Outdoor lettuce appearing

The lettuce that was sown in the garden April 14th is beginning to appear. The broccoli, cabbage and parsley that were planted at the same time under plastic covers (plastic milk container tops) are doing very well in spite of no "hardening off" period and several near freezing nights.

Tulips, forget-me-nots and dwarf apple trees are blooming; forsythia, lilac and spruce trees are putting out new growth; and peonies are near to unfurling their leaves.

Hot peppers

This morning, _most_ of the hot peppers that were planted on the 17th germinated. I removed the plastic covering, lightly sprinkled some planting mix to cover exposed roots and used a spray bottle to moisten whole thing. Interestingly, one of the Anaheim peppers that were planted weeks ago also decided to sprout.

Most of the established peppers and lettuce were transplanted this morning. I will have to plant and give away some broccoli and kale seedlings to make room for these burgeoning arrivals.

Seed germination trick

On the 17th of April, I started another vermiculite container of hot pepper seeds. Hope is waning for the first batch to germinate. The basil seeds that were planted on the 16th germinated on the 20th and I can already see a couple of the hot pepper seeds sprouting a tendril. Because of this, I am planning to sow seeds right on top of the vermiculite in the future. The success of this method requires that the containers are wrapped in plastic so that a humid environment is maintained (see the photo from the April 16 post). The greatest benefit is that one can see at a glance whether the seeds are germinating and not have to wonder what is happening under the soil.

On the 17th, I mixed up some organic fertilizer. The formula is based loosely on that provided by Steve Solomon in his book "Gardening When It Counts". I obtained soy and alfalfa meal from a local grain mill, finely granulated dolomitic limestone and bonemeal. These were mixed roughly in a ratio of 16 parts meal:2 parts limestone:1 part bonemeal. About one and a half pints were sprinkled on each garden square. This and subsequent applications should provide the nutrients that the plants need to grow well.

Large hyacinths are fading. We have a robin outside our bedroom sitting on four eggs.

Catching up

Much has happened since the last post. We have four garden boxes completely planted with seeds or seedlings (except for the back four squares of each box which are reserved for tomatoes). It has been a great help this year that the garden boxes are already built and filled with good soil. Last year, we spent a large portion of each weekend struggling to build more boxes.

Over the past weeks, our largest challenge has been getting pepper and basil seeds to germinate. The California Wonder peppers came up, but only one of the hot peppers and one Yankee Bell. In addition to adding heat, we are starting a new set of basil and parsley seeds where the seed is placed almost at the top of the vermiculite. We may have been planting seeds too deeply, but we haven't given up on the remaining pepper seeds. If they don't appear soon we will try again.

Violets and an old apple tree are blooming in the yard.

Here is a list of recent garden related activities and observations:

04/16 - basil and parsley planted in vermiculite; transplanted 22 tomatoes (2 roma; 8 husky gold; 8 cherry sun; 4 paragon) and 2 chard to larger containers

04/15 - soaked more basil and parsley; first romaine lettuce sprouted in vermiculite

04/14 - 8 California Wonder peppers germinated;
Garden 2 (36) Danvers 126 carrots; (18) Johnny's spinach; (12) salad bowl lettuce;
Garden 3 (36) Red Ace beets; (18) Johnny's spinach; (16) salad bowl lettuce;
Garden 4 (8) Johnny's chard; planted the following seedlings: (2) de Cicco broccoli; (2) Carabella broccoli; (2) Early Girl cabbage; (2) Moss Curled parsley; (4) Starbor kale

04/13 - watered outside garden; harvested sunflowers inside; one Yankee Bell pepper germinated in vermiculite

04/12 - transplanted (10) tomato plants to larger containers; planted (28) romaine lettuce in Gardens 1 and 2 and (8) chard in Garden 2; observed two chickadees building a nest in tree stump

04/11 - paragon and cherry tomatoes sprouted; lobelia sprouting; quince blooming; tulip tree starting to show leaves; robin building nest

04/09 - salad bowl lettuce sprouted in vermiculite; vinca blooming outside and white star flowers

04/08 - planted about 20 garlic cloves and 40 spinach in the garden

04/07 - planted (16) romaine and (16) oakleaf salad bowl lettuce in vermiculite; last night started lobelia, alyssum, bergamot, more tomatoes and hot peppers; there are (10) tomatoes germinated from the previous planting including (2) roma, (7) cherry sun, (1) husky gold, and (6) paragon; planted about 50 red onion bulbs before downpour

Ready, Set, Grow!

Since our last post, we have started many seeds and have seen some signs of life from vegetables that were left in the garden over winter. We have about ten tomatoes of different varieties under lights and are anxiously waiting for the peppers to appear. We rigged up a seed starting tray with a short rope light and cafeteria trays. It took some experimentation to get the temperature right, but we just add more trays between the seeds and the lights if the temperature gets above 90 degrees. I was told last fall that kale will survive and regrow if left in the ground over winter. This is being proven in our garden now as the picture shows. We are also seeing some carrots and beets that were left in the ground coming back to life. Forsythia, hyacinth and daffodils are in full bloom.