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What’s Growing Under the Light Shelves...

Today, I thought I would show everyone what’s underneath my fluorescent lights. I have a variety of flower and vegetables seedlings, houseplants, and more.

My coleus: I love the color variegation on these:

My coleus: I love the color variegation on these. (click to enlarge)

Coleus with flower buds. It’s pretty but I pinched it off to keep my coleus living. (click to enlarge)

I have some sweet and Thai basil. I have some in some self-watering pots but I thought I would grow some more in individual pots so I can grow them anywhere in the garden and not just in a pot.

Basil Seedlings (click to enlarge)

I have beans growing and sprouting! Yippee.

Top Crop Beans 12 Days (click to enlarge)

Endive seedlings (click to enlarge)

Under my lights, I have lots of African Violets:

A pretty pink African Violet (click to enlarge)

Propagated African Violets from leaf cutting (click to enlarge)

Older baby African violets (click to enlarge)

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Lettuce Plants and More 04-09-08

Bibb Lettuce 98 days (click to enlarge)

Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce 98 days (click to enlarge)

Mmm…the Bibb lettuce is coming along really well. All it needs are some yummy cucumber slices and little red cherry tomatoes. I’m going to harvest these soon or else it’ll bolt. I have 4 to 5 Bibb lettuce ready to harvest and 3-4 heads of black seeded Simpson lettuce. I also have some little cherry belle radishes getting ready to harvest but I might just wait to let it grow a little longer to mellow out its peppery taste. This growing season, I’m going to try succession planting to ensure salad crops throughout the season. I have some more cucumber seedlings growing just in case the ones I planted in the ground. I also have some more Bibb lettuce seedlings growing inside on my windowsill. I forgot to sow more black seeded Simpson seeds though. I’ll start some tomorrow. Once I harvest the lettuce I planted a couple of months ago, I’ll put more lettuce seedlings in the ground. I’m surprised at how fast lettuce grows in a couple of months.

Lettuce Seedlings 21 days (click to enlarge)

Tomorrow, I’m going to plant some lime basil seeds and goji berries I got from a trade. My trade partner also surprised me with some royal burgundy bean seeds too. I’m super excited about this one since I’ve wanted to try a purple podded bean this season. I really hope they sprout. I also got some bean seeds from a friend from yougrowgirl. She gave me some trionfo violetta beans. I might wait to start bean seeds later in the season when the weather warms up considerably. I think I’ve been starting them too early and they need heat to germinate. My bean experiment isn’t over yet. I’m just postponing it. Any advice on bean seed starting? I’ve had the most terrible luck. Well, I guess that’s all for now. I’ll take more pictures of my garden tomorrow morning. Until then, happy gardening!

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Pepper Transplanting, Bean Germinating and More

Pepper Seedlings (click to enlarge)

I transplanted jalapeno, bell peppers, and squash into individual pots I got from Thompson and Morgan. I planted more cucumber straight 8 seedlings into the ground and gave them a good watering. I also planted some tomato plants I had sitting on our fence. I planted a lady bug hybrid tomato and also a gardener's delight. I received the lady bug tomato seeds from a friend from you grow girl, which is a garden forum I actively visit on a daily basis. There, you can exchange various seeds you have for other seeds you don't have! It's been great fun.

French Filet Bean Sprout(click to enlarge)

Top Crop Bean Sprout(click to enlarge)

Oh, on the bean front. I have 3 sproutages from a French Filet and a Top crop variety. Eek. I was super excited. I also see some romano bean sprouting. But I really wanted the purple peacock beans to sprout. I want to have purple beans for the summer. I'm crossing my fingers for those! Please sprout...please sprout...

Pink nicotiana seedlings (click to enlarge)

My flower seedlings are doing well too. The stocks are growing slowly but surely. My nicotiana seeds are growing like mad. They've been crowded in a salsa container and I plan on planting them out soon. I have them on my west facing windowsill so they can get some real sun and get acclimated to the harsh sun. I'll eventually take them out and slowly get them used to the outside weather. The weather here has been wonderful. It's going to get into the high 70s and maybe 80s soon. I love spring!

