The Birth Of A New Generation

14 May, 2013 Reply
Simple and fascinating to watch. Try growing some of your own!

Simple and fascinating to watch. Try growing some of your own!

In The Beginning

It started with small white tails after just three weeks. Then it proceeded on to small green sprouts after about another week. After approximately four weeks I’m now the proud mother of about a dozen or so tiny Amaryllis seedlings.

It all began back when the Amaryllis bloomed a couple months ago. My husband has always been fascinated by them. They grow so fast and have such huge flowers. He asked if it would make seed. I told him yes, but that they were usually propagated by bublets that formed around the older bulb.

On a whim he tried pollinating one of the flowers, just to see if it would produce anything. Lo and behold it did! After the flowers faded one of the seed pods began growing and growing and growing! Just like the flowers the seed pods are definitely a larger than life experience. This one had three lobes, two of which produced seeds.

The seed are tiny and surrounded by a large wafer thin black skin, which is how they would be easily dispersed by the wind. This actually happened one day when I opened the front door on a very windy day. I had to run all over the dining room gathering up the scattered seeds.

Starting Amaryllis Seeds In Water

Sprouting them is very simple. You just float them in a dish of water until they sprout, which takes about three weeks. Lightly cover the bowl, in other words don’t seal it tightly, so that the water won’t evaporate too quickly. After three weeks the first little root tails showed up. Then a bunch more followed. After about another week, maybe a little longer the first green leaves started to form.

This weekend I’ll take them and plant them in little pots. All you do is place them in soil that comes up to the black wafer. That way the root is in the soil and the leaf is above ground.

Helpful Instructions

There’s a good video on how to do it. I just followed this gentleman’s instructions and it worked like a charm. It takes about three years from seed to first bloom. It will be fun to watch them grow and get large enough to produce their first blooms.

Not only do I have a whole bunch of seedlings, the parent bulb has produced two bulblets. One two years ago and one this past season, so I should be getting ready for several years of first blooms as the first bulblet will be three this year this year, and the other will bloom the next, then the seedlings should bloom the following year.

Share Your Amaryllis Seed Stories

Have you ever started Amaryllis from seed? If so, how did it go? Did they ever bloom for you? Did they come true to the parent’s color, or something new? Have your ever tried to create a new cultivar by crossing more than one color of Amaryllis together? I’d love to hear all about your experiences.

Gardening Is Healthy

7 May, 2013 Reply
Getting a little dirt under your fingernails helps relieve stress.

Getting a little dirt under your fingernails relieves stress.

I’ve not talked about it much, but gardening is good for you. You breathe fresh air, get your allotted ten to fifteen minutes a day of sunshine (no blocker for that period), it’s great exercise, and you release stress. If you vegetable garden, you get to eat the healthiest food on the planet, that grown in your own garden. Gardening is a great part of a healthy lifestyle.

We’ve heard many, if not all, of these statements before, but here are a few of the scientific benefits:

  • Fresh Air – Air has negative ions in it that inhibit the growth of cancer; it releases endorphins, which helps alleviate depression; it increases your metabolism; it can help lower cholesterol and improve both blood sugar and blood pressure; it helps your kidneys and liver function better; improves sleep; and helps your skin tone and texture (i.e. look younger).
  • Sunshine – Of course almost all of us have heard that 10-15 minutes of sunshine, on exposed skin, every day will produce all the Vitamin D we need; it too helps in the release of endorphins; increases circulation by dilating the blood vessels, which brings more oxygen and nutrients to the cells and removes toxins faster.
  • Exercise – Spading burns – 340 calories in one hour, mowing – 374, planting seeds – 306, trimming trees and shrubs – 306, and weeding – 306. That’s nearly equivalent to an hour of dancing, vigorous housecleaning, walking for exercise, or playing with the kids. It’s about three quarters the calorie burn of any of the vigorous exercises, but to me a lot more fun.
  • Stress release – Of course we already mentioned the endorphins, that’s our bodies happy making chemical. Slowing down and enjoying watching the plants grow, keeping it a hobby, and making sure it doesn’t become a chore makes it something you look forward to, which helps relieve stress, and the act of communing with nature has been shown to relieve stress, also. Many people feel that just touching the soil reconnects you with nature and allows negative energy to be released and recycled by the earth. That may be a bit too woo-woo for you, but I can tell if I go too long without dirt under my nails.

