Wow, so much awesome activity! Hard to believe that March is just around the corner. In good news for us, we have been having low temps for the past few days and it will continue for the next ten days. This is GREAT news for my peas, carrots, and radishes. Starting some more radishes & carrots today, along with some spinach, in the new shady area we opened up in the front yard.

Spouse built a chicken run, and happy to report that since the chickens are now totally able to free range, the pecking has all but stopped. They are quite wild girls, several of them have flown the coop a few times, and we'll have to keep adjusting it, but we are really enjoying the chickens so far. Ended up getting some Peck No More and having to catch them to put it on their bare spots... That was quite funny...

Of the seedlings I started a few weeks ago, four survived the fungus and are continuing to grow... so I'm continuing to baby them and hope that they survive. Got a few additional seeds today (can't help myself) and also received another batch of bare root strawberries, and tried a bare root young berry? I don't know much about these hybrids so we'll see how it goes. I needed enough strawberries to make sure there's an actual harvest this year. We are also supposed to get a ton. of new rain next week, for four straight days! So trying to empty out the rain barrels in the next few days. So much growth happening everywhere especially on our citrus trees. Ok, back to the garden!

Two more experiments --- direct seeded on the right radishes, on the left leeks. Both mini 'greenhouses' get 8+ hrs of direct sun at these spots.

Also, indoor leek starts are about 2" tall now.

Tony

You can't see the containers since they are behind the 3 dwarf evergreens. You can see our daybed window...with the veggies growing.

Norm - I can picture you running around like Rocky Balboa trying to catch a chicken! A little tip,,,wait until they go to roost at night and are settled down and they are easy to catch. If you turn them over on their backs they won't struggle at all. This is the easiest way to handle them if you need to do something like trim their toe nails. Glad the pecking has somewhat subsided!

Hannah - congrats on getting the new bed built! Now the not so fun part is filling it.

Sunflowers - I don't ever want to have another ice storm like 2001 again! The strange thing with that storm was that the roads were fine. The trees and power lines took all the damage.

French Fingerlings are great potatoes IMO. Dark red skin, yellow waxy flesh. Great all around potato for almost any use except for maybe potato salad. It's much better than the Red Thumb Planters had last year.

Itsmce - that is scary! Did he get a concussion as well? Usually it is my backside that takes the brunt of the damage when I slip on ice but I've also broken my wrist once trying to catch my fall.

Chris - define driving distance. haha. Since Sunflowers, itsmce, Tom Z, rgress, Jacob, and myself are all fairly close to each other I say we have the get together here in the KC area. You, Steve, and Peter can rent a van and pick Kevin, Tony, naturegirl, and Hannah up along the way. Norm will need to take a plane!

I just had a B2 bomber fly over. It's cloudy so I couldn't see it but there is no mistaking the sound they make. They are stationed at Whiteman AFB about 30 miles east of me.

I started 8 Snow crown and 6 Cheddar cauliflower this morning. I will be planting 3 of each in my garden.

I'm home on vacation today because my bro and sis were supposed to come down from MN early this afternoon. They were only going to stay one day and drive back after my cousin's 50th anniversary party on Saturday afternoon so my bro could catch a flight to China on Sunday morning for business. They cancelled because there is a big snow storm forecast for Saturday afternoon thru Sunday morning in Iowa and Minnesota.

ETA - bros trip to China was cancelled so they are coming down and staying till Sunday. I get to plant Guajillo peppers this weekend after all!

Ok thanks, LoneJack, I’m glad to hear you like French Fingerling. I’ll try and go pick some up this weekend! I agree about not wanting an ice storm like that again. I’m glad it warmed up enough to melt most of the ice overnight. Now if only we could get some sunshine! This grey weather is gettin’ me down. I’d definitely be up for a KC area get together! Enjoy your vacation day!

Tony - Those three trees are nicely placed to block the boxes!

