Seedlings!

I planted seeds on Easter and placed them in the ‘seed oven’ under the sink. We noticed they sprouted on Wednesday!  Purple sprouting broccoli and mixed lettuce. 

Growing Salad

Tonight I remembered to add the basil, fennel, parsley and mini-peppers to the broccoli, peas and lettuce salad.   Added lavender to the sweet pea bouquet, too.   The kitchen has a nice aroma from the herbs and flowers.

In the garage, I have new sprouts of rainbow chard and lettuce. 

Covered Wagon Cloche Returns

Since I came home Saturday with some tomato plants, they needed a home.  I prepared one of the garden beds and moved the cloche frame in.    See these links to part I and part II of the cloche's first days.

Inside the cloche, I planted the tomatoes and mini bell peppers.  Outside of it, I planted broccoli and Flashy Trout's Back romaine lettuce.   Then I put the plastic in place using the clips from Japan.  The photo, above, is before I closed the ends.  

That's a large Oriental poppy seen through the other end.  It's not yet blooming like Alison's. 

Here it is closed up for the evening.  On hot days, I don't open the ends all the way.  I undo a clip at the top of each end which opens up a "vent" simply due to the way the plastic fits over the frame.

This same frame recovered from this snow damage and here too.  

We're back!

Both me, and some sprouts: I was out of town Jan 30-Feb 7 and then had a visitor Feb 7 until today. The chives are loving the mild weather. The visitor wasn't so crazy about the rain (even with the sun breaks).

Above, are some lettuce seedlings from a greenhouse planting in late January.

Is this a sunflower seedling? It is in the greenhouse, also.

I got in the King County Conservation District native shrub order, but didn't get my vegetables ordered before I went out of town. So that's what I'm off to do now!

What to Grow 2009 - Lettuce

Meet Speckles, a butterhead type lettuce, reported to be an old Amish heirloom. This photo is from Sunday, Jan. 11! Sure, maybe not in his best form. However, not bad considering those 18 degree days and snow we had in December. This little guy is from a fall planting and is slightly protected by a window cloche (two sides of protection, two sides open). After the worst of it, I brushed off the remaining slush from the center of the plant, and now we have new growth! In the summer, I think there were more red speckles.

After a few years of growing a lettuce mix, not knowing for sure which plant went with which name, last year, I picked specific varieties: Speckles and Crisp Mint. Still growing some remainder of the mix, but noted where I planted these two.

I will be growing more Speckles this year. I tend to pick the leaves as needed and let it keep growing. I thought these were good all spring and summer. I did start new plants a few times during the year, although I cannot remember if any of the Speckles plants bolted.

I will also grow Crisp Mint again. It is a romaine lettuce. From the fall planing, I had been harvesting leaves up until that December storm. Its leaves are larger than Speckles and were crispy good in salads, sandwiches & hamburgers. I don't recall any bitterness during the summer. It was a larger plant than the Speckles, but it doesn't seem to have survived the snow.

Soon, I'll be "winter sowing" the lettuce seeds and others. After some repairs to the larger cloche, maybe I'll have some new seedlings to plant in it soon.

The Other Cloche

The broccoli looks good under the window frame cloche (all the other seedlings were eaten by slugs). We've been harvesting lettuce and chard leaves from these plants already.

Just a note

Updates:
Tomato seedlings were planted out May 18th. Some were quite small, but I was ready to move them out of the garage. While that weekend was warm, I knew it wouldn't last so I have put my A-frame window cloches over them. Photos will be along when I return to the computer where the photos are sitting.

In the bed I posted about May 5th, the beet and lettuce seedlings are sprouting. The carrot section was disturbed by Emily & other feet, but I did find a few sprouted seedlings.

The covered wagon cloche is a jungle and has blooming calendula, borage and chives. The chard and lettuce plants are bolting, but now I'm harvesting lettuce & chard from non-cloched patches. Time to decide what I'll use that cloched spot for next. Maybe start some zucchini, cucumbers or squash and use the cloche to provide some warmth?

