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.

 

Getting Seeds to Sprout is Much Easier with Coconut Pellets Hopefully

 Using coconut pellets is what I have started to use this year to get my seeds to start sprouting quickly and easily.  Hopefully this will get my plants off to a very good start and will be much healthier when I start placing them in the garden.  Although that is very from far now since it is still cold to place anything outside just yet I want to make sure that they start out right.  Hopefully these pellets will prove to be a worthwhile investment.

Previously I had planted some alyssum, dill, and wildflowers seeds into large plastic containers and they have been sprouting quite.  I would say this year they have all sprouted more successfully than any other that I had planted these same flowers.  I usually plant them in between rows to attract the insects that are needed in the garden.  These particular flowers end up bringing some of the best insects that any gardener could ask for.

 I also have spinach, kale, and some lettuce that are doing pretty well in the cool cellar that I keep them in until the weather temperatures are a little bit warmer.  Right now the weather is still too cold to start placing these plants outside, but it won't be long until I start hardening them out and preparing them to be placed in the garden.  For now I am going to be keeping them inside underneath some cheap fluorescent lights until time is right for outside growing.  

 I still have many more seeds to plant, but for now I have just started with some summer crop seeds for an early start.  I still have to plant pumpkins, zucchini, carrots, and many other flowers too.  I like to plant flowers early as well which include amaranthus, cosmos, statice, calendula, queen Anne's lace, and much more which are also used for insect attracting.

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.

Let’s Start off a New Decade of Gardening Right

Over the Winter I was thinking about some new seeds or plants that I should try out during this new season.   I came up with one idea and decided that I should start trying to grow some hot peppers along with the normal sweet peppers that I grow each year.  That is when thought about growing the hottest pepper on the planet at the moment: The Carolina Reaper.   This is supposed to be the hottest pepper and even hotter than the ghost pepper.  I also bought some habanero peppers to go along with it.

Aside from growing some new peppers this year I also am thinking about growing a larger spring crop this season.  I might be adding some cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts and maybe some celery to this year’s spring season.  This would go along with my normal crop of potatoes, lettuce, spinach, peas, and radishes. 

I am not sure if I am going to do this, but it is an idea I was going to look over.  I will have to make sure not to grow too much or I would not have enough room for my summer plants.  This is just something I was thinking about doing.

For my spring crop I have started planting seeds of both lettuce and spinach.  These are two crops I plan to have growing in the garden within a month or so.  I placed them in a cool place this year since they grow best when in temperatures of 50-60 degrees.  I could place them in cold frames outside, but for now I am keeping them indoors just to give them a little head start.

 Wildflowers, dill, and alyssum are also planted indoors right now.  I planted them about a couple of weeks ago before my lettuce and spinach.  I love using these plants because they are good at attracting some of the best insects in the area and are a great help during the whole season

Almost Done with All the Transplants in the Garden

I am just about finished with all the transplants that I will be adding to the garden.  All I have left is some dill, wildflowers, statice, alyssum, and various other flowers that I need to get outside real soon.  With vegetables and fruits finally planted from seed or transplanted into the garden from containers, I can now focus on weeding and caring for my plants.  I am just looking for the first harvest from my garden this season.

It looks like some of the first harvests of the season will come from either my lettuce plants or some other spring crop.  Radishes don’t take long to mature and they were planted in the ground a couple of months ago along with my pea plants.  These are just some of the harvests I have to look forward to this year.



The only flowers I transplanted into the garden this week were my cilantro and cosmos flowers.  These plants I started growing back in April and took quite awhile for them to germinate and grow in the containers that I provided them.  They survived this whole time and it was way overdue to plant them in the ground.  It seems like they all took to the soil and with the rain today should definitely help them out greatly.



Rhubarb was another plant that had been grown in pots and was eventually destined to be added into the garden.  I gave them a spot with plenty of room since they have very large roots and need plenty of feeding.  I don’t plan on harvesting any of the stems this season, but hopefully with some good care this year and a cold winter I should have a small harvest next season. 



Last but not least I wanted to mention some of the seeds that were planted and which ones have shown signs of germinating.  Squash was the first since they don’t take long to germinate.  This includes both zucchini and pumpkin plants.  Some cucumbers were in the mix beginning to sprout.  Sunflowers were the other seeds that are starting to grow in the garden.  All that I am waiting for are carrots and a couple of melon seeds that I added a week ago.

Getting Some More Flowers Seeds Planted Indoors

I have many different flower seeds this season that I need to get planted as soon as possible.  My flowers are always the first to be placed outside so that they can produce flowers right away and continue blooming all season long.  Right now I have about nine seed packets that are only flowers and have begun planting a few of them inside.