Of course food freshly picked from your garden, especially if grown organically, if full of nutrients and void of pesticides and herbicides. Much of the produce we buy in the stores can be as old as six weeks when it hits the shelf. That’s why it only lasts one week in the fridge. Produce picked fresh from the garden has been known to last as much as 3 weeks in the fridge without ill effects, and sometimes even longer. Not only that you can have all kinds of new and interesting tastes that you won’t get with store bought vegetables, because they are grown for durability, not flavor. Once you’ve eaten a home grown tomato you’ll never want to go back to the terrible imitations that are available in stores these days.

So, if you’re looking to be healthier, then gardening is a great addition to your lifestyle.

Organicgirl® Move Over

3 May, 2013 Reply

I love Organicgirl® products. All through the winter when my garden is sleeping I buy their products whenever possible. The main reason is they stay fresh for so long. I don’t know how they do it, but I’ve had Organicgirl® products last well over a week longer than their competition.

Eating tender greens from the garden is a wonderful early spring treat.

Eating tender greens from the garden is a wonderful early spring treat.

However, today I walked out into my own garden and picked a good sized bowl full of baby lettuce. I have five or six different varieties of lettuce up and growing like crazy right now. In order to get full heads on them I’ve picked the four I want to remain and am picking out the plants closest to them so that they will not have competition. Now they should take off like wildfire, once I’ve cleared around them, and produce a nice big head. In the meantime we’ll continue to enjoy baby lettuce in our salads and sandwiches.

This is one of my favorite times of year. The overwintered crops are singing their last encore as they begin to bolt. However, we’re still having tasty collards, kale, cabbage, chard, and mustard. The new spring crops are just starting to produce, so you get those luscious, tender, green morsels. The late spring crops are starting to take off and will be ready to start munching in a couple weeks, and last but not least, this next week I get to begin planting the summer crops (if I can find room for them!).

The blueberries are covered with tiny berries, the strawberries are blooming, the marionberries have buds on them, the plums and peaches have tiny fruits on them. I think we’re going to have a great growing season this year. I can just feel it in my bones.

Now I best put my gardening clothes back on and get out there and finish clearing all the gardens, as I have hundreds of veggies to find places to plant and I’ll need every bit of garden I can scrounge, even in the front yard and along the foundation. There’ll be no bare ground in this yard this summer!

So, until next winter I’ll give Organicgirl® a break and enjoy the bounty of my own gardens. If you don’t have space to grow your own greens, then give Organicgirl® a try. I have not been paid to endorse them. They just have a superior product that I want others to know about.

Focus Plant: Celosia

2 May, 2013 Reply
Celosia lining the path to the front door last summer. They combined beautifully with vinca, salvia, and zinnias.

Celosia lining the path to the front door last summer. They combined beautifully with vinca, salvia, and zinnias.

A Chance Encounter

A couple of summers ago I picked up a pot of celosia in the clearance section of a local big box store. I had always thought celosia were pretty, but it is very prone to mildew rot, so I hadn’t bothered to buy any in the six packs, as usually they were already infected with the disease. However, this was a large pot with four very healthy, good-sized plants.

They grew beautifully and bloomed profusely the entire summer. I was really impressed and sad when the frost finally did them in. There was one plant, however, that just didn’t seem to want to die. Even after repeated frosts it was still hanging in there. I just put the planter in a protected place to see how long it would go, but eventually, when then temperatures dipped near the teens, it joined its other friends in plant heaven.

