a light for the seedlings

With a streak of cloudy weather, I have resorted to a plant light. I set up a make shift arrangement using my fish tank lighting. I didn't want to burn the little seedlings, so I looked up how much light is OK:

"Experiments and tests have demonstrated that most vegetables and flowering plants need 25 to 30 fluorescent light watts per square foot. Houseplants and seedlings do well with 15 to 20 watts..." http://www.doityourself.com/stry/factsoflight

It looks like I have about 5-6 sq ft of illuminated seedlings, so I need 75-120 watts. I have two 98 watt compact double fluorescent tubes in the fixture - a bright white and an actinic blue. The blue is mainly for penetrating water to reach corals, so I'll just go with the daylight bulb. The recommendation for timing seems to be 16 hours per day, so I'll set the timer for 6am-10pm. I have the set up in the window, so this will also add whatever natural light is available.

I wish I could join my plants and enjoy the nice bright light. A few more months I guess....

april flowers

Well, its almost April. A wet and dreary day for the last of March needs some bright flowers. This is what is blooming around my neighborhood now.

kale seedlings

I planted three types of kale seeds. They are developing nice second leaves now. Each look different. Clockwise from top left: Winterbor, Red Russian, Tuscan and another shot of Red Russian.

Brassicaceae
Kale (Brassica oleracea, Acephala Group)

american robin

Cheer-up, cheer-up! My garden workers are returning!

garden birds (Hortus Aves)

leggy seedlings

I've been trying to raise my seedlings without a plant light. But they seem to be getting quite leggy. Especially the broccoli. To try to increase their light, I have suspended them right up against the south facing windows. Of course it would help if the clouds moved out of the way.

Brassicaceae

raised bed design and construction

While I wait for more sprouts and planting, I'm posting some information on my raised beds.

My husband made the beds about 10 years ago from boards of 2x6 pressure treated lumber (oops! Don't use pressure treated lumber for your gardens, although the newer types may be safe. I'll add a link soon about the hazards of this in gardens). They measure 3.8 ft by 9 ft. I have five adjacent beds. Between each is a pathway that ranges from 15 to 17 inches wide, but you might want to make them wide enough for your rake (I use an adjustable rake).

To make the beds, my husband just laid the wood on the surface of ground. He made stakes (about 2x2x12) that were pounded into 3 of the 4 corners of each bed. The frame is screwed into these stakes. The stakes hold the beds in place.

After making the frames, we filled them with about 3 or 4 inches of a mixture of peat, composted manure and topsoil. All were purchased in bags. I turned this mixture to mix it with the soil below. As I remember, it took me a few years to get the beds full to the top - they hold a lot of soil.

I have a nice composting system where I compost most of my garden waste. Every year a good amount of this goes into the beds and is turned under along with the cover crop that I've planted for the winter.

The raised beds work great and look nice. Well, most of the year they look nice - right now they are quite a mess....


garden structures

sprouts in winter sown bottles!

I have sprouts in my plastic bottles!!! Lots of them! Its very exciting.
Five of the 12 bottles have nice little sprouts today. They are:

Hollyhock Zebrina, Shasta Daisy Alaska, Wild Tansy, Dukat Dill, and Onions Sweet Yellow Spanish.

Only one problem is that all of the labels on the bottles have washed off. I checked my excessive photo records and with luck came up with the one above with the labels showing. So, not only do I have outdoor sprouts, I even know what they are!

My complete sprouting record is here.

winterplanting

soil test

Today I'll try to get some soil collected and start preparing it to send out for a soil test. I've never tested the bed adjacent to the house. Its important to check it for lead, as well as nutrients I may need to adjust.

I'll collect a small sample from 10 or 12 locations in the bed. They all get mixed together in a bowl and I'll leave the bowl uncovered for a few days to dry out, stirring it now and then. Then one cup of the soil goes into a labeled zip-lock baggie and is sent out.

I was going to wait until I got my community plot assignment and do both at the same time. But since that's not until April 12, I think I'll go ahead with this bed now.

Here's a link to my last soil test results for my raised bed area (two years ago). Here's a link showing my baggie full of dirt from the last sample. I sent my sample to Dept of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Mass. Here's the brochure with collection instructions, prices and the mailing address. It was just over a week for the results to come back, if I remember right.

