Week 9 It's time!

I was outside the other day walking around looking at the state of things and discovered some blooming crocus.

There is a gardening rule that when the crocus bloom it is time to start warm season seeds like tomatoes, peppers, etc indoors and out in the garden if the soil is ready then it is time to plant the radishes, peas, onions, etc and set out the cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower plants. You can tell if the soil is ready when you take a hand full of soil and squeeze it. If when you open your hand the soil crumbles it is ready, if it stays in one lump it is too wet and you will need to let soil dry some before planting. The cabbage, broccoli, etc. may need to be covered a night or two if the forecast low is for less than 26-28F. The best strategy is to cover the plants until the last frost date. Many people use large metal cans or gallon milk jugs with the bottoms cut out. The best cover is something call Hotkaps. These are hard to find and can be costly. You can see and learn about Hotkaps here. The only way to buy them that I have been to find is to order them directly from the Hotkap website, 20 regular sized for $12 + shipping.

On Friday of this week I planted tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds. I use one of my AeroGardens and a special seed starting insert. I numbered the columns so I can keep track of what is planted where. The little brown plugs are inserted in the hole and seeds are placed in plug. The plugs are made of a special sterilized peat and have an indentation in the large end of the plug where the seed is placed.

First the plugs are soaked in water for a short while. Then inserted into openings. During the soaking the plugs expand and when inserted they are big enough they will remain in place and not fall out. Also the plugs are long enough so when inserted in the AeroGarden tank they stick into the water.

Here you see some of the plugs with seeds. Don't need all the rows so am using every other row to get some space between seedlings. One seed per plug and one variety per row this in theory gives six plants of each variety. Since I only need two plants from each variety I will have some extra in case some of the seeds fail to germinate. Also may need an extra plant once in awhile as something happens to plant after it has been planted in an Earthbox. Here is a list of what I planted:

Row 1 - Defiant Tomato, medium size red

Row 3 - Celebrity Tomato, medium to large size red

Row 5 - Golden Sweet Tomato, yellow grape

Row 6 - Red Pearl Tomato, red grape (I think this is the best tomato variety I have ever planted)

Row 8 - Nadia Eggplant

Row 10 - Block Party Pepper

As the resutling transplants are set in the Earthboxes I will provide more information about each of the above varieties. When all the seeds have been planted, each of the plugs is covered with a small amount of potting soil.

Then the planting tray is placed in the water tank and placed on AeroGarden assembly as you can see below. Now all we have to is wait till the seeds germinate. The AeroGarden takes care of the light, fertilizer, and water and keep everything at the right temperature.

The lettuce and spinach continue grow quite nicely. We have harvested quite a bit of lettuce and spinach. You can see in the photo below that I have replaced some of the harvested lettuce with new plants.

With the warmer temperatures the lettuce and spinach have been spending the day outside on the deck. I do roll them back inside at night. While lettuce and spinach can take temperatures as low as 25F they need to be conditioned so that they are use to the temperatures (high and low) and also they wind.

This week my kale seed finally arrived in the mail. The seed had been back ordered for over 8 weeks; didn't know there was a large demand for kale. I planted two varieties in the Earthbox below. They are Red Winter and Dwarf Blue Curled Vates

Here is some information about the kale varieties I planted.

Red Winter Kale - More tender and delicious than other kales. Dark green, oak-shaped leaves have dark red-purple veins. More tender and delicious than other kales.

Dwarf Blue Curled Vates Kale - One of the most attractive of all vegetables in the fall garden. Low, compact plants with finely curled, bluish-green leaves. Usually stands winter weather with some protection. Good cooked or fresh in salads. Grows best in cool weather. Can be grown as a spring or fall crop.

Below are some pictures of my indoor tomato crop. More next week!

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