We winter sow most years. This year I have lettuce planted from seed in Nov, Dec & Jan that is harvest-able. I planted bok choy (nursery bought seedlings) three weeks ago and they are thriving. I also have a few hardy plants that are carryovers from last season - arugula, red mustard, russian kale have produced all winter. The birds have been brutal, so most young plants are netted.

We also planted tomato and peppers (seedlings in the back, seeds in the front) in the greenhouse. A bit of an experiment to see if we can extend our growing season for heat loving veggies.

One thing about Houzz, that would be great if they offered....being able to click on LOVED your post instead of just LIKED...lol I've wanted to do that all morning and can only say like. Great post. Very encouraging for winter sowing. And nice set up you have there!

These irises started flowering right after the snow melted. I also moved the Keim tree outside to get some fresh air and fresh rain.

Sigh. That’s supposed to say Lemon Tree. I don’t know where autocorrect came up with that word

We got a bale of Promix today from a nursery near the house. It was $64 including tax. I think this same nursery had it last year for about $10 cheaper.

I’m going to start some tomatoes tomorrow and will be going through my seed stash to figure out which varieties I’ll grow.

How would you like an 18 pound onion? Or a 67 pound cabbage?

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/growing-giant-vegetables?utm_source=Gastro%20Obscura%20Weekly%20E-mail&utm_campaign=46cf389269-GASTRO_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_02_27&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2418498528-46cf389269-67158653&mc_cid=46cf389269&mc_eid=3773888705&fbclid=IwAR1EUWvIsC1m_Vpx6Ul8jNZWtOPFuZAoo8cfQyU6jUXfDFkkdNoJgh9W9C8

About winter sowing:

Two years ago I had a plot with tomatoes, last year I intended some of that plot to be beans and cabbage. The bean spot got dug up again. The cabbage plot was unused till later. The whole plot had been covered in 2 or 3 inches of wood chips. I had a large number of tomatoes volunteer there in the undisturbed wood chips. And very few if any weeds.

Seems like very few weed seeds came in on the wind or by birds. The tomatoes came late but I welcomed them. Those were partially responsible for the many tomatoes I stashed away in the "root cellar". Seems as though if you don't turn over your soil and it's already loosened that you get respectable tomato germination, even after overwintering out in the field. I didn't have a single hybrid tomato so had no reason to question what I'd get.

I get volunteer tomato seedlings, but in my zone, they are really not as useful because of how late you end up getting fruit. And our favorite tomato is Sungold, which is a hybrid, I believe. I let volunteers grow last year, but they tasted awful. I suppose I need to find an open pollinated slicing tomato that is a favorite.

Cindy I love those stories hahaha Mr. Glazebrook is so proud of his onion hahaha!!

PM - Have you tried Chocolate Stripes? It's delicious and productive. One of my top five slicers.

Hello from the Oklahoma board!

Had to chime in on the winter sowing discussion. I’ve been doing it for several years. It works like a dream for me. I was first attracted to it because I work full time, and just can’t carry trays in and out to harden off, and I don’t have space in my little house for a light setup. I do mainly flowers, but also tomatoes. I don’t do sweet peppers, they just take too long to produce in my area. I buy the few plants I need. Everyone I share tomato plants with says they are the sturdiest, healthiest plants, even if they start out smaller. They catch up.

Cindy, no I haven't tried Chocolate Stripes but what a cute name. Was it you that recommended Orange Banana? Another cute name. lol I did order that seed this year.

PM, - Unfortunately, I did not care for Orange Banana. So it wasn't me.

If you want to message me, I'll mail some seeds of Chocolate Stripes to you.

Cindy, That's very generous of you. Maybe I have some seed that I can send to you. I'll message you later... Thank you.

Does anyone grow Scarlet Runner Bean for hummingbirds? Or Marketmore 76 Cucumber? Quinoa? I haven't grown these and wondered what anyone's experience was? And what kind of flowers, if any, do you grow with your vegetables?

Hello Rebecca!