Like last time, I will have them do the Standard Soil Test w/ Organic Matter (option C) for $13.00 per sample.

topic: soil

easter is skippy's birthday!!!

Skippy is 3 years old today. He was born on Easter (or maybe late on the night before?). Easter was March 26 the year he was born, but we like to celebrate on Easter Sunday.

Happy Birthday Skippy!! He's 3 years old. What a dog. He's very special.

Skippy had a birthday Easter basket filled with plastic eggs, dog cookies, Merrick dehydrated lamb lung (!!!) and a Merrick Flossie (chewy dried beef tendon). He eat all but the eggs and then stretched out on the porch floor for a nap. Aahhh... the life of a dog....

The photos below show the nice new haircut he got on Friday at Laundromutt (by his favorite groomer, Alana).



posts about Skippy

my seedlings on Easter morning

They are all growing very fast. The peppers came up today. The kale and escarole have their second set of leaves starting. The onions are straightening up. I move the trays around during the day to catch the best sunlight. Also, I am working on thinning out the more dense seedlings. After seeing Gretta's nice individual plants that aren't stretching out like mine, I am trying to do better at this though its hard to trow away cute little plants.

I have almost 3 trays planted now - with 17 different varieties of vegetables.

Kale (Brassica oleracea, Acephala Group)

planting record

I have a new link to my spring planting records. Its near the top of my sidebar. It lists what I'm planting, where, how much, and when it sprouts. You can see what's sprouted today there. (Little broccolis just poked up this morning!)

CSA farm tour

Many thanks to Gretta for the wonderful tour of her CSA farm this afternoon. Gretta farms an acre of land here in Belmont MA and produces the most delicious and beautiful vegetables you have seen. Her hoop house is full of seedlings now. She has a lot more information at her site: Belmont CSA News.

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)

new idea

My new idea is to start up a message board for vegetable gardeners who are located near me (Belmont, Cambridge, Arlington, Watertown, etc - Massachusetts).

I ran into a nearby vegetable gardener today and together we wished there was a way to see what other gardeners were up to in this area. Also, tours of each others' gardens would be fun. And we'd like to encourage new gardeners to put their soil to good use.

I love having a blog and feeling connected with gardeners all over the world, but I'm missing a connection locally. I plan to look into how one constructs an on-line message board and will likely post paper messages on local real (thumb-tack and paper) bulletin boards around town.

I'd love any feedback on this project. Do other locales have any methods of vegetable gardener communication? Does anyone think this would be useful, fun? Sources of bb templates, etc. Thanks!

vernal equinox

Yippeee!! Its spring! The vernal equinox was/is at 5:48 EST March 20, 2008. We can now call the 2008 gardening season officially started!

seedlings in the window

Just a light dusting of snow.

pea planting

Well, I got my peas in on the day after St Pat's Day. Not too bad. The soil in this area of my garden is really warm. Its right up against the south face of the house and gets full sun all day long, all winter. I'll have to take my soil thermometer out there soon, just out of curiosity.

My raised beds, which are further from the house and shaded by a neighboring house 24/7 during the winter, are still mostly frozen. Last year I had to wait 'til April to plant there.

I'm not well prepared for planting yet. I have no row labels. And I am going to order pea netting, but haven't done so yet. So I used sticks and poles and old labels to mark out rows. I'll remember what I planted where until I get the labels in. I used a zig-zag pattern for planting, but only planted some of the zigs. I'll succession plant every few weeks.

I used Pea, Lentil, and Vetch Inoculant from Johnny's that's for garden peas, field peas, fava/broad beans, and vetch (whatever that is). I just sprinkle it on the scattered peas in a trench than cover it over. I did the same last year and it gave me great yields - much better than previous years when I did not use inoculant. (Here's an old post of mine with inoculant information.)

Pisum sativum

planting records

This is my planting record for the year 2008. I started seeds indoors in trays inside in front of a big south facing window. Midway through growing I added some indoor plant lights. I did my first outdoor sowing on March 18! Peas and fava beans.