Assorted Cloches in Action

A closer look at the pea sprouts yesterday revealed some nice roots out the bottom of the pot... an immediate call to action! As the forecasted rain hadn't started yet, I headed out to the garden to finalize the location for peas this year. In spite of the rain last week, the soil wasn't too wet for digging so I prepared the space for tall peas, short peas and climbing beans (all needing decisions about where to place the trellises, etc.)

The tips of the pea sprouts have been pinched back as recommended by Matron and they are sitting under the far window cloche. I hope to get them in the ground, but still under the cloche later today. Will add some radishes too.

Then I checked in on the broccoli, lettuce and chard in the winter sown/milk containers sitting under the larger cloche. I had already planted some of the seedlings in the ground under this large cloche, but had more seedlings than space.

I've learned the broccoli will grow quite large. I now tend to stash it around the garden, mixed in with other plants that can work around its eventual large size. So, all of the seedlings found homes in various places. The slugs will get some of them, but many will make it.

Next to two of the cloched broccoli, and under the front window cloche in the photo above, I planted two more broccoli with lettuce and chard mixed in. These lettuce & chard plants will be harvested as the broccoli needs the space. (The A frame part of the window cloches do have hinges holding them together, if you haven't seen them before.)

So, now that I've started planting things, I really must come up with a plan for the rest of the garden space!

March Garden

Saturday had very pleasant weather, so in between watching herds of spiders, we trimmed the flower stalks we had left in place all winter. Here is a link to the garden in January. Click on the Garden Photo label for prior months. With the trimming, the garden looks very one level now. It will change.

I found sprouts of rudbeckia/black-eyed Susan, columbine, rhubarb, iris, lots of herbs and anise hyssop. With all of the seeds it produces, I assumed hyssop was a self-seeder annual like borage. Instead, it is clearly a perennial and it's now sending up sprouting. Garlic and onions left in the garden in the fall are growing.
I planted some of the winter sown broccoli under the cloche, and set the container with the rest of the seedlings under it also. I see a slug has found one of the planted seedling already.
The larger lettuce plants also went in the ground under the cloche.

March Salad!

I have been a bit negligent of my "covered wagon" cloche. Can you believe it did pay off a little anyway? This was our salad last night!

The chard has lots of fresh leaves and so does the red lettuce. There is no chard or lettuce outside of the cloche right now. The green lettuce I started out with in Oct. turned to mush by the end of Dec. The chives and parsley are doing about the same inside & outside the cloche.

The winds we've had often blow open the ends. I will find a better way to close it up in the future. But, it is still more warm and dry inside than anywhere else in the garden. See the Cloche label for more information about it.

I will plant the lettuce and chard seedlings from my winter sown milk jugs in the cloche soon.

This Just In...

Not bad for November 18th. Surely there are some stay-healthy vitamins in there. New crops of parsley are popping up throughout the garden, too. Some of this lettuce and chard came from the covered wagon cloche, some from out in the open.

I think it is Red Sails leaf lettuce that has been a star this summer and now. It doesn't get the bitter flavor some do. In the green, is Valmaine, I think. I've mixed together assorted seed mixes so it is a little of a guessing game. I think I'll try specific varieties next year. There are some beets in there too.

It has been an exciting garden blogger day, today! Stay tuned and you'll find out why.

Covered Wagon Cloche

Remember my tunnel cloche dreams post? Between and during the rain showers this weekend, we gave it a try. I think it has more of a covered wagon look, especially before we added the ridge board. It is 8 feet long by 4 feet wide. We had the wood already and just had to pick up the piping and plastic covering. We also prepared the parts for a 2nd one which would fit in this row too. (note that the bean structure had to come down to make room for this)

In trying to convince the piping it should be more of a U shape than C or O shape, I did stick short pieces of rebar in the ends. Right now, the ends stick through the holes in the wood and into the soil a few inches, but they could be pushed in further as needed. Otherwise, it can be free standing.

