Seedling Obsession

Now that my seeds have been started, I am completely obsessed with them! I check on their progress daily and make a mental note of any minute changes I see in them. Perhaps it is because everything is still dormant & brown outside but there, in my basement, under the grow lights is green...evidence that spring and summer will soon come.

Overall everything I planted had very good germination only the purple cauliflower has been a bit slow. A challenge for any gardener...thinning out the seedlings. It seems counter-intuitive to pull out the seedlings you just started but it is important to determine if there are some seedlings that are weaker than the others. Inspecting these seeds most of them look pretty strong. Fortunately a friend of mind has a plot at a local community garden and is more than happy to take some of my extra.
As for my grow system, there is a propagation mat under this seedling trays to bring the soil temperature up to 60F which is typically the best temperature for seed germination. This temperature also helps to encourage strong root growth. The lights are a combination of UV fluorescent lights that best mimic daylight. I have these on timers to provide the seedlings with about 18 hours of sunlight per day.  There is minimum heat output from the lights so I keep them about 3" above the seedlings, the lights are on chains such that as the seedlings grow, the lights can move up. When they were smaller I had a clear plastic cover on them but now they are too tall for the cover.
I can't imagine what my grow lights must look like to my neighbors...but for me, they are my little patch of green that bring me joy. :)

10-12 Weeks Before Last Frost

The calendar I marked indicates it's 11 weeks before the last frost. If you are going to consider starting your own seeds, this is the time in late winter to start those cold weather crops.

The ground outside is still frozen, the snow has turned to snirt and it has felt like an incredible cold winter. No better way to shake off those winter blues than the feel and smell of fresh soil! It may sound crazy but I find it very uplifting! A few days ago I started a flats of broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, onions, kale and artichoke. This is my first year giving artichokes a go...they are biennial plants which are not great for our New England climate however there are a few varieties out there that will flower there first year. I planted a new variety called Emerald that is thornless and productive it's first year...we shall see.

For the broccoli I planted 3 varieties: Packman,  Blue Wind, and Purple Peacock. Packman is the tried and true variety that many home garden stores will sell, it is reliable and has good flower production. Last year I had great luck with Blue Wind, it was slow to bolt in the summer and gave me a lot of off shoots which were perfect for a side of broccoli. The Purple Peacock I grew last year and was quite pretty, almost a fuchsia color for the leaves but some rabbits took the florets so I didn't have a chance to harvest any.

I planted three varieties of cauliflower as well: Snow Crown, Cheddar and Purple of Sicily. Snow Crown was a reliable cauliflower for me last year and develops a slight pale purple hue when the weather got hotter. It did have some side production when I left it in the garden after harvesting. Cheddar is new for me to grow this year, it is an orange cauliflower...why not, right? It is supposed to have a higher vitamin content than other cauliflower. The Purple of Sicily was purely for the memories. When Chris and I were in Sicily last year, the daily farmers market in Syracuse had beautiful, flawless lavender cauliflowers that were sweeter than I have ever tasted...if this is successful in our New England garden I will be really happy!

The leeks are Megaton leeks, having never grown leeks this should be interesting. The onions are a sweet Italian onion (Cippolli) that I tried last year but failed as I started the seedlings too late, we shall see if this works out better. And lastly the Tuscan kale! I had this kale in my garden from several years ago...it overwintered twice and was incredibly productive. It never once bolted or turned bitter and the leaves were always consistent and not tough. Given the record cold we have had this winter I wasn't too surprised that there is no evidence of life in the kale canes. There are still of few piles of unmelted snow were some of the kale had been planted but I am not optimistic there is anything growing under it.

And now...I wait :).

A Look Inside

The January thaw has past and now the yard is frozen hard for the remainder of the winter. It is still too early to start the spring seedlings. Instead of looking out longingly at the frozen yard, it is time to look inward. Whoa, not THAT inward...it's time to look at your houseplants!

