STARTING OUR SPRING VEGGIE GARDENS Part 1

I don't like Black Seeded Simpson, but Lolla Rosa is a good one. I've never had bad luck with any of the leafy lettuces I've grown.

For broccoli, I grew Calabrese this year. It was the first time we grew it, so it was more of an experiment. The hubby has enjoyed it. I'm not a big broc eater.

My husband has an asparagus patch. This is the 3rd year for it. Last year, he planted about 8 crowns and they all came up! We have it in a partly shaded area in our backyard. It gets a lot of sun, but shade when it gets very hot. While we're not nearly as humid as Houston or NOLA, it does get hot and humid here.

Kevin-regarding the tomatillos I've grown purple and green. I may be farther South then Stephanie but I'm in the same zone and I think sometimes I'm more 7b.

Ozark, in MO grew them one yr and they have volunteered ever since. I grow them like Ground Cherries and just toss some seeds but, like Okra, they love the heat. So I sow them in the dead of summer, after the less heat hardy stuff has died.

Too late and too hot for Spinach and Kale. They will bolt as soon as the heat will start.
Seed lettuce today and tomorrow (LEAF days). DO NOT COVER them with soil.
Just keep them nice and wet until they will germinate. Select "leaf" varieties. The lettuce that makes head is not really good here in the heat.
Good luck.

Thanks, drthor!

I transplanted out my peppers today and started some cucumber seeds indoors, harvested another head of broccoli, gave my purslanes a hair cut, put the cuttings to root. Pruned my red Knock Out rose and put the cuttings to root.

Linda, here are my Romaine plants which as you can see are bolting but I planted them last Sept as transplants from HD

New Zealand spinach while not a true spinach is a more heat tolerant spinach. I start my kale and/or collards in the fall here and harvest during the winter into spring. It tastes much better after a frost, you might get some usable yield if you plant it now but the taste is going to be bitter as it warms up.

I pulled some seed cups from my roaster oven project on Sunday because they were developing fungus on them. I set them in a container out of the way on my kitchen counter so they could make their way to the compost pile. This morning as I was using the toaster, I noticed one of them sprouted! LOL Guess I'll leave them on the counter and see if I get any more sprouts. LOL LOL LOL

Life finds a way...

As Dolly Parton would say, "Ain't it Amazin'"

>> I love Italian food

Are you interested in Italian Heirloom leaf broccoli? I had a stand over-winter and then go to seed in early spring, so the seed can't have cross-pollinated with anything. I have lots of seed from spring 2012.

It is really cold-hardy. Like, once the seedlings are established, it doesn't mind 25 F a bit. Mine was ice-covered for a while but stayed deep blue-green all winter.

O.P. 45-65 days Full Sun Annual
12" - 24" tall
16"- 24" spacing
deep blue-green leaves & tops: sweet, mild broccoli / kale flavor

http://allthingsplants.com/plants/view/151864/Broccoli-Brassica-oleracea-Spigariello/
http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/leaf-broccoli/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/108945/

synonyms:
Brassica oleracea 'Spigariello'
Spigariello Liscia
Broccolo Spigariello
Cima di rape Spigarello or
Cavolo Broccolo Spigariello

The woody-looking stems in the first photo are m y Knockout rose. Early March 2012.
The others are in bloom, through late April.

Sure, I've got lots. I found your address in the address exchange. But don't hold you breath: these might be for a fall crop. I'm way behind on seeds going out.

Meanwhile, I'm very proud of my Asian greens collection. My "Have" lists are all messed up right now in support of the Hog Wild Piggy Swap just concluding, but if you see things you like, let me know either here or by Dmail. Some things I have lots of left, like certain Chinese cabbages (Michihil or Napa) or Bok Choy. Some mild salad greens like "Komatsuna" and "Tatsoi".

Follow the links - there are four lists in all.

Bok Choy varieties:
http://cubits.org/ellasgarden/db/hogwildseedswap/view/95465/

Nine varieties of Chinese cabbage:
http://cubits.org/ellasgarden/db/hogwildseedswap/view/95614/

Thanks, Rich, but not better. Dr. says bad Sinus infection. Got a fist full of antibiotics to take for ten days.

Probably why I haven't wanted to engage in any activity that requires focus, or thinking..mixing up dirt...throwing seeds...moving planters around....don't have to focus or think...just do....

