April 11, 2010: Garden/Seedling/Granny Update

The garden and the seedlings are doing a bit better than the Granny. I blame Dan, who still hasn't sent that chicken soup down here, and my daughter, who had no idea where to buy port for The Idiot Gardener's Brandy and Port guaranteed cure! I was honestly ready to try it.

I am feeling a bit better today, but for the past two days I have had to take on a bit more than I felt physically able to do. You see, the seedlings didn't care that I was sick in bed. The tomatoes took it upon themselves to grow. And grow. Up and over their lights, they grew. It was quite apparent, if I wanted decent plants, they would have to be repotted immediately. So I dragged my body out of bed, dragged the plants, plastic cups and a tub of potting mix into the house, and proceeded to make a huge mess in my entire kitchen. I did get most of them done before I ran out of cups. I'm still coughing too badly to venture to Wal-Mart for more, but maybe I can talk Mr. H into doing it for me.

Many of the seedlings were looking a bit spindly, the results of being too warm and moist behind their plastic curtain, with no good air circulation. As I potted up the tomatoes, I set them out in the daylight, along with all the other seedlings. It was cool, partly cloudy and slightly breezy, but not enough sun and wind to do any harm. They stayed out for a couple of hours yesterday, and they all went outside again this morning. It's slightly overcast again, only supposed to get into the low 60s, and hopefully it will slow their growth and make them a bit stockier.

The brassicas that were planted on 3/15 and grown inside got quite leggy, so they were repotted a week or so ago. One thing with brassicas, they do not mind a bit if you bury their stems right up to their leaves. On 3/25 I direct seeded some broccoli into the garden, and topped each group of four seeds with a milk jug. I peeked at them today, and sure enough, they are coming up beautifully. I'll compare their progress with the indoor seedlings, and see if it's worthwhile to fool with starting them inside next year.

Some of the stragglers get special attention in the plant window.

Lettuce and peppers getting some outdoor light.

A table full of seedlings.

A few "young uns" stay inside

I wish I had more of these old picnic coolers. It's a wonderful place to sun these pepper seedlings and protect them from wind.

Eight "hills" of broccoli growing under milk jugs.

Sweet onions and cilantro.

And more sweet onions. One can never have too many!

Peas are slowly emerging, but germination looks pretty good.

I planted the radishes (glued to toilet tissue seed mats) at 1" apart, then ended up pulling every other one when they all germinated. Then the quail found them, so I have some bare spots and some chomped leaves. I'm going to have to find the bird netting. I think I'll get the lettuce seedlings transplanted to this bed this week.

The raspberries are looking lovely. This variety, Canby, doesn't produce sturdy canes, so I've been weaving them onto the cotton clothesline that is strung across the bed. It seems as though I remember getting a better harvest from horizontal canes, but even if my memory has failed me, it keeps them from getting beaten to death by our strong winds. I must say, they are just covered with flower buds.

Snap peas are just now emerging, way behind the shelling peas.

You'd think I'd learn by now that if I plant spinach seeds at 2" spacings on the toilet tissue mats, every one of them is going to come up and have to be thinned. I'll wait until they are large enough to toss into a salad or two.

Strawberries looking good. I need to get those strays out of the walkway and into the bare spots in the bed.

The plants are loaded with blossoms. I can't hardly wait for the first berries!

Nothing says spring like these sunny beauties.

Or my flowering quince. I absolutely love the vibrant color.

OK, girls, hold on to your hormones. I just have to get this last photo in. This is two-week-old Remington, the new great-grandson. The one I couldn't even hold and kiss and cuddle and spoil when I saw him for the first time, because I was sick.

Is he precious or what?

I want to thank all of you again, for your get well wishes. I hope you'll understand that I'm not answering every one of them........I'd never catch up! But all of your comments mean a lot to me. You Love me, you really, really Love me! TM Sally Field.