February 28, 2010 by gisette
Transplanted my first seedling out today. 
Probably way premature, but this little spinach is already ~4 weeks from seed (began life in the original LED greens experiment) and supposed to be mature at ~6 weeks. Painfully root-bound - those 6-packs aren't deep enough for spinach. I started hardening them a week ago, and they got much happier every day out in the 40° clouds and rain. (Stayed in on the blizzard day. 
)
It's cold out. But assorted advice is to plant spinach, peas, chard, and lettuce 4-6 weeks before last frost. Which is supposed to be around mid-April. Currently, every night is below freezing. But not below 25°F. I wanted them to harden to sun more, but there's no sun forcast for the next 5 days, and that's typical of March.
Also planted seeds outside last weekend - spinach, peas, and chard. Unsurprisingly, none of those are up yet.
Will see how it goes with the spinach before trying to put out the lettuce. I think that should wait another week or two minimum.
Mon, 03/01/2010 - 21:38
#2
Thanks, Beth, re the spinaches. I added a much younger seedling next to it, on second thought. They both seem well enough today. Though the March winds are kinda brutal. Will give it another few days before committing the others. But there wasn't much to lose. The bigger spinaches need to either survive outside or get eaten.
Heheh on the tomatoes. My most successful tomato last year was started in mid-February! And my first carmen pepper earlier still. Of course I learned from the tomato mistake... But it did survive and thrive! Basil is on my seedling pageant list well after the tomatoes, though. Young basil dies of temperatures well above "frost", and they grow pretty fast. I lost 4-6 of the things two springs ago from being over-eager. In mid May, I think. 
Looking forward to seeing your crops!
Sun, 03/07/2010 - 21:44
#3
Yay! The spinach survived its torture, and it's downright warm this weekend, so now all the surviving spinaches are out in the pot. None of the spinach seeds I planted have sprouted yet. My lettuce starts haven't done very well. Still have a better looking 6-pack inside for a while (well, hardening, but not living outside). But the other 6-pack had leaf fungus on most plants. Killed several plants and put the rest outside to either get over it or die. We'll see.
Decided a better way to tell season time gardening-wise! My crocuses and over-wintered pansies have just started blooming. 
This makes a whole lot more sense than "6 weeks before last frost" or my fave, "as early in the spring as the soil can be worked". 
I don't live in a permafrost zone...
Mon, 03/15/2010 - 19:24
#4
All surviving, none growing at great speed. Added a couple more lettuce transplants. The spinach seeds I planted 3 weeks ago finally sprouted, still no sign of the chard and peas I planted the same day. Added a nutrient patch to the lettuce/spinach growbox. A nor'easter contributed a couple inches of rain and gale force winds.
Sun, 03/21/2010 - 16:29
#5
I'm not sure why these haven't done better this week. More than enough rain last weekend, bright warm days... Oh, well. Planted out the last of my indoor lettuces - more recently transplanted out, biggest lettuce. 
The spinach looks like it got sunburnt in the gorgeous weather.
The chard won't come up, because I turned the soil in that bed. Still hoping the peas will come up.
Sun, 04/04/2010 - 20:56
#6
Finally starting to grow... Since the Deluge earlier in the week, it's been warm (60's) and brilliant sunshine - perfect greens weather.
Only one of the pea plants ever came up. < shrug > Soon it'll be time to plant beans in that spot...
Also planted a bunch of toy choi + mustard + corn salad seeds outside this week. in railing planters. No sign yet.
Oh - the biggest lettuces from 2 weeks-ago pictures got eaten. There was a 23F night in there, and I only had coverings for one Growbox.
Sun, 04/11/2010 - 20:17
#7
It isn't really pre-season anymore - greens primetime, and the plants are beginning to look it. Also have some herbs out now. Hopefully it won't get too cold for them. I learned my lesson with basil - just planted the seeds for those indoors, and they won't go out until May. It's still going to skirt down into the mid-30's here at night for a while, though the days are mostly in the 60's if the sun shines.
Tue, 04/27/2010 - 16:01
#8
Sun, 05/09/2010 - 11:09
#9
Tue, 05/11/2010 - 11:37
#10
beautiful Gisette!
Tue, 05/11/2010 - 11:54
#11
Thanks, Jessi. I gave the biggest toy choi to my mother on Mother's Day, plus spinach and lettuce. She thought it was very cute. They sure respond well to full sun.
Sun, 05/16/2010 - 20:51
#12
Harvested almost everything left this week. The toy choi and mustard greens were bolting, and most lettuces and spinach needed to make way for summer crops. Still have 2 aging spinach and a couple chard out there.
Sun, 05/30/2010 - 18:12
#13
This chard looked really pathetic, until I gave the garden a dose of Sea Magic yesterday - night and day difference! More dramatic even than "likes lime" for make-chard-ecstatic tricks.
The only other greens outside now are some toy choi seedlings.
I don't really have an herb growlog. But the pineapple sage and lemon balm are doing so well that I made a pot of herb tea today. The basils are coming along slowly. Lemon basil makes good herb tea. Have lime basil, too, but dunno yet if that's an herb tea candidate. Have mint... Not very impressed with it. May ask a neighbor for some of their mint stock instead and start over.
Sun, 06/13/2010 - 16:29
#14
Sun, 06/20/2010 - 21:08
#15
Mon, 06/28/2010 - 12:47
#16
Picked the toy choi, probably at 5 weeks instead of 4, but I like them in flower. It's like a tiny broccoli clump in the middle. Tasty with carmen peppers and shrimp in a ginger sesame noodle stir-fry. The giant swiss chard continues to be greatly appreciated by the guinea pigs.
And so the cycle begins again! Good luck with the seedlings. I can't wait to watch the grow progression this year.
I plan on starting celery, cabbage, basil and parsley this week. I will resist the urge to plant tomato seeds. I'm a big girl and know that I shouldn't start tomato seeds until mid-late March (but the little girl in me says "what's so bad with starting just a little bit early this spring? It could be an unusually warm one.") Not sure if it is just me, but my most successful gardens occur in February in my mind.