However, I still have found a little time to tend to my vegetable starts.
In my two previous posts I wrote about starting vegetables. So far this season I have started sweet Spanish onions, leeks, scallions, and heirloom tomatoes. For more details on the planting of the onions, leeks, and scallions, see my post of March 20, 2015 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2015/03/its-time-to-start-vegetables.html). For information on starting tomatoes, see my April 3, 2015 post (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2015/04/starting-heirloom-tomatoesfirst-robins.html).
So far so good as to the progress of these seedlings:
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| Heirloom Tomato Seedlings |
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| Yellow Sweet Spanish Onions, Leeks, Scallions |
This year I purchased a new greenhouse, since the old one was probably 10 years old and in pretty rough condition, especially the plastic cover. These greenhouses can be found at very reasonable prices. You don't have to spend a fortune to have one.
As usual I set up my greenhouse again this year on the porch, which I have found works very well this time of the year in our area (central New York state). The plants can be kept in the greenhouse in relatively cool temperatures (40s or even 30s) if the sun is out, since the inside temperature and humidity will be much higher. This produces an ideal growing environment.
It is important to keep in mind, however, that temperatures at night can go below freezing this time of the year up through the end of May. As a rule of thumb, I will bring the plants indoors overnight if the temperature is predicted to go below 30 degrees. The greenhouse does provide some protection from the cold.
It is also important to make sure your greenhouse is secured to your porch or wherever you place it. This is especially critical if you are in an area prone to windy conditions. I live on top of a hill with frequent winds. I use ropes, bongee cords, and even cables to secure the greenhouse to the porch railing.
The tomato plants will be ready to be transplanted in about a week. The general rule of thumb is to transplant them when they get the second set of leaves. I will write a future post on the transplant process.
On the other hand, the onions, scallions and leeks don't need to be transplanted. They can be kept in the original planting containers until it's time to plant them directly into the garden.
In my post on February 20, 2015 (http://dansgardening.blogspot.com/2015/02/its-seed-buying-timewinter-sowing.html), I described how the winter sowing technique is done. This is the second season I have tried this with good results both years. However, this year I made one mistake that affected my results somewhat.
This year, I planted two types of kale, scallions, romaine lettuce, and radishes. Below are my results thus far:
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| Italian Kale |
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| Romaine Lettuce |
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| Scallions |
As I mentioned above, the mistake I made this year was using a seed starting mixture that was too lightweight. By that I mean it contained mostly peat moss. It generally works OK for starting seeds, however for winter sowing it doesn't work well, since it doesn't hold moisture well, and it tends to shift around if the container is disturbed. When the containers are out in the snow and wind, sometimes they will tip, etc as the snow melts. It is better to use a potting soil mix that will hold more moisture consistently and when frozen it will not shift inside the container,
This is best illustrated by the romaine lettuce container as shown above. The soil shifted as can be seen in the photo. The germination was more uneven in this container.
The only seeds that haven't sprouted thus far are the radishes.
Thanks for reading, much more to come in future posts.
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| Brown-Headed Cowbirds and House Sparrows |
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