I have added information on sowing and transplanting dates, planting location (home garden or community plot) and comments on crop quality (poor, OK, GREAT etc)

Indoor Seeding
March 7:
Onions, Yellow Sweet Spanish (4 small trays), sprouted March 17 (10 days), POOR
Kale, Red Russian (1 small tray), sprout March 14, transplant April 11 home garden, GREAT
Kale, Winterbor (1 small tray), sprouted March 11, transplant April 11 home garden, GREAT
Kale, Tuscan (1 small tray), sprouted March 11, transplant April 11 home garden, GREAT
Escarole, Bionda A Cuore Pieno (1 small tray), sprout March 11, transplant April 11 home garden, GREAT (but bolted before we ate it all)

March 15:
Peppers, Sweet Canary Bell (2 6-packs), sprouted March 23, transplant to bigger pots April 23, home garden, POOR needed more sun
Peppers, Sweet Chocolate (2 6-packs), sprouted March 23, transplant to bigger pots April 23, home garden, POOR needed more sun
Peppers, Anaheim Chile (1 6-pack), sprouted March 29, home garden, OK but could use more sun
Peppers, Poblano Chile (1 6-pack), sprouted March 27, home garden, POOR needed more sun
Peppers, Habenero Chile (1 6-pack), sprouted March 29, home garden, GREAT

March 17:
Broccoli, Green Goliath (1 9-pack), sprouted March 22, transplant home garden April 11, GREAT
Broccoli, Green Sprouting Calabrese (2 9-packs), sprouted March 22, transplant home garden April 11 OK, not my favorite variety
Lettuce, Merville de Four Seasons (1 9-pack), sprouted March 21, transplant to home garden April 11 OK, needed more sun, poor heading and bolted before we ate it all

March 20:
Lettuce, Prizehead (1 9-pack), sprouted March 29, transplant to bigger pots May 3, plot, GREAT
Lettuce, Black-Seeded Simpson (1 9-pack), sprouted March 25, transplant to bigger pots May 3, ??
Lettuce, Green Oakleaf Royal Oak (1 9-pack), sprouted March 30, transplant to bigger pots May 3, ??
Lettuce, Burpee Bibb (1 9-pack), sprouted March 25, transplant to bigger pots May 3, ??

March 24:
Peppers, Anaheim Chile (1 6-pack), sprouted April 3 (11 days), OK
Peppers, Habenero Chile (1 6-pack), sprouted April 6 (14 days), OK
(My Mom wants some chiles, so I seeded a couple more 6-packs.)

April 1:
Marigold, Lemon Signet (4 6-packs), sprouted April 4 (3 days) poor, I put them outside too soon
Cosmos, Cosmic Orange (4 6-packs), sprouted April 4 (3 days), GREAT
Aster, China Opus (4 6-packs), sprouted April 9 (8 days), OK
Anise Hyssop (2 6-packs), sprouted April 9 (8 days), GREAT

April 6:
Tomatoes, New Girl (6 for mom, 3 for me), sprouted April 11 (5 days) All died because the cover fell off and their end of the tray dried out in the hot sun.
Tomatoes, Big Beef (6 for mom, 3 for me), sprouted April 13 (7 days), plot and home, OK
Tomatoes, Orange Blossom (3 for mom, 3 for me), sprouted April 13 (7 days), plot and home, GREAT
Tomatoes, Brandywine (3 for me), sprouted April 13 (7 days), plot and home, OK
Tomatoes, Pink Beauty (3 for mom, 3 for me), sprouted April 13 (7 days) Most died.
Tomatoes, Cherokee Purple (1 for mom, 3 for me), sprouted April 13 (7 days), plot and home, POOR
Tomatoes, Purple Calabash (1 for mom, 3 for me), sprouted April 13 (7 days), plot and home, did well, but I don’t like the variety
Tomatoes, Giant Belgium (3 for me), sprouted April 14 (8 days), plot and home, GREAT
Tomatoes, Oxheart Red (3 for me), sprouted April 17 (11 days), plot and home, GREAT
Tomatoes, San Marzano (3 for me), sprouted April 13 (7 days), plot and home, poor
Tomatoes, Tomango (3 for me), sprouted April 13 (7 days), plot and home, OK but I don’t like the variety
The number listed are the numbers of plants I would like in the garden. To make sure I get enough, I'll plant twice as many seeds and thin (or give away) extras.
My mom only wants early varieties (70-80 days).

