First Seeds of 2015

I started celery-tall utah, rosemary and parsley today.

Planting started out in the garden

Yesterday and today I planted peas, some spinach, arugula, carrots, garlic, Walla Walla onions, red onions, white bunching onions, and romaine lettuce. I'm glad I waited to buy the red onion sets because I got them on sale today. Kaitlyn was a big help getting the raised beds ready for planting. She used the hoe to mix the compost into the soil while I finished mixing and smoothed the soil.

Hopefully what I planted will grow ok and not drown because shortly after finishing this afternoon it started raining really hard and it's supposed to keep raining for several days.

Lots more seed starting

Today I started Pumpkin - Gurney's Giant Magic, Pumpkin - New England Pie, Zinnia, Borage, Nasturtium, Forget-Me-Not, Echinacea, Blue Flax, Dill, and Pink Baby's Breath. If the pink baby's breath actually sprouts I'll be very surprised. I discovered the seed packet when I was clearing out space in the office for the plant shelves and it's labeled for 1999. I figured it couldn't hurt to try it and see if they do anything. :)

There's a lot of growth in the plants that have been started. Now if it would stop snowing and warm up I could get compost on the garden beds and plant the peas & other early plants.

Squash and Melons Started

Teresa gave me a great seed tray with coconut coir seed starting cells so I used those for the melons, and squash. I started Hannah's Choice Muskmelon, Melon - Minnesota Midget, Watermelon - Sugar Baby, Watermelon - Black Diamond, Buttercup Squash, Spaghetti Squash, Early Prolific Straightneck Summer Squash, and Broccoli - Summer Purple. Al requested the Summer Purple Sprouting Broccoli because it's supposed to be a little milder tasting than the head broccoli.

Tomatoes, etc started

Yesterday I started a whole bunch of tomatoes - Early Girl, Mortgage Lifter, Roma, Rutgers, Sweet 100, Green Doctor's Frosted Cherry, and Juliet. I started them in smaller cells than I have in the past so they'll all fit in one black seed tray and I'll transplant them as needed. I also started petunias - Celebrity Blue, Celebrity White, and Celebrity Red. Also started chamomile and marigolds. I'm trying Cathy's suggestion and starting the flowers in smaller containers with lots of seeds as she did with her marigolds last year. I'll separate and transplant them as needed. (The plastic part from the boxes of Girl Scout Tagalongs made great trays for the petunias!)

Some of the seeds I planted already are starting to sprout. I'll need to get the new shelf put together in the office soon so I can move the sprouted seeds under the shop lights.

Bell Peppers are sprouting

Sweet Marjoram sprouting

Most of the basil, thyme, cauliflower, broccoli, and marjoram have sprouted

More Seed Starting

Today I started Broccoli - Coronado Crown Hybrid (the one that earned Kaitlyn a blue ribbon last year at the Itasca County Fair), Cauliflower - Farmer's Extra Early, Cauliflower - Snow Crown Hybrid, romaine lettuce, sage, sweet marjoram, sweet basil, and thyme.

Broccoli, Cauliflower, Romaine, Marjoram, Thyme

Seed trays on top of the fridge to germinate

2014 Planting has begun!

The first seeds of 2014 are now started. Planted Celery - Tall Utah, Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, Eggplant - Twilight Hybrid, Bell Pepper - California Wonder, Habanero Pepper, Jalapeno Pepper, Poblano Pepper, Sweet Banana Pepper, and Rosemary.

Bell Peppers, Banana Peppers, Jalapeno Peppers

Eggplant, Rosemary, Poblano Peppers, Habanero Peppers, Celery, Jalapeno Peppers

Peppers

Lots of growth

Strawberries in the new pyramid planter

Oregano is going crazy

Marigolds & radishes

Cauliflower

Carrots

Tulips in the front flower bed

Tulips

Squash & herbs

Cucumbers and Trellis

I planted the cucumbers and put up trellises for the peas and pumpkins. It started raining again so I couldn't do any more.

This weekend I helped Cathy plant their herb garden. The squash and pumpkin that hadn't sprouted a couple weeks ago are up now.

Sometime over the weekend an animal dug up the habanero pepper so I'll have to plant a jalapeno there instead.

More Planting

I planted 3 hills of buttercup squash, 2 hills of spaghetti squash, 2 hills of summer squash, 4 hills of sugar baby watermelon, 8 celery, 8 banana peppers, 9 jalapeno peppers, 1 habanero pepper, 2 eggplants, basil, parsley, thyme, petunias, marjoram, nasturtiums, marigolds and borage. I planted a couple Roma tomatoes and marigolds in a big container in the corner of the garden.

Some animal, probably a squirrel, dug up some of the wax beans and lima beans I planted yesterday so I had to fix them.

I noticed some of the carrots, beets, kale, salsify, bunching onions, spinach, romaine, and Waltham 29 broccoli are sprouting.

There are a bunch more herbs and flowers to plant, but I'm exhausted and it started sprinkling so the rest will have to wait until next week.