Yesterday, I planted some lunaria(aka money plant or honesty plants) seeds into a 9 pack. These are biennels and they'll grow the first year and flower the next. They look like delicate little silver dollars. They would look great in flower arrangements or dried and put in a nice vase. I have tons of these seeds so if it doesn't germinate this time, I can keep trying.

Hydrangea flower bud(click to enlarge)

My hydrangea plant is now forming tiny little flower buds. I thought I had killed it since during the winter, it was woody but I noticed other people's hydrangeas did that too so I shouldn't be alarmed. I kept it outside, watered occasionally and covered it during frosts and all that hard work paid off since it's still alive and budding! Yippee.

Well, that's all for now folks. Happy Gardening. Please don't forget to sign up to get email updates on my blog! click here to subscribe!

Slug/Snail Nightmare and Transplanting

Darn Slugs!

The snails or slugs are back! urgh. I hate them so bad! They've gotten to two of my cucumber seedlings I planted a couple of days ago and also some of my bok choi seedlings. I'm going to have to resort to covering the cucumbers at night to deter the slugs. I'm surprised they haven't gone to my homemade and less toxic slug traps. I read somewhere that slugs/snails are attracted to beer so my DH and I took some bottles and buried them in the soil with beer. The idea is that the slugs will crawl into the bottle, fall in and drink themselves to death! Maybe, I need more beer. The funny thing is, I never catch them in action. I probably have to get up early or stay late to catch these buggers but I promise I'll get you my pretty(-ies) I will! hehe

My other veggies and flowers are doing well. The bok choi has been sprouting these pretty yellow flowers. I've been shaking the flower stalk to encourage pollination.

Celery Seedlings (click to enlarge)

I finally planted the celery I started months ago. I put them in a spot where they get morning/mid-morning sun. I hope we'll at least get 5-6 celery plants from them! Here's hoping.

I also noticed that my endive seeds have sprouted and to spare them from the horrible slugs, I've placed them on top of my fence. That's the only spot the slugs don't get to. I hope they don't find out they're up there or else they're doomed! Eek.

I also went to Target this morning and found some cute gardening acoutrements. I got some metal plant labels and some garden shears. They were only $1.00 a piece so it wasn't too bad. Well, I guess that's all for now. Happy gardening everyone!

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Garden times...

Squash seedlings (click to enlarge)

Yesterday, I repotted my little African violets into bigger pots and I planted more bean seeds but instead of in pots, I direct seeded them into the ground. I started some top crop beans and also some Kentucky wonder beans.I also planted more watermelon radish and sunflower (a Walmart variety) seedlings in the ground

Hyacinth bulbs (click to enlarge)

My garden is filling in nicely. I have pea flowers blooming with tiny little pea pods forming, geranium flowers blooming, bulbs poking their head out, lettuce getting fuller and radishes getting nice and round. I also planted my asparagus peas into a square I had empty. I noticed that I had 6 more squares empty. Any suggestions?

I brought some of my extra tomato, pepper, and zucchini seedlings to work today. However, they took a beating in my bike basket and some dirt shook off but all in all, they had a great ride with me to work. My coworkers are appreciative of the green presents. The peppers were of an unknown variety. I had to label them "a" and "b" because I forgot to label the peat pellets when I planted the seeds. oh well. We'll soon find out what they are if and when they fruit.

Lately, to conserve energy and mostly gas money, I've been using my new bike. I bike to work and mostly anywhere around town that's 2 miles from where I live. It only takes 10 minutes to bike 2 miles including stop signs and traffic lights and plus you get some exercise. I rationalize bike riding as me trying to help save the environmnt. hehe. Yesterday, I biked to my local Rite-Aid and found some good deals on herb seedlings. I got some English thyme and sage for $1.50 a piece. They also had some rosemary and cilantro for sale but I already purchased some rosemary at Target earlier this season. I also got some seeds here. They were only 10 for $1.00 so I got 10. I got some cauliflower, marigolds, zinnias, annual cut flower mix, and beans. I put some beans in between some wet towels to see if they germinate and some of the seeds, I plan on sending to my seed-trade partner this month.

