Garden Fever – Seedlings & Early Spring Planting
I started broccoli plants from seed a couple of weeks ago. This past weekend I transferred them to individual pots (recycled pots from nurseries) to grow until it is time to plant them outside. They need the light to be very close to the tops of them or they will become spindly. I just keep watch on them and raise the light as needed. I use an heirloom variety of broccoli so I can save the seed from year to year. On the left in the picture is the sweet potato slips I also started earlier.
Last weekend, I also planted peas, onions, radishes and spinach in the garden. The peas and spinach varieties I planted are also heirloom seeds. The radish seeds are leftover from last year. I don’t plant very many radishes, so a package lasts quite a few years for us. I purchased the onion seeds at Dollar General. They have seed packages for 3/$1.
Lots of people plant onion sets, but I prefer to plant seeds. I have tried sets before and not gotten very big onions. Then a few years ago, I tried onion seeds and had much better results. My husband was at the garden center last week buying soil acidifier for the blueberries and mentioned this to the proprietor there. She said if you plant the onion sets too deep, they won’t get very big. The onion bulb needs to be exposed somewhat for them to develop into big onions. I suppose that is what I did wrong, but now that I’ve tried the seeds and had success, I don’t think I’ll switch back.
We had spinach from the cold frame in the garden for supper last night. It tasted sooo good that I am really hungry now for all of these seeds to sprout and start producing!
Check out more gardening inspiration at The Garden Club.
What gardening have you done this spring?
Reader Comments
Oh, that’s such fun! One spring I had so many plants started in the basement (with rows of grow lights) that my son said it looked like I might be growing some illegal crops. Mine were mostly flowers–back before the back problems set in. I don’t do that anymore. :~(
I’m thinking I should grow some vegetables this year, the economy being what it is. I’d like Ron to build some raised beds. Our soil is awful here. It would take several years to get it amended to be fertile enough to grow anything. Right now it’s basically clay.
One summer back in the 70s, I’d grown a whole lot of green beans, and for some reason, there was a shortage of canning jar lids. That was just crazy. I was only able to get an off-brand. And when I went to the cellar in the fall, all the jar lids had lost their vacuum, and the beans were spoiled. You could tell that the lids had had very skimpy rubber seals. Boy! Was I ticked off!
I would be upset too after going through all that work to can the beans! I was worried that there would be a shortage of lids this year also because of the renewed interest in gardening, so I have stocked up on lids.
Where did you get your canning lids? Can you buy them in bulk? Can you tell us more about how you planted the spinach in the cold frame? Do you need to raise the lid during the day?
I usually buy my canning lids at a SaveALot Grocery store. I have found them to be the best price there. I actually planted the spinach in the cold frame last fall and it just recently started growing. Yes, if it is a warm day, you should raise the lid so it doesn’t get too hot in the cold frame.
I have started a Garden Club Carnival each Friday… we’d love to have you link to us! Since so many of us are just starting out in our attempts to learn to garden I thought we could pool our knowledge in our attempts to turn black thumbs slightly green! Come check it out!
I have started all sorts of plants… you can look at my blog… broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, etc. Yum, yum!!!