April 21
Watermelon (1 3-pack), sprouted April 29 (8 days), plot, poor, plants were too small and I may have put them out too early
Zucchini, Caserta (1 3-pack), didn’t sprout
Zucchini, Cashflow (1 3-pack), sprouted April 25 (6 days), plot, GREAT
Summer squash, Sunburst (1 3-pack), sprouted April 30 (9 days), plot, GREAT
Summer squash, Zephyr (1 3-pack), sprouted April 29 (8 days), plot, GREAT
Summer squash, Starship pattypan (1 3-pack), sprouted April 29 (8 days), plot, GREAT
Pumpkin, Big Rock (1 3-pack), sprouted April 29 (8 days), plot, GREAT
Gourd, Birdhouse (1 3-pack), sprouted April 30 (9 days), plot and home, GREAT
Cucumber, Rocky (1 6-pack), sprouted April 25 (6 days), plot, poor
Cucumber, Striped Armenian (1 6-pack), sprouted April 30 (9 days), didn’t sprout
Beets, Lutz (2 6-packs), sprouted April 26 (4 days), plot, GREAT
Beets, Chiogga (4 6-packs), sprouted April 26 (4 days), plot, GREAT
Basil, Nufar (4 6-packs), sprouted April 27 (5 days), plot, GREAT
Onions, Rosa (2 6-packs), poor
Onions, Yellow Sweet (2 6-packs), poor
Onions, White Portugal (2 6-packs), poor

April 27
Squash, Lakota (1 3-pack), plot, poor
Gourds, large ornamental (1 3-pack), home and plot, GREAT
Squash, Delicata (1 3-pack), community plot, GREAT
Pumpkin, Baby Pam (1 3-pack), home garden, GREAT

April 29
Lettuce, Big Boston (2 6-packs), ??
Marigolds, Snowdrift (2 6-pack), plot, GREAT

May 3
Cucumbers, Pickling (1 6-pack), plot, poor
Zinnias, home GREAT

May 10
Cucumbers, slicing, plot, poor
Watermelon, Sugar Baby, plot, poor
Zucchini, Cashflow, plot, GREAT
Summer Squash, Zephyr, plot, GREAT

June 2
Lettuce, Red Summer Crisp, transplant half June 13, plot, GREAT but grew slowly not ready until late Sept

July 18
Lettuce, Red Summer Crisp, 1 6-pack, plot, GREAT but grew slowly not ready until October
Escarole, Bionda A Cuore Pieno, 1 6-pack, plot, GREAT but grew slowly not ready until October
Beets, Lutz, 1 6-pack, ??
Broccoli, Green Goliath, 2 6-packs, plot, poor, sown too late
Broccoli, Green Sprouting Calabrese, 1 6-pack, plot, poor, sown too late
Dill, Dukat, 2 6-packs, ??

August 3:
Lettuce, Prizehead, 2 6-packs, home, poor
Fall greens mix, 3 6-packs, home, poor
Lettuce, Four Seasons, 1 6-pack, ??
Lettuce, Bibb, 2 6-pack, ??
Endive, Batavian, 2 6-packs ??
Plus one 6-pack I didn't label and don't remember what it is...


-------


Outside in my home garden
March 18:
Peas, Sugar Sprint (3' row), sprouted April 4 (17 days), home, OK
Peas, Tall Telephone (3' row), sprouted April 17 (30 days), home, poor
Peas, Pisello Nano (3' row), sprouted April 9 (22 days), home, poor
Fava beans, Windsor (2' by 2' plot), sprouted April 17 (30 days), transplanted to community plot May 3, GREAT

April 11:
Peas, Capucijners (6' row), sprouted April 20, home, OK
Peas, Sugar Sprint (3' row), sprouted April 20, home, OK
Peas, Tall Telephone (3' row), sprouted April 20, home, poor
Peas, Pisello Nano (3' row), sprouted April 20, home, poor
Fava beans, Windsor (2' by 2' plot), sprouted April 24, trans to plot May 3, GREAT
Radish, Sparkler (3 3' rows), sprouted April 15, OK, not my favorite variety

April 21:
Arugula (3' row), sprouted April 25, home, poor
Spinach (3' row), sprouted April 25, home, poor

May 7:
Clover, Crimson, home, GREAT
Sunflowers, Lyng's Graystripe, plot, GREAT
Sunflowers, Ikarus, plot, OK
Sunflowers, Big Smile, plot, OK

May 28:
Beans, mixed saved seeds, home OK
Pole beans, Fortex, planted under the rose bush, didn’t sprout

