Spring 2017

Planning to take gardening lightly this year.  I'm waiting for the seedlings to be available at the plant nurseries.  I'm mostly interested in hot peppers (thai hot chili, jalapeno, serrano) and tomatoes (cherry and slicing).

Most of the drier herbs are starting to come back.  I think one of three thyme plants is dead, but it gave me 2 years.  The parsley also over wintered and hasn't stopped putting out new growth.

I don't plan on buying any veggie seeds, but I did get some free from the library:

Mortgage Lifter Tomato - started today

Genovese Basil - started today
Zipper Peas - Direct sew in Mar/Apr

I had to laugh at the Zipper peas. Not sure how many peas a couple of plants will produce, but it'll be fun.

I also recently sewed some sugar snap peas, and they are an inch or so above ground now.

Otherwise, I have some cold weather holdovers (carrots, green onions, lettuce, cilantro).  Only the onions are worth the effort, but the dog has enjoyed all of the carrots.

The native plants are starting to show life again.  Here's the passiflora coming back from the ground.

Still Warm

The weather has been unseasonably warm with a record high or two. It's also been dry for a month or so.

The raised beds are slow growing. The left is full of collards, and the right is a mix of turnips, lettuce, Asian greens, and onions.

The carrots and onions are now mulched for moisture retention and to keep the soil cooler.  I'm hoping this encourages larger carrot roots.  Mulching does make a big difference.

Morris Heading Collards

The collard seedlings have grown enough to transplant, so into the south raised bed they went today.  I added some light mulching around them to help protect them from drying out too quickly.  As they grow larger, I can add more.  I also over-planted them, not only in their starter trays, but also in the raised bed.  If any die right away, I have more on standby.  The seeds were very prolific, so hopefully the plants will be resilient.

Morris Heading Collards, small but plentiful.

The back of the bed is standing by for cabbage seedlings, once they get big enough.

All The Seeds

I finished planting one of the raised beds with the rest of the fall seeds I had. 

Seeds included:
Shanghai Green Pak Choi
Ching Chang Bok Choi
Baby Oakleaf Lettuce
Butter King Lettuce
Flashy Lightning Lettuce
Little Gem Lettuce
Salad Bowl Looseleaf Lettuce (Free from library)
Cilantro (Free from library)

Already planted:
Hakurei Turnips
Danvers Half Long Carrots
Oxheart Carrots
Cosmic Purple Carrots
Bunching onions from dad

Here's the layout of the north raised bed:

 The carrots and onions are coming along nicely.

More Seeds

The carrots and onions are up!

I started some seeds today: Brunswick Cabbage (a free gift), Morris Heading Collards, and Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard (free from library).  I'm supposedly behind on starting stuff, but last year everything got too hot when I planted earlier.

I still have Harukei turnips, bok choy, cilantro, and lettuces to plant.  I still need to clean out the garden and planters for those since they will be direct seeded.  The peppers are still in the ground, though I have plucked all the fruit (the poblano finally produced a handful or two of small peppers!).

The weather turned a little cooler for the first time this season overnight w/ lows near 60 and window-open weather today.  It will get hotter again though, so I'm trying to be cautious about these winter plants.  Some of them won't even germinate at recent temps.

Meanwhile, I have about 8 native hibiscus plants that are ready for permanent planting.  Will I ever get an area set up in the side yard?  Stay tuned.