Little did I know that it left a legacy behind, seeds. The next spring that planter sprouted at least 60 children of the baby plant. I had so much fun planting them all over the yard. They grew amazingly and were a brilliant blaze of color at my front door.

This year I bought a pack of seeds of mixed colored Celosia argentia (plumed cockcomb), also called Celosia plumosa, because I wanted to have a variety of colors. They sprouted and are doing nicely and just about ready to put out in the garden. Since this has become one of my favorite annuals I thought I’d share a little bit about them, so that you might be inspired to grow some yourself.

More Info About Celosia

There are quite a few varieties, all of them spectacular in color. The most widely know and popular at this time is the Celosia argentea (plumosa). It has large brilliantly colored plumes. An old favorite is the cockscomb type (Clelosia cristate) because it looks like a punk colored roosters comb. Then there’s Celosia spicata with its smaller spikes of color. The other varieties are not generally available for planting in you garden and are wildflowers in the southwestern USA and Mexico.

Celosias are grown throughout the US as an annual, as they are only hardy in zones 10-12, which are the southern most states. These are tough plants, that can stand up to almost any conditions, including heavy clay soils, which I have, and drought. They can be fairly easily started from seed, and if left on their own can seed themselves in if the flowers are allowed to mature completely. They come in a wide variety of colors, most of them shockingly brilliant, from red, yellow, orange, rose, deep magenta, to pink, and cream. A mass planting of them is enough to make you want to put on your sunglasses, even on a rainy or cloudy day (like today here).

The flowers work well in arrangements, both fresh and dried. I have dried the spicata variety of this plant many, many years ago, when I was living in New Mexico, and they air dried close to true to color and lasted very well.

One thing I found interesting was that Wikipedia states that the argentia variety of Celosia is edible, as these plants are related to amaranth. I might just have to nibble a leaf and see what I think!

Any way you look at it adding some Celosia to your garden will ensure a bright, cheery spot of color. I’m going to put them along the path to my front door again this year. It made me smile every time I left or returned home. You just can’t help it with their bold statement.

The Elusive Knitting Swatch

26 April, 2013 Reply

Even though most of my creative time is spent out in the garden right now, every once in a while we have a rainy day or the creative bug bites me in the evening. I’m trying to get started on my tunic sweater, but am having a dickens of a time with the swatch.

When knitting you do a swatch, to see if what you’re knitting is the right gauge. The pattern calls for size 8 needles. When I used those needles and did just half the swatch I was already .5” too wide and long, which means that by the time I did the whole swatch I would have had an extra inch in length. So, I moved to size seven circular needles. The swatch was .25” too long and wide. Next I moved down to size six circulars. The swatch was .5 inches too narrow, but back to .5” too wide.

Here’s a good video to help you understand how to do a gauge swatch properly. When confused visit YouTube!

I read somewhere that circular needles can sometimes make you gauge different than if you used straight needles. So, I waited until my friend returned home and asked to borrow her size 7 and 6 straight needles to see if it made a difference. I tried the size 7 needles first. The swatch was .5” too narrow and .5” too long. Aargh! I can’t figure out what I need to do to make a decent swatch! I’m still going to try the size 6 needles, but if I’m already .5” too narrow I don’t think that’s going to help much.

Well, after all that I found out I’m checking my gauge improperly. I finally went to YouTube and watched several videos and learned the correct way to make a swatch and check the gauge. Neither the knitting group I go to, my best friend, nor the lady at the store told me I was doing my swatch incorrectly. So, now that I know how to do it correctly I’ll go give it another go, and let you know what I get.

The Quest For Herbs

23 April, 2013 Reply
A rather unusual find at the herb sale. I love pomegranates, though, so decided to try one.

A rather unusual find at the herb sale. I love pomegranates, though, so decided to try one.

Preparing For The Hunt

At the crack of dawn I was scurrying around preparing to enter the quest for some new herbs. The sale started at 7 a.m. and I knew I had to be there within the first hour to get anything worthwhile.

