March 6, 2013 - Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away


It's raining today!  We've had very little winter snow or rain, which is usual for our area, and our sandy soil dries out very quickly after we do get a bit of precipitation. It's 46F outside, so I took advantage of the intermittent rain showers and sunshine, and put the few seedlings out for a nice drink.


 Tiny leek seedlings, just six days after planting.  They are actually more visible than they appear in the photo.  They have been inside, under lights, all week.  Today they will be moved to the cooler mini greenhouse in the garden shed.


Lettuces, planted five days ago.  Little Gem, on the left, is slow in germinating.  It is seed from 2010, so it may just be too old.  Anuenue, in the center,  is still tiny, but germination looks to be quite good.  Red Sails, on the right, is the most robust and has 100% germination.  These will also move out to the shed today to make room on the indoor shelves for the warm weather seedlings.

Three more varieties of lettuce were planted inside today:  Yugoslavian Red Butterhead, Paris Island Cos and Buttercrunch.  I still have eight more varieties to go, but they will probably be planted directly in the garden as needed.

I decided to start my peppers today too, as it's too rainy to do anything in the garden.  I planted Early Jalapeno (3), Grand Bell Mixed Colors (8), Happy Yummy (4), Horizon Orange (3), Quadrato Rosso D'Asti (6), Red Marconi (6) and Quadrato Giallo D'Asti (3).  


22 comments:

  1. Good for you! Some needed rain and seedlings growing! It must be Spring!

    We had 3/4" yesterday and a skiff of frozen snow last night, but I think that is Winter's last gasp. 70 by Sunday and mostly 60s for the next 2 weeks. Yeaayyy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ray, last week the weatherman told us it was going to be in the 60s for most of the next ten days, then the temp dropped to low 40s. He lied! Now he's forecasting 60s (even a 67!) for the next ten days, but I don't know that I trust him so much ;-)

      Delete
  2. Yay for seedlings! It's raining here too, but accompanied by 58 mph winds and the threat of ice so it's nice to think of basking under lights right now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Erin, I just got the lights set up in the shed greenhouse, so I can get into high gear with the seedlings now! I see spinach, cabbage and broccoli in my near future, with tomatoes not far behind :-)

      Delete
  3. I have to start some seedlings too. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a chance. I'd also like to go outside and see if the soil is unfrozen. I can't plant this week as it is raining all week (rain, rain, go away - at least from me), but Saturday it is supposed to clear up. I'd like to get my spinach in. And maybe contemplate my peas and fava beans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Daphne, I'm happy to see the rain, as I really want to get my onions, potatoes and peas in soon. I hate having to haul water out in a watering can, or having to hook the hose up to house water.

      Delete
  4. You have a nice start on this year!! Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi granny!
    I don't comment much, but I'm one of your faithful followers. I have to tell you that you changed my gardening last year for the better. Remember when you talked about tomatoes and you were comparing conditions amongst your plants? Different conditions like location and frequency of watering? Well you had said there was a plant that you water only when it looks a little wilted and it was your best tomato producer. So I too that advice to heart and I restrained myself mightily and only watered my garden when it was really dry (which translated to like once a week most weeks - I did a great job mulching last year!) well key tomato harvest turned out great with gigantic juicy fruits. My neighbors had to pull out their plants early and with meager harvests. I am so pleased with your advice. Plus my water bill was teeny tiny - usually it is a hundred dollars above the winter bills but it was pretty much the same. So I just want you to know that I appreciate the detailed accounts of your gardening! I'm a stay at home mom to four young children and I try to grow most of what we eat so it is really important I'm on top of my game. Well I'm off to the fabric store to buy some tulle - I remember your advise about putting it over beets and other leafy plants to prevent mites!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shannan, you made my day! Maybe even my year ;-)

      I have to get to the store for tulle too, it's getting really close to beet and spinach planting time. In fact, I just started 72 cells of spinach seeds indoors today. I was going to wait and just plant the seeds outside, but I got that itch to plant something NOW! LOL I do hope my spinach does better this year than last year. It wasn't a total failure, but I lost a lot of plants (? they were there one day and completely gone the next) so the yield was way down. I had the bed covered, so the birds didn't eat them. Cut worms would have left the tops. I have no idea what made them disappear. By using fairly large transplants, I'm hoping to avoid it happening this year.

      Delete
  6. Look at you go! It must be nice to begin growing. I have onions under lights and have started sowing some herbs. But most of my seed starting is a ways away unless I start early.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rachel, I'm going by the earliest possible planting dates, because spring will come early this year. I insist! We've had enough winter, and if we all concentrate hard enough and have faith, it will happen. Or I'll end up replanting. Whatever. ;-)

      Delete
  7. I think your rain is heading our way for Saturday and Sunday. We are so dry from last year's drought that any precipitation is welcome. I thought we were lucky getting 40s this week. I can't wait for the 60s!

    I'm barely starting to think about what I'll be planting this year. I think I'll call over to the greenhouse and make sure they start more of the Oxheart tomatoes they had last year that did so well for me. The prices over there are so low that I can't even think about spending the time and energy doing it myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Langela, I'm going to buy most of my tomato plants this year. I only want 8 plants, two varieties, and it wouldn't pay to grow the seedlings myself when I can buy them all for $3. I'm only going to start my cherry tomatoes, as the ones I like are not readily available in the nurseries around here.

      Delete
  8. I agree with you, spring will be early this year! Or, like you, I'll be replanting too :) Cheers, Jenni

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jenni, it sure did feel like spring today! I got quite warm working out in the sunshine.

      Delete
  9. I'm with you. Even though rain feels gloomy, it's so important for our dry dry place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stefaneener, we only got rain for one day. It was nice to be able to get outside to work today, but we.need.rain!

      Delete
  10. Looking good Granny! Love your new pic! I'm starting peppers and eggplant this weekend! We are supposed to have some warm weather....so, I'll be working at the plots getting ready!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robin, it was lovely here today, and the forecast is for even warmer days ahead! Now, if it would just get out of the 30s at night.

      Delete
  11. Nice seedlings! The Red Sails lettuce that I planted this year has been far more robust than my other lettuces as well! All of mine were planted in my Aerogarden, but at the same time. I've already had to harvest 5 leaves from the one plant that were as big as my hand at least, and wouldn't consider harvesting from any of the other plants yet! I do love how even a rainy, gloomy day feels useful when gardening is involved!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan, Red Sails has always been my best performer. Prizehead is another robust lettuce, and very similar to Red Sails. For many years I grew nothing but Prizehead, but now I enjoy more of a variety.

      Delete