Norm, I’m glad the chickens are enjoying the new run and behaving a bit better! As far as the fungus goes, have you thought about sterilizing your seed starting media in the oven? Or do you buy pre-sterilized bagged stuff? Also, how many rain barrels do you have? We can only fit one in the area where the main downspout is, but it helps out quite a bit during the summer months!

It’s supposed to be raining tomorrow but clear up a bit on Sunday. I still need to turn in some of the decomposing shredded leaves in the area where I’ll plant peas shortly, and I think we may start to tackle a portion of the mulch mountain this weekend. My husband has a giant wheelbarrow that he likes to use, but our garden is at the top of a sloped backyard and it’s too heavy for me to wheel uphill when it’s full. I may spring for this garden cart because it has 4 wheels and will be easier to keep balanced https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gorilla-Carts-4-cu-ft-Poly-Yard-Cart/1000065361

Norm - glad to hear the chicken run has reduced the pecking and that you're enjoying some cool weather. I follow Brad Gates, who is the owner of Wild Boar Farms, on Instagram and he didn't seem too pleased with the sudden drop in temps in Cali lol. I think he's got tomato seedlings going now. He said temps dropped into the mid-20's. Apparently he's in Northern Cali though.

Glad to see you were able to salvage some of your tomatoes!

Tony - I think you get the vegetable experiment award. By a long shot!

Jack - haha how convenient for you! But you're right, many of you are closer to that area. Actually picking up everyone else along the way would almost be a straight shot to KC. It would however be an 18-hour drive from me to you lol. Unfortunately I've driven further than that before :-/ Straight shot to Fredericksburg, Texas with my buddy. Took us about 26 hours non-stop. I do not recommend driving that far lol.

B2 bomber! Now that's not something you hear flying above you everyday.

Glad to hear your brother's trip to China was cancelled! That would've been a bummer if they couldn't come down. Keep us posted on the Guajillo pepper experiment.

Sunflowers - looks like your husband will have quite the workout this weekend! Go easy on him lol.

I've tossed up the idea of turning in the mulched leaves that I cover each bed with. Since they are newly dead leaves(if that makes sense lol), I always get concerned about nitrogen tie-up in the beginning of the season. How deep do you turn them in?

That cart looks great! Definitely will make your job easier and assist with carrying tools and seedlings over.

Nothing but rain in the forecast this weekend. I don't think we need anymore, so if anyone else wants to take some, bring your buckets. Looks like I'll be doing some more reading :-)

Why not just rake the leaves aside, turn the soil, and use the leaves as a surface mulch, Chris?

Sunflowers - may I suggest springing for the 6 cf version... I have it and it is AMAZING! Especially if you might be using a riding tractor. The handle swivels so you can put a Hitch pin in it.

It should go on sale for $100 in a another month or so if you can wait.

https://m.lowes.com/pd/Gorilla-Carts-6-cu-ft-Poly-Yard-Cart/1000065359

This one is maybe the Goldie locks “just right” version

Gorilla Carts Poly Garden Dump Cart with Steel Frame and 10" Pneumatic Tires with a Capacity of 800 lb, Gray https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BECQE52/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_DUlKAb387RNZP

Ok now you're both tempting me with this cart haha! I normally use a wheelbarrow to transport things, but this cart would be more stable. Ok maybe next year. I've been able to keep my budget somewhat reasonable this year lol. Last year was just awful with spending.

Kevin- Does your cart very tippy when you have the handle turned? I was given a garden cart and if I turn too sharply, the whole thing falls over. I would love a cart that doesn't fall over if you have to swerve around a tree.

No it is fairly stable. Only time its tippy is if you we’re trying to make that turn on a slope.

I have a stupid question. How many people have grown raspberries and such from bare root? If so, do you get much fruit the first year, or is it supposed to come back next year? I am attempting to grow raspberries in zone 10 and I'm not sure how it's gonna go...