It was a long drive in, nearly an hour and as I got closer and closer the tension began to mount. Would I get there before everything was picked over? Would it be worth the trip in? I arrived at 8:10 a.m., ten minutes later than I wanted to. The place was packed. There were only two parking places left in the lot. I hurriedly parked and headed for the front door.

At the entrance I was greeted by a woman handing me a box perfect for putting plants in. I passed by the vendors and went straight for the green goods. Inside were rows and rows of tables covered in every conceivable herb and even some I hadn’t conceived of, as there was a vendor selling native wild flowers.

I started down the first row and quickly figured out that they were set up alphabetically and prices were by the color of the tag in them. I only had one herb that I knew for sure I needed and that was french tarragon. Mine had not made it through the winter, yet again. I haven’t been able to figure out how to make this perennial last more than one or two years in this climate.

My First Treasure

I already have a lot of your usual herbs. Thyme, oregano, lavender, sage. So, I was looking for something more eclectic and useful for something other than cooking. My first acquisition wasn’t even truly an herb. They had tiny little fig trees for $3 ea. I picked up one of each variety. We love figs and when our fig tree died a couple years back we were pretty upset. Now we have a ‘Brown Turkey’ and a ‘Golden Celeste’ to add to our fruit orchard. Then I picked up something very unusual, a hardy pomegranate. The tag says it is good to a zone 7, which we are. To help it along I’ll plant it along the back of the house, where it stays the warmest during the winter, or I’ll keep it in the greenhouse. I have time to decide since it is in a 4” pot.

Next I found a plant I’ve always wanted to grow, Houttuynia, or Hot Tuna as we liked to jokingly call it. It is a ground cover that is edible. It spreads pretty voraciously, so it will be planted back in the woodland garden where it can spread to its hearts content without being a nuisance. I also picked up Sweet Woodruf for the woodland garden. It is also a ground cover, with a wonderful fragrance. It can be put in with woolens to help keep moths away when in storage, or as a freshener of anything you need to store.

I picked up some lemon balm. It makes a delicious tea and is used medicinally. It’s essential oil is very costly, so having this will be a nice addition for our medicine cabinet.  I also picked up gotu kola to expand our medicinal collection.

I already have a rosemary plant, but was so taken by the variegated rosemary that I just had to splurge and add one to my collection.

I’m wanting to put in some paths between the vegetable gardens and found a lovely low growing thyme that I’ll be able to tuck in the cracks, as what they call a walkable plant. Light traffic stepping on it will not harm it, and it will give off a wonderful scent of thyme as I’m working in the garden.

Last, but not least, I picked up a plant that I just love, Soapwort. I used to have a huge plant when I lived in New Mexico, but have been unable to get one to start from seed since I got here, so I decided to pick up a plant. It has brilliant hot pink flowers in late spring and can be used to wash your delicates. It does, indeed, create suds when agitated in water and is said to make silk come out with a lustrous sheen. I’ve never wanted to cut the plant up to try it, but maybe one of these days I’ll get brave enough to give it a try.

Out Of Luck

Amazingly enough the one plant I needed they didn’t have. There was no french tarragon left by the time I got there! However, I stopped in at a favorite garden center and they had a beautiful plant, for the same price I paid for most of the plants at the sale. So, I came home with everything I wanted and even a few surprises.

Nows the time to start planning your herb garden. Keep in mind whether you need cooking or medicinal herbs. Then try and find a sale near you, that will help support the Herb Society of America.

What Are Your Favorites?

What’s your favorite unusual herb and why?

I Hate Sorrel And Garlic

19 April, 2013 Reply

I was at an herb sale yesterday and had to laugh when I saw they had sorrel for sale. Oh, of course they were selling the well behaved, easily contained French sorrel, not the take over your garden and kill your plants red sorrel.

