All Posts by Sabine

Seedlings Inventory and Starting Cucumbers & Squash

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Tomatoes and basil

My tomato and basil seedlings have been living on my kitchen table for the past few weeks. I rotate the tray so they grow evenly. The tomatoes are getting a bit leggy, but everything looks good. I have 9 tomatoes, 4 regular basil and 2 Thai basil cells.

Leeks, kale, Swiss chard and lettuce

I have a few of the seedlings outside on the back porch now to harden. I will transplant them into my plot in the next couple of days. We still don’t have water in the community garden, so I want to wait until it is turned on. I have a bunch of leeks and Swiss Chard, 4 kale plants and 8 head lettuces. I will transplant some of the head lettuce into containers on my porch and the rest will go into the community plot.

Freshly sown curcubites, hot peppers, eggplant and tomato under the grow lights

Today, I started my cucumbers and squash. Each in triplet, I planted two pots Tokiwa, three plots pickling cucumber and two pots Mexican sour gherkins (cucamelons). I also planted one pot of Delicata squash (I sadly only had three seeds left), two each Butternut and Honeynut, and one zucchini.

Basil close-up

Seedlings Update

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Today I re-potted my tomato plants (9 out of 12, two did not come up and one needs a bit more care under the grow lights), my six basil cells and my two Thai basil cells and four kale plants. The tomatoes are looking really strong and big – I might have started them a bit too early. Until I can set them out to harden, they will live inside on my kitchen table.

I just got a new LED grow light as my old fluorescent one died after exactly ten years. Under it, I have my 8 lettuce seedlings, 3 eggplants , 2 Thai peppers and a tomato. Plus the leeks and Swiss chard until I sort those out.

Early Spring Plantings

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First spring plantings in the plot today. First, I fertilized the soil everywhere with Espoma Garden-Tone. I will repeat it in a few week. My soil really needed some love. I then planted peas, spinach (in between the two rows of peas) and radishes. Rain in the forecast tomorrow. Happy spring!

Does not look like much yet … On the top right is the garlic and right underneath it I planted Sugar Snap peas _ spinach _ Mammoth Melting Sugar peas _ radishes. The little clump on the left is my rhubarb, yeah!

Porch Radishes and Lettuce Starts

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Today, I did my first outdoor sowing of the year. I sowed radishes in a big container on my porch. I also started lettuce indoors, four each of Black Seeded Simpson, May Queen and Merlot. All head lettuces. I was going to sow peas and spinach in the plot today, but I will wait until a bit later in the week as there is rain in the forecast in a few days. I also bought organic fertilizer, as I have to amend the soil in my plot, which I will do before my first sowing.

Sowing Tomatoes

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Today, I started my tomato seedlings. Somewhat earlier than in previous years as I typically starte them around March 20. I started two each of the following six varieties: Ailsa Craig (early), Black Prince (mid), Striped German (mid), Green Zebra (mid/late), Dr. Wyche Yellow (mid/late), Ananas Noire (late). Some of the seeds are quite old, so fingers crossed they will sprout. The Ailsa Craig seeds were a gift from Sand Hill Preservation Center. I read that they are an English Heirloom variety, which originates from the Scottish island with the same name. I am excited. I also started eggplant seeds I got as a gift in my seed order. Udmalbet is an early variety from India. And I started Swiss Chard.

More Sowing

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Today I sowed kale, Nufar basil (a Fusarium resistant sweet basil variety) and Thai basil. Like the peppers and eggplants, I started them in egg cartons to save space for now. I will transplant them into bigger cells once they have sprouted. I do not expect all eggplant and pepper seeds to sprout because some of the seeds are quite old. Sowing them in smaller egg carton cells allows me to select only the viable seedlings for transplanting.

Eggplant and pepper seedlings on the top, newly seeded kale and basil on the bottom.

Eggplants and Hot Peppers

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Today, I set up my grow lights and heat mat and started eggplant and hot pepper seedlings. I started four each of Ping Tung and Diamond eggplant, and two each of Thai red chilli pepper and Jalapeno. The hot peppers will be grown in containers on the porch as will at least some of the eggplant.

I also finally ordered my seeds from Sand Hill Preservation Center: kale, peas, green beans, cilantro, flowers. Once they arrive, I should be all set for seeds for the year.

Beginning of the Season

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I started my first seedlings today. Bulgarian Giant leeks. Very exciting! I sowed four cells, which I will cover with a clear plastic dome and put on the radiator. Let’s see if this will work. I am saving my grow lights/heat mat set-up for my other seedlings (peppers, eggplant, basil, and maybe kale), which I will start in a couple of weeks.

New seeds! I am very excited about the Mexican sour gherkins.