progress in the garden

Tokyo bekana is big enough to eat now.

Same with the lettuces- 

and tatsoi- which is getting bitten however- probably flea beetles

I had sowed more beet seeds in the gaps and some are coming up now- smaller plants on either side of these larger ones

I really like sitting on the garden bench and looking at the light through the young beet leaves- with the red veins

Have mulched the turnips- though they probably don't need it - but it keeps the beds looking tidy and uniform.

Seems like just a week ago my peas were barely emerging-

and now they're climbing up

work outside

I've been pulling dandelions and purple dead nettle. Think am starting to finally get ahead of the creeping jenny- the patch didn't take nearly as long to clear out this year as the last time I tackled it, and only three more pieces were showing green when I walked by it again today (pausing at once to tease those out of the ground). Cleared vinca off the smaller sideyard today, will get to the rest of it on the upper area around the lilac bush soon. 

Peonies and turtlehead are up, black-and-blue salvia showing lots of leaves, joe pye just starting to peek above the ground.

The week before when I thinned the beets, I tucked some of them back into the ground. Didn't expect a high survival rate, but actually most of them are still alive and have perked up again! So I tried the same with the carrots. The bed is full of weeds and unevenly spaced carrot seedlings, crowded here and there.

I tidied it up and all the pulled carrots that actually had some roots, put them back into the ground in blank spots, using the blade of a butter knife and sliding them into the gap, then pressing tight around. Except- I think a bunch of these weren't carrots after all, but grass of some kind? Did I just save a bunch of grass bits in neat little rows. They don't have the pretty ferny leaves. Will keep an eye on them and yank out again if I've made a mistake.

At least it looks more orderly now.

Have started eating tatsoi- there's not enough of it! and lovage, which is thick and lovely. And today had some sculpit sauteed in butter with rice and carrots. There's actually only one sculpit plant left in the herb bed- I think the winter cold did them in- and two that sprouted under the deck which I will move.

Monarda all seems to be missing from the rear flower bed, too. Just one or two, and lots of mock strawberry, where they used to be thick. I wonder if it was too cold for them (but all the echinacea are alive and well). However there's this one that was in bed 9, which I dug up and moved to the larger sideyard, so when multiplies itself I can restock the back area as well.

planting out

My biological marker is blooming in the landscape: forsythia. 

So it's time to plant lettuces and the other cold-happy ones. 

As you can see in the photo above, half of my lettuce trays did not germinate. I didn't get any crisp mint, grand rapids, ceasar/romaine cross or 'leaf' lettuce (saved seed from I didn't really know which plant). So those packets will be getting tossed. Most of the other trays grew plenty of each, though my chards have been looking rather sad- collapsing stems- 

I think really they do better planted straight in the ground. I pricked them out first, swiss chard in bed 2

and leaf beet chard in bed 3.

Lettuces (they look so small!)

and tatsoi in bed 6,

collards 

blue 

and yellow, in bed 10.

Then realized I hadn't any spot for the tokyo bekana. I cleared straw out of bed 4 where the tomatoes are going to go, used the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket to mark rough circles where the tomato cages will be, and planted the chinese cabbage around them:

It's a good new start.

seedling progress

Two days ago my beets started sprouting 

along with something I wish wasn't growing- the sticks of virburnum I used as pea supports. Well, that tells me I could just shove trimmings in the ground to extend the hedge!

Tatsoi and tokyo bekana have grown their first true leaves- I'll probably plant them straight out into the garden (skipping potting up)

My collards,

chard

and lettuces all have first true leaves also. (Lettuces are not doing so well as the others).

Had a few mishaps already- I accidentally dropped two seedling trays facedown on the floor. Rescued these tomato seedlings and they seem okay after a few days- although now I can't tell which are the sweetie 100's and which are the black cherry tomatoes!

The other tray I faceplanted had chives and dill- they didn't fare so well. (But these I can tell apart).

So I made some mistakes, but here's something that's gone well: that patch of grass I sowed in the backyard where there's a sunken spot (in the fall). It's greener than anything! (see the surrounding "lawn").