Sorrel Comes In Many Forms

Sweet tame French Sorrel

Sweet, tame French Sorrel

Sorrel is a fickle plant. There are several different kinds of sorrel, which are mostly innocuous. Garden sorrel, or French sorrel (Rumex scutatus), grows in an easily controlled, tidy clump and has a tremendous tangy taste that is great in salads. Then there is Creeping Wood-Sorrel (Oxalis corniculata), it too is edible and has a similar tangy, lemony taste. It is not related to either the French sorrel or the red sorrel, as you can tell by the botanical name. You’ll find this in most gardens as a weed and it grows in abundance in wooded areas around the US. It is easily eradicated, if you get it pulled before it sets seed, as it doesn’t send out any underground runners like our villain plant does.

Wood sorrel is actually related to the shamrock.

Wood sorrel is actually related to the shamrock.

The bane of my existence, however, is red sorrel (Rumex acetosella). It too is just as edible as the other two, but in order to keep up with it in my garden I would have to eat a large bowlful a day. No matter how hard I work to keep it out of my gardens, it works harder to take them over. I just spent the last two days cleaning sorrel out of my front perennial garden.

The villain in all its glory, red sorrel.

The villain in all its glory, red sorrel.

It has this really irritating way of sending it’s underground runners right through the middle of the root ball of my perennials, making it nearly, if not in reality totally, impossible to get it completely out of my garden. I ended up digging up four or five of my perennials in order to picked the sorrel runners out of the root ball and then replanted them. They had been so overtaken by the sorrel that I wasn’t even sure the plant was still alive under all the sorrel leaves. I hope they survive.

I have yet to find a cure for red sorrel. I’ve searched the Internet several times and all I find are other people moaning about it taking over their gardens. The only thing that has worked, to some extent, is to dig the soil down to about 8” and pick out every single tiny little bit of root I find. They are usually easy to spot as they have a more golden color than most roots.

Garlic Leaves Hidden Time Bombs

The second runner up for my least favorite plant, is wild garlic. We have it in abundance here in the mid-Atlantic. Every spring you can tell when the weather is going to turn, because everyone’s yard will have patches of tall spiky garlic all over them. They are not as bad as the sorrel, but they give it a run for the money.

Even before the grass greens up, the wild garlic can be seen in clumps in everyone's lawns.

Even before the grass greens up, the wild garlic can be seen in clumps in everyone’s lawns.

The thing about wild garlic is it makes lots of tiny bulbs all around it, so when you pull up the big plant there may be dozens of babies left behind. I learned to loosen the soil and then open it up so I can see all the little bulbs and get them out, too. Miss one and you’ll have another plant in the same location. At least they don’t try to smother all the other plants around them, like sorrel does. However, after pulling up dozens of plants in the same garden as the sorrel, I’m going to talk to my friend Jeanne and find out when you can cut them to the ground and they’ll never come back up. It’s supposed to be done during a special time of the moon’s phase, but I don’t know which one. I’ll try and remember to ask her tomorrow.

Now, I know that both the sorrel and the garlic are telling me my soil needs more work, as they both favor acidic soil. However, they could do it in a much nicer manner!

Hummers Persevere

On a side note, we’re having severe thunderstorms here, some of which has spawned tornados in other counties surrounding us, but the hummingbirds are still faithfully going back and forth to the feeder. I wonder how they manage to fly through the rain, as I would think the drops would be like being hit with a huge sledge hammer, they are so tiny and fragile, yet back and forth they go. I’m so glad the replacement container for my bigger feeder arrived today. I’ll put it up tomorrow so that they can have plenty of food to rebuild their strength after their long trip from down south.

Vote For Your Least Favorite Weed

So, which is your least favorite weed, and why? Do you have a solution to share, so that everyone can purge their gardens of unwanted, invasive, smothering plants?

 

Seedlings Abound

12 April, 2013 Reply
My broccoli and cauliflower seedlings look great. Cabbage (in the back) a bit wimpy.

My broccoli and cauliflower seedlings look great. Cabbage (in the back) a bit wimpy.