My wildflowers that I tried last year are one of my favorites and have worked quite well along with my others that I grow each season.  They were able to attract many different butterflies, insects, bees, and much more.  Unfortunately I didn’t get any hummingbirds which was disappointing, but I plan on growing these seeds once again for their great benefits.

I also have some cosmos and cilantro that need to be planted as well.  Although cilantro is an herb it does produce a flower similar to dill and Queen Anne’s lace which is beneficial to attracting appropriate types of insects and bees. 

I usually don’t do well with Queen Anne’s lace and will probably have to thin out the plants so that one plant will be transplanted into the garden instead of a bunch of them which I like to do with alyssum and dill.  Luckily I get wild Queen Anne’s lace which happens to grow around the garden and attracts exactly what I am looking for each season.

I don’t know when I will begin planting more fruits and vegetables, but I think I will have to at least start my melons rather soon.  They take the longest to mature along with eggplants and I will have to start them indoors.  They need the earliest start possible and that means most likely growing them under fluorescent lights for a short time before the weather warms up and the sun is out longer.

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.

Amaranthus, Cosmos, and More Flowers Planted Indoors

It is that time when planting indoors will be very beneficial during the garden season.  I wanted to get as many different flower seeds as possible including amaranthus, calendula, cosmos, statice, and a few more wildflower seeds.  You can never have too many flowers in the garden.

I used the same type and size pot for almost all the seeds except for cosmos.  These are actually a type of sunflower plant, but they do not grow like the typical sunflower that we all know.  They are smaller and grow beautifully colored blossoms that insects and butterflies use for food.  I placed them in larger pots because out of all the flowers they will need the extra room that these other containers have.

I am just going to place these in the windowsill while a week or two later it will be time to start my tomatoes indoors and these will be under grow lights.

Just twenty containers of seeds is a good amount to start with at the moment.  I still have many more flowers that I need to plant, but those will come a little bit later.  I would say around late March I should start planting them.

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.

Getting a Head Start on Melons and More Flowers

It is always a race to get as much seeds planted indoors as you can.  I utilize the sunlight as much as I can and use lights for plants that need it before they can be placed outside for full sunlight.  Right now I am working on getting all the flowers planted right away and then I can start working on other fruits and vegetables that are the main part of the garden.

Each row of containers going horizontally is a different seed.  The first row is calendula, then amaranthus, statice, cornflowers, and in the plastic cups are sunflowers.  They will need more space than any of the other flowers which is why they get large cups.







Queen Anne's Lace was planted as well, but I used peat pots for them.  I find that they can be a bit tricky and this year I want to try using small peat pots that should help in transplanting at least. 

Melons were on my mind today for some reason and when I looked back at when I planted them last year it is only a few days away.  I figured since I was working with peat pots I thought that it would be a good idea to start my watermelon today.  I am using Carolina cross and Georgia rattlesnake this year and see which one has the best success.

Three seeds of Carolina cross and two seeds per pot of Georgia rattlesnake.  I have more sprouting success with the latter than the former.

Alyssum Flowers are Perfect for Starting Inside

The very first flowers that are started inside are my alyssum seeds.  I have two annual seeds that I use that produce either white or purple flowers.  I do have a perennial type that is outside right now and should be showing some signs that it will begin to flower soon.  With this warm weather I would not be surprised that it is starting to awaken from its slumber.  These flowers are yellow and differ a little bit from their annual brothers.

Most other years I would plant three containers of alyssum and two of dill just to get a variety of flowers started right away.  I wanted to do something a little different and instead of planting dill along with alyssum I just planted all the alyssum seeds that I had.  I bought two packets and I was able to get five containers of alyssum seeds done.  I have a few more seeds which I can add to some smaller containers later on.  For now I have my alyssum ready and next I will be working on dill.

I keep them on the windowsill instead of placing them underneath fluorescent lights.  Even if there was not much sun they sprout quite quickly and within a week I should begin to see signs of life.

Getting the Right Seeds for the Year

The first step in setting up my garden is getting the right seeds.  Most of the time I just use the same thing every year except for one that I choose to have something different.  This year I decided on doing another melon along with watermelons and cantaloupe.  I am now going to add honeydew to the list and will plant them in the same row as my other melons.  Making a fruit salad with these three melons is something that I can do with them once they are all ripe.  I could also just eat them like I normally would.

Leafy Plants

These year I will have many leafy plants in the garden because I will continue to grow spinach, both romaine and iceberg lettuce, and now for the fall I will be growing kale.  This is one of the plants that I have grown before with much success, but did not get to grow them last season.  Adding this leaf plant to the fall crop will reduce the amount of broccoli and cabbage that I can grow, but will give my fall garden a little bit more variety.