I started my hot frame project. Measured the window frame and then marked and cut the 2x 12's. Hauled them up to the cutting room (the concrete porch with a brick step) and the tools, cords, nails. Doesn't sound like much accomplished but with my fatigue I think I'm at a point where I won't give it up. I was going to use spar urethane on the bottom edge and the outside and have half a can but after doing some research decided to leave it unfinished. Am thinking of hosing it off at the end of each season and storing it over winter. I'll bet that will be heavy with a good amount of water absorbed into it. I plan on using two 16 penny nails on each corner and then a screw coming in from the side boards.

I'm going to build this level with no slope facing the sun. Unless the plank on the south side is angled towards the sun you still get a shadow behind the board. So the only difference is that you have two inches less head room for the plants. And having a slope on the glass doesn't help with light transmission. I think?

Prariemoon2, the Chocolate Stripes Tomato is one of the best tomatoes on earth. Definitely in my top 5. I just transplanted one today.

Jamie, is there an Ace Hardware around you? I paid about the same as you did for Pro Mix and it was delivered. It was $45 I think and the delivery was $17.

Prariemoon2, I think I grew Marketmore cucumber last year and it was pretty good, although I had a bad year for cucumbers and squash. I still haven’t seen a hummingbird yet this year, but I only have one feeder out now. I usually get some bright colored flowers in hanging baskets that I hang out front to help lure in the hummingbirds. I get from 10-100 hummingbirds birds here during this season-mostly Ruby Throated, Black Chin, and a few Rufous.

That is one thing about growing outside in a greenhouse-it is usually as hot in the greenhouse as it is outside, so there is really no such think as hardening off around here. I just set them outside and they generally take off from there. I do put the first ones I set out in a little bit of a shady spot, mostly due to the rain and don’t want the young plants to take a beating from the rain and wind.

Prairiemoon- I’ve grown Marketmore 76 cucumbers several times over the years. They’ve always done well for me.
Richard - there is an Ace Hardware nearby and I’ll check them. There is a locally-owned farm supply store called Stockdales here in town also. They have Promix for a similar price, but they keep their soil mixes outside and not under cover. It’s been rainy and wet and, the bakes would have been extra heavy. The nursery keeps their’s under cover so it saved a bit of effort by getting it from them. I might need a second bag and will be watching to see when Stockdales gets their new stock in.

I’ve taken to getting my seedlings outside as soon as possible. We have a covered patio and I’ll move them out when they have a few of their mature leaves (when they are a couple of weeks old) I’ll leave them out under the shade of the patio for a few days and then move them out under the pergola, gradually. They’ll get some morning sun then I’ll put them back under the patio. After another few days, I’ll leave them out under the pergola all the time until unless it’s going to be raining really heavily or if it will be too cold for them.

OH- prairiemoon, regarding quinoa- invent grown it as I believe that it likes a somewhat cooler climate than I can provide here. Also, since it’s a grain, in order to get a decent crop, it will require more square footage than I can provide. Are you planning to grow some? Does it require threshing or any other special treatment at harvesting? I know you do need to wash it really well in order to remove the saponins before cooking.

The only things I winter sow is garlic in October and horseradish in November :-) but then I have 28' of grow light shelving to work with in the basement.

Right now I only have leeks growing under the lights and a few pots of house plant cuttings that I am rooting. I'm going to start some broccoli and cauliflower today though. Lettuce will be started next weekend, peppers on March 13 and Tomatoes on March 27. I need to take a list of my tomato and pepper varieties over to my neighbor today to find out what she wants this year.

I put my Arp Rosemary outside for good yesterday. It is in a plastic half barrel and overwintered very well in my garage.

Our Rosemary got hit pretty hard by the cold and I am anxious to see how much damage it suffered. I may have to cut it back some but I feel pretty confident t that the roots (at least) survived.

I can tell that my garlic has grown some overnight. The temperature stayed above freezing last night and will tonight, too. And it's raining, both yesterday and today and tomorrow. But then most of the lows will be below freezing for the next week.

12 hours and 40 minutes.

Great to hear about all the winter sowing. I am glad I am not the only one.

Rebecca, I am also working (about 3/4 time) and have a 12 year old son, which doesn't leave much time for other things. I do love growing and the fresh produce that comes from it, so I prioritize getting out in the garden whenever I can.

PM, Thanks for the kind words. We love Marketmore cucumbers, they are pretty reliable producers for us.

Welcome Lynda and Rebecca!!

