growing and learning

garden notes

09:46 AM, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 .. 2 comments .. Link

Why didn't anyone warn me last fall that if I want to start some seeds inside before the end of winter, I need to bring some soil inside, at least into the garage. I went out yesterday to get some of my SFG soil mix because I could FINALLY see the dirt - and it was frozen solid! I could barely scrape off enough to call it good. I pulled in the pot for my dog-eaten avocado tree and mixed the soil there with the Mel's Mix I was able to scrape up, and that is what we used today. I need to keep a garden journal so I know what worked and when we did certain things, and what we did, and why it did or did not work.
okay - we planted:
36 pea seeds in (2) egg cartons. we will contrast these peas with those planted in the ground sometime in the next month - whenever we can a) find the garden boxes under the snow and b) dig up enough dirt that said seeds will be able to grow
32 broccoli seeds in 16 toilet paper tube planters. we will cull the seedlings when we know that we have at least one beautiful and hardy plant per tube.
9 Italian Paste tomatoes in 9 tubes (I wanted to do 2 in each of 6 tubes, but as these are leftover seeds from last year, we did not have enough). I want at least 3 of these plants tall and bushy and giving LOTS of paste tomatoes!
8 Rutgers tomatoes in 4 tubes (I want at least 2 of these plants)
8 Bonnie Best tomatoes in a hot chocolate box. When these get big, I will transplant them to separate containers, but for now they can germinate here. oh, I want 2 of these in my garden eventually.
8 cherry tomatoes in the other half of the cardboard hot chocolate box. I had planned on just one of these, as they are such prolific producers, but I recently found a recipe to make sun-dried tomatoes out of cherries, and I liked that idea very much, so I might make it 2 cherry tomato plants, depending on how these seeds do.

now, it might seem like I am over-planting these tomato seeds, but I am nervous about growing tomatoes from seed. no one does it; these seeds are from 2-3 years ago; you have to harden off the plants; the last time we did this, we had no fruits, just a bunch of weak, skinny, sad-looking plants (of course, that was also the year we added manure to the garden, and NOTHING grew, so that might not have been the fault of the seeds, but it may have been a factor, and I am nervous)
Right now, all of these seeds are on the windowsill in the living room, but I think I need to move them to dh's office windowsill - less likelihood of little hands "checking" on the seeds or tipping them over. besides, I think he gets more sunlight, and it is generally warmer in there.

oh and on the apple-gouda stuffed chicken, it was way too onion-y for my family. way. that was all you could taste. maybe if I had sauteed the shallot first, or cut it out all together, but as it is, I will probably not make it again.
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07:53 PM, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 .. Posted by findingcontentment
We are getting ready to plant our seeds. We are trying to plant everything from seed this year... except maybe tomatoes!

Barb J.

Getting back about the chicken tractor

08:30 PM, Thursday, March 6, 2008 .. Posted by kdbspace
Hi, I'm new here starting today, so I'm not sure where to reply back to your comment, so here I am.
We just got our chicken tractor done, so we're experminting with it.
Their is a little 5 inch door at each end where their is a nesting box. The bottom is open, and we're hoping nothing can get in. We will be moving it around so they can dig up fresh bugs. When we move it we open the little doors and move it the width of the tractor.
Sounds like a great idea how you've started your seeds! Good luck! Kim

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