Well I guess that's all for now. Happy gardening everyone!

Garden Update 03-29-08

Okra Seedlings (click to enlarge)

Today I was busily spending lots of time in the garden. I moved my bell pepper seedlings, dill, fennel, Mexican Honey tomato and stock seedlings into bigger pots. I also planted more radishes (watermelon radishes) into the ground as well as sunflower, asparagus peas, and black zucchini seedlings.

I'm also going to attempt to try getting some green beans to sprout. I have some seeds I got from a trade and my coworker gave me some the other day. I am soaking some purple peacock, romano, top crop, and tendergreen beans tonight so I can plant them tomorrow. I truly hope they sprout! Wish me luck. I also plan on planting some more nasturtiums seeds. I have some that have sprouted but I hope to grow a bunch. They look so pretty last year.

On Friday, I planted more flower seedlings: zinnia-thumbelina, aster, marigold, lams ear, calendula and sunflower maximillon. I noticed that I didn't have enough flower seedlings the other day. I believe my veggie seedlings

I also put some stakes down to distinguish my square foot garden and I noticed that I had six squares empty. I think I'll plant more herbs like basil in some of the squares but I don't know what else. I need some low growing veggies b/c my these squares are in front of my cucumbers and tomatoes and they need as much sun as they can get. Any suggestions?

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Garden Update 03-27-08

Herb Seedlings 03-28-08 (click to enlarge)

This past weekend, I decided to repot my herb seedlings into terra-cotta pots I got at Michaels. They were only 3 for a $1.00 so I got six of them along with their terra-cotta trays. They make the best looking herb pots. I only wish I had bought more. I also planted additional seeds into each pot to get a fuller look. In no time, they’ll sprout and I’ll have healthy-looking growing herbs.

This past week, I’ve left my veggie plants uncovered risking slug/snail damage but to my surprise, I haven’t seen any damage this week. I’m so happy. My bok choi plants seem to be bolting which makes me sad but hey I might just let it bolt so I can collect seeds from them in the summer. Then I’ll have tons of Bok choi seeds (wohhahaha…this is my evil laugh) lol.

On the flower seedling front, I finally have one single little four o’ clock seedling. It took it 27 days for goodness sakes. I will give it credit though. It does have a hard “grenade” looking shell on it. I’ll have to take a picture of it tonight.

Everything in the garden is looking good. The lettuce is getting fuller; the Bok choi is growing well, the peas are flowering, and tomato and pepper seedlings are growing strong. Soon, I’ll be planting sunflower seedlings and watermelon radishes. Well, that’s it for today. Happy gardening everyone!

Garden Chores and More 03-23-08

Marglobe Tomato seedling 52 days (click to enlarge)

Yesterday, I planted my tomatoes in the ground. I planted tiny Tim, jelly bean, fireball, sweet gold, supersweet, black cherry, marglobe, red and gold, and roma tomatoes. Most of these are cherry tomatoes. We love cherry tomatoes in our salads and my husband loves eating them plain so why not. I plan on planting another marglobe tomato seedling soon. I hope to have enough tomatoes to save seed and also to make sauce and salsa.

Today, I spent a lot of time cleaning and organizing my garden. I picked up all the empty pots and stacked them in each other, picked up tools (shovels, rakes, shears, etc) and put them in a nice heavy pot, moved dirt around and just the ordinary garden chores. It was hot in the sun I found and I kept coming in to cool down and get a drink of water. I ended up waiting until it was almost sun down to go outside and finish my chores. It was bearable and not too hot.

I also planted more lemon balm, thyme broadleaf, cilantro, dill, chives, fennel, 4 o clocks, arrugula-rocket, and Kentucky blue pole beans. I was hoping to plant more oregano but I couldn’t find my packet of seeds. I know it’s here somewhere. Maybe I need to organize my garden things indoors! Eek. Well, I guess that it’s for today. Check back tomorrow for more updates or better yet, subscribe to my blog by signing up here here to get updates. Talk to you soon and as always, happy gardening!

