1st Planting of 2013

I've been away too long...turns out blogging is more work than I anticipated...if I had no responsibilities and fiddled in the garden by day and blogged by night, I'd have no problem, but that's NOT how it is.

So, I bring you, the first planting of the spring garden (March 15th) . I planted broccolli & cauliflower seedlings from Windcrest Farm Organics. My husband also bought some Bonnie brand plants from Lowes....but as you can see, they bit the dust after a few days. We suspect that they were not accustomed to the cold or fluctuation of temperatures. Beet and Carrot seeds were also planted in a separate garden bed. Pea's were planted too. I turned 4 tomato cages upside down and buried them in the dirt. Hopefully, since tomato cages are useless (at least to me) for tomatoes, I will try to use them as a support for the peas. We'll see......

Broccoli & Cauliflower

  broccoli and cauliflower from Windcrest Farm Organics.

March 15th ....planting as the sun goes down

this is how the plants looked a few days after I planted.

 I timidly spoke to my friend, Mary @ Windcrest Farm because I was worried I did something wrong. She assured me that there was nothing wrong, but reminded me that it snowed the day we bought the plants at market and the leaves just got "burned." She told me to pinch off the affected leaves.

They are progressing

And look....nothing to worry about...they are thriving! I'll go out to the garden in the morning to check on the plants and then again in the evening and the plants actually look like they have grown....its amazing process that I never get tired of observing

On April 9th, I  planted some zinnas straight into the ground rather than in containers because the ground is getting warm fast...no spring weather here.

Peas

Here is my upside down tomato cage---to support the peas

Getting some help planting the peas

little honey bear is planting the peas

the peas are peaking through the dirt....so exciting. the lighting is so harsh because I have absolutely no shade in the
garden

And today (April 11th)...the pea shoots are growing...can't wait to taste fresh peas

Update on the Milk Jug greenhouses

It's working...I have 25+ brandywine tomato seedlings! Im so excited that I started from seed and I actually accomplished it! I also have some parsley, cilantro, radish, stevia, zinna, bachelors button, snapdragon, asters, celosia, and lavender growing. There are only 2 bottles of, i think cilantro, that havent germinated.

This was taken today. The first 'almond milk' carton shows barely noticeable tomato leaves, planted the seed on April 2nd. The bottom container shows thriving brandywine tomato seedlings. 

So here's what I did:

1. I saved Milk jugs, asked family to save Milk jugs, collected old plastic containers that were just collecting dust, paper towel & tissue rolls, egg cartons and soda bottles.
2. I poked holes (for drainage) in the containers and then loaded 3 inches or so of moist potting soil. 
3. I began placing 2 or 3 seeds in each hole shallow depression. And lightly covered the seed.
4. Labeled each container with the name of seed, how many seeds and date
5. Taped the milk jugs closed, covered the other containers with either their lid or plastic wrap.
6. Put them outside on my front porch which faces south, so they get the most sun and warmth from the brick. During the day, I would take the lids off.
7. I would place the bottles and containers, not milk jugs, in a plastic bin at night and put the bin and close the lid. I did this because we still had 30 degree nights up until 2 weeks ago.
8. Every morning and afternoon, I would make sure the soil was still moist.
9. And volia....germination !

My next task is to wait until the tomatoes have at least their 4th and 5th leaves so I can transplant into the garden. And I need to do a bit more research to transplant the flowers. 

Any questions or a pat me on the back? Leave a comment :)