peas and greens

First little harvest of snap peas. The golden ones grow taller. The sugar snaps stay shorter and look a lot more tidy in the garden. I'm not sure if I can tell the difference in flavor.

I pulled out lots of things that have begun bolting in the heat today- cilantro and arugula from either side of the peas. Realized I could have easily sown another row of peas- three abreast instead of two. I think next year I'll do that instead of putting herbs on either side.

Pulled most of the lettuce from the greens bed. Composted half, put the bibb heads to chill in the fridge. Simpson slo-bolt still in the bed- must eat them this week though. Spacing worked out- the collards are twice as high and look like they have room to keep growing now. Left in the stumps of chinese cabbage down the middle- I see new tiny leaves sprouting so curious if they'll regrow.

a gray day

is cheerful for the gardener, I am happy to get outside with the plants! Cool temperature and rain showers make for a lot less transplant shock on them. First I dug up and moved my lovage into a garden bed-

There's two. Maybe I put them a little too close together? it's supposed to be 18" apart I'm a bit shy of that

Into the bed of snap peas I planted arugula- on one outside edge. Some of them don't look too great in color. Maybe were stuck in the cardpots too long.

Cilantro on the other side-

and leaf beet chard down the middle.

Lovage was the main plant I wanted to move this spring, but now that we might have two more trees taken out that are growing too close to the house on shady sideyard- I will soon have to dig and move lots of hostas, my stinkin' hellebores, more yellow salvia, the chocolate joe pye weed and lady's mantle. Maybe some of the bugleweed too.

double cover

It's been a few rainy, chilly days. Barely gets above fifty so all the young plants stay in the coldframe and greenhouse. I found my tomatoes look unhappy if it's below sixty, so I put an upturned plastic tray over them, to give a second layer of protection. 

It worked- their leaves perked up, and condensation formed pretty quick on the inside. It's like a little personal greenhouse cover, inside the greenhouse.

On more tomatoes:

and alyssum:

The other plants are okay at temps around forty-five, fifty-

Here dill, cilantro, arugula, parsley and leeks

and the lettuces stayed out all night long, this week. 

In the coldframe, kale, collards, tokyo bekana and tatsoi are growing! They've been out all night too. I fixed the leak on the window cover with some caulk- and put a few sheets of cardboard under the plant trays. To block draft, and be able to see if it leaks again anywhere.

But tonight they'll all have to come in again- it's going to be below freezing and maybe snow tomorrow.

more seedling stuff

Some are just starting to get their first true leaves- arugula

lettuces 

 Tatsoi 

Collards

I did a kind of test with my blue collards. I had the saved seed marked- from the pods that had looked good and mature and those that seemed musty or scant. Sowed them on opposite sides of the tray. On the "good" side, every single seed germinated. On the not-so-good side, only one. So I tossed the rest of the not-great packet.

Also tossed the packet of romaine lettuce, saved off my own plants in 2010. None grew this year. So now I know when I save lettuce seed, it keeps for ten years! 

I also sowed dill from two packets each- original bought seed, and my own saved seed, with either end of the trays marked. They all sprouted at same rate. This seed isn't more than a year or two old, I just wanted to see if my saved seed was as viable. Had first accident with seedlings last night- knocked over tray of cilantro. Rescued most of them.

Started more trays on top of the fridge. 2nd sowing! Leaf beet chard, marigolds, golden snap peas, sugar snap peas, webb's wonder lettuce, simpson 'slo-bolt' lettuce, new tokyo bekana, nasturtiums, sweet peas and five kinds of tomatoes- beefsteak, sweet cherry, black cherry, cherokee purple, and saved seed from one large tomato plant a few years back (didn't mark what variety).

Instead of the fermenting method, I had done this simpler thing: rinse the seeds as best able, then just fold into a paper towel and let dry, store in cold. Had read about it a few times. I don't think I can stomach dealing with mold to cleanse tomato seed, so I tried this and now will see if they grow.

