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Indoors, I have a flat of peppers and tomatoes. I'm only starting seeds of Sungold, Black Cherry and Una Hartsock tomatoes (all cherry tomatoes), as I plan on purchasing my main tomato plants this year. I'm going buy determinate varieties, and only 8 plants total. Last year I way overplanted all of my tomatoes, and they were so crowded the yields were not good at all. I'm going back to better spacing, and shorter (easier to manage) plants. I'll also keep at least 2 of the Sungold and 1 each of the Una Hartsock and Black Cherry, and the other cherries will go to Son John.
Another full flat of peppers, some with 2 plants per cell. I counted over 90 pepper seedlings, and they are still popping up! Both of my sons and Daughter Amy want pepper plants this year, so that's probably not going to be too many for all of us. Varieties I planted this year are Early Jalapeno, Grand Bell Mix, Happy Yummy (sweet & hot), Horizon Orange, Quadrato Rosso D'Asti, Red Marconi and Quadrato Geallo D'Asti.
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No more room in the flats for the overflow of basil, parsley and one last cup of peppers.
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Out in the garden shed, where it's much cooler, I have lettuce, cabbage broccoli and leeks growing under lights.
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Also 36 cells of mini-marigolds.
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And a flat of spinach with very poor germination (20 of 72 cells so far). I will be doing direct seeding of the spinach as soon as I can get the bed prepped, hopefully sometime this week.
On Tuesday I did take time to plant a bed of the lettuce seedlings, as I was running out of room under the shed lights. They're difficult to see in this photo, but they are looking quite healthy, and with yesterday's rain and temps heading into the 60s next week, I expect them to really take off. The garlic, behind the lettuce bed, is about 8" high now.
Today I'm staying inside, toasty warm, making carrot and parsnip seed mats.
Nice to see one of us get up to something useful.
ReplyDeleteWell, Cloud, if you weren't having so much fun in that tent...... ;-)
DeleteOh look at all those seedlings. I can't wait for warm weather. But next week is just in the 40s and some of the nights still in the 20s. It ought to be enough to melt the snow if it would just quit snowing (two storms are predicted). You are going to be eating lettuce before I am. That is for sure.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, with luck we'll get into the 60s in about a week. I hope so, it's so darned cold out in that wind, and it's drying up the little moisture we did get. We had sustained winds of 28MPH most of yesterday, but luckily no 60MPH gusts this time.
DeleteYou are certainly the busy one! More power to you! The seedlings look good.
ReplyDeleteWe had mid twenties last night; the chickens water was frozen this morning. Things are greening up but I guess we just need to be patient!
Ray, the trees are blossoming here this week. We got one night of rain, but I think you know how the wind blows here. Pendleton got all the wind damage this time, with downed trees and power outages.
DeleteYes, I do remember the wind!
DeleteI think I am going to try using the seed mat method for carrots in one of my containers. You've got so many new starts!
ReplyDeleteTosh, it's a relaxing undertaking! I have all my parsnip mats made, and starting on the carrots. This year my daughter wants me to make mats or tapes for her. Last year she ended up tearing out her entire carrot patch because she had planted them so closely together. She said no way could she ever thin them out!
DeleteWowzas!! Look at all those seedlings! You go granny! I've never heard of Una Hartsock. I can't wait to see what it looks like!
ReplyDeleteTosh, Una Hartsock is an indeterminate, roma-type cherry tomato. See it on the vine here:
Deletehttp://tinyurl.com/c4y98qb
In the following photo, it is the lone tomato at the front of the plate. You can see they are a bit larger than a "normal" sized cherry tomato (the yellow Sunsugar to the left).
http://tinyurl.com/cltowls
They are sweeter and juicier than a roma, and we really like them for eating out of hand or for salads. It bears prolifically, and the extras are always good tossed into the sauce pot. This will be my third year to grow them. The original plant came from a packet of mixed cherry tomato seeds, so I made sure to save my own seeds to keep this variety growing in my garden.
P.S.: I call it a roma-type, it would probably be better described as a large grape-type.
DeleteAm I crazy that I've never heard of seed mats? Should you mind showing a brief tutorial? Sounds like something I need to learn
ReplyDeleteShannan, look right over there ---->
DeleteIn my side bar you'll see a list of "Special Posts and Tutorials".
I don't always make the square mats, I sometimes cut strips of toilet tissue for planting in rows instead of blocks. The #1 rule is the material used MUST disintegrate easily in water. No Bounty paper towels, LOL!
Your seedlings all look so nice. I can't imagine doing all that! I have never made mats for carrots, heard of it but never did it. Now you have me thinking that is a good idea! Glad your taking it easier after planting all those potatoes! Nancy
ReplyDeleteNancy, it's a lot more relaxing to sit in a nice, warm house making seed mats, than being out in the cold/heat/wind trying to thin out zillions of carrots!
Deleteyou seedlings look great!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mrs. P. Have you dug yourself out of that snow yet? ;-)
DeleteLookin good Granny! Old Man Winter is still hanging around here! It looks like I will be able to get work done this weekend and hopefully sow the peas. I have to get my carrot seed mats made soon!
ReplyDeleteRobin, we're expecting the warm (60s) again next week, so I'm looking forward to having all my seed mats made and ready for planting. In the meantime, I think I'm going to have to hook a hose up to the house water and get some on my peas and potatoes. I'm getting tired of packing out that big watering can!
DeleteThat's a TON of seedlings, and they look great! Unfortunately, we're having the opposite problem here in Houston--it went from the 60s to the 80s overnight, and my seedlings are none too pleased :(. I thought it was supposed to be Spring??
DeleteOh my, Vertical Gardener. I wish you could send me about 10 degrees, then we'd both be happy, LOL!
DeleteNice seed mats! What a lovely inside garden chore.
ReplyDeleteStefaneener, it's a great project for old ladies with too much time on their hands ;-)
DeleteGranny inspired me to try seed mats for the first time last year. They work wonderfully. I buy cheap paper napkins, then mark a stack of four with a Sharpie marker; the ink soaks through all four layers. I have even marked patterns and letters on mats, planting my initials in radish!
ReplyDeleteLOL, John, I never thought of making patterned seed mats! This year I'm sandwiching my carrot seeds between two thin layers of paper napkins (glue them on one, then press on a "cover"). I don't know if it will help protect those tiny seeds from drying out a bit longer or not, but it's worth a try.
DeleteI like the seed mat project and your seedlings are doing great! It's still winter here. Got some cabbage and broccoli seedlings but nothing else yet.
ReplyDeleteDavid, our warm spring weather was a bit short lived. It's 20F here this morning...brrrrrrrrrrr!
DeleteIt's carrot paper time! I always laugh at how many comments you get on even the old posts about this method - but I see why, it's awesome! The seedlings all look great - here, too cold, windy, just plain nasty :(
ReplyDeleteLOL, me too, Erin! I need to get busy on those carrot papers, my daughter wants me to make hers this year. My early carrots didn't do so well last year, I might hold off until mid to late April to plant them.
DeleteStunning story there. What occurred after?
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
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