Rich,
They really are Italian spinach seeds. I'm trying some Italian veggie varieties for the microclimate in my garden patch..the Corno D'Toro?? bells was one, and now the Gigante D'Inverno Organic Spinach from Ohio Heirloom Seeds.

Thanks for the broccoli offer, but Arcadias have a permanent home in my garden. And, Green Comets and Green Magic seem to like it here, too.

Linda

Hope you feel better soon, Linda!

Rick, I'm in no rush, I'm still even just trying to figure out what works in my new garden, but I'm an Italian girl and can't resist the chance to try to show new things to my Nonnas. :)

very active.....I skimmed it.

Hey Linda. Glad you got some antibiotics. I had a sinus infection back in Oct. I thought I could heal myself by boosting my immune system with extra stuff. It turned into an inner ear infection by Dec. Finally got it taken care of end of Dec. but still had middle ear inflamation after the infection was gone and went to steriods next. Seriously.....my brain was drowning and I couldn't look at light or think to save my life. ALL to say....I will never try to heal myself again!!!!!!!! gimmie antibiotics~~!!!!

I am sowing seeds and transplanting Anything and Everything. So much to do, so little time. I will try to keep up with the thread. I normally make time for facebook during my break time but not very many gardeners on my list of friends.
I have managed to shovel up over 200 gallons of rabbit manure during the winter for the garden and at least 50 more to shovel this week , not counting the chicken stuff. 38 rabbits.

I hope everyone has a great Spring Planting.

Linda, hope you're on the mend. You do more sick than I do well, by the way! :-)

I am trying to get in gear. Have the following seeds in little cups and sprouted:
Pepper, Thai, long green
Pepper, Red Marconi
Pepper, Tequila sunrise (all 3 peppers look like hot ones, but they are all sweets)
.

Tomato, Pink Oxheart
Tomato, Beefsteak
Tomato, Grapo D'inverno


Cabbage, Early Jersey Wakefield
Cabbage, Kalibos (just planted today, not sprouted yet)

Eggplant, Fung something (long, look like lavender cucumbers)
Eggplant, Black Beauty

Basil, Emily (green)
Basil, Dark purple Opal

In beds, I have just sown:
Beans, Kentucky Wonder
Onions, Dixondales 3 short-day sampler

Oh! Also,My hubby created some computer graphic representations of my raised beds, (4 x 8s and 1 x 12s) and also my long line of cement blocks (32 blocks, 64 holes). He printed out the pages and stuck them on a board for me, and I'm having a lot of fun planning what is going to go where. When I mess up, I just print out a new page and stick it in the right spot on the board. I love it!

Linda, I've heard that cutting out dairy products helps with decreasing the occurance of sinus infections. I've not tried that, but it might be worth a shot.

>> show new things to my Nonnas.

Cool! The leaf broccoli is my most unusual. Hmm, it may be my only specifically Italian heirloom.

I was proud of some Italian 'Pisello Rampicante Gigante Svizzero' mangiatutto snap peas, until I learned that they were just another name for regular old French Carouby de Maussane snap peas.

Thanks for the well wishes, guy! The 'biotics are kicking in slowly. This is a bit unusual, to have this sinus infection. I used to get them all the time. Then, they stopped after I started getting the flu shot about 4 years ago.

Missed my shot this year...duh...

Ya'll would just die if ya'll saw the poor 16" seedlings I have in the grow room...I do every time I look at them...Not that they're ugly or anything, quite the contrary. They're just big, overgrown BABIES, that need to be outside in the raised beds! But, I haven't even hardened them off yet!!!

And, I've got 4 Black Cherry and one Siberia that are AT LEAST 18" tall, and full of blooms, inside, under lights. Well, not so much under lights as sitting on the floor trying to catch the light from the shelf above, cause they're too tall to sit under the lights...

shoot. shoot.... shoot.....

I usually don't get really sick, but I had a nasty sinus and ear infection this year. Fast moving and somewhat antibiotic resistant. When I say "fast moving" I went from mild ear pressure to making the doc wince in a few hours.

It wasn't the flu (they tested) but it had me down for the count for a few days. I keep hearing stories of bad sinus infections this year; I think there's definitely a difficult bug making the rounds, so if you get it, stay in bed and rest. A coworker went through 3 courses of antibiotics with his and was still sick. He didn't rest. (He lives in another city, so I can't blame my infection on him.)

