Garden 2013: Spring Fever

 I have a serious case of spring fever and the fact that my seedlings are beginning to overfill our shelf isn't helping. My self imposed deadline to get the garden ready for planting is fast approaching, so this weekend, weather permitting, will be a busy one. Fence building, tilling, soil amending.

Here's how my seedlings look now. They are growing fast! First up is the Ragged Jack Kale. They are growing the fastest and hopefully can make it another week in their little pots. Growing Kale, when you have a son named Cale, is the source of constant jokes. And apparently the thought of eating your brother for dinner is hilarious!

Ragged Jack Kale

We started about 18 tomato plants to get an early start. They are looking really good and will have to be trasplanted to larger pots before too long since they still have a few months before they can be planted out.

Heirloom Tomatoes

 I was so excited about this one. Of all the things I want to grow, lavender is at the top of the list. I have tried time and time again to sprout it from seed with no luck. But I have 5 little sprouts now! They still have a ways to go, and I have been known to kill a large plant as well. But I am determined to have my lavender field one of these years.

Lavender

The eggplants are off to a slow start. Our seed shelf is on our bedroom, which stays around 64 degrees most days and colder through the night. The eggplant seeds are not happy with this arrangement. Rylan's yellow egg and my black egg and Turkish Orange didn't sprout at all. I planted a few more today and put them in the living room near where the woodstove is and hopefully they will germinate better.

Apple, Ping Tung and Purple Long Eggplant

The cabbage- both green and purple are also looking really good. I am starting to collect as many vegetarian cabbage recipes as I can, so if you have any to share I'd love to see them!

Cabbage

You know how when you plant seeds it is recommended that you plant 2 seeds to ensure germination? I usually ignore that when it comes to things like peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant because I am stingy with my seeds. But with the Brassicas we went ahead and doubled up, since the seeds were plentiful. So a few weeks after planting, things start to get crowded and you are supposed to pull out the weaker of the 2 sprouts. Yeah. I can't do that. I am incapable to throwing any plant out. Ever. So below you see a flat of the "weaker sprouts." I pulled them up and stuck them in the soil filled flat and hoped for the best. They all made it. So now we have double the amount of what we planted. I do the same thing with suckers. Tomato suckers I will pinch off and plant and do the same with raspberry suckers....

Here is our shelf from top to bottom. All 3 shelves are pretty much full. The Kale is about as tall as the lights will go. If I could find a chicken safe place outside I would put them out there, but I am still working on finding that chicken-safe place.

Happy growing!


This post has been linked to The Homestead Barn Hop,