Realized belatedly after I was done with all the satisfying work of filling and tamping and misting the trays, that I probably used up trays and seed-starter mix I didn't have to- I could have waited a few weeks and just planted the peas straight into the ground! I got carried away with the sowing task. Well, they have an early start now. I needed two trays for my sweet peas. Kept them separate from the soaking- all the seeds that sank went in the first tray. The floaters in the second. So I'll see if it's true that only the seeds that sink are good. 

All my seedling trays are in use now. Will have to wait until some of the earlier plants are ready for paper pots, to free some up again.

feels like spring

It's going to just touch 60° today. All my little seedlings are out on the table (the greenhouse is scorching!)

I set outside the pot of chives, and brought out from the basement window spot the figs, cuban oregano (how it seems to glow) and bay laurel. 

They're on the lower deck in a shady spot on my wooden bench- will come outside for a week or so on warm days like this to acclimate before I move them to the upper deck in the sun. 

Figs are unfurling their new leaves.

first sowing

Today is cold outside, with ice and snow predicted all through the coming week. Yeah, my little row cover will probably collapse but the mini greenhouse roof sheds snow just fine. My tender prennials still have heaps of leaf litter over them from the last snowfall so no worries there. 

Indoors, I started the garden with my first seed sowing of the year: lettuces, augula, collards, leeks, tatsoi, kale, sweet alyssum, dill, parsley and cilantro.

Here's my list (labels I made for the trays, w/some of my own made-up abbreviations)

I'm hoping I can get the alyssum to grow- really looking forward to having that across my front decorative bed and maybe in a few planters. At the nurseries I've only ever seen white sweet alyssum plants, so I was pretty happy to get some seed for rose color, purple, and a mix. It might be tricky, though- the seeds are so tiny they come in a glassine envelope inside a little ziplock inside the regular packet:

Miniscule:

Also requiring some particular treatment: the seed needs light to germinate so I press them onto the starter mix surface instead of covering them, and place on my plant table by the window instead of atop the fridge with the others. Also, supposed to water from below in a tray (let soak up water for fifteen mintues, then tip the excess out) instead of misting. Following the directions and crossing my fingers! 

first sowing

I started some seed from my packets saved in the fridge, yesterday. Mostly stuff that prefers the cold. Marigold to get an early start. (Tomatoes and celosia will be next).

One jug and bottle have lettuce seed, the others here are all milkweed- I'm trying winter sowing for them.

I don't have much common milkweed seed left- the rest I will try to start indoors next time. (Last year my attempt to grow these from seed did nothing).

All the other seed of the day- dill, parsley, leeks, chervil, arugula, cilantro, marigolds- and a few milkweed and lettuce just in case- I started in trays of sterile soil-less mix, on top of the fridge in re-purposed plastic boxes, as usual.

celosia

Finally have got them all

planted out into my mailbox spot. I do think I mis-timed the seedlings this year, the plants are small but already forming buds. Maybe I should pinch their heads off and see if they grow taller before making flowers again?

They share the space with blooming dianthus

small but lovely- I was going to divide it this spring and found it wasn't making offshoots yet so hastily replanted-

and one borage plant, grown huge! I have found that borage doesn't just deter squirrels and chipmunks- the dogs don't seem to like its smell, either. Since I planted the borage, dogs out on walks just pass by my mailbox spot. They don't pause to sniff, pee and scuff around anymore. Fine by me!

The celosia are definitely fertile- I found lots of volunteer seedlings both in this area and through the garden where seed must have carried through in the compost. I dug up some of the bigger ones and replanted them in the deck box

that used to have cilantro

(last batch of it eaten in a salad, before it bolted)

whose stems are still in there- I didn't uproot them. If as I expect, these late-grown celosia volunteers stay small, they might look nice flowering in this box.

They recovered pretty well from the rough transplant.

When I was plucking the volunteers out of the garden, this one almost snuck its way into favor- an opportunistic tree seedling.