Watermelon Radish and Seed Starting 03-21-08

(Click to enlarge)

This is a picture of my watermelon radish seedlings. I’m super excited about these. They look like watermelon in the inside so I can’t wait to have these dress up salads.

(Click to enlarge)

Today I planted some more lemon basil, large leaf basil, petunia, rocket arugula, bok choi, and sunflowers seeds. I had hoped to plant a lot of petunia like last year. I also put my self-watering basil pots outside so it can get some time in the sun. It also freed up my grow shelf so I can grow even more African Violet babies. I hope to give some AVs away for birthday presents.

Tomorrow, I plan on going to Michaels to get some really inexpensive terra cotta pots for my herb seeds. There on sale 3 for a $1.00. Depending on the size, I plan on getting 4 or 5. I might also go to Osh to see what vegetables they have on sale. I overheard on the radio that they were having a buy one get one free sale on vegetables. I also saw that they had chocolate mint so I might be tempted to grab a pot. I’ve always been an advocate of not buying plants but instead buy seeds which is a better deal but I’ve heard that mint seeds are hard to germinate so I tend to buy mint as plants. I then plan to go down the street to Lowes to grab more soil for my pots. I have tons of veggies that need soil and pots to hand out in.

This weekend will involve more weeding and probably transplanting. Who knows I might just transplant my tomatoes in the ground! Tomatoes, here we come…That’s all for today folks! Happy gardening everyone!

Happy First Day of Spring

Tomatoes in jiffy pellets (click to enlarge)

Today marks the first day of spring. Happy spring!!! The weather has definitely been nice with the start of spring. I have a little issue with my Bok choi though. One day they look fine and healthy and the next day, I find it with holes and gooey stuff around the holes! I couldn’t find any caterpillars or snails or slugs. I moved my pots to a different place and this morning there were no new holes. I guess you win some and you lose some. Gardening has involved watering with fish emulsion every other watering. I transplanted my tomato seedlings to individual Styrofoam cups. I will probably give these away to friends/family and people at work. I put them outside so they can get some good sun.

I plan on buying some purple podded pole beans this year. My coworker, who is an avid gardener, told me about this bean that grows purple but when cooked, it turns green. I was fascinated and am going to go in with her to buy some things from Nichols’ Garden Seeds. They’re only $2.45 for a 2 oz packet which probably comes with 100-150 seeds. These are a heat tolerant, French heirloom. I also plan on getting some bean inoculant as well. Inoculant is useful because it helps beans and peas for that matter develop root nodules which in turn increase production of beans and peas. I think I might order more seeds/supplies since we’re probably going to go in on the shipping which is only $3.45. Not bad…

Today, I bought some Bok choi seeds from Home Depot and got a rosemary plant from Target. I plan on growing Bok choi inside under my grow lights. That way, I will have some control on bugs like slugs and snails. I think they’ll be fine inside if I give them sunlight on occasion. I also planted some more sugar snap and sweet peas in the garden. I hope to grow tons of fragrant sweet peas this year and possibly collect the seeds to trade or plant next year! Well, that’s all for now. Happy gardening!

Herb Seedlings Update 03-16-08

Thyme 40 days (click to enlarge)

Catnip 40 days (click to enlarge)

Chervil 13 days (click to enlarge)

Lemon Balm 40 days (click to enlarge)

Cilantro 12 days (click to enlarge)

Cilantro 12 days (click to enlarge)

As promise from the previous post, I'm posting pictures of my herbs. They've grown so well!

Today, I spent a long day in the garden. It was extremely windy today and I got a lot of dust and dirt in my eyes but I continued on.

I planted more swiss chard seedlings, morning glory, hollyhocks, and some butterfly orchid seedlings into the ground today. I also set up a string trellis and oh boy was this a bad idea in a wind storm. I spent a good ten minutes untangling the mess.

