I have 5 flats of onions growing now. So far have had good germination. Even on a flat of Lisbon bunching onions where the seed is 8 & 9 y/o. Still waiting on seeds of 2-3 varieties. I also have sacrificial tomato plants growing. I will start practicing grafting this coming week. I watched a webinar Wed evening and also another video on grafting. I will try 3 different methods. One of them is using brush on super/crazy glue instead of tubes or clips. I will start my early tomatoes in another 10-14 days. I keep telling myself there will be another cold spell in Feb and probably some more in at least early March. I don't want to get more started than I can keep warm without a lot of moving back and forth. Jay

Jay, I was sure glad to hear about your lisbon onion seed, I was just going out to plant some lisbon seed dated 2010. I just placed some of the top bulbs of some type of onion in the window to see if they will grow. I hope to start broccoli and Chinese cabbage soon. Every thing else will have to wait a while because I don't have a greenhouse or room to keep them inside.

I have six different tomatoes started on the kitchen table, among them the Fourth of July, and bush Early Girl that Dawn recommended for early tomatoes and also Early Bird and SubArctic that I got seed of in a swap a couple years ago. Also have SunGold and Sweetie cherry tomatoes. On the porch I have two tomato plants that I dug out of the garden last fall. They are either Pink Accordian or Costaluto Genovese as they are fluted. They're not my favorite tomato but there are a dozen tomatoes on them so I am going to keep them going.

In the garden I am still pulling a few perrenial onions, and picking arugula leaves for salads. Also in the garden are two small cold frames, one with lettuce and spinach which I have picked heavily and the other with Chinese Cabbage and radichio which I haven't picked at all and which probably won't head even if it does make it through. Still I am throwing a blanket over it on really cold nights just to see.

The greenhouse salad garden is producing very well. The large BokChoy and the smaller ToyChoy are both blooming now. I need to pull most of it and eat it cooked as greens and start over. I also have quite a bit of lettuce and spinach which we eat on almost every day along with miner's lettuce. There's almost enough kale to pick a mess. And the beets are coming along slowly. The radishes have all been eaten and another batch planted but not up yet. There isn't any heat or automatic ventilation in there yet, so we are opening and closing windows to keep it from getting too hot during the day. On very cold nights we throw old sheets over the beds to keep the stuff from freezing solid. I also have some pots of herbs in there. Dill, thyme, rosemary and oregano. They are looking good. Dh has been putting the electricity in the greenhouse in preparation for starting plants. My start date is Feb 15. He should have it ready by then. We will move the germination bench off the porch and hook it up out there. It is made so I can enclose it in plastic on very cold nights. Then with heat I can grow out in the hot room.

I love cumin and have been wanting to grow some. Where did you get the seed, Ezzirah?

I got the seed from Peppergal. I have not been happy with it, however, and I think I may get some from somewhere else. It is two years old and none of them have germinated, but I must admit, it could be "user error", being a new gardener and all. ;)

I still have a lettuce tub going which I planted last fall. It has grown very little during the cold but is still hanging on. It is surviving on neglect.

My tiny Rosemary plant that is in the garden with a gallon milk carton cloche, is still green. I noticed hollyhock plants this morning. Not stalks, but lots of leaves near the ground.

Under lights, I have started some Lisbon onions, and some red bunching onion whose name I don't remember and I have a good showing of both, but they are still very tiny. I also have some small pots of celery, but nothing germinating yet.

Since I am letting the chickens run in the garden there is very little green showing out there. It's about time to restrict their access and start getting the garden ready for
Spring planting.

I don't usually start most 'light shelf' things until mid-February, but I am thinking I will start broccoli and cabbage a little earlier this year.

I'm growing.... closer to having my seed-starting area back up and running. LOL Hubby's made a mess of things down in the basement and has been working on de-messing it as he has time.

I am going to try and get some onion seeds started this weekend or next. It'll be my first year growing bulbing onions from seed.

I do actually have Brussel sprouts still growing out in the garden. Well, maybe not so much on actual growing but they're still there and holding tight. Same for some hardier, oddball greens leftover from last year.

And baby lettuce! I left my wide row of lettuce from last year standing, dried stalks and all. Now, for the past several weeks, there have been little baby lettuce plants emerging under the dead mama plants. It's been down near 0* here a few times, and we've had now, and stretches of good, solid cold temps so those dead plants must be providing a nice little microclimate there. I've ordered some hardier greens to extend next year's season up here on the frozen tundra but I'm watching these baby lettuces & trying to learn from them. We're talking normal, wimpy leaf lettuces here so I'm really surprised that they're alive.

Diane