2011 Getting Started

[MoniDew]

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God, how I love my life! I love the gorgeous light this little spare bedroom gets!

You should SMELL the awesomeness that is the seed starting mix from Garden's Alive!

Seeds are from Baker's Creek. Just started colder season veggies. Will start warmer season seeds in a few weeks.

[Sinfonian]

Looks amazing! Ah, southern facing windows with heat. How I wish! All mine have no heat or no place to put a seedling tray. So my 30 odd soil blocks are under lights in the kitchen. My wife walked in and asked if we had mold when she smelled the potting mix, hehe. I can't believe you have so many plants starting already, and that you like those peat pots, hehe. They never worked for anyone I know. Great for you if they do!

Congrats!

[MoniDew]

really?! (about the peat pots I mean) I dunno - baby gardener here. I just thought, they compost, so that should be good. They degrade in a couple of weeks, but by that time, I'm transplanting up a size (4"). And about the time those break down, they're ready to go outside. :Shrugs: Works for me...

I used to start seeds in my kitchen too, so I know what you mean. No one could tell if they were smelling the compost pail, the fermenting veggies (I culture veggies and tea), or the potting soil. Kind'a all smells like decomp - in a good way. LOL!

I'll try to mentally transport some heat up your way, although it's technically below freezing here right now. Patti's area (Boston?) being SLAMMED with snow, AGAIN, right now. We should think warm thoughts in her general direction too.

[plantoneonme]

Cold, nasty, yuck weather here, but I did set out about 2 dozen winter sown containers today. Otherwise, sorting seeds to get ready to get summer plants going under lights in early March. Kim

[GoldenAcres]

I am itching so bad to get started but it is raining today which we need badly.
Last season was awful, one set back after another including a layoff but my brother did manage to build one big raised bed so we at least had a few tomatoes.
The good thing is that we learned that raised beds are the only way to grow on our property, unless it's a tree. I plan on building two next week, getting the manure and compost up here is going prove challenging but I don't care if I have to haul it up the hill on my back those beds are going to be filled.

P.S. Scratch the rain, its snowing, yippy!!

[gardengirl72]

I like your spirit!
Have you started any seeds indoors?
What are you going to plant in the beds?

[Sinfonian]

Hang in there Plantoneonme and GoldenAcres, your season will come. It's cold and rainy here too. I don't care though, I've got seeds germinating in the kitchen and seedlings under lights upstairs! Heck, if I let them go long enough or the weather doesn't comply, I'll just harvest an indoor garden, hehe.

Oh, and MoniDew, my experience with peat pots is that they DON'T break down, at least not in one season. I ended up picking them out in fall and tossing them in my compost. They're gone now, but that was years ago. I'll leave peat for my Mel's Mix... though my brother is considering using peat for chicken bedding. Odd duck that one.

Come on SPRING!

[MoniDew]

Well, it looks like I got itchy, too! We got caught in the storm of the century that swept through 90% of North America, and wound up with nearly 2ft of snow on the ground. I have no idea how that might delay frost date. I might wind up with very spindly, overgrown plants! Might just have to keep them indoors and transplant up until I can plant!

This is what my little babies look like now:


But *this* is what it looks like outside my door right now:


And this is what it looked like after a couple of days blizzarding (is that a word?)


And, for the sake of clarity, I do put my spent peat pots into the compost. Sinf's right. They don't break down in a single season in the ground. (but they do in the compost pile.)

[MoniDew]

What I have started so far:
cucumber (pickling)
cabbage (red, green, and chinese)
fava beans
pumpkin
cilantro
dill

What I will start indoors later:
tomatoes
peppers
zucchini

What I will start in the ground, early - when I transplant my early crops outdoors:
peas
leeks
beets
carrots
spinach
chard

What I will start in ground, later - when I transplant my later crops outdoors:
lettuces, several types
basil - tons - it's my husband's favorite!
green beans
quinoa (a grain I can eat without it poisoning me )

Of course that doesn't explain the later crops I start indoors early because our season isn't long enough to accommodate them. I have never had pumpkin/squash fruit for me. It'll grow, it just doesn't set fruit. I can't figure out why... I hope by starting them super early, letting them establish well, then transplanting out later that they will finally bear some fruit for me.

[GoldenAcres]

I like your spirit!
Have you started any seeds indoors?
What are you going to plant in the beds?

No I haven't started any seed yet. Usually we can start planting root crops mid February but that is not going to happen this year, its still below 18 at night and I think our high today going to be 30. Row covers don't hold up to the sustained 50 mph spring winds so I have to wait a bit longer.

For the beds I am planning on
Carrots, turnips, onions, peanuts, beets

Asparagus, rhubarb, cucumbers, winter squash, summer squash, green beans, peas,
Tomatoes, strawberries, sweet peppers, chili peppers

I don't have much success with greens but I may try some kale or mustard again. We are also planting blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. I had blueberries last year but a fungus got to them before I did so I will be starting over. Fruit trees are going in somewhere too.
This is the year that we go full bore, it is time to get the property the way we want it.