This is so exciting! I got to move my seedlings from under the lights in the living room to the back deck. They’re growing up and I need to start making them independent. As independent as plants can be, that is. This isn’t the first graduation, but it’s the biggest. Earlier I started hardening off my broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower seedlings. They’re ready to plant tomorrow. Another exciting and long anticipated day! Later than I had hoped for, but better late than never.

The thing I’m most excited about is that my seedlings look terrific. I mean, absolutely like they were grown in a nursery (except my red cabbage, it’s a little wimpy). I have never grown seedlings that looked this good before and surprisingly I grew them under fluorescent lights. In the past I’ve put them in a window with two small grow lights on them, but they’ve always been spindly and light green.

Amazing Results Under Fluorescent Lights

This year I couldn’t do that, because the shelving unit I usually use is holding all my grains and spices, until I get the cabinet those are usually in repaired and repainted (that’s a whole other story). So, in desperation I asked my husband if he had any ideas for more lighting, and he offered to let me use two of his video lights, since he’s not doing videos at the moment. The only place I could find to set them up was in the corner of the living room, without any direct sunlight, at all. That worked great until my seedlings had to be moved to their own individual cells (hmm, I think I’ll come up with a better name, cell pack sounds like a prison…).Condos! I’ll call them plant condos, much better than cells. I didn’t have enough lighting!

Here are the bulk of my seedlings, being watched over by my garden gnome.

Here are the bulk of my seedlings, being watched over by my garden gnome.

I remembered that I had seen a fluorescent light in our storage area. It had been in the kitchen when we moved in (ugly shop type light, replaced as fast as I could find a light I liked). I went and picked it up and bought an extension cord. My very handy hubby married the two together and we had another extra large light. I set this one up on taller boxes, so that the lights would be a little farther away from the plants and off they took.

You could almost watch them grow. It was amazing. Not only that, I think I only lost a couple of seedlings, everyone is healthy and strong.

Which leads me to another problem. I have too many seedlings!!! I have over 50 paprika peppers and nearly as many tomatoes you make sundried tomatoes out of. I don’t have a clue where I’m going to put everything, and I still have other direct sow crops that are going to be looking for growing space, too. Yikes. With my spring crops going in almost a month late it’s going to be a tight fit until some of them finish up and I can replace them with the summer fare.

Successfully Starting Eggplant Seeds

Oh! I think I mentioned this before, but I have never had good luck with eggplant seeds until this year. I read that you need to keep those little ones warm. So, I pulled out a heating pad, set it on the lowest setting and put the tray on top of that. They sprouted beautifully. I have the biggest, healthiest eggplant seedlings I’ve ever had. Even better than I have bought at expensive nurseries.

In case you can’t tell I’m getting really excited about this year’s growing season, which is now upon us.

Surprise Under The Blanket

Oh, here’s a little sideline. Today I was cutting some greens to put in a smoothie and I opened up the cover on the Perpetual Spinach, which is actually a member of the chard family that is very mild and grows all summer long without bolting. The plants had been tiny little critters, just putting up one or two little leaves. Then someone started munching on them. I think it was a rabbit. I covered them with frost blanket and have just let them be for about a month. I pulled the cover back today and lo and behold, huge plants ready for harvesting. What a wonderful smoothie they made for lunch. I’ll be chomping on those regularly now.

Go On, Give It A Try Yourself

If you’ve never tried growing any of your own food, try this year. Even a container with a tomato or pepper plant. The food just tastes so much better than even farmer’s market, and can be picked and eaten immediately, so you’ll get all the flavor and nutrition the plant has to offer.

 

Hot Flash

10 April, 2013 1 Comment

That’s what we’re having right now. A week and a half ago we had snow, today it’s supposed to be 85˚F. Spring sprang hard and fast and I’m having to do a quick tap dance to keep up. Today I need to get all the hoses reconnected and in working order with quick connects and watering wands. I need to get the sprinklers back out and start a watering regimen for the front, back, and side yard. I don’t know how long this hot spell is going to last, but I have to be prepared or my plants will suffer.