Norm - not a stupid question at all! I don't have great knowledge on the subject, especially in your zone, but I did do some reading on it for myself. I plan to grow raspberries in the future, and from what I read there are 2 types of raspberries. There are summer-bearing and fall-bearing. Primocanes produce fruit the first year(to my understanding they can fruit twice) and floricanes produce fruit the second year. In both cases, once they are done fruiting, the canes will turn brown and die. You cut them back at the soil level when that happens. This is what I learned from the Cornell handbook, so it may be different in SoCal. Here is a link to University of California that speaks about it a little. It can definitely get confusing. http://ucanr.edu/sites/gardenweb/berries/?uid=11&ds=466 Here is a YouTube clip that helped me understand it better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnltSP5hR4Y

Hope it helps!

Just bought this semi-dwarf plum tree -- Weeping Santa Rosa Plum Tree -- what do you folks think. Any planting advice?

Tony

Tony - I can't help with planting advice as I haven't planted any trees in the last 15 years or so. The squirrels do all of the tree planting on my property. The plum in the picture looks really good though.

Norm - Can't help on the raspberries either. I had some growing wild on my property at one time but they seem to have died off or I killed them by mistaking them for a wild rose and cutting them to the ground.

Chris - I've done the NJ to KC drive a couple times and it was not fun. It seems like PA never ends. B2 bombers flying over is fairly common around here. Sometimes they come over pretty low on their approach to Whiteman AFB. It is the A-10 Warthogs also stationed at Whiteman that are really cool to watch when they are doing training flights. They come screaming over out of a nowhere at what seems like tree top height.

I hope everyone is coping OK with the flooding going on. Kevin, Hannah, and Jacob are closest to the affected areas. At least it looks like the front has finally moved further east from the area that was getting pounded for the last week.

We had sunshine for the first time in awhile yesterday. I did a walk thru the garden and noticed that there were a few new leaves poking up on the garlic. I harvested my indoor lettuce for the 12th and final time. The plants are now in a still frozen compost pile.

Using heat mats for starting seeds really takes some getting used to. I put my newly seeded tray of broccoli on a mat at about noon on Thursday and I had a handful sprout by noon on Sunday. Normally they take about 5 days without a mat.

I sowed 6 guajillo peppers, 2 Big Bertha, and 2 Ace on Saturday. On Sunday I potted up one each of Baron poblano, El Jefe Jalapeno, Carmen, Escamillo, Flavorburst, and Orange Blaze.

My potatoes are really chitting fast especially the 2 fingerlings Faster than I want actually but there's no slowing them down now. I need to take note not to chit for more than 2 weeks next year.

Lastly - I canned a second batch of pickled asparagus yesterday after my family left town. Now is the prefect time for making gus pickles as there is very good quality gus on sale for under $2/lb. in the stores.

Hannah - I have a garden cart from Lee Valley Tools. Love it. I use it for hauling big tubs and trash cans full of mulch that's delivered on the driveway but needs to be distributed around the property. Last year I moved 10 cubic yards. Big pile!

I started broccoli using the paper towel method on the 21st. By the 24th they were starting to sprout. Yesterday, the 25th, I moved them from the paper towel:

Wow, lots of action in the winter threads! I haven't checked this place for a while. Good to take a break, but the new season is coming fast, so I have to start thinking about my plan. Great stuff everyone!

For now, I have two overwintering Biquinho pepper plants and have 6 Rocoto seedlings started on Jan 1st. I've also sown Hab and more Biquinho seeds a bit more than a week ago, no germination yet.

I also have 49 garlic cloves awaiting the spring thaw to rise. I'll finally have enough to eat some this year.