Winter is hard on houseplants. The air is drying, the sunlight coming in from the windows is weak and it is primary season for spider mites to emerge. This is a great time to give a little 1:1 TLC to every plant and help it (and you) get through the winter. I take each of my houseplants to the kitchen and examine them in good light. Before doing anything to the plant I look for any evidence of spider mites. Spider mites are very, very tiny bugs that suck the juices out of plants, often the plant is beyond repair by the time it is evident they are infected. The most obvious sign of spider mites is the presents of tiny webs that look more like cobwebs than spiderwebs...it's easy to dismiss these as just 'dust'. If you have any sign of webs, assume you have mites. I also look for any sign of mildew or mold, plants have a hard time regulating their water intake and sometimes mold can start to develop.

I get rid of any dead leaves and any dead leaves that may be on the surface, dead leaves are a great place for mites and mold to accumulate. If there is no evidence of mites or mold I give the plant a really good soak in the sink. If it's a plant that can have wet leaves (i.e. not African violets) I give it a good rinse to get any of the dust off the leaves...plants are healthy when they can breathe. For plants that are too big to give them a good rinse in the sink or shower, a damp cotton ball works great to dust off the big leaves. I let the plant and soak in a few inches of water for an hour or too, this lets the plant take what water it needs and won't leave it sitting in a sauce dish of water for days on end.

If there are spider mites present, kill them and quarantine your plant! Insecticidal soap sprays carrying pyrenthin is effective at killing mites but so it's all purpose dish soap. One tablespoon of liquid dish washing soap (I use Dawn) to 1/2 gallon of water does the trick. You could either spray the plant thoroughly for 3 days in a row or you can do a 'dip'. The dip works for some plants but it depends on the size of the plant. Make the same soap mix into a bucket and then submerge the plant's top part into the soapy water and do a gently swishing motion. The movement will dislodge the critters and the soap will kill them. This can also be used for aphid infestations. After the dip, rinse the soap off the plant's leaves and leave it in isolation where it can be checked daily for any signs of insects, usually a week is long enough before returning it back with the other houseplants.

Mildew and mold are usually a sign of over watering. To kill the mold, I lightly spray the plant with Lysol spray, yes, Lysol. I have even used this for my African violets. After the mold has subsided it's time to change watering behavior. Rather than watering from above or letting the plant sit in a saucer of water, bring it to the sink and let it soak for an hour. Always check if the soil is still moist before watering, of course.
The last thing I do with my houseplants is look to see if any of the branches are getting lanky from the lack of sun. Sometimes just the clean out of the dead leaves gets enough sunlight to the middle to prompt new growth. You could also cut back some of the straggly bits to promote more growth in the weeks ahead to help fill in the plant.

Moist Chocolate Cake

We grew up in one of those unusual and wonderful households where Mom baked everything from scratch. No boxed cake mixes for us! And Mom loves to bake so we often had cookies and cakes to greet us when we arrived home from school.

As a result I learned to bake very young. Sweet Blueberry Muffins is the first thing I remember baking by myself. I would get up early and greet the family with fresh baked muffins when they got up! This recipe is from the Betty Crocker Cookbook which Mom received as a wedding present. 

Another recipe I learned to bake as a child was a simple chocolate cake recipe called "Moist Chocolate Cake." This recipe was from a church ladies cookbook.  Mom had a couple of these cookbooks where local housewives would put their favorite recipes together and sell the cookbooks to raise money for the parish. 

This recipe is very easy - no eggs, no milk. Just a few ingredients - and always perfect! 

Recipe for Moist Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Add all ingredients to bowl and stir until smooth

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 1/2 cup flour

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 cup cocoa

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 Tbsp vinegar

• 1/2 cup salad oil

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 cup cold water

Pour into ungreased 8x8 pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out smooth

For cupcakes: fill 12 muffin tins 1/2 full. Bake 22-25 minutes.  

Frost when cool. Enjoy.  

To start from seed or not to start from seed, that is the question.

