Seeds started are growing!

It's SO exciting to see the growth of my seeds this year. Last year was the first time I started seeds indoors. I did not have proper lighting so all their energy went into long-legged stems. I don't think any produced more than those first two leaves. So sad.

This year, I bought a seed starting light and woah! See for yourselves.

These are my onions! I cut one that had fallen down and popped it in my mouth. It already tastes like an onion!

This is Lollo De Vino Lettuce. I love the reddish-purple color.

 Little Gem lettuce.

These are a bunch of German Chamomile sprouts. I have since thinned them.

It's so exciting to see these grow. They look so much better than last year.

How was your first year starting seeds indoors?

Cover crop

Most of my gardening is experimental. I learn things and they stay put when I've put my hands on them and seen a result. I read a lot about gardening but the details and the reasons why don't seem to stick until I've done them myself.

Last year, I read a lot about sowing cover crops and green manure. Essentially, a cover crop is a grass or legume crop sown in the fall (or anytime in between harvest and a new planting) that keeps weeds from overtaking the area or erosion of the soil and adds nutrients into the area. Green manure happens when you cut down the cover crop and mix it into the soil. It decomposes and adds more nutrients for your plants to use. This is a very basic description. Please forgive anything left out for you who know this practice better than I.

Last October, after I'd cleaned out my beds, I decided to try a cover crop. I had some winter rye leftover from a previous project. I tossed handfuls of it on my beds and raked dirt over it. Winter rye is supposed to be planted after the first frost and I got it in just after.

It germinated and started growing. I got this picture when I first saw the green in my beds.

It stayed much this height and thickness until Daylight Savings. The corner of my yard these beds are in gets the most morning light -- in the summer -- but very little in the winter.  Now it is starting to grow and looks like a proper lawn.

As lush as this looks, it needs to be trimmed and needs times to decompose before I can use these beds. Since the weather has been so cold, I have waited. I hope this weekend will give me the warm weather I need to do the job. It should have time to decompose and be ready for my warm season crops (beans, cucumbers, zinnias,etc).

Has anyone ever used a cover crop in their backyard gardens? How did it work?

Spring = A fight between Winter and Summer

In my area, Spring isn't a time of gradual change from cold to warm weather. It's a knock-down-drag-'em-out fight. For instance, last week on Wednesday, we had a glorious 70 degree day. The next morning I woke up to this.

It was a lovely, heavy, wet snow. And as we ALWAYS say here "we need the moisture".

Today and through the weekend we should be back in the 70's. Alas, the forecast for Sunday is, any guesses, more snow. It is a very interesting season and I am praying for more sunny days soon so that the outside gardening can begin!

What's your Spring weather been like?

Chives!

About two weeks ago I noticed tiny sprigs of green popping out of the mess of mulch over my chives. They had begun to grow. It's the herald of spring in my garden and I even added some to my chicken soup last week.

 

Isn't the color green so lovely after a long winter?!

About a week after...

About a week after I planted my first seeds I noticed most of them are poking their heads out. They are so small at the beginning. It's sometimes hard to see them.

It's fascinating to see what they look like as they sprout. Remember those itty bitty seeds? They sprouted such tiny leaves. Can you see them at the bottom of the center cell?

The onions are interesting. They come up with a portion still in the ground. So it looks like an upside down U.

These are the lettuce. Those first green leaves are really exciting.

And one looks like it's wearing a tutu. It's so interesting to watch seeds grow!

Have you seen something sprout that was unusual?

Itty bitty seeds

The last seeds I started March 9th are German Chamomile. They are pretty and look like small daises to me. I read they are grown for the heads. You pluck them, dry them and then add a couple to a cup of hot water and presto! you have fresh Chamomile tea.

The small size of the seeds surprised me. When I opened the seed packet, there was a smaller envelope inside. It was perhaps 1"x 2". All 250 seeds would probably fit on a dime with room to spare. They looked a bit like ground pepper.

I gingerly tried tapping out a couple per space in the seed tray until one TAP sent all the remaining seeds into one cell. Oops.

I didn't want to waste all those seeds so I did my best at picking up a few with my fingers and placing them into other cells. We'll see how they grow. Next time I'll figure out a better way of planting those seeds.

Have any of you ever had chamomile tea grown in a backyard garden? What did you think?

Cayenne you say HOT?

Ok, ok! I know that was a silly play on words (and slightly on a southern accent).

I decided to try and grow something I've not grown before: Cayenne peppers! I'm not really a spice lover but I do love growing new things. I enjoy the idea of growing my own peppers, dehydrating them and making my own DIY cayenne pepper flakes.

Besides, my roommate, best friend and photographer-extraordinaire, Chris, LOVES spicy food and she has dibbs on those peppers so she can try and make her own hot sauce.

I ordered Joe's Long Cayenne from Seed Savers Exchange and planted them when I planted my onions and lettuces. They grow long and thin about the width of a pencil.

I'll put these in a bucket in my hoop house this summer. They'll love the heat along with my tomatoes. Maybe there will be enough for some flakes as well as some hot sauce.

Have you ever grown Cayenne Peppers? Did you eat them fresh or use them another way?

Starting seeds indoors

Gardening has begun! I started my first seeds indoors for this year's garden. I started them March 9th (yes, this post is late).

I cleared a space on an unused surface, filled my seed trays with a starting mix and poured boiling water over the trays to wet the soil thoroughly. I then let it sit to cool down and drain off any excess water.

I specifically wanted to try growing onions from seed this year. I've read that growing onions from seeds instead of sets will produce bigger bulbs. It's an experiment so I'll let you know how it turns out. I chose Yellow of Parma onions from Seed Savers Exchange.

I find seeds fascinating! They all look so different. Who would've known that onion seeds look like little pieces of coal?

I also planted two different varieties of lettuce: Little Gem and Lollo De Vino. I'll plant some more a few weeks out to stagger a harvest. I'm not sure I can eat 20 heads of lettuce in a week.

I planted a couple other things but I'll save that for the next post.

After carefully adding a few seeds to each space, I covered them with a light layer of the starter mix and wet them down with a spray bottle of water.  I placed the clear dome cover over each tray and placed the one with onions on a heating mat since onions love heat.

The seeds should sprout soon. The humid, warm climate in a covered seed tray is very conducive to germination. I'll let you know how they do.

Have any of you ever started seeds in doors? What has been your experience?

I have been persuaded...

I have been persuaded to begin blogging again. I must confess, I'm not good at it. Being consistent at posting proves to be difficult for me. But I will try again. I intend to use this blog to help me keep track of my gardening adventures this summer (and maybe beyond).

The posts I've written previously were from a different time in my life and I'm no longer on the path of a half marathon. I discovered gardening the summer of 2012. A friend from work started gardening and shared her stories and it sparked an interest in me. I started out with 2 4x4 foot raised beds.

Last summer, I grew it by adding 2 4x10 foot raised beds and a 7x12 foot hoop house (for all those heat loving plants). I plan to expand one last time this summer. The plan is to add 2 additional 4x10 foot raised beds.

I'm really excited for Spring and the gardening to come. Join me if you can.