April is coming fast and this is when I usually start planting/transplanting things like radishes, lettuce and spinach. I should think about starting some of these indoors in the coming 2 weeks. I'll direct-sow the radishes though, but likely a bit later, like 2nd week of April. I have a 2'x8' bed with a poly-tunnel on it, so the soil will thaw and warm up faster, allowing these early plantings. Even now, on mild and sunny days, I have several inches of loose soil in there. After clearing the snow around it, I lift if up just to smell the earth and forget about winter for an instant. :)

Kevin, I went for the 4 cf because I was worried the 6 cf one could be too heavy to pull up the hill in my backyard. I was right…the 4 cf wagon was just heavy enough when full of wet mulch! It was SUCH a great purchase. I moved about 20 loads from the front driveway to the back and side yard this weekend. My husband had a crazy week at work and wanted the day off to “just chill” (his words) so I told him he’s on the schedule to help me all day this coming Saturday. My arms and legs are SO SORE I could barely get out of bed this morning. However, my back isn’t the slightest bit sore so my conscious efforts to lift shovelfuls of mulch with my arms and legs worked! Sometimes I can forget and lift with my back :-(

Chris, you should think about the cart! I love it because it’s much easier to keep balanced with 4 wheels rather than one with a wheelbarrow. It has a nice turning radius and huge tires. Hannah, the tires are spaced widely enough that it may keep it from tipping. I had no tipping incidents all day yesterday, and I love that the basin tips like a dump truck for easy unloading.

Itsmce, how long did it take you to move that pile? Yours looks to be a little larger than mine, but it’s hard to tell. I worked for 3 or four hours just on the mulch yesterday and it looks like I barely made a dent! Haha

This weekend I planted out my pansies in pots even though they may have needed a day or two more hardening off. The low nighttime temps aren’t supposed to be too bad for the next week, and I can always cover them if needed. I also went to Planter’s and got two kinds of seed potatoes that are chitting in bright light. Yesterday after I was too tired from hauling mulch I ran a new zone of drip irrigation to the north side of my house because I plan on expanding and filling in that bed more this summer with hostas and other shade perennials.

Sunflowers - I've seen those signs somewhere! I took my brother and sister to Planter's on Saturday. We were there from about 12:15 to 1:15. I didn't see you there. lol. It sure was a madhouse with everyone buying seeds and gardening supplies. I've never seen it that crowded before...I was there last Wednesday morning at 10:30 and pretty much had the place to myself.

I've never grown Purple Majesty before but I grew All Blue once. We didn't care for them very much compared to others. I won't be growing any new to me Irish potatoes this year but will try sweet potatoes for the first time which I'm looking forward to.

I'm glad the garden wagon worked well for you. I have an 11 cf wheelbarrow that has 2 wheels rather than one so it is more stable. I've been shopping for a used golf cart to use to haul plants and harvest the 100+ yards to and from my garden. I want one with a small bed at the back for carrying trays, baskets, etc. I found one on Craig's list that looked perfect for my needs but the guy had sold it the day before I called.

Isgen - good to see you back on the thread! I had seen you post a few times over on the pepper forum and figured you would show up here pretty soon.

Itsmce - nice looking broccoli sprouts! I was a little concerned on my broccoli. They were started on Thursday in damp potting mix and when I got home on Saturday evening after a day out the cells were all very dry. The heat mat seems to dry the cells out quicker. I think they should do fine based on the few that had sprouted yesterday.

Sunflowers - I think I managed to get that pile moved in about a week's time. I didn't track man-hours, but probably should have. The vast majority of it was moved on my own. I did have help a couple times though. Once from my 21 year old son. That 2-3 hours when he was helping we made very good progress. He did most of the heavy lifting while I directed him where to dump it and then I just spread it around. I always apply some Preen weed preventer underneath a fresh layer of mulch. My method for moving mulch from pile to bed is this: I have several large "muck buckets" and plastic trash cans. Using a potato fork, I pull the mulch from the pile into the container which is on its side (foot is behind the container holding it in place). When it's as full as I can manage like that, I'll tip the container so that it's upright and fill it with a few forks-full. Then Lift the container into the garden cart. My cart will hold 2 of the big muck bucket things, and then I typically will put a full trashcan thing on top of each of those. So, in one trip from the driveway, I've got 4 containers probably 25-35 gallons each moved to the yard. Rinse and repeat!

Still so dry here! I checked the garden yesterday and discovered that under the top 2 inches of soil, it was dry, dry, dry!