Great Weather!

Lemon Basil at 8 Days

Thai Basil at 8 days

The weather has been very spring-like with temps in the high 60s and low 70s. I’m a little hesitant with how great the weather is. I’m afraid that next week, we’ll have lots of rain and thunderstorms. I guess you can’t live your life worrying all the time so I continue my gardening adventures but with a critical eye on the weather.

On Friday, I started some more seeds that include: marigolds-safari mix and French double mixed, edamame, sunflower-tall variety, sugar snap peas, nasturtiums, morning glory-crimson rambler, and eggplant-black long variety. I really hope they sprout especially the nasturtiums. I planted some nasturtiums last week and they haven't sprouted at all. I plan on planting them with my tomatoes to detract pests from getting to my precious tomatoes.

In part of my garden, that only gets partial sun in the early/late morning so this year, I plan on growing some cool weather veggies in that area. It's around 2' by 5' so I want to grow lettuces with successive plantings throughout the season, radishes (watermelon and cherry belle variety), bok choi, cabbage, swiss chard, peas, leeks, mint, cilantro, lemon balm, thyme and beans.

I noticed that I have sprouts on the hyacinths I planted on March 3rd, sunflowers, radish, and great lakes lettuce I planted last week. I also saw that my spaghetti squash seeds and cucumber straight 8s have sprouted (it took them 14 days to sprout! eek). I might have to start more cucumber seeds tonight. I want a lot of cucumbers this year. Last year, I only got 1, yummy and delicious cucumber but this year I want at least more than 1.

None of my zucchinis or squash seeds have sprouted either. Note to self: start more tonight and keep them inside. Speaking of failures, I have no success on the beans I planted outside 18 days ago. I guess I'll have to start them inside. It looks like I have a lot of seed starting tonight (cucumbers, squash, zucchini, and beans). Oh the joys of gardening!

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Happy gardening everyone!

Next up: an update on my herb seedlings! eek. They're doing so well...

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Happy gardening everyone!

Collecting Flower Seeds (Calendulas)

Five days ago, I planted some chicory, flax, and okra and there’s already sprouting occurring with the chicory. I got the chicory seeds from grocoseeds and I hope it really works. Chicory can be used as a coffee substitute. We’ll see how well this works!

I also have sprouts on my cilantro and calendulas. I grew calendulas last year and they were pretty yellow and orange flowers. I also collected seeds from these last year. The seeds were easy to collect since they look like half moons. If you’ve never collected flower seeds before, I suggest trying calendulas for your first time.

They flowers look like these:

What the seeds look like after they flower:

Mature seed pod. Takes around 3-4 weeks

Mature seeds. You know you have mature seeds when they fall off easily.

Tomorrow, I plan on planting more sweet peas and transplanting more lettuce seedlings. I’m also going by the post office to drop off my package to my March gardening partner. Happy gardening everyone!

Herbs and Peas Sprouted 03-08-08

Lettuce (59 days) is doing well. Click on image for larger picture.

Today, I noticed some sprouts on my herb seeds: basil (lemon, thai, sweet, and big leaf). It has only been 4 days. That just means it's already spring! There was also some action on my marjoram and chervil herb seedlings. I was surprised to see that my herbs are sprouting so fastly. I also noticed one asparagus pea seedling peaking it's tiny little head out. I am interested in seeing how these will do. I'm not sure what asparagus peas are but they say you can steam cook them. They look like this.

I also noticed that my peas are finally starting. It took them longer than I expected...around 9 days but hey that's better than nothing. I can just see the yummy peas in our dinners. This year, I plan to have succession plantings of peas to ensure I have tons of peas this season. My garden faces westward and there's a part of my garden that only gets morning sun so I plan on planting cool season veggies all season or as long as it stays cool on that side of the garden.

Nothing much else going on in our garden except for the occassional weeding and cleaning up. The daisies from our wedding are on its second set of blooms. They're small but I think they'll look pretty in a vase. Happy gardening everyone!

