April 11, 2009: Seedling Saturday

The back lawn is looking normal again, after yesterday's scattering of the leaves. All that is left of them (12 bags) is in the three black bags by the fence.



This is my "new" greenhouse!



Seems like a good place to put my seedlings to get them accustomed to the outdoors. At night, or if the weather gets terribly bad, I just open up the garage door and drive the "greenhouse" in! Today it's windy, so I shut the tailgate to provide a windbreak for the little plants.



They are thriving in their outdoor environment. They have been eased into a full day of being outside, with about three hours of sun and the rest of the day in shade.



The Arizona "seedlings" should now be called plants, I guess. I had to remove all the shelves from the window to make room for the tallest tomato, which now reaches 36". These are supposed to be Tumbling Toms, but I fear they have crossed with another variety.....they don't look like they are going to tumble!



The Arizona peppers are really gorgeous. They need to be repotted into their permanent containers and hardened off soon.



Outside, I have some of the seedlings in a barrel, with a plastic sheet that can be pulled over them on freezing nights. These are mostly brassicas, which turned out to be rather wimpy and leggy. I think I'll just seed them directly into the garden next year.



The clematis is growing well in the blue pot, and the pansies are beginning to get buds on them.



One of the broccoli that I set out yesterday. I peeled the Dixie cup off, with the exception of the top inch which was left on as a cutworm collar.



I know it's difficult to see the little carrot seedlings, but believe me, they are there! Germination looks to be very good...these are the seeds that were applied 1" apart to a sheet of newspaper with Elmer's glue, then allowed to dry before being placed into the garden. I'll not have to thin this entire four squares of carrots! YIPPEE!!!



I think my garlic has a disease. The tips just keep getting yellow and dying back. That will teach me not to grow grocery store cloves.



Prizehead lettuce seedlings, looking good. The red leaf varieties also look good, but didn't show up well in their photo.



Behold the Alderman (Tall Telephone) peas!



They were so pretty, they just begged me to take another photo!



The radishes are beginning to get true leaves.



At least one of my four new raspberries is living. I think they all are, the others have buds that are swelling.



It won't be long before I get my first spinach salad!



Onions and strawberries are still growing well.



Sugar snap peas are a few days behind the shelling peas, but they are growing fast.


Happy gardening!




14 comments:

  1. Wow everything is looking wonderful. I'm having issues with my carrots. I don't expect them up for another week, but the dill which self seeds all over is coming up in the bed. Not only do carrots not like to be around dill, but their seedlings looks so similar that I won't be able to tell them apart. Ooops.

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  2. Granny, what are you going to do if Mr.H takes off? There go your seedlings also. I have the same problem with my garlic and I also planted store bought. A lesson learned again.

    John

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  3. So much growth and life!!! I'm totally jealous. We still haven't gotten my bed kits together due to Hubs' shoulder injury... ARGH!!!! It's drivin' me crazy!!! He does have a chiropractor appointment on Monday, so I'm really hoping he feels a lot better after that. It's pretty wet here this weekend anyway, so it probably wouldn't have happened this weekend even if he was feeling well. So I'm crossing my fingers and toes that it'll get done next weekend!

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  4. Daphne, I also have a square of your dill and a square of Dan's dill in with my cabbages. The plants are quite small yet, so I'll wait until next week for photos. Yikes about the carrots and dill! Hopefully you'll be able to tell the difference before they get too large.

    John, Mr. H has strict instructions to only drive the car for the next two weeks. but if he absolutely has to drive the pickup, the seedlings are on a big tray that we can just slide out and carry to the porch or garage.

    MommyAmy, I hope your husband's shoulder gets better soon. I did some damage to may rotator cuff four years ago, and still suffer from a LOT of pain. I have two choices...surgery or painful cortisone shots with a huge needle. I opted for a third choice. Deal with it. I wish I could run down the Columbia to your house to help you with those boxes. You're only about a four hour drive away!

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  5. I like your "greenhouse", what a clever idea.

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  6. I love the truck greenhouse! Quite ingeneous.

    I was just telling my husband this morning that the pea patch with the plants all emerging just makes me want to smile. Something about new pea plants that just shout "SPRING IS HERE!"

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  7. Daisy, I was carrying the plants over to the tailgate every morning, and putting them back in the mini-greenhouse every night. Then it dawned on me...they were getting quite heavy, so why not just leave them in the pickup bed! It works for me ;-)

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  8. Kitsapfg, I feel the same way about the peas! That's why they got more than one photo today.

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  9. Your plants look great and such a neat yard, you could eat off that lawn. I potted up my broccoli about two weeks ago and have been carting them in and out. They bulk up fast so yours should turn for the better fast. Those peas are very pretty. Good idea with the plant mobile, I am guessing that is a Granny original?

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  10. Dan, I wish my front yard looked that good. We were in the process of replacing some sprinklers, so it didn't get watered. Then the darned irrigation district shut down for repairs, and the lawn looks like it is burning up! At least the back yard got sprinkled well before the water went off. I've been hauling hoses for house water for the garden.

    By the way, our rabbit was eating off that back lawn yesterday. He said it was pretty good stuff!

    Yep, the plant mobile was a Granny idea ;-)

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  11. Granny - everything looks marvelous! Well except the garlic. Heh. Your store bought garlic looks like my store bought garlic. I think it's purple blotch. Sulfur spray is supposed to help. This will be week three of application for me and I don't see a big difference. Here's a little bit I found on it:
    "Purple blotch is a fungal disease that is most common in areas where plants are irrigated and in the South. The spores, which are spread by splashing water, overwinter in crop refuse and germinate in moist conditions.
    SOLUTION: Use a fungicide to control this disease. To discourage purple blotch, remove crop debris and avoid growing in wet soil.
    *Spray plants with garden sulfer, an organic fungicide, at the first sign of the disease, and repeat according to package directions.
    *If sulfer is ineffective, remove the infected plant. At the end of the season, make sure no plant debris, where the spores can overwinter, remains in the garden.
    *Discourage the disease by growing future onion family crops in well-drained soil and spacing plants to allow for air circulation."

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  12. Jenn, I think you're right about the "purple blotch". Didn't I see/read about it on your blog? I'm going to attack mine with cornmeal today. I'll do a blog about it as soon as I get it done.

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  13. Great looking seedlings. I had to show my wife your hardening off bench. Hehe. She has had to carry 30 pound trays back upstairs into the room above the garden where my light system is. It is SO not optimal. I love your idea! Bravo!

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  14. Sinfonian, it's working out well and saving me from having to carry them back and forth. Today they got a nice sprinkling of rain before the were driven back into the garage. Mr. H only has to give up his truck for a maximum of three weeks ;-)

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