No way! I was there at almost the exact same time, LoneJack! Yes, it was packed. I picked up a couple more 3” pots, some butternut squash seed and contender bush beans. I got 5 fingerling potatoes and 3 of the purple majesty. I’ll probably do two containers of the fingerling and one of the purple. Something fun to try! Sweet potatoes will be fun to try! My husband doesn’t really like sweet potatoes or asparagus so I can’t justify wasting garden space on either. But I’d definitely like an asparagus bed in a future house.

I think that we should have purchased a two wheeled wheelbarrow instead of one wheel. It’s just so hard to balance a heavy load of things!

Itsmce, okay, that’s encouraging. I think I’ve convinced my parents to come over and help this Saturday as well, so it should move more quickly with four people. Sounds like you had a good system going on there! Once I have the driveway pile gone, we’ll have to start digging out the pulverized stump grindings as much as possible and backfill with topsoil so I can attempt to grow grass there. I know fall seeding is ideal, but it would be nice to start in the spring rather than having 15’ wide circle of open dirt in the front yard all summer. It’s on a slight hill so I’m concerned about erosion. The other option I’ve been toying with is to plant annual cut flowers there this summer and pull them when it’s time to seed the lawn in the fall…

3 more days and it's March !!!

If I start a petition to BAN February from the Calendar, on whose votes here can I count... :)

Tony

Tony - I'd rather ban January if I had my druthers but February will work too. Just 13 days until daylight savings time as well!

Sunflowers - too funny! Kansas Farm Girl (Shell) who posts most often on the Tomato forum was there sometime over the weekend too. She lives somewhere down near Paola. I had told her that the seed potatoes came in last week.

Did you get some Promix while you were there? My brother bought a bale of BX with the biofungicide and mycorrizae.

Itsmce - I think we might have gotten somewhere between 1 and 2 inches of precipitation between the ice/sleet/snow/rain last week. I didn't check the soil under the leaf mulch on any of my beds but I did turn the top 8-10" of one of my compost piles and it was completely dry under the frozen crust. This week I'm going to start removing the leaf mulch on my potato and onion beds to get them ready to plant in a couple weeks. Not sure if the soil is still frozen or not but the direct sun and warm days this week should get it thawed out and warmed up.

I second Jack’s vote to ban January. February at least has glimpses of spring on freakishly nice days! I’m so excited for daylight savings time!!

Maybe I’ll run into her or you next time I’m there! One of the employees said the onion sets would arrive in about two weeks, so I’ll be back to try growing onions for the first time! I didn’t end up getting promix because I didn’t have it in the budget after buying the garden cart :-( So I’ve been going with a diy mix of about 40% Espoma seed starting mix (bought from Midland Hardware), 10% screened perlite, 5% vermiculite and 35% Jiffy mix (because I ran out of the Espoma). I really like the Espoma mix and should probably order and pick up some more from Midland. Or maybe I’ll bite the bullet and pick up some Promix in two weeks when I’m back at Planter’s! What do you like about it again?

Here’s another thread I started with a specific question about composting fine wood chips. I'd appreciate any advice!

Sunflowers - I like it because of the consistency of particle size. Very little twigs or bark to pull out. It retains and soaks up water well. Doesn't get hydrophobic. It can also be used for both seed starting and potting up. I've also used it in containers. The Promix HP (high porosity) is supposed to better for container gardeners but I've never used it.

I'll probably run by Planters early next week to see if the onions have arrived and let you know. I want to plant onions by 3/17.