Tonight, I leveled the soil, settled the wagon in place and transplanted lettuce, chard and chives. It is supposed to rain tomorrow. Next, I'll attempt the plastic covering. Any great clip ideas to hold the plastic in place? So far, I've seen workable options for a $1 a clip. The cheap ones I found were too small.

Seedling Challenges

Several weeks ago, I started some seedlings for the fall garden: lettuce, Brussels sprouts and, uhmmm, something. Was it broccoli or something else? (I was a little tired of broccoli at that time so why would I have planted so much?) Would broccoli and Brussels sprouts have similar seedlings? I either had one BS and lots of broccoli, or lots of BS and one mystery sprout. What to do, what to do? (yes, I know - mark them next time)

Finally, yesterday, I decided the giant leaves on the left, above, are for a 4 o'clock flower because I have a very similar one in the garden now. The next set of leaves will confirm. Then all of the seedlings on the right and in several more pots are Brussels sprouts.

Tonight, the lettuce seedlings and Brussels sprout seedlings (hopefully) were planted out in the garden. Swiss chard seedlings were planted out a week a go. Maybe this will give us something to eat with the pumpkins in the months ahead (stop by tomorrow for pumpkins). A little rain for a few days would settle them in very nicely.

Still harvesting beets and tonight I put some in the oven before I went out planting. My neighbor suggested it and I do like how they came out. Very sweet all on their own. Then some green beans for dinner too. I'll be freezing some this weekend as we probably won't be able to eat or share them fast enough for a while.

Flashy Trout's Back Update

Here is the growing Flashy Trout's Back lettuce. I'm not adding the link here, but the lettuce label will take you to the earlier days.

Planting

Wow...how did the end of May get here so quickly!
Photos are on another computer so this is just a quick update.

Planted pole beans and one row of bush beans tonight.
Planted 2 zucchini seeds under a small plastic covering. The ones planted inside on May 13 didn't sprout, but the squash, pumpkins and cucumbers did. They'll all be in the ground by this weekend.

I'm picking lettuce for everyone who will take it as the broccoli is claiming the space for its own. Salads for lunch and dinner should be good for me too!

Salad?

The once little broccoli seedlings are quickly taking over the lettuce. We harvest lettuce about every evening, but it looks like I need to harvest more. Last year, the broccoli was too close together. With growing still to do, I think they'll be about right. Don't worry, there is more lettuce stashed throughout the garden. And some more little broccoli seedlings too. I spy a calendula volunteer in there, also.

Young Salad

Young Flashy Trout's Back lettuce (it's an Austrian heirloom aka Forellenschluss romaine). I loved it last year (though it was difficult to photograph then too.) Colorful and great tasting also. This is some started from seed and transplanted to the garden about 2 weeks ago.

Beets planted 4/7 are sprouting and there are a few volunteer sunflowers sprouting! We're probably not past the last frost yet, but I wonder if I could plant some other sunflowers too.
The broccoli also started from seed and planted out a couple weeks ago seems to be quite happy. I remember the seedlings I bought last year took forever to show some growth.

These next two weeks are going to be more time tight than usual, but I do still hope to make some blog rounds as this provides a nice sanity break. Please be patient if you don't hear from me.