The gardening centers and home improvement mega-stores have beautiful seedlings to purchase come warmer weather, so why plant your own seeds? I could say, “for the pure joy” but that would be a lie…anyone who grows their own plants know there is a lot of time and patience getting those little seedlings strong enough to consider planting outside, knowing you’ve lost many along the way, only to have heartbreak of seeing the entire lot demolished by cutworms in one night! But yes, there is a reason to try your own seeds…the gardening centers typically buy from wholesalers who grow vegetable (and flower) plants that are reliable, forgiving of the novice gardener, and tolerant to a variety of growing conditions. There is a lot of positive things to be said for that! And there is an increasing number of organic options appearing ever day! However it doesn’t mean these vegetables are the tastiest for your palate or best producer for your growing conditions. A tomato variety that excels in Massachusetts may limp along in San Francisco or fry to a crisp in Nebraska. Starting vegetables from seeds allows you to customize your vegetable garden to your tastes and locations…we customize everything in our lives, right down to our toothpaste, why not your harvest?

So is seed growing for everyone? No! But over time, anyone can be a convert. For starters, start with seeds that prefer to be “direct sown”. These plants do not like there roots disturbed and would prefer to be planted directly into the garden. For the novice gardener or the gardener that can not set up a pre-frost grow space, these are the seeds I would focus on buying and then use the hot start seedling flats from your garden center. These seeds are typically your root vegetables (i.e. turnip, carrot, beets, radishes), legumes (i.e. beans, peas), leafy greens (i.e. lettuce, kale, spinach) and melons / squashes (i.e. zucchini, cucumber, winter and summer squashes, cantaloupes, watermelon).

If you would like to try the direct sow seeds, ignore the hot start species and look here.

The other group of plants for seed starting are those with a long growing season that prefer a hot start (i.e. tomatoes, eggplants, peppers) also many hours of sunlight to make be strong. Putting these seeds on a window shelf will give you lanky plants that will disappoint you their whole growing season assuming they survived their transplant outside. For these plants, I strongly recommend a grow system which will require a space commitment in your home…you need a place to have the grow lights and also a location that four-legged companions or young children won’t choose to take a nibble. My grow system also has what is called propagation mats which allow for bottom heat to the roots of the seedlings giving them more base strength.

A compromise, if there’s a variety of hot start plants that you really have a hankering for is to have seedlings shipped to you. Many seed companies offer a selection of their seeds as started plants so you can have the best of both worlds…the variety you want without the commitment of a seed starting system. If going with this option, look at what the company offers for a guarantee for the seedlings, it would just take an unusual hot or cold spell to make those seedlings stressed in their shipment truck.

One last thing to consider looking at would be tubers / bulbs / roots that you can purchase as seed plants.  Plants that would fall into this category would be potatoes, onion sets, shallots, garlic, asparagus and cane crops (i.e. raspberries, blackberries).

Happy seed shopping!

Starting the new years' gardening calendar

It’s post-holidays which means the depth of the Persephone months in the Northern Hemisphere. According to Greek mythology, the goddess Persephone (daughter of Zeus & Demeter) lived underground 6 months of the year with her husband Hades and the remaining months on the earth. When she descends to the underworld, the seeds follow her into the ground for the winter, leaves fall from the trees, growth stops, crops die, and nothing bears fruit…nothing will reemerge until she does.

True to mythology, we witness the phenomenon of winter regardless of the temperature outside. Although the cold does have a huge impact on what will grow, hibernate or pass on, the reality is the plant world is completely dependent upon hours of daylight. During winter, the hours per day with direct sunlight diminishes and impacts the growth of plants. Those of us with cold frames will see even the hardiest of plants cease to grow further during these bleak days.

So what is a home gardener to do? Hibernate the months away? Certainly not! It is also the time of year that the postman brings, mixed in-between the post-holiday sale circulars, an abundance of seed catalogs! It is time to start thinking ahead what to plant and when.  This is the perfect time to plan!

I take my brand new calendar and mark out the following dates so they don’t get lost amid the frenzy of life: Date of last frost (http://www.almanac.com/content/frost-chart-united-states) preceded by 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks before that date. This helps me to remember to get those seedlings started and/or into the ground at the right time. The other date I put on there is the date of first frost again preceded by 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks before the first frost date so I can remember in the midst of summer’s abundant harvest to prepare for the fall and winter plantings.

This is a great way to start your New Year…with a freshly marked up gardening calendar!