It's fun to see what everyone is up to these days. I've been busy with other things and have mostly just read about the garden plans people here have posted. Today I ended up with an unexpected afternoon free and planted some seeds. I plan to walk around the soggy yard later. We have close to record high water levels in our local rivers due to snow melt and lots of rain last week. If you are not near the rivers, the warm sunny days make it easy to forget the recent heavy rains. My husband and I took a long ride this weekend to see what our favorite kayaking spots look like now. We won't be paddling any time soon. This Instagram photo (not taken by us) was snapped at one if our usual launch site!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfmhuLbhDW1/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_ufi_control

Sunflowers - I don't think you can go wrong with any of the gorilla brand carts - you made a good choice based on ergonomics and weight. Once you buy one and start using it you're wondering what has taken you so long to get such a great tool (hear that Chris!?)

itsmce - glad to see the paper towel method worked for you! I have a half dozen sugar rush peach pepper seeds hopefully germinating the same way.

I'm thirding the motion for banning January. February is kind of a busy month for me as far as the garden goes. See below.

Going right down the line of my seedling room:

Parsley (basil in back). Anyone have tips for making the parsley 'look' better? I've experienced this look before and they typically bounce back after being transplanted outside but would like them to look better for the sale.

Basil (topped), Ailsa Craig onions (guess I forgot to seed one of those cells whoops).

Lettuce, spinach, kale. Probably ready for another harvest soon and I'm going to need the space so this tray wont be there for long. Might try to transplant them outside under hoops or pot them up and just leave them in my now somewhat sheltered but not yet complete greenhouse.

Pepper seedlings tray 2 (habs and ghosts in back were sowed on or around 1/20, up front were sowed 2/17)

white, red, yellow, bunching onions:

more white, red, and yellow onions, just transplanted from 72 cell size trays. Hopefully they spread out a bit with the room to grow. These are ones intended for plant sale.

Petunias, oregano, thyme, a couple more pepper stragglers.

Latest round of pepper sowings (2/24):

Strawberries were relegated to the southern facing window in office:

Not pictured - another tray full of broccoli (12 cells), celery (6 cells), spinach (12 cells), golden beets (6 cells), more peppers (24 cells).

Also have a tray full of microgreens germinating under weighted tray.

A cool idea seed starting/indoor growing tip that I haphazardly came across this year and you can kind of see in my above photos - use stacked unused potting trays to lift your plants up closer to the lights.

They work great as supports when stacked a couple high. Previously I was using scrap pieces of wood and it always seemed to be a little precarious because I never had consistent sizes, it always seemed to be somewhat of a balancing act.

As some of you know I bought a whole case of them this year (100 trays) from greenhouse megastore for my plant sale needs so I have plenty of extras (at least for now).

Kevin, you’re right! My husband was actually happy I bought it because he’s tired of seeing me drag Tubtrugs full of compost across the yard :-) and throw my back out.

Sounds like things are busy at your house! The seed sale plants look great! My parsley looks about the same as yours, so unfortunately I don’t have much help there. Good tip on using empty trays as risers!

@Kevin your starters look so good!

@LoneJack I am trying three different kinds of berry this year. They are all planted.

Tonight into Friday we are supposed to get a lot of rain. I hope it comes through! We really need it. Today I figured out how to use a water pump with our rain barrel. It's going up a 100 foot hill no problem!

I am still sad and disappointed that some of my seeds just either are not germinating or are not doing well. :( I started another whole tray, and I took the lid off as soon as a few of the sprouts came up, but it seems some of them might also be succumbing to damping off. I wonder if the soil I'm using this time around is a part of the problem. Sad!!! Anyhow. I'm going to post this here then show some photos of the tomatoes I dug up today - I have about six volunteer "mystery" tomatoes that came up where my plants were last year, t they are all looking really healthy and nice, and I didn't want them to get too torn up by the cold rains that are coming in, so I dug them up and popped them in some pots to re root for a few weeks, ad then once I move the dirt onto the side, I'll put some of them on the sunny side of the house once it warms up a bit. Excited either way, if these are all mystery tomatoes, they are all super healthy and look good. And boy they are hardy, having gotten off to a start with complete and utter neglect. LOL. I'll be posting a lot tomorrow if it ends up raining all day....

Hi Guys
Sorry To Just Bounce in , But Was/It The Bunching Onions That Somebody Cut and Grew Then Cut Again?

