I am sowing seeds in flats. A lot of them. If I were only looking at a calender I would think I was ahead of the game, but I sure don’t feel that way.
These weekends are already mostly spoken for in ways that have little or nothing to do with gardening. Today was spent for the most part at a “Sheep Show” and without getting into too much detail, it has nothing to do with domestic sheep, and a lot to do with people who go to great lengths to hunt wild sheep all over the world. Kids had a good time seeing all of the mounted animals, and spent time with some friends there who sell hunting trips. Personally, I am not a huge fan of mutton, and I am not going to spend tens of thousands of dollars to go hunt it, but to each their own.
From there the kids and I made a brief foray to the Minnetonka garden. Weeds are already coming up in it. I made a quick assessment, cleaned up some detritus, broke off weed trees that had grown through the north side of the fence, checked the soil temps by digging a hole by hand (warm at the surface, cool just beneath) and decided that is where I will do an early planting of Purple Blauchakkers. I lost most of them last year when they shattered and dropped all of their seed when we were on vacation up north, and I had them down at the Red Wing garden. Not going to do that again. I can stop at the Minnetonka garden twice a day if need by either on my way to or from my office. I cannot plant as much there, but I can get two 25 foot rows on the east and western fences of that garden. The entire backside of that garden is a bean trellis system I could grow peas on, but it is really set up for pole beans and I don’t want to modify it.
With this heat, it will be warm enough to plant beans soon. So odd.
I have about 24 flats of tomatoes started now, with plants up and growing in a third of those. This year may be a good test of perseverance within the breeds of tomatoes I have worked with. My whole emphasis has been roughly centered on early open pollinated varieties. Early is not likely to really matter unless the mid summer gets so hot that it kills everything. Quite a few of my friends in the southern states run into that issue. They have to start things early because they are going to cook out of the gardens in July.
It is still not really wet here. The weather pattern is more of a summer one than a spring one. If we do not get our spring rains, there are going to be issues regarding the Red Wing garden. I really do not have the time, with the new addition to the family, to be running down there every weekend just to water. I want that garden to be able to take care of itself once the plants are up and established.
Just turning things over in my mind again and again, varying plans to take into account a couple extra months of growing time, wondering what I have wanted to grow in the past but haven’t, but now can.
We will see. Topsetting onions are up. Suppose we will be eating those soon. Garlic should be pushing through the mulch soon. Ground is warm enough to plant potatoes. I turn 42 next week. Life, and the rest of time, is rushing by.
I too have been wrestling with timing in the face of this spring’s odd weather… glad to hear I’m not the only one!
Our garlic is about 6″ tall now. The Early Chinese Pink garlic came up before winter even started and overwintered in the raised bed with only a little damage.
(new reader, been enjoying the blog recently…)
reason people hate GM is bcuaese they think it is all sprayed with pesticides. SOME gm crops are pesticide resistant so you can nuke them with chemicals to increase yield, but a lot are just regular plants that have been harmlessly modified to have different attributes (e.g. Having more protein or iron in to aid the diets of starving african children etc) All plants you eat have been selected’ for their properties over time, we bred most things. learn more about GM.
A pack of seeds will have a number of seeds in it, could be 25 or more. You shuold put 2 or 3 seeds in each pot to make sure you get one to germinate. You will have to water the plant once a day before it sprouts to keep the soil moist. After it sprouts, you will water as needed, maybe once a day, maybe every other day. The soil shuold not be soggy but shuold not be allowed to completely dry out. Good luck.
Each seed will make on plant. Not all seeds grow though, so plant more seeds than you need. When you plant your seeds, foollw the directions on the package. It will tell you how much dirt to put on top, how far to space each plant, and how long it will take for the seed to start growing. Water your plants whenever the soil feels dry. You don’t want to over-water them so just make sure the soil is always damp.The best planters to start seeds are small styrofoam cups. Poke a little hole in the bottom to let the extra water out. Put that cup inside another one, without a hole, to catch th ewater so it doesn’t make a mess. Good luck on your planting and on your project!