Rebecca - I used to lurk a bit over on the Oklahoma board. Losing Dawn was so sad but it's nice to see that the OK forum was able to find a way to continue on without her. I know she was a great mentor to so many down there.

Cindy - It's funny that you are now in a cold spell and it is warming up here. Here it will be below freezing tonight and tomorrow night and then nothing below 35 showing in the 15 day forecast with highs in the 50s and 60s and lots of sunny days. Well, I guess it's probably not funny to you is it?

You reminded me that It's time to feed the garlic. I think I'll use urea dissolved in water.

You're right, Jack.

So ready for some warmer weather. The creek is out of it's banks again. Just glad that this rain isn't snow!!

I got our potato beds ready then it started raining. I also opened the seed potato bags and they are quite large so I ended up having to cut them into chunks. I had originally planned to plant them whole ( as Ruth Stout did) but they were essentially “eating size” and too large for even a lazy man such as myself to justify planting whole haha! So I cut them into chunks and am letting them dry out. I’ll get them planted this week.

I just checked our forecast - it’s supposed to reach 75 here today due to the cloud cover. Our lows for the next several days will bounce between the upper 30s and low 40s with highs near 60. The good news for us is that there are no freezing temperatures on the horizon! 100% chance of rain tonight though.

Greetings Lynda and Rebecca.

Jamie and Jack it is so interesting to compare our climates...DW has rosemary, sage, and a bay tree in pots on the deck and they thrive through our mild winters.

Yesterday we got the strawberry pyramid filled with growing mix and irrigation tubing installed. I love the 1/4" drip tubing and will be using it a lot more often. As long as there is a 1/2" Mother line it can cover lots of area and is much easier to work with than the 1/2" stuff.

Will start uncovering the strawberries in other beds and pots and moving them in now so there is room for potatoes and herbs.

Two asparagus spears poking up through the leaves in the bed we planted last year. I guess I need to take off the leaves and give the bed some fertilizer. Do I really have to let them all grow this year and not eat a few?

Len - Did you plant 2 year old crowns last year? If so you can probably sneak a few spears here and there if some of them are coming up pinky size or bigger. Don't take anything from a crown if there aren't other spears up from the same crown.

I would leave at least an inch of leaf mulch on the bed to keep the weeds down and make them easier to pull out.

I was planning to clean out last years growth from my 2 purple asparagus beds yesterday but I wrenched my back somehow and didn't think all that bending over would be a good idea right now. Good news is that it feels much better today.

I didn't realize how much rain is falling down south and along the mid Atlantic. It looks like the heavy stuff is just training across the same areas. I hope nobody has to deal with severe flooding! Here in Missouri the rain is training across the bootheel area right now.

I just fed half of my garlic and have some urea dissolving in the water can for the other half. I hadn't looked at the garlic recently but they show lots of new growth and really no damage from the below zero temps we had a couple weeks ago. And that's with no mulch at all! There are some weeds coming up already though. I only saw a couple empty spots where it hadn't broken ground yet out of 114 total.

Next on my list is folding some laundry and then sow the broccoli and cauliflower seeds.

Len it is interesting to compare climates. Aside from a couple of intensely cold weeks ours are pretty mild as well but still “colder@ than your winters.

Our first daffodil of the season and I can hear frogs singing outside. The warm weather has woken them up.

I do wish we could have a bay tree here outside as well. Though when we move to the new house, I may get one. I’m already moving the lemon tree in and out so I can probably handle a Bay tree also haha. I leave the lemon outside until the very last minute, then it goes into the garage.

Len- that’s a nice strawberry bed. Did you build it from plans or was it a kit? What are the dimensions?

jack- are there any tricks to starting an asparagus bed? I’ve been thinking about one but have not looked into it seriously yet.

And I really wish this Houzz app would allow editing on comments.

Jamie - You can edit your posts if you are using a PC. But not with an iPad. I go back and forth between my PC and my iPad. I prefer using my pc on Houzz because you can edit.

Jamie - edited for iPad info.

Thanks Cindy. 99% of the time I’m using my iPhone. I used to post a lot using my work computer, but I use my Facebook account to log in and the company is blocking Facebook now. Hahaha so I can’t post with it anymore.

