Veggie babies on my deck! pic heavy

14 years ago

With the warm weather suddenly here, at least for now, everything seems to be germinating at once, where it had sulked before.

These chives were a surprise, since I'd forgotten they are perennials. Not only did they regrow in this container, it looks like they're going to set loose some seeds soon!

And then there are

Swiss Chard babies

Spinach babies

Oregano babies

Parsley babies

Cilantro babies

Basil babies

Then there are the tomato babies and one squash baby lounging on the deck while they harden off.

Some REALLY tiny babies, mostly Brandywine tomatoes, and some flower seeds that I'm waiting to germinate.

And lots of lettuce in four bins where I grew onions last year. Planted Green Ice, Black Seeded Simpson, Jericho, Simpson Elite, Merlot, & Buttercrunch. All are germinating.

Spring has arrived!

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Comments (9)

dancinglemons
14 years ago
Lookin' really good!! Your post reminded me I forgot to put out my Jericho Romaine seeds - thanks!

DL
anney
Original Author
14 years ago
Man! Everything seemed to germinate at once!

Enjoy your Jericho lettuce. I have Merlot to mix with it (well, along with the others), and Merlot is, I think, the most gorgeous lettuce I've ever seen! Too lovely to even eat... I should probably plant more since some of them didn't germinate.
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Thank you everyone! Already I'm starting to see flower buds forming on my dianthus, the nicotiana and a verbascum has a flower stalk on it too. When it stops raining I'll take pics of the entire beds to show you what they look like. Proudgm, I got my plant markers from Paw Paw Everlast Label Co. I just used a paint marker and wrote the names of the daylilies and hostas on them. There really was no planning involved, I just grew a bunch of seeds of plants that I wanted to try and then found places for most of them. Some of them I had planned where they were going to be, like the ones in the Dracula bed, but a lot of them I just started sticking them here and there to fill up my new beds. Now I have more seeds I'm going to start to fill in the bare spots, some this summer and some this winter. Starting from seed is much easier, fun and rewarding the WS method than indoors. Plus, much easier on my bank account! Karen
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Ron, came across your post which I missed before...what a beautiful place you have. I am in the midst of planting shade companion plants, so appreciate your thoughts on light for the list you have. Hope you will keep posting pics! Oh, forgot...the potted hostas that you overwinter in the garage...do you have any special tricks for overwintering? I have done it 3-4 years now with about an 85% rate, but I'd like to improve on that because I do not like losing even one! I overwintered some out in our shed this last year instead of the garage, and the mice got into them and I lost a bunch. My biggest problems have to do with springtime moisture levels...I do not water them at all in the garage, come spring, I try to make sure at least 1/2 have broken dormancy before going outside. (Leave them in the garage too long, they dry out and die, water them in the garage, or take them out too early, they can rot.) Would love to hear how you handle yours. For this next year, I'm thinking about giving each small one an ice cube in Feb/March. Just to add some moisture back in as the weather warms up.
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Thanks so much everyone. I will have to take pictures next time I do a label and I will do a tutorial. I do use Photoshop for my labels, but any graphic type software will work or even Word. I use photo fabric in my printer and it is a cotton poplin fabric. It is a tad expensive, but I think I bought it at JoAnn's with a 40% coupon. It comes in 6 sheets and I can get two labels out of each sheet. I use a half sheet to print the label, rinse the label in cold water, dry with an iron. Also, I bind the top of the label with matching fabric or you can just fold it down to finish the edge. Then secure with pins onto the backside corner of the quilt when I sew the binding on the front. After sewing the binding onto the front, I trim the label back to form the triangle. I stitch the top of the label down to the backside when I am doing my hand stitching of the binding to the back of the quilt. Magothy, I used to not make labels either until I started making them on the computer. Theresa, I REALLY wish my gardens still looked like that. Unfortunately, we had a really wet, cold winter a few years ago and killed most of the tender things we grew. We mostly have daylilies now and we also have a daylily business that my husband and I inherited 4 years ago. Rosa, I don't know if the last one has a pattern name. I took a 5 inch block and put 2 1/2 inch blocks in opposite corners, sewed diagonally and trimmed. Then flip the corners back and iron. Real simple blocks. The border was the left over corners that were trimmed off. Clear as mud? :) Lois, I only quilt them myself if they are lap size or smaller. Everything else goes to the Long Arm quilter. Give it a try! Kathi, rag quilts are so quick and easy to make. The hardest part is the clipping. I have made two and plan on making many more! Okay I have been long winded enough! Rebecca
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star_stuff
14 years ago
Looks great Anney! :-) Did you direct sow into the buckets, and if so, how long ago? I am a container gardener...do all of your plants stay in containers? Thanks so much!
Caroline
anney
Original Author
14 years ago
star_stuff

I started the oregano and the parsley in styrofoam cups but left them outside and then transplanted them into the containers after they germinated. The rest of the seeds were direct-sown in place except for the chives and the basil. The basil reseeded itself from that container last year.

What's there in the containers will stay there now, and eventually I'll add some plants to several more of the containers. Some are self-watering, some are not.

I learned my lesson last summer about what to plant in containers. I had no IDEA that White Velvet okra would get to be so huge on the back deck in those containers. They were more than 12 feet tall, and the trunks had to be cut with a chain-saw, they were that tough and big in diameter.

So I planned carefully this winter for those containers. Most will have herbs in them. Two will have Swiss chard, and seven will have cowpeas in them. Maybe none of those plants will be monsters.

I've grown cowpeas in the garden, but the deer really have decimated them in the past so I'm hoping we can get enough for side-dishes if I grow them on the deck this year. I guess we'll see. :-)
scarletdaisies
14 years ago
You can't let your chives flower or for what ever reason, they aren't good unless they are for looks. If they flower, they will start to produce leaves as my books say, but first year chive grower here, and no flowers this soon for me. They are only a few inches tall.
opal52
14 years ago
I have always let chives flower. Once flowering is over, I just prune the stems and continue cutting and using the chives with salads, baked potatoes, egg dishes, etc. Now, I have plain old fashioned chives (perennial). It's the only kind I have any experience with and there could be some other types that produce leaves after flowering. Our chives are already putting up bloom stems and will probably open up with a couple weeks. Our common sage has already formed buds and looks like it is getting ready to bloom. I read somewhere the sage is at it's best for use in cooking just before they bloom.

Anney, your tomato plants look really nice.
golfer_2008
14 years ago
Nice looking plants Annie. Your tomato plants look ready to go.

Larry
anney
Original Author
14 years ago
The larger tomato plants are going out today! I'll wait for the smaller plants to get a little larger.

Once the weather gets this warm and tomato plants go outside for hardening off, I always find the occasional late tomato seedling sprouting. Found three of them just emerging today in those cups with the larger plants.
aubade
14 years ago
I can't wait till my chives flower. I sprinkle the little flowers all over my food in the spring. They are so cute and really tasty!

Veggie babies on my deck! pic heavy

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dancinglemons

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Veggie babies on my deck! pic heavy

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