I am honestly quite surprised. All these years I thought I had done well to mix grass seed with compost and ashes, or to scatter just compost and ashes to feed the lawn. This grew far better, and stayed way greener, and looks much healthier. Forget saving ashes for the lawn anymore. Pro mix and a handful of compost, on top of bare clay soil seemed to work! 

caged

Two days later and my first seedlings have sprouted! Some tokyo bekana and a few tatsoi. Both of saved seed from my own garden- plus a few tokyo bekana seed from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (none of the SESE tatsoi sprouted yet). I'm guessing my saved seed sprouted first because it's not as old, and thus more viable. But glad to know that putting the seed containers in my basement room worked just as well as the fridge- at least for some.

One of my biggest hurdles with gardening this year is how to do the seedling stage- because my method for years and years has been to use warmth of the fridge top for germination, and natural sunlight from windows for growth. (I just never had any desire to buy heated mats or grow lights when I already have sources of heat and light) That's why I built all those long benches to stack them up by our one large window that gets good light. But now my cats think they own that bench, it's their sunning spot. And they are very destructive to plants, and like to mess with everything (it's why I only have two house plants now, kept very high up. Sadness).

So I put my seedlings in a cage. 

An old, too-small hamster cage. It's only big enough for a few trays, if I make a shelf in there. The germinating trays are on top of the fridge in large boxes- so the cat can't jump there (one of her favorite high places). I have some wire shelving removed from a closet years ago, I'm thinking of having the boxes open top with the wire shelves across it and something to weigh or lash it down, when they need light.

Of course the best place will be out in my little greenhouse, so I'm trying to conscientiously start things later than I used to, so they can withstand the night temperatures and stay out there 24-7 sooner. But am expecting that some will have to come indoors on colder nights at times, trying to plan ahead for that. Also growing far less than in previous years- I'm planning on filling only five of the nine garden beds (tenth has the permanent rue). It still feels like a lot! However I'm feeling energized for it and seeing these first green sprouts lifting their seed coat heads cheers me immensely.

spring planting

Carrots and beets are sprouting. Yesterday I planted out into the garden beds shelling peas, yellow snap peas, the collard greens and half the leeks (rest are too small yet). Today planted out the leaf beet chard, swiss chard, arugula, tatsoi and tokyo bekana. Those last two shown here, crowding their seedling tray. Pricked directly out into the ground.

Almost all the beds have something in them, now. And there's a lot more still to plant! But I hope to stagger some of it- tomatoes will go in where the lettuces are, green beans and squash into the beds that have snap peas, amaranth greens where the shelling peas are, and so on.

Delicate little true leaves emerging on my parsley and chervil seedlings. 

The overwintered tokyo bekana in greenhouse bolted- I emptied the pots to re-use. Greenhouse stands empty now ready for the next round of plants- tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, amaranth . . . 

There's a robin been frequenting the messy bed between the pannicle hydrangeas, where salvia and wild chrysanthemum are emerging from leaf litter. He sang short bursts and poked in the litter and eyed me, came pretty close after a while, just across the bit of grass from the garden bed where I worked. Cheering. Even better was to see the perky little wren flit about, I just saw and watched it for minutes. Wren makes me feel happy. There's a cardinal appears to be nesting in the large holly shrub. I can't wait for the return of catbirds, and the skinks.

chilly

Cold snap today. All my seedlings are tucked into the greenhouse.

My parsley is up! Tatsoi and peas pictured here- 

Collards getting bigger! In a few days when the freezing temps are past, I'll consider planting them out.

up quickly

Snap peas, shelling peas, tatasoi and tokyo bekana sprouted in just a few days. Tatsoi pictured.

greens in the little house

The weather has really been fluctuating here. Yesterday it was in the seventies during the day, then it fell to freezing again overnight. So my tatsoi in the little greenhouse

suddenly bolted. Their winter end!

There's still some tokyo bekana, small now as I've eaten more of it again.

And lettuces are filling the shelves (hope to plant them out soon in March)

plus the baby kale, collards and leeks go out on warmer days- more progress on their true leaves!