Pepper Again Might Be Worth It Or, Looking At Options For Limited Windowsill Space You See....
Thanks

Kevin - wow you have a lot going on already! Looking good! I think your Parsley looks fine in the picture but I've never grown any so I'm not sure what it supposed t look like. I sometimes use trays to raise up other trays full of seedlings but most of the time I use scrap wood. I have quite a bit of it in various dimensions and lengths. Sometimes I only need to raise up one cell pack or one pot so the scrap wood works well for that.

Norm - Sorry you're still dealing with seedling issues! The volunteer tomatoes look good, they are always some of the toughest tomato plants. Last year there was a tomato plant growing from a crack between the sidewalk and building at a local pizza place I go to. It was there for at least a couple months and eventually put out a few roma type fruit before it died from a frost. It's really strange that SoCal is one of the very few areas of the US getting rain today. How often does that happen?

Naturegirl - that river does look pretty dangerous. I wouldn't want to be kayaking on that any time soon. I hope things dry out for you soon so you can get out and play in the dirt.

Ninecrow - yes I believe it was Tony that was growing bunching onions as cut and come again greens. He has had them growing for a few years now.

So far 17/30 of my broccoli have sprouted after 4.5 days. No sign of any cauliflower after 3.5 days. Neither are on the heat mat anymore.

I raked the leaf mulch off two of my potato beds last evening. Need to do one more potato bed and the onions bed tonight. I also noticed one of my older beds needs some repair. The 4x4 in the corner split out and needs to be replaced because it no longer is holding the end piece to the side piece.

Ninecrow -- here is a repost.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

2-16-2018 update on the Evergreen Hardy White Bunching Onions:

We don't pull any out, nor divide them at springtime, just harvest the green tops.

Second Winter containers left outside. In January (again, as last
Winter) the soil was a frozen block of ice, couldn't chip the top layer
even with an ice-pick!

Now, nearly all have sprouted (again, like last Feb) and by end of
month we'll clip quite a few short green tops to eat. By end of year
we'll get 10 harvests of green tops at 10"-12" length. Lowest temps
this January were at -15 F windchill (just like last year) --- this
variety of bunching green onions seems indestructible and continues to
amaze!

Tony

2-27-2018 update on the Evergreen Hardy White Bunching Onions (we don't pull any out, nor divide them at springtime, just harvest the green tops. Second Winter containers left outside).

Last week fed with 5-3-3 and covered them with 1" layer of peat-moss.

Green tops smiling at me again...love it !!!

Tony

Tony - Your post reminded me that you sowed some of your 3 or 4 year old Evergreen Hardy White seed a week or 2 ago. How did the germination test go?

Jack -- on the 16th sowed exactly 10 seeds. I see 6 trying to make it. Will wait a few more days and post pics.

Tony

6 is pretty good for 3? year old seed I would think. IIRC new EHW seed from Johnny's usually has about 85-90 percent germination test printed on the packet.

I have never grown bunching onions. I think I need to investigate these...and find a spot in the garden that's out of reach of the rototiller.

Speaking of Johnny's: has anyone here had favorable luck ordering from them?

This morning I checked my paper towel started snapdragons "planted" on the 21st. By golly, they're starting to sprout. How soon after a sprout is seen do I need to get these little buggers in some "soil" in a 6-pack? Gosh, they're tiny!

I checked the National Weather Service's climatological data for the year. So far I have officially received 0.48" of moisture since January 1. In December, we received all of 0.03". November: 0.52". Have I mentioned it's dry here? :-(

Itsmce - I have ordered from Johnny's at least once every year since around 2010. The quality in unsurpassed IMO. I think being employee owned has a lot to do with that. Great germination and the germination rates printed on the packets are accurate. Their variety offerings are top notch with a lot of AAS winners included. Customer service is great. They ship the same day if you order before 1:30 eastern time. My orders arrive here in 3 days.