Seedling Update - Inside & Outside

Here are the March 24 planted tomatoes, anise hyssop, and spicy globe basil. As cute as they are, today is the day the baby tomatoes were potted up and moved out to the garage. What low temperature do you think they'll tolerate? They lean too much in the window and I'd rather they stay under the lights in the garage.
Big brother tomatoes here, were started March 3. They've been in the house ever since their purple screams, but I hope they'll now get comfortable in the garage under the light. As a side note, see the stone semi-circle and pipe out the window? The pipe is 4 feet, same as my beds. The stones are currently somewhere I don't want them so I'm considering using them as end caps for the garden beds. As they are, it has been a struggle keeping a clear line between the end of the bed and the grass. Straight ends would be more practical for grass trimming, but I think I'd like the curves.
The outside winter sowing experiment has had some good results. (I do take the caps off on the sunnier days.) They do get more light being outside. They are also should be better adjusted to the temperature patterns outside.
Lettuce seedlings and my first Swiss chard (Bright Lights). All my other lettuce seedlings were planted out in the garden last weekend, so these will be the next wave.
Spinach and broccoli here. My earlier seeding (inside) of spinach didn't sprout so I'm glad to have some here. Earlier seedlings of broccoli were also planted out in the garden last weekend.

The other seedlings now up in the milk jugs are nasturtiums. So far, the older seeds of catnip, chamomile and columbine haven't sprouted.

Inside today, I did plant some more seeds to go in the "oven." Hyssop, spicy globe basil, fennel and more nasturtiums.

So now I'm going to go curl up with a blanket. I've been cold all day. Hopefully, tomorrow won't have such a cold wind blowing and I can play a little in the newly rototilled space.

Eastershine

Here's a little Eastershine for those you with Eastersnow. Just keep in mind that the sun was gone by 3pm, and we'll soon be back in the 30's at night. Above, you see the cold frames (with their end windows laying against the sides due to the warm temps).

I lost a few windows during the December wind storms. So, rather than use my original set-up from last year (see this link and this one), I decided to set them up directly in the garden. This way, some plants can actually go in the ground rather than hanging out longer in pots while they benefit from some protection. Some of these windows won't last much longer so next year, I'll move on to some sort of tunnel/hoop cloche for 1 or 2 beds.

Left, front A-frame above has volunteer chives and a few lettuce seedlings planted Saturday. Next right has large pea seedlings hardening off before being planted. Next right has just seeded beets and 2 broccoli seedlings just planted out. Far right A-frame has many lettuce seedlings and 2 more broccoli seedlings planted out on Saturday. I'll have some of the lettuce cleared out and the A-frame gone before the broccoli plants need all of the space.
My new (used) Easter (garden) basket. I don't know if the dividers are to separate wine bottles or something else, but they really work to keep tools in place, hold seed packets and to separate the camera from the tools. I've not been a big glove wearer, but now I wear these most of the time. Before the sun moved on, it was just a beautiful time for puttering around in the herb bed, pulling some young grass and dandelions and checking everything out. And these are the little "Easter eggs" I found digging around in the herb bed. I'm also happy to see the bee balm / Monarda sending up shoots. The wonderful rosemary, sorry to say, did not make it though the snow and ice this winter. It was the trailing type and I've found it to be more sensitive to cold winters than the upright rosemary.

Seeding-Round 3

It's the year for seed experiments for me. Last year was the first inside seeding I'd done in years. Those cute baby basil seedlings hooked me so I'm back for more this year. With one round of garden seeding and one round of inside seeding so far this year, here is the next round.
Angie posted about winter sowing here and here. I wondered if cool season varieties sown this way might be less inclined to grow so leggy, plus move more easily to the garden. I'd sow some directly in the garden under a cloche, except it is too wet to be digging in the beds and the sweet gardener might melt in the rain. So, these 4 containers have trials of lettuce, spinach, broccoli, Swiss chard, catnip and chamomile (both old seeds), nasturtiums and columbine. If my labels dissolve, this might be interesting to sort out later. Thanks for the great information, Angie. These are the latest seeds in the "oven" (the cabinet under the kitchen sink that is warmed by the heating vent). Tomatoes (current 3 seedling are just not enough), the basil from Germany that sprouted so well last year, spicy globe basil (grew beautifully in AL, we'll see about WA), and anise hyssop. I believe they all like warm spots for sprouting, but then will be happy in cooler spots as seedlings. I'm still using up the planting pellets I have so that's what's inside this box.

Next up: Baby tomatoes threaten to split if not transplanted immediately. Gardener complies.