Starting More Seedlings 03-04-08

Plants from our wedding. These are cyclamens (click on image for larger picture)

On the first of March, I was busily planting seeds. I planted a variety of basils that include lemon basil, Thai basil, sweet basil, and a large leaf variety. I started my cucumbers (straight 8) and squash (black zucchini, spaghetti, early prolific) together in small cups. I set this tray outside so they can germinate under the nice sun. I also started some oriental poppies and Shirley red poppies. Some poppies I planted earlier this week have already sprouted and doing very well. To end the first day of March, I started some nasturtiums (9 pellets) and 4 o clocks (6 pellets)

I started bulbs yesterday night (03-03). I started some tulips, grape hyacinths, narcissus ice-follies, and muscari bulbs.

Cabbage Early Golden Acres Seedling at 40 days (click on image for larger picture)

My seedlings are doing well except for a bout of aphids. I found some aphids on my African violet and they somehow migrated to my little seedlings. I cleaned them with alcohol and soap/water mixture. The soap and alcohol does something to the aphids. Maybe suffocates them. Anyways, it worked so I was happy. I plan on transplanting my tomato seedlings into bigger pots tomorrow or Thursday and set them out under the sun for a little bit or until it rains (which is estimated to be on Sunday into Monday). We hope not but we’ll see.
Today, I planted some watermelon radish, nasturtiums, great lakes lettuce, sunflowers, Pinocchio pepper, 4 o’ clocks, daisy bush and marigold seeds. I am interested in seeing the watermelon radish grow. I hope it does well!

Happy gardening everyone!

Garden Update 02-28-08

Pretty African Violet

I got this pretty AV awhile ago at Lowes. It was a pathetic little thing at Lowes. It was discounted to $1.00. All it needed was a little TLC. I placed it under my grow lights and it's done really well as yal can see.

Today, I planted more peas to my garden. They were sugar snap peas. I hope to have lots this season. I love cooking with snap peas because there’s no shelling involved and you can eat the whole thing including the pod. It’s great in stir fry, orzo, and just raw. I hope they do well with no inoculant. I’ve never tried innoculants before but I wonder if it would give me a bigger crop. Anywho, I’ve always been satisfied with the crop I get. Maybe next year I’ll get some innoculant.

The coleus outside are doing well. No losses yet although, I did have to get rid of a cat that wondered into my garden. They are so annoying. I have gates up but they still manage to get in. I just wish they would leave my garden alone! Urgh. Darn cats. As I was doing some garden clean up, I noticed a tray of lettuce seedlings I had neglected. They had blown over a couple of weeks ago and were damaged by the storm. I had propped them up and forgot them. Some were doing surprisingly well. I transplanted about 4-5 lettuce seedlings in a part of my garden that gets part sun/part shade. I put one seedling in a pot to see how well it does in a container compared to the dirt. We’ll see.

There’s no sproutage on any of my Chinese Houses or Chinese Lanterns. I grew Chinese Lanterns last year and they didn’t take this long to sprout. It’s the weirdest thing. I wonder what’s going on! It might be that it needs warmer temperatures to sprout and since I have my fan on the seedlings, its probably making it cooler and harder for them to sprout. I’ll give the fan a rest in the next couple of days to give them a chance. We’ll see.

I noticed that my garlic was getting thicker at the soil line. I dug done a little and saw a new clove. I hope they’ll do well considering they were in containers. I planted them in November and they saw it takes 9 months for them to form bulbs so I have 5 months to go. Here’s hoping.

I have my first flower of 2008. It was an African daisy from my wedding. There were 4-5 blooms. I’m going to wait until they get bigger before I cut them and put them in a vase on my dining room table. I also saw that there’s some new growth on my hydrangea plant too. I thought I had killed this this winter. I’m so glad I didn’t. There were also some flower buds on my geranium. I can’t wait for it to bloom and try collecting seeds from this one. It flowers a magnificent pink.

