And they take over...

My Chervil: Tomatoes, okra, and peppers:

Mostly tomatoes and onions, the big one is a lavender (maybe dormant, maybe dead):

One end table full of zucchini and broccoli and angelica that isn't up yet:

Another end table with zucchini, apples, another lavender, onions, and cabbage:

These are starting to take over my house. I'm not too sad about it though. Things are a bit early since it is only February, but I didn't expect a lot of my seeds to germinate. Things like my White Lisbon onions were about 7 year old seeds. Who knew they would come up with a vengence? I keep re-potting as seedlings get their first real leaves. At least all this makes me feel as though spring is getting close.

Even though we keep getting hard freezes I know spring is on its way. We are getting beautiful sunny days and the robins are back. The chickadees don't seem as numerous either. They must be headed North. Some parts of my soil has thawed a bit. At least late in the day it is mostly soft. It tends to re-freeze at night though. Obviously not safe for little seedlings. It would be nice to have a cold frame this time of year though. Maybe that will be yet another project so I can do this a little more planned out next spring.

I think I might have just had a brilliant idea. I'm sitting here looking at my front porch and think that I may be able to put plastic up and basically have a green house there during the spring. I'll have to look into that.

For now I'd better check on my bread that is rising. I'm trying my own recipe. It seems to be super dense right now. We'll see how it turns out. I was going to do sourdough, but it looks like my starter might have gone bad. I have to do some research though before I toss it. It doesn't smell bad, just looks it. I don't want to toss or use it until I know something further.

Pots

I spent yesterday re-potting the largest of my seedlings. My green zucchini and broccoli. On things like the zucchini I'm going to get rid of the majority of the plants. I really don't need 8 green zucchini and something along the same number of yellow zucchini. I just don't think Tom and I can eat that much. We like zucchini, but wow. So my plan is to have a yard sale this spring anyway to get rid of a bunch of stuff so I think instead of killing plants I will try selling them. I'm thinking about a buck a piece. Maybe this way I can make back a small portion of what I have spent on the garden. Shouldn't be too difficult since I haven't spent much money. All my mulch and compost has been free. I've purchased seed trays, some peat pots, lights, and the seeds. The lights have been the most expensive and even then they weren't very when you compare them to the cost of food.

The cost of food is the main reason I've decided to garden. Things have gotten so expensive these days. I've been amazed at things like milk. Not very long ago $2 would get you a gallon of 2%. Not now. We aren't even as expensive as some places. Then the strange part. Different areas get very different prices. When I go to my parents' place the milk is cheaper but the diapers more expensive. I'm not sure how that works. So at any rate, because of the costs at the grocery store I'm trying to grow our garden. Besides I love homegrown veggies. They taste soooooo much better.

I'd better get Bear down for his morning nap so maybe I can get some more transplanting done.

lights again

Well, I got some lights this weekend. They do seem to be helping. I have all sorts of stuff coming up now.

Chervil, more tomatoes, onions (walla walla), onion (white lisbon bunching), cabbage, okra, cucumbers, watermelon, cantelope, and my peppers. So far I think just my rosemary, sweet peppers, and golden delicious apples haven't come up yet. Soon though.

Now in addition to my lights I need more shelving or something. I'm out of space on the shelf unit I have. Little by little I'll get it going.

Lights

Now that my seedlings are coming up I've needed lights. I got them two days ago. Tom now gives me a hard time about my "grow operation." He tells me I shouldn't be suprised if the cop stops by.:)

Now what I need are more shelves. I have so many little plants that my little three shelf rack just isn't cutting it. I have room for another but haven't been in twon with enough time to get one. I'm saving the lumber in my garage for my raised bed that Tom has said he'd help me build. He's been pretty good about helping me out. Besides the beds he's agreed to help with any rototilling I want to do. Other than that though I'm on my own. It will be interesting to see what Bear comes up with to "help" me this summer. It will be nice once he's old enough for me to put a bounty on bugs and weeds. I'm thinking a nickel or so while he's little and work up as he gets older. The dog will have to help keep neighbor cats out of the garden. Problem is I'm going to have to fence the dog out. He never seems to care unless I don't want him someplace. That's the one place he'll go.