Visions of the first ripe tomato are starting to dance in my head!

Visions of the first ripe tomato are starting to dance in my head!

Cole Crops Planted ASAP!

Today and tomorrow I’m finishing the hardening off of my cole crops: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower. They’ll go in the ground on Friday, if it doesn’t rain, Saturday, if it does. They are looking great and are the best seedlings I’ve ever had.

If the weather keeps up like this I’ll be ready to plant the summer crops soon. Until then I’m going to up-pot some of the tomatoes that are getting really big and start hardening them off on the back deck. They’ll be protected there and I can bring them in at night if I need to.

Even though our official last frost date is this weekend, I can say that it’s officially planting time here at my house. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this time, however, with the new job I’m finding it a bit hard to juggle everything. I’m sure I’ll get it figured out soon.

At least the summer crops that go in from seed don’t need to be started until May 1st. I have until then to get everything ready for them. I’m more than half way there, but will need a couple more cooler days, so that I don’t get broiled, to finish up. I have a feeling this is going to be a very good year in our yard. I don’t know why, because I haven’t had a decent garden since we moved here, but I think my “ship” may have just come in.

What’s Your Planting Schedule Like?

So, is it planting time in your neck of the woods, or are you still under snow. It’d be great if you’d share your spring practices and timings. It is amazing that there are so many different climates and ways of working with them.

Head Count

5 April, 2013 Reply

Finally, the weather has broken and we had a nice sunny day, that wasn’t so windy you thought you might get blown to Oz. So, I decided to take the time to uncover all the seeds I’d put in and get a good look at who was up and who wasn’t.

Who’s Braved The Elements

The unknown pea. 100% germination!

The unknown pea. 100% germination!

I was a surprised by some of the seeds that hadn’t emerged yet. Of course, after the maddening spring we’ve had with hot weather one day, cool the next, snow and sleet on the third, with hot returning on the fourth, it’s amazing to me that any of them came up. I’m not sure I’d know if it was safe to emerge if I were a seed. Hmm, that made me laugh. I got this funny image of me as a seed sitting under the ground thinking, “Now?” “Hmm, should I sprout now?” “Maybe now?” Just me being a seed was rather hilarious. Probably not for you, because you can’t visualize me as a seed like I can.

Anyway, now I have to decide whether to reseed or wait and plant summer crops in the places where nothing came up. That’s always a tough call. The sad part is that some of the seeds I only had a few from the seed exchange, so there’ll be no opportunity to try again. I’m especially bummed by the dragon carrots that didn’t emerge.

Here are the surprises:

  • Spinach – All varieties came up in spades. Usually I have one variety that doesn’t come up at all and the others are intermittent. This year it looks like every single seed I put in sprouted.
  • Carrot – The ‘Paresienne’ variety, that I’ve planted twice before without a single sprout, is sprouting the best of any of the carrots this spring, go figure.
  • Peas – I have a pea that was a renegade in one of my seed packets. It was supposed to be a snow pea, but it grew as a sugar snap. It was only one plant in the whole packet that did this. I saved seeds from it and I have the best germination from them of any of my pea varieties.
  • Kale – My tried and true ‘Red Winter’ didn’t sprout at all, the ‘Lancinato’ is coming up in abundance, and they’re right next to each other in the garden.
  • Mustard – Not one plant up after nearly a month. I didn’t think you could ever have mustard seed that didn’t sprout!

This weekend I’ll fill in the blank spaces and hope that our spring weather settles down enough for them to sprout safely.

I’m hardening off the broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower, and the six pansy seeds that germinated, and will plant them toward the end of next week.

How’s Your Spring Garden?

Even with the spotty germination it looks like we’re going to have a banner spring! How’s your early spring garden coming along?

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