Sunday, March 26, 2017

Cool Weather Seeds are Now in The Garden



I have four seeds that were ready for the garden not including my potato or lettuce plants that will be placed in the ground real soon.   I do have a few seed potatoes in the ground, but I didn’t get to put all of them in the garden for now.  I will probably take tomorrow to just add the rest of the potatoes that I have in the ground.  The holes are ready for them and all I need to do is add some manure and bone meal and place them.

I had some spinach seeds that I used to only plant a partial row.  I will have to get some more in order to fill the excess space that was left due to lack of seeds.  Next to my spinach row are my celery seeds that I placed into the ground rather than planting them indoors first.

In the second row I have snow peas and radishes.  It is a good thing to put peas and radishes together because they make good inter-planting plants.  I can easily put radishes in between the pea plants in order to save room just in case I need to save space.


Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Tilling a New Spot for Strawberry Plants

I decided that yesterday was warm enough to get some tilling done for the upcoming spring months and harvest.  I am looking to plant some seeds of spinach, radishes, celery, peas, and potatoes.  I also have been growing lettuce plants indoors this season to transplant them in the garden when the weather is a little bit warmer.  Right now the temperature is still below freezing which these plants don't tolerate well.

This is where I plan on putting my spring plants and seeds for this year.  This should be enough room to plant all of them.









I also found a perfect spot for my strawberry plants this year.  My onions that were grown in the garden the past couple of years is where I am going to put my new strawberry plants.  It is a big enough area where I will have enough room to put my strawberries and even more if I wanted to add more plants to this section.

I hope to put my strawberry plants in the garden very soon since they have been sitting in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks.  I have been putting them outside in order to harden them off, but I want to see some consistent warm weather before planting them.
Sunday, March 19, 2017

How About Starting Tomatoes Indoors?



That is exactly what I like to do every season and is the best thing to do with these plants.  Starting them inside is probably the easiest way to get a head start on the season and since they transplant well it makes sense to start them in your home or apartment.

I always like putting them under artificial lights because getting them sprouting as soon as possible will allow you to plant more seeds once your tomato plants reach a good size.  After tomatoes I like to plant zucchini and pumpkins under these lights.  They sprout quick and will not be under these lights for very long.

Three types this year are what I am focusing on.  Granted I am planting the same as every year I figured I would let you know the three that I chose.  The steakhouse and super sauce are the same, but I did pick a different cherry tomato type that I thought I would try instead of the usual.
 

Monday, March 13, 2017

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.


























Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Sprouts, Digging, and Soaking

Kind of an odd title, but that is what I have been doing this afternoon.  I am seeing sprouts coming from my alyssum and wildflowers only.  I am hoping that I will begin to see dill sprouting any day now.  I did plant them later than my alyssum and wildflower seeds, so I do still have some time before they sprout.














It was also time for digging now that I have my potatoes and need to get them into the soil as soon as possible.  I am looking to put them in the ground tomorrow all dependent on the weather conditions and temperature.  Although my potatoes may be safe in the ground covered by soil I still would like to plant them on a good sunny day.













Along with digging I did some soaking with my strawberry plants.  It is important to soak your plants in water before putting them outside in the ground.  They need to soak in water in order to get out of their dormant state.  This allows the plant to absorb water and get ready to grow once you put them outside in the garden.