July 21:
Beans, mixed saved seeds, home OK
Pole beans, Fortex GREAT
Shell beans, Tongue of Fire, plot OK
Shell beans, Black Turtle Soup, OK I think, I didn’t label these properly
Shell beans, Flagioli, OK I think, I didn’t label these properly
Soy beans, Envy, home, poor, didn’t sprout (I ran out of inoculant)
Green beans, Provider, GREAT


-------


Outside at my community plot
April 25:
Potatoes, fingerlings GREAT
Potatoes, Russets VERY GREAT, though I only planted one
Potatoes, Yukon Gold GREAT

April 27:
Carrots, Mokum (1 by 3' patch), plot, GREAT
Carrots, Coreless Amsterdam (1 by 3' patch), plot, OK, not the best variety for me
Carrots, Oxheart (1 by 3' patch), plot, GREAT
Parsnips, Cobham Improved Marrow (1 by 3' patch), didn’t sprout
Onion sets, Stuttgart (4 3' rows), plot, GREAT

May 3:
Fava beans, Windsor (3 by 3' patch) transplants from home garden, plot, GREAT

May 7:
Sunflowers, Lyng's Graystripe, plot, GREAT
Sunflowers, Ikarus, plot, OK
Sunflowers, Big Smile, plot, OK

May 22:
Carrots, Mokum (reseed patch), plot, GREAT
Carrots, Coreless Amsterdam (reseed patch) OK
Carrots, Oxheart (reseed patch), plot, GREAT
Parsnips, Cobham Improved Marrow (reseed patch) didn’t sprout

June 2:
Pole bean, Tongue of Fire, OK, , I didn’t label these properly
Pole bean, FORTEX, GREAT, I didn’t label these properly
Cilantro, saved from last year, didn’t sprout

June 13:
Soy beans, Envy (reseed row, cover with row cover), got eaten by critter again, two plants, poor variety
Soy beans, Butterbeans (reseed row, cover with row cover), mostly eaten by critter, but two GREAT plants

June 14:
Beans, Black Turtle Soup, OK, I didn’t label these properly and ate most green
Beans, Provider, GREAT
Carrots, Coreless Amsterdam (reseed patch), poor
Parsnips, Cobham Improved Marrow (reseed patch), didn’t sprout
Radish, Sparkler and Multicolor, GREAT

August 5:
Spinach, poor
Arugula, OK, a bit of flea beetle damage

August 27:
Beans, Provider
Peas, Alaska
Peas, Sugar Sprint
Carrots, Mokum
Radish, Multicolor
Broccoli, Green Goliath
Kale, Red Russian
Kale, Winterbore
Dill, Durkat
Fall Greens Mix (Sand Hill Preservation Center)
Lettuce, Big Boston
Lettuce, Four Seasons
Lettuce, Black-Seeded Simpson


-------


Outside in plastic bottles (winter sowing) - Overall things did well by this method, I just didn’t transplant then properly. I should have transplanted sooner.
February 22:
Delphinium Magic Fountains mix POOR
Delphinium Fantasia mix, sprouted April 11 (53 days) POOR
Hollyhock Zebrina, sprouted March 25 (32 days) GREAT
Rudbeckia Irish Eyes, sprouted April 1 (39 days) POOR
Rudbeckia Indian Summer, sprouted April 3 (41 days) GREAT
Shasta Daisy Alaska, sprouted March 25 (32 days) POOR
Purple Coneflower, sprouted April 17 (59 days) POOR
Wild Heliopsis (I collected), sprouted April 11 (53 days) POOR
Wild Tansy (I collected), sprouted March 25 (32 days) POOR
Dukat Dill (I collected), sprouted March 25 (32 days) POOR
Onions, White Portugal, sprouted March 27 (34 days) POOR
Onions, Sweet Yellow Spanish, sprouted March 25 (32 days) POOR

vote for your favorite garden blog awards

Another sign of spring! It's time for best blog voting. Here's the link for this year's Mouse & Trowel Awards.

I wish they had a category for best vegetable garden journal with a cute black dog! I love how those nice award icons look on the winning blogs.

I am looking forward to voting for the blogs I enjoy most. Of course, I am biased to the vegetable oriented ones. My favorites are on my sidebar. Good luck all!

sure signs of spring

happy St Patrick's day

my kale seedlings

Brassicaceae
Kale (Brassica oleracea, Acephala Group)

sowing broccoli

Broccoli is my son's favorite vegetable, so I keep trying to grow it. Last year I bought plants and was able to get a meal or two of crowns. I tried planting seeds in the fall, but planted too late.