Again with Celery

At the same time I will be growing celery again like I did a couple of years ago.  That harvest was not my best and I want to make sure that I get a much better harvest and I thought getting some celery seeds would be a good addition to the garden.  I don't plan on growing that much, but at least half of a row should suffice for this season.  I will see how much room I have when I begin planting them.

One More Flower

I like to grow flowers in order to attract all the best insects that I can for help in reducing the populations of many pests.  This year I am going to add cornflowers to the arsenal of other flowers that I will be planting.  I will not be removing any other flowers and instead will just add cornflowers in random spots in the garden.  The more variety of flowers you have the better that the good insects will continue to travel to your garden.  This is my hope every season.

Almost Time to Harvest Spinach Leaves

It has been about a week or so since I planted my spinach into the ground and most of them have been growing quite well especially with some of the rain and cool weather that we have been having.  The daytime temperatures have been a little warm, but at night it has been in the low 40's.  This is perfect for dark green spinach leaves.

I also had some more that needed to be placed into the ground and that is what I did yesterday afternoon.  I wanted to get the last of the spinach in the ground so that I can have two separate batches of spinach that I can pick at different times.  This means double the amount of spinach leaves because when one is picked the other one is continuing to grow and vice versa.

Check out the spinach I transplanted yesterday.

It is still somewhat small but in a couple of weeks it will look full and be ready for harvesting and then consumption.

I decided to grow some more flowers that will attract bees and other important insects because I believe you can never have enough flowers.  I try to plant as many flowers as possible every season and that is what I did yesterday as well.  Dill and alyssum were my first choices since they are easy to grow and I also threw in their some cilantro.

I also wanted to plants some more vegetables as well and I decided on peppers and eggplant.

Finally My Spinach Seeds and More are Sprouting

I have been waiting about a month to see my spinach seeds to begin to sprout and I checked yesterday and found that some of them were beginning to grow.  It is always exciting to finally to see spinach seeds sprout instead of not doing anything.  I have had that happen before and it is not a good feeling.

Now that they are starting to sprout the gardening season will pick up real quick within a month or so.  Once they reach a certain size I will then bring them outside for awhile and then plant them into the ground.  Lettuce is another cool weather crop that I planted a couple of weeks ago and is also sprouting.  Check them out below.

Basically once I see plants sprouting all the work that I have put into it has not been a waste of time.  This is one of the reasons why planting seeds indoors is very important. 

Most of my beneficial flowers that I grow are growing as well.  The most important ones I would consider crucial include alyssum, dill, and sunflowers.

Dill

Alyssum is starting to look good and is beginning to grow rather quickly.

Here are the sunflowers that have sprouted the past couple of weeks or so.

The last thing I want to mention is the planting of cucumbers and cantaloupe.  Two plants that need a head start especially cantaloupe because they are similar to watermelons and are considered melons.

Lettuce, Watermelon, and More Flowers Planted Indoors

Yesterday I started planting more flowers indoors in order to get them a head start for the garden season.  Getting them blooming as fast as possible is the first thing that I focus on when gardening.  It is also important for vegetables and fruits as well.  Below are pots that contain amaranthus, calendula, queen anne's lace, and statice seeds.

That is why I began with lettuce yesterday as well as watermelon.  Watermelons take quite a while to mature and need more time in order to get a much bigger and tastier fruit.  Starting them inside is the best way to give them extra time as well as a few other strategies that I will use when I plant them into the ground.  More on that at a later time.

Lettuce doesn't take that long to grow, but they need cooler weather and the best time to start them is now because one they are ready I will place them outside at around mid spring which is when their preferred temperatures arrive.  They don't like cold weather like spinach, but much cooler than summer temperatures are desired.

Time For Planting Alyssum and Dill Indoors

The sun is out longer and daylight savings has occurred it is time to start planting flowers indoors and getting them the head start that is needed.  My two favorite flowers will include alyssum and dill.  They are simple to grow and don't take that much maintenance to keep them thriving through the whole season.

The best part of growing them is that they are fast sprouting and should begin growing within a week.  This is pretty much the opposite of the spinach that I planted a week ago.  They take quite a while to begin sprouting and will probably not show signs of sprouting until another week or two. 

I place my flowers in the window instead of using fluorescent lights.  I find that I can maximize space by using large plastic containers and placing them on the window and saving electricity at the same time as well.  They do not require that much light and what they receive on the windowsill will be enough for the time being.

I will probably leave them their for about a month until the weather gets warmer and then begin placing them outside to get acclimated to the weather and temperatures.  For now they will stay on the windowsill unless I need room for my vegetables and fruits later on.