Let's see...I've added hot peppers and cucumbers to my list of plants that have come up. My sweet peppers don't appear to be sprouting yet. Oh, my chervil is coming up and I spotted the very beginnings of okra. I wasn't sure the okra would. I didn't soak it or anything like all the books say to. I'm not a huge fan but I ended up with about 5 or 6 packets of seed from a second hand bundle I got last summer. We'll try 'em. Maybe if I get much I'll pickle it this fall.

The storage of all this come fall will be a new experience as well. I canned a few of the Italian Prunes we have growing here. They turned out pretty well. I'm hoping to make salsa as well this year. For that though I need a pot that isn't aluminum. I forget exactly what it does, but tomatoes and aluminum don't mix well. Something about the acids in the tomatoes.

One other funny thing I have going. I have 3 lavender plants. 3 different varieties and sizes. They all three appeared to die last fall (went dorment I pressumed) but so far only one has any new growth. The middle size. I'm not sure if the others will come out of their funk or not. Granted my days are getting longer but they still have a ways to go before it is actually spring. It may have to do with variety too. I'm going to wait for another several months before doing anything one way or another with them.

And now that the kiddo is down I shall check on plants and actually try to do something today.

Seedlings

Apple Broccoli

Zucchini

seedlings

I have seedlings! Zucchini, Swiss chard, a tomato, and some cauliflower have been added to the broccoli that has been up for about a week. I do worry about them getting to leggy though. My one little light doesn't seem to be doing the trick. I think that will be this weekend's project. New lights for my seed starting. I can already see I'm going to need more space for this project. My one little window just isn't going to do.

Outside I've been working on a bed of compost for the lasagna gardening. I'm a bit leery of the stuff that hasn't really composted down. Although, with our weather it will probably be a bit composted by the time I get to plant. I did find a source for horse manure, sawdust, and straw. There is someone who has several stalls they clean out on a daily basis about 3 blocks from me. Technically she is out of town, but like I said, only 3 blocks away. Also, my friend that has chickens is supposed to get me some chicken poop. Who would think a person could be excited about the prospect of collecting excrement? In addition to the basic manure and kitchen scraps I'm going to try sprinkling a bit of blood meal. I'm trying to do this as close to organic as possible without getting neurotic about it. I hope it turns out. I love home grown veggies. Also, I have all sorts of plans for canning salsa this year.

Speaking of the canning... I hope we have a bumper crop of Italian Prunes again. The plum butter turned out well and I've gotten lots of recipes for them. Someday I will add rasberries, strawberries, gooseberries, and currants to the mix. Also I wouldn't mind adding Oregon Grapes. I think I can get some of this stuff off my parent's property. I don't remember what all is there.

Well, off to be so I can be up bright and early with the kiddo. Maybe he'll let me do some plant tending tomorrow.

Introduction

I decided I'd better branch off from the standard blog for our family for this section. I'm doing this as much for me to keep track of the garden as anything else. I seem to be good at accumulating seeds, but starting them and keeping them alive hasn't really progressed as of yet.

So here is a short list of what I've got going so far:

Green and Yellow Zucchini

Sweet and hot Peppers

Tomatoes (Beefsteak, and one other I can't remember at the moment)

Swiss Chard

Onion (both WallaWalla and White Lisbon Bunching)

Watermelon

Cantelope

Okra (I know, probably won't survive here)

Broccoli

Cauliflower

MacIntosh Apples

Golden Delicous Apples

Chervil

Parsley

Rosemary

Spearmint

I have so many plans for the garden I'm not sure what to do with myself. I'm going to try lasagna gardening so I don't have to dig as much. You aren't supposed to have to at all, but I plan on planting all over the yard so I will still have to dig some. Things like my lavender are not going to go in my veggie garden of course. In light of trying the lasagna gardening I'm on a quest for poop right now. Chicken, horse, and cow. I have a lead on some horse and some chicken. If my truck was working I'd have a mix of horse and cow as well. Its looking like I'd better get the old Ford going this spring.

Just a little basic info too: I'm pretty sure I'm somewhere between Zone 3 and Zone 5. We'll see how our weather compares this year. I have almost a quarter acre worth of yard to play with. We need our fence to go up this spring. I haven't tested the soil yet since it is still frozen. Soon though.

And I leave you with my seed starting photo: (on a side note...I'm trying to do this without spending money.)