3-17-2012

Woah!
Things are sprouting so quickly I am having a hard time keeping on top of them. I'm just going to fill in the details and write about everything more individually later on.

We have continued to have unprecedented warm weather, and it is supposed to continue for quite some time!

Bloom Report:
I think we are easily a week away from most of the trees blooming. Everything has a green haze around it. I believe this is very early - last year I recorded blooming around April 10th or so, and that was unusually early as well. Crazy!

Sprouting/Planting report:

Yesterday we had a cool day, so I transplanted a few things into the garden.

• 2 Strawberry Plants - Ozark Beauty

• 1 Strawberry Plant - ??

• 8 Romaine lettuce plants

• I tranplanted the chamomile sprouts in HOS format into a planter on the deck.

• A few days ago, I moved seedlings of tomatoes with no true leaves  into plastic cups. I didn't do it with the peppers, and of course all but a few died. Stupid Peat Pots! So hard to keep moist. Never again. I have the tom transplants divided - half under the grow lights, half in cups outside, and half straight into the jug greenhouse. We'll see what happens!

Sprouting: wow, where to begin?

• Cosmos - both the seashell and sensation - are sprouting like mad.
• Spinach and arugula and sprouting their true leaves
• Pansies are about to sprout - can see their seed coats are bursting
• petite Mari's are coming up
• both lettuces - a paris island romaine and buttercrunch - coming up
• Anchisa Capensis
• Columbine
• Mexican Sunflower
• Celosia Plumosa's
• Basil is starting to peek through
• Penstemon
• DELPHINIUMS! So excited! Didn't think they were going to happen!
• The snap peas are breaking through in the garden

3-9-2012

The temperature has taken quite a dip - a cold windy one today, high of 50. It won't last long, though, and may be the dying breath of winter - up into the 70's for a number of days next week is the current prediction.

I am going to take advantage of that weather and sow some things earlier than they should, and just count on there not being a heavy frost! I can always blanket my sprouts.

Alright, onto the data.

Bloom Report:
Noticed bright green buds on the Willows lining G.O Carlson Blvd, it is definitely early for that! Daffodils are popped up and in full bloom everywhere.

Planting Report:
I did a lot of winter sowing today, though at this point it is more like "spring" sowing! Also, I found packets of seeds at the Christmas Tree Shops for 79 cents!!! I got some good stuff, am looking forward to sowing them.

Today, I winter sowed:
Cream Scabiosa
1 line of buttercrunch lettuce
Celosia Plumosa
A blend of basils
Cosmos - Sea Shells Blend
Cosmos - Sensations Blend
Echinacea - purple coneflowers
Mexican Hat (ratidba Columnaris)
Marigold - Petite Yellow
Parris Island Romaine Lettuce
Swiss Giant Pansy

I have a total of 24 containers right now!

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3-8-2012

Nearly 70 degrees today! Spent the entire day in the garden - it was perfect!

Here is how it's looking now. Can't wait to see it all blooming. The teepee looks ghetto now, but will look amazing all covered in pea vines. Also, ignore the bags everyone. 

I gave up on getting dirt delivered from A1 - it is going to take forever. I spent about $70 on soil and amendments at home depot, which is about as much as the soil and delivery would have cost anyway, so whatever!

I got the two new lettuce boxes filled up - I used overturned sod, newspaper, and hay as bottom layer, and then a 30-70 mix of topsoil and garden soil. Hopefully using the hay won't bite me in the ass and sprout up.

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Getting up to speed

I'm a little behind on this journal, as I have already started planting! I am trying out Winter Sowing this year, and hoping it works! I bought probably 20 packets of seeds from Waterloo Gardens, and received another 40 packets through Garden Web's "Newbie program".

We have been having an EXCESSIVELY warm winter, nearly record-warmth. Today, on March 7th, we will reach about 60 degrees. Tomorrow it will be nearly 70! We've had a few cold mornings here and there, but overall it is impressive how warm it has been.

Today, Carolyn's b/f Caleb is coming over to help with some gardening. I am going to have him construct two  8 x 2 raised beds, which will pretty much be used exclusively for greens. I am also going to have him screw in some hooks on the side of the house, so that I can attach vine support for morning glories.

I want to get 2-3 yards of gardeners mix soil delivered, but A-1 mulch currently doesn't have any. Not sure what I'm going to do, as the arugula is already coming up like gangbusters, and it will be a very short while before I am planting them out.

I set up a system of Indoor Growing in the basement. I have an old heating pad down there, set on my aerogrow. The seeds are planted into peat containers, and covered with the bottom half of a milk jug, with a towel on top. It seems to be holding the soil at about 78 degrees, which is just perfection.

Alright, onto the data:

Bloom/Sprout Report

• The coral honeysuckle that I planted last year started to set beautiful reddish leaves about 2 weeks ago. It is looking pretty healthy, though I am already seeing some spots of PM on it :(

 

Coral Honeysuckle Leaves

• Mass sprouting from my Arugula that I w/s two weeks ago today.

Arugula Sprouts

• Mass sprouting from the German Chamomile I w/s 2 weeks ago 

Chamomile Sprouts

• Just noticed that the Bloomsdale Spinach is beginning to break through!

 Planting Report 

Two weeks ago (2/22/2012), I winter sowed into milk jugs:

German Chamomile
Blue Penstemon
Arugula
Bloomsdale Spinach (1/4 of jug)
Red/Yellow pear tomato mix
Brandywine Pink Tomato
Pacific Giant Delphiniums

Yesterday (3/6/2012), I winter sowed into milk jugs:
Anchusa Capensis "Blue Angel"
Columbine, "Tequila Sunrise"
Hardy Hibiscus - a magenta and a red/white mix
White (common) and Pink  (swamp) milkweed
Mexican Sunflower - tithonia rotundiflora
Verbena Boreninsis
Blackberry Lilly

Yesterday (3/6/2012), I Indoor Sowed:
2 packets of mini bell peppers
Hungarian Black pepper
Ariane Sweet Orange Bell peppers
Brandywine Pink Tomato
Sugar Snack Cherry Tomato (f1), recieved in swap so not sure if it will come true
Italian Red Cherry Tomatoes
Slicing tomato, No ID (received in swap)

Today, I W/s:
1 line of spinach seeds in the spinach WS container, as well as a line of arugula in the same spinach container.

Today, I I/s:
I threw some seed mix, moistened, into a plastic baggie, and threw the delph giant seeds in the baggie. Put it in the back of the fridge. I want to cover my bases - I know they can be difficult to germinate, so I I have a container WS'd, and a baggie in the fridge. We'll see if either of them works!

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