ETA: I also really like the resealable packets they use. I don't have to cut and tape a packet back up every time I need to get some seed out.

itsmce, I have always been happy with Johnny's. They carry varieties that do well for them in their trials in Maine, and they do well for me, too. I don't have to wade through all the interesting, but sometimes poor performers, that are included in some vendors listings. I like that they have a top notch breeding program of their own with several AAS winners. Larger sized packs are very cost effective if you use larger quantities of seed or are able to split with a friend(s). Like many places you order from, the packs to not have glossy photos. Just want to point that out as I have heard a few people complain about that with various online vendors. I consider them "real" seed packs :)

Gulp...once I got home I realized that it was Gurney's, not Johnny's that I was curious about. So...now...how about Gurney's? Sorry for the mistake earlier. Sounds like I need to check out Johnny's though!

LoneJack- This has been a lifesaver for me the past two years-plus it's saved me a lot on fuel. I mounted a trailer hitch on the back and I can zip around the property with ease and speed. I figure if the cart can handle a couple of large men and two bags of golf clubs it sure can handle me and a couple hundred pounds of potatoes or onions.

Tom - I like it! Is it electric or gas powered? I have been looking to buy gas because I don't have very good luck with battery longevity. I already have a trailer but it has been neglected and needs new tires. I've seen some carts that have a rear seat that can fold out into a small bed that I like. I could also buy a regular 'golf' cart and customize it with a bed myself. I have a John Deere lawn tractor that I could hitch a trailer to as well.

Itsmce - I'm not a big fan of Gurneys but I really can't give you many reasons why. They use to be a quality outfit and I remember my dad ordering from them every year back in the 70 and 80s. Their catalog and online prices are ridiculous but then they always seem to offer a 50% discount if you order before (fill in the date). This year I got a catalog from them that offered 50% discount before Feb. 7 and then about Feb. 10 I got the same catalog again that offered a 50% discount before March 7. What the heck is that...just cut your prices in half and send out one catalog. They do have a exclusive sweet corn called 'Gotta Have It' that I'd like to try some day.

I got the leaf mulch raked off my 3rd potato bed and my onion bed last evening. The soil in all of the beds is nice, dark, and fluffy after adding compost last fall and covering with shredded leaves. I don't think there is any reason to use the Mantis on them this spring. I will dig the potato trenches and sprinkle in some garden tone this weekend. I'll just rake in some fertilizer into the top few inches of the onion bed and call it good.

I also need to prep the beds that will have leeks and bunching onions. These will all be planted along the edges of the beds that will have tomatoes and peppers planted down the middle come early May. I will just rake the leaf mulch away from the bed edges and dig 5" deep trenches for the leeks and 2-3" deep trenches for the bunching onions.

Thank You 14tomatoes
Looking At Options As I Only Have Limited Space For Inside Growing But Still Would Like To Do Something....

LoneJack- It is electric and I have had no problems with the batteries other than adding distilled water to them once a month. I use the golf cart all day everyday and have never lost power once. You just plug into the charger at the end of the day and it's ready to go the next morning. This is the 3rd year I have used it . Previously I used my John Deere with the trailer in the picture but I just love the golf cart. It's quiet and saves me tons of time. I know the batteries are expensive to replace, but to me it is well worth it even if I need to replace them every 5 years. The previous owner had the batteries installed 2 years before I got it so I may have to replace them before too long. When using the tractor I was using a tank of gas every day and it was extremely slow going as compared to the golf cart. And the final thing I will say is that with the shocks you get a super smooth ride compared to the tractor.

I planted a row of snow peas today and I’ll be planting my potatoes this weekend. I’m planting the potatoes in 2 cubic feet “grow bags” as a test this year. I found some on amazon for a good price. I got soil today at Costco also ... the total amount that I spent is more than the cost of the potatoes that I’ll grow hahahahaha but at least I can reuse the soil and the pots for a few years.

Whoever starts the March thread tomorrow, please, post the link here.

Thanks,

Tony

Link to the March thread

Veggie Tales - March 2018