Garden Update 02-27-08

Roma, Jelly Bean, Black Cherry and Brown Berry Tomato Seedlings at 23 days

(click on image for larger pic)

Gardeners Delight Tomato Seedling 23 days (click on image for larger pic)

Red/Gold Currant and Lady Bug Hybrid at 23 days (click on image for larger pic)

The weather here has been very nice with temperatures in the mid 60s and tomorrow, we’ll experience our first 70 degree temperature. I wish it could stay this way forever. I just checked my seedlings I started early this month and found some peat pellets bare with no seedlings. I quickly remedied that by adding the same seeds of the bare pellet’s brothers and sisters. I only had 1 eggplant seedling and I had originally planted 8 seeds so I added additional seeds to the bare pellets. I also started some Numex Big Jim peppers and some more patio tomato peppers today. I hope they’ll sprout and be ready by next month. Here’s hoping.

On Sunday, I started some more herb and flower seeds. I started some pink nicotianas I got from a round robin exchange. I love being apart of this group. It’s like your birthday every month. You get new gardening presents from a different person every month. This month, I got a nice package that had so many different varieties of seeds ranging from coleus to nicotiana and included in the package was some plant labels. I, too, send stuff to other people as well. It works out well. I send my left over seeds to someone who might use them. It works out really well. Anyway, forgive the side track. I also planted the following:

• Stocks
• Calendula (saved seeds)
• Cosmos
• Dill
• Shoofly
• Chinese Lanterns
• Chinese Houses
• Shirley Poppies

Coleus Seedlings

Today, I also set out my precious coleus seedlings to get them used to outside temps which is lovely! I hope they’ll be fine out there. I might cover them tonight but the meteorologist predicts temperatures tonight will be in the mid 40s so I think they’ll be fine tonight. On my lunch break, I planted my Bok choi, Swiss chard, and cabbage seedlings. I always water newly set seedlings with a combination of fish fertilizer and water so they get an added extra boost. I covered them with pots since it was the middle of the day and I didn’t want them to shrivel up and die. I’ll uncover them tomorrow morning so they can get a full day of sunshine. I can’t believe it’s almost Spring. Slowly, my garden will get filled with lovely veggies and flowers. I can’t wait! In a couple of days I'll be starting my squash, cucumber, sunflowers, and basil seeds. Yesterday, I started some peas and beans too. Is it spring yet? Eek...Happy gardening everyone!

Garden Update 02-22-08

It's raining here in central California. Forecasts predict that it will rain all weekend long. They also predict strong winds. The last time it was windy, a lot of my pots fell over and dumped a lot of soil so this time, I'm going to be proactive and put all my pots along side my wall so they have some wind protection.

Boxwood Cuttings Rooted

My seedlings appear to be doing well. I have way too many seedlings for my shelves but they manage happily. I did check on my boxwood cuttings and they have done wonderfully. They've all rooted and some have tiny little growths on them. I'm so proud of them. I neglected them for a long time keeping the plastic bag over them for a couple of months. They are doing well. I hope by the beginning of spring, I'll be able to take them outside and pot them up. I'll probably give some away since I have so many. My coworkers won't mind if I leave plants on their desk. I just gave one of my coworkers a coleus plant I had. I have tons of coleus now that I have a ton of seeds. She loves it and I hope she won't kill them. As I was walking to work with my coleus in hand, I was calculating the cost for that little plant and I guestimate it to be around $.30-$.40 cents for it and how it would be a wonderful gift to give one. Oh the joys of gardening...I love it!

Garden Update 02-19-08 (Herb Seeds)

I know I haven't posted in awhile but we've been away house sitting, dog sitting, and teenager sitting at my new aunt's (aunt by marriage) house. I apologize for my absence. I have dropped into my apartment to check on my garden periodically this past week and I just wanted to say that my herb seeds are doing well. I have germination on most of my herb seeds. Here's a few to show: We have thyme, oregano, and catmint seedlings.

Thyme seedling 8 days old (click on picture for larger image).

Oregano seedling (look real close) at 8 days

Catmint seedling at 8 days (click on picture for larger image)