow and then mature for harvesting.  I have plenty of time to plant my carrot seeds.

Spinach Placed Outside and Flowers Sprouting Indoors

Whenever warm weather or at least sunny days occur I like to place as many plants outside as possible depending on various conditions.  For instance right now it is almost springtime, yet this doesn't mean that the weather is going to get warmer right away.  It will still be too cool for most of my plants except for spinach which is capable of withstanding cooler temperatures at least in the lower 40's to upper 30's (Fahrenheit) at the lowest.

They grow best in the 50's to 60's (Fahrenheit), but I do place them outside when it is much cooler.  Since last week was warm and sunny it was a great opportunity to place my spinach outside to enjoy the bright sun.  This week it hasn't been sunny at all and mostly rainy.  This week they haven't gone outside, but I hope to put them outdoors soon to adjust to cloudy weather as well as rainy weather.

They are growing very nicely at the moment and I will soon be placing them outside and throughout the night once the temperature is acceptable to them.

Now I want to discuss the various seeds that have been sprouting this past week.  The sunny weather last week definitely helped out my lettuce plants indoors and they started sprouting this weekend.  Both of the Ruby glow hybrid and the iceberg black seeded Simpson are growing.  Check them out below.

It seems that I may have added too many seeds into each pot and I think I will be very busy removing the ones I don't need.  I didn't think that all the seeds would sprout and since they are very small seeds it is difficult to know how many I added.  That is why I always add more than needed because I can always remove some.  In this case I am going to remove quite a bit and it looks that I probably should have added only half or more of what was planted.

When it comes to flowers I am not that worried about having too much because I have found that most of them grow best when they are in a large bunch.  One plant that I especially like that is perfect for this reason is alyssum.  I can grow them in large pots and put a large amount of seeds and they will do just fine for a few month until I place them in the ground.  They flower all season long which is perfect for what I need them for.

Pictured above are alyssum, sunflowers, and dill.  Now that they have sprouted I can remove the dill from under the lights and place some new plants under them.  Right now I am not going to plant anything, but tomorrow I plan on adding tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers under these fluorescent lights.

Spinach Sprouting Early and Flowers and Herbs Planted

So far I have only planted my alyssum as a flower to be used in the garden this season.  I like to always get as many flowers as possible to help out the insects outside and give them food that they need.  If I help them then they will help me and my garden in return. 

Dill is a great plant for this reason and I like to plant as many as early as I can.  This is only done once I get my spinach planted along with my alyssum.  I have many more flowers that I would like to plant which I will do either today or sometime during this week.  Time is catching up and very soon I will have to start planting tomatoes, melons, eggplants, and so much more.

Right now I am focusing on flowers in the beginning and later on I will deal with vegetables and fruits I will need to plant early.  Just like my alyssum flowers I use large pots that will hold many seeds and many plants for at least a couple of months at the most until the weather is warm enough to put them in the ground.

Just on a quick note I wanted to let you know that my spinach seeds are actually growing and they are popping through the soil.  They usually take a while to grow because of their hard shell, but this year they are thriving very quickly.

Time to Finish Transplanting This Week

I thought this week would be the perfect time to finish all my transplanting.  I completed a big chunk this week by adding the last of the tomatoes, some eggplant, peppers, and many different beneficial flowers.  Getting them into the ground was my first priority.

I had let my tomatoes grow long enough in the containers that they were held in and they seemed to not be looking good towards the end.  They were growing, but leaves were starting to curl and new leaves were not growing as fast as they should.  Once I noticed this I placed them in the garden and began transplanting them immediately.

In the photo below you can see how the roots had reached the bottom and could no longer continue to flourish.  This is when you know it is time to place them in the garden soil.

This is what they looked like after placing them in the garden.

They are already starting to look much better now that they have plenty of room to grow.

I also worked on my pepper plants too and they were not going anywhere while they stayed in their peat pots.  When they stop growing or halt their production they need more room to continue and that is exactly what I did with them.

Eggplants are usually last to be added to the garden because they take quite a while to grow in small containers, but once they start producing leaves they take off really fast.  Now that they are in the ground they will grow much faster.

Some flowers were also added including sunflowers this week.  I only added the transplants that I had and will plant some more sunflower seeds because I want to make sure that I have enough in order to attract as many bees as possible.

I added a large container full of cilantro into the ground.  I wasn't sure if it would come out easily, but in the end it actually came out like a large brick similar to what alyssum and dill do.

I love dill and planting as much as possible provides two advantages.  The flowers attract good insects and I can use the leaves for flavoring in many dishes.  There is nothing better than fresh organic dill.

The last flower I added was purple alyssum.  I was able to plant them in large green pots and still have some to plant in the garden.  I have about a couple of containers left after transplanting what I had ready for the garden.