I do have a home computer but rarely use it any more. I have my desk right now set up for work and the home computer is inconvenient to use. It’s not a big deal though. I’ll sort it out sometime

Jack- my mother-in-law is in northeast Arkansas and is under a tornado watch now. She’s pretty close to the boot-heel of Missouri.

Jamie - Hope that you are not getting flooded.

Jack...thanks for advice on asparagus...the crowns were supposed to be 3 years old but who knows the truth really? But those spears are nice and big; Ill be careful, after investing in building the bed I want those plants to be happy.

Jamie the pyramid is my own plan...the tiers are 2x6 and there is 7" of soil in each tier. Overall width is about 6' square. There was a sketch but it sort of dissolved in the mud while building it. The pyramid looks sort of weird on the north side because it is all flush there. It did not seem to make sense to grow strawberries in the shade? I'm sure it will all look fine with something growing in it!

We emptied every pot and container on the property into that structure and it still took about 3/4 yard of potting mix to top it off. So now I need a yard of potting soil to fill all of the containers again...glad I can buy it bulk!

Cindy, on my IPhone you can edit posts. I click on the 3 dots at the bottom right of any post and it will give me the option to edit or delete. I edit posts all the time from my phone. I do also have a nice Apple computer too but don’t really have the room to set it up in a comfortable area as my clunky old PC is in the computer room with a printer taking up all the room (and truth be told it is just easier to use the PC since it has all the old operating systems I am used to and a mouse I can use about 3 times better than on the I computer).

My problem with my phone is I haven’t learned how to post pictures or websites to the Houzz app-so every time I post anything I have to go transfer everything off my phone onto the PC and then to Houzz, so it would be much easier if I would just figure out how to do things from my phone.

I did get a lot of work done in the yard today. I also used some weed killer and fertilizer and watered it pretty well so hopefully that will help keep the weeds down. The freeze took out some of the weeds I have been struggling with for years, but they are already trying to come back. It has been raining for over a week here, but now that I put out the weed killer/fertilizer the rain will probably stop-could use one good rain to water it in well.

Jamie, I am not a Facebook person-just too much BS on there for me. I haven’t used it for about 15 years and never will again. I will just stick my head in a cheese grater if I need that much aggravation. Houzz is my substitute for FB.

Here is the list of tomato plants I transplanted into containers; (most only have one plant, but some of the containers had 2 or 3 plants growing together, so I just transplanted the whole thing and will remove the smaller plants as needed before they start putting on too many blooms. The few squash plants I have keep putting out blooms every day):

Chocolate Stripes

Dark Shekel

George Detsika’s Italian Red

Dark Star

Pink Ping Pong (2)

Hungarian Heart (2)

Angora Super Sweet (2)

Honeycomb

Mortgage Lifter

Giant Belgium (2)

Black Cherry (2)

Sweet Tangerine (2)

Classic Beefsteak

Black Beauty (2)

Creole

(22 containers used)-these were just the tallest tomato plants now. I have maybe 30 or so more 3 and 4 inch containers with tomato plants.

Jamie I love the cheese grater analogy! I have android phone and have not been able to edit posts. My strategy has been take pictures and post from phone with minimal text, then go to desktop and edit for content. It's a sort of a hassle but retired guys have lots of time for work arounds.

DW and I got second Moderna shot yesterday...no symptoms today other than more sore arm than I recall on the first shot.

Len , that means the Moderna vaccine is working. The first dose recognizes the 2nd vaccine as a mutant invader and attacks it, so the second one should be worse than the first. I get my second one on Tuesday.

Moderna already has the booster shot for the South African variety almost ready to go-do in a month or so we might have to get that one too.

Richard - I do not have the three dots on my iPad. I also am unable to edit on my iPad. I do not have an iPhone.

On my PC, edit / delete are in the upper right hand corner.

Oh Boy Oh Boy RIchard!

Len - I had almost forgotten about this book. It might be helpful for your brother https://www.southernexposure.com/products/grow-great-vegetables-in-tennessee/

Cindy, I had to go get my iPad and look at it! Nope, no way to edit on it, although my Mac computer (which I always use) has the edit/delete option in the upper right corner. Why did they do that-when the iPhone has that feature!?

It’s March! https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6082342/veggie-tales-march-2021

Thank, Jamie.

Lea - I have no idea. My iPad is my first Apple product in decades.

On to March!!