Growing Information:
CULTURE: Broccoli requires a fertile soil with good moisture-holding capacity or irrigation. It is relatively tolerant to environmental stress. Broccoli does not generally do well in hot weather and does best as a spring or fall crop. For spring, start seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost. Sow seed directly for fall crops 10-12 weeks before killing frost. Temperatures below 40°F will cause chilling injury. 66 days to maturity.

Brassicaceae

sowing pepper seeds

At the last minute, I found a few more varieties of pepper seeds, bought some trays and quickly planted my pepper seeds on schedule - March 15. Same date as last year.

My garden is now 7-8 weeks before the last frost. Our usual last frost date here is May 5-10.

I planted these five varieties of peppers.

Sweet Canary Bell: (hybrid) Easy to grow, exceptional flavor, thick-walled and bright yellow color. It sets fruit early and produces throughout the summer. A vibrant accent in salads and deliciously sweet when sauteed or grilled. 69-80 days

Sweet Chocolate: (open pollinated) A lovely purple brown. Lumpy, elongated shape. Smoky-sweet flavor. Very productive. Peppers are very sweet, have thick walls, and turn from green, to chocolate when mature. The interior walls are brick red. Excellent fresh in salads. 85 days.

Anaheim Chile: (open pollinated) a mild variety of the New Mexican chile pepper. Like a poblano with a slightly thinner flesh. Fresh Anaheim peppers, like the poblano, need to be roasted before use. 78 days.

Poblano Chile: (open pollinated) a very mild chile pepper. The plant is multi-stemmed, and can reach 25 inches in height. The pod itself is about three to six inches long, and about two to three inches wide. An immature poblano is dark purplish green in color, but eventually turns a red so dark as to be nearly black. It can be prepared a number of ways, commonly including: dried, breaded and fried, stuffed, or in sauces called moles. After being roasted and peeled (which improves the texture by removing the waxy skin), it can be preserved by either canning or freezing. When dried, this pepper becomes a broad, flat, heart-shaped pod called an Ancho chile. 65 days.

Habenero Chile: (open pollinated) The habanero is the hottest chile pepper you'll find. Most habaneros rate 200,000 to 300,000 Scoville heat units. Yee ha!! That's hot!! 95 days.

I put the tray under my fish tank in among all the plumbing. It stays a nice constant 78 degrees F under there and worked well last year. For pepper seed, the recommended soil germination temperature range is 75-80°F.
chile and bell peppers (Capsicum)

spring shopping

Such fun to browse through the garden center in the spring. This is what I bought.

my Community Garden information letter

OK. Here's my summary from a daylight read through:

- There is a new Commission overseeing the Gardens this year.
- New plots are assigned at noon April 12 (not April 1 as I was told before).
- All gardeners must attend Garden Clean Up Day (April 12) to remove trash and invasives in and around the Gardens. Free coffee, free seeds and information.
- There is a waiting list for plots this year. (I gather this is new. I hope I am still #2.)
- This year they want to make sure all plots are actively gardened. If not they will reassign.
- There are upcoming improvements to be made at the Gardens.

So, I need to add 12 days to my countdown timer. But its fun to receive the information and to mail in my application.

Belmont Victory Garden

hmmm... a letter...

I'll have to read this over again in the daylight. Its my letter from the Garden Coordinator. Sounds like there have been some changes in policies... Garden assignments April 12 around Noon.... dues due March 28.... waiting list....

Belmont Victory Garden

turning the soil

My macro lens catches a lot of details. Here's a zoom of my jeans and the gardening fork. I'm just sooo excited about my thawed soil.

the ground has thawed!!!!

On a whim, I brought my fork out to see how frozen the garden was. But, NO ICE! The soil is beautiful and very workable. I'm amazed. Maybe all of our snow cover kept the ground from freezing hard this year. Last year, it was frozen solid in mid March and I couldn't do anything until early April. Well, now I'm starting to think about pea seeds.... Hhmmm. Just a row or two. Planting peas by St Patrick's Day would be great.

garlic topsets

I took my macro lens out to check on the garlic top sets I planted last fall. They are growing and there are lots of them, but they sure are tiny. Looks like they will take a couple years to make a bulb.

garlic (Allium sativum)