GG, I used to get myself in that fix, but over the years I have made myself cut down some on what I sow, and I try not to jump the season so much as I once did. It's hard to have huge plants needing to be outside and the weather is not there !

Thanks, Jo,

But, it's been upwards of 75° daytime and 65° nighttime here. Sunny, shorts and tee shirt weather. Except today. It rained. 78° and rain...

They need to be planted out now...

Linda, I have that whatever you have, I think. Ive been pretty sick for about a week. Been mostly gardening from my easy chair. If I felt good I would come and plant out your tomatoes for you.

I have a cold, it broke into fever chills ,body aches about 3 or 4 days after a lense replacement . Potted up a beefsteak type tomato plant today , I swear I could be dying and I would still want to garden ,, lol
I have decided that I am definitely Obsessed !!!!

Stephanie-what kind of seeds sprouted?

This warm weather makes me want to plant out but I've lived in TX too long to trust it. I still have onions and potatoes to plant and seeds to start for plant out at the end of March beginning of April. Being so rural makes it harder for me to protect the plants when the weather changes. I'm trying to look at the calendar instead of the thermometer. Lol

I'm also starting tomatoes first. I'm starting my peppers and eggplant after as they do fine in the heat and I grew all of mine, last summer, in containers. They actually seemed to do better and most of them are still going strong, as the containers allow me to protect them from the cold.

Thanks, Steadycam,

But, it's too late. I just checked, and the Siberia "seedling" already has TWO tomatoes on it!!!!

shoot.

Warmer than normal for Alabama too. Weather man said don't get excited. A cold front is coming next week.

The mice won't stop eating around the top edges of my carrots that are in 2ft high raised beds and they make nest down in the bed too.
I find the babies when amending the soil .
The new cat I got several months ago won't stop using the table top gardens and the raised beds. I saw that coming but now I have to do something about it.
I have a small Hoop greenhouse in the back yard but it only has a shade cloth over it. I think I will empty the soil out of the table top gardens and put them in that mildly shaded hoop frame. (16x24). I have 4 2ft x 8ft table top gardens , One 4x4 table top garden, and One 3x8 TTG. I use them for Leafy veggies and carrots most of the time. I put the big stuff down in the big garden.
And maybe, I can put a rabbit mesh wire fence around the raised beds to keep the cat out and the mice.
The cat has not been spayed yet and I keep her in the fenced yard so she doesn't get pregnant. But once I take care of that problem, she won't be confined to the fenced area where all the table top gardens are at.

Spinach....I always had a problem germinating spinach. I finally googled it. It germinates in cold weather. It does not like heat mats. One person has a 99% germination rate by soaking the seeds in warm water a couple of hours and then placing them in a wet paper towel and in a zip lock baggie in the veggie drawer of the refrigerator. They take the moist seeds out every morning and set it on the counter top and puts them back in the frig every night. They inspect for new sprouts daily and plants the new sprouts right away into soil packs or cups and still keeps the newly sprouted seeds in a cool dark place until they leaf out . I don't know what they do after that..... they didn't finish their instructions.

CricketsGarden
you can germinate Spinach in this way:
glass jar 3/4 filled with regular play sand a little bit moist
Spinach seeds
close the jar and watch the Spinach sprouts in the fridge.

I did it ones and they germinated just fine. I planted one by one and they grew ok.

It was just too much work for me ... I am kind of throw and grow gardener ...

Linda, I would plant it anyway. Just bury the stem deeper and pick off the tomatoes already on it. As warm as it has been, I doubt they need much hardening off. Some days it's been cooler in my house than outside.

Lisa, one of the Rutgers tomato seeds sprouted. I watered the other cups and they're still sitting on my kitchen counter. Experimenting to see if they germinate. That's all this has been this year...experimenting!

One of the Jalapeno M seeds labeled for 2010 sprouted overnight! Woohoo!

Pitiful...

Well, I guess we know who got the first tomato of the season...

From the frozen north,,, Arrrgh!!!!!!

Your day will come juhur7. Don't despair. It won't be long before our stuff has shut down due to extreme heat, and we'll have to watch YOUR posts about new growth.

Exactly, Juhur & Lise - its already warmer out there than I'm ready for, and I'd thought a tomato seedling I put in the ground a month ago would be a throwaway, but now I'm convinced it'll be the best one before The Hot arrives.

"The Hot". Is that like "The Fog?" LOL!

Put those together and you have ? The Steam!!!! hooo eww ewww hooo Monsters ....