Transplant time

The tomatoes are doing well, the grape tomates are now in four inch pots and about a foot tall.  Gerry Knauf's tomatoes are already blooming, but I am happy with mine, they are strong and doing well.

Yesterday, April 25th, Easter Monday, I planted three different kinds of basil in the mini squares, so we will see how they germinate.  I planted nasturtiums a few weeks ago and only two came up out of seven, so that was disappointing.  I planted more today, however I soaked them for about four hours before I planted them just to see if that would make a difference.  Today I am planting Cos lettuce (romaine), Calabrese broccoli, and Purple Peacock.  I got the seeds from Jim Ternier in Humboldt Saskatchewan, a seed collector so we will see how they do.  I found the seeds that I bought from the Garden path in Victoria were very viable.  Of course, the tomato seeds I bought at the dollar store also germinated very well, so we shall see.

So far I have planted tomatoes - grape, beefsteak and lunchbox type; tomatillo - green and purple; habanero peppers, basil, nasturtiums, cos lettuce, broccoli - Calabrese and Purple Peacock.   The tables are almost full in the south facing windows, so may have to put some at the neighbors.

I am pleased with the mini soil blocker.  It really helps me check on the germination rate for the seeds.

March, starting the gardening

Today is March 17th.  We are working very hard to create a sustainable garden this year, including ideas from Eliot Coleman's books on extending the growing season, e tc.  This means that we will be building some hoop houses, both high and low, doing some squarefoot garden plots, because we rally don't like to weed or really have the time or endurance to do a lot of it, and planting plenty of containers that can be moved around.  The south side of our house really can't be accessed as a permanent garden spot, but we can move our containers there to take advantage of the sun and heat that is reflected. 

First things first, ordering seeds and planting the seeds that need to be started indoors.  We ordered seeds from  .  Vesey's this year.  We have used them for several years and find their seeds very good.  We also ordered select seeds from McFayden , and Seeds of Victoria .    I am searching for the perfect carrot seed for this area, so ordered lots of different seeds.  I will post the seed list I ordered in a different blog, but for today I want to talk about the seeds I started today.

A week ago, I started 24 Christmas grape tomato seeds (McKenzie) just to test out our new mini soil block maker, and today when I looked at the seeds, about two thirds have sprouted, so I thought I would continue using the soil block maker.  You need to get the potting soil moist before you use the soil block maker, and I found I had to turn the soil block maker upside down and press in the soil with a spoon to the correct depth.  It worked very well that way, but I think I had the soil too moist at that point.  The little blocks have held their shape, and I spray misted them this morning, and they didn't fall apart.  You couldn't hit them with a hose I don't think.  A fine mist works well, and they are so small that a mister can be used easily.

Today I seeded 32 Tomatillo verde plants from McFayden and 16 Aunt Molly's ground cherrie seeds, also from McFayden.