More Seed Starting and Transplanting

Today dawned wet and grey. I was hoping for a few breaks in the day where I could do some of the outdoor gardening things on my list. But it wasn't to be. So instead I focused on what I could accomplish inside, where it was warm and dry.

I began the day by transplanting my 20 "Ukrainian Purple" tomato plants. In three weeks, my little plants have gone from tiny transplants with no true leaves - pictured above - to 4" plants with two sets of trues leaves- pictured below. They have now filled up their 2" cells and the tray is getting crowded.

So today I moved them all into 4" X 4" individual pots, hopefully their last home before they get transplanted into the ground. As per usual, this project took much longer than I thought  it would. But I did add 1 tsp. of the new organic tomato fertilizer that I bought yesterday, up at Garland's Nursery. Besides fertilizer, it is also suppose to contain mycorrhiza fungi. Hopefully it will help give my plants an extra boost as they grow in nursery pots underneath the lights.

After I finally finished up with the tomatoes, I turned my attention to the next round of seed starting. But before I could do that, I needed to add the second tier on my new grow light tower. That went fairly smoothly and soon I was ready to start seeding some 6-pack cells. I started with "Gift" zinnias, a pretty red annual I bought from Hudson Valley Seed. I am planning to grow this variety in the "kitchen garden overflow" area, along with the cantaloupe. It gets a ton of sun there and I am hoping they will attract hummingbird and butterflies. I seeded 24 cells and then placed them on the heat mat. Then I filled six 2" pots with potting soil and planted "Giant Primrose" sunflower seed from The Seed Savers Exchange. I am planning to plant these in our new rose flowerbed and maybe also put a few in the sunset flowerbed.

When I was finished, the sunflower pots joined the zinnia cells on the first tier of the tower. I am hoping between the heat from the grow mat and the heat radiating down from the grow lights, that both of these newly planted varieties will germinate by next weekend.

After I finished that project I got out the bags of lilies that we picked up at Garland's Nursery yesterday. Since we won't get these guys planted at least until next Saturday, I wanted to get them out of their bags and temporarily potted up in some half gallon pots. I was really happy to find that all of the lilies bulbs were in good shape. You can never fully tell by trying to look at them through the plastic bags. We ended up with 3 "Casa Blanca", a solid white oriental lily, 3 "Salmon Star", a white and orange oriental lily, and 2 "Lilac Cloud",  a fully double pink and white oriental lily. If they all perform well this first year, we should have one amazingly scented flowerbed sometime in July.

Zinnias - A Few Holding On

As we near mid-November, the days are getting noticeably shorter and colder. The Kitchen Garden has been put to bed for the year and I only have one more week's worth of digging dahlia tubers before the same can be said down in the Big Garden. But I haven't yet had time to clean up the "over-flow" Kitchen Garden Bed. The cantaloupe are long finished, the vines brown and mushy. The "Bright Lights" cosmos have finally given up. Hopefully a few will spill their ripened seeds and  produce next years volunteer plants. But there is still one bit of color and life left growing right now- a few plants of the "Country Fair Blend" zinnias. This last splash of hot pink and reminder of Summer is as enjoyable to the humans as it is to the hummingbirds and pollinators still seeking a good source nutrition.  

Hummers in the Zinnias

My "Country Fair Blend" zinnias are really starting to branch out and put on a nice end-of -Summer show. They are planted right off of our back patio, protected by a make-shift but effective deer fence. Ever since they have begun to bloom, the zinnias have been frequently visited by our hummingbird population. Somehow they are able to pull out some nectar from the ring of pollen in the center of each zinnia. They zip in and out of the zinnias all day long, eating and fighting with one another as only hummingbirds can do! My sister captured this picture of Anna's Hummingbird feeding today. 

Garden Project

This morning, with a lot of help from Dad, I completed a fencing project that desperately needed to be done. We removed the temporary fencing and cage that were protecting some of the plants in this "overflow" Kitchen Garden area. Then Dad drove in 6 fencing stakes and we surrounded the whole are with 5' fencing. So MUCH better!

The "Magnificenza" melon now have all the room that they need without any worries of the deer getting at them. The vines on these  plants are going crazy and are covered with both male and female blooms right now.

My cut flower area also has so much more room to spread and looks so much nicer. Those "County Fair Blend" zinnias better get growing - the melon are coming!

Unfortunately, the fencing project happen a week too late for the "Red Chieftain" potatoes. Finn, our resident pest of a deer, discovered the two grow bags last week and has been happily browsing on them ever since. Even spraying the plants heavily with deer repellent didn't stop her. I am not sure if she has done too much damage for the plants to recover from at this point.

Dahlia Planting - Day #3

After a very busy Saturday, it was nice to have all of Sunday to work down in the Big Garden. And as an added bonus, the weather was perfect; sunny and 77 degrees. I started the day by planting 16 of the potted dahlias. Then I returned in the early afternoon to work some more on the annual flower rows. I began by setting in the 22 "Xanthos" cosmos plants I had started from seed.

They were the perfect size to settle in. The roots were just beginning to fill in the whole cell area. I got them planted and watered in well; they shouldn't miss a beat. Then I planted another row with the 23 "Rubenza" cosmos plants I had begun. Once that was finished I planted one row of "Mixed Colors" bachelor buttons. I got my seed from Seed Savers Exchange and it look me about 1 1/2 packets to seed the whole row. Then I seeded two close rows of "Persian Carpet" zinnias from Renee's Garden Seed. It took me a full 3 packets of that seed to sow both of those rows. I was really pleased to get all of the young cosmos set in and all of the other seeds planted. It is suppose to rain Tuesday and I wanted everything planted so that they could take advantage of Mother Nature's watering. Freshly planted seed, watered in by a good rainfall, always germinates the best I have found.

I also stopped in a Down to Earth today and ended up with this at check-out; Quinoa "Oro De Valle". While I could certainly grown this to harvest the seed to eat, I am really most interested in its flower heads. They are suppose to grow 4' tall and in late Summer bloom a lovely orange-sherbet color. I also learned from the tag in the 6-pack that you can harvest the leaves for use like spinach. They are packed with calcium and iron. So another fun, new plant to try this year.

 I finished my gardening day by returning after dinner to plant another 16 dahlias. We now have 62 planted, or 27.3%. Now it really feels like the dahlia garden is underway.

"Willo Borealis" a lavender Pom

Seedling Transplanting and Starting More Seeds

I spent my holiday morning down in the Big Garden setting out 5 more dahlia rows. After that my back - and my legs and my arms ! - said enough! So I switched my focus for the rest of the day onto another project; transplanting flower and vegetable starts to bigger cells and starting a few more seeds.

I began with the "Magnificenza" melon. I started two different sets of these melons, fearing germination might be difficult. I shouldn't have worried! 9/10 of my first seeding germinated and 7/8 of my second seeding germinated for a grand total of 16/18. I set out 6 of them this afternoon in the "overflow" Kitchen Garden area, where I grew the watermelon last year. I laid out black plastic first and then planted them in slits cut through the plastic. It will be a fun adventure to see how they do. Then I transplanted the remaining 10 seedlings into bigger pots. I think they are destined for friends and perhaps I will try to grow a few more of them down in the Big Garden.

Next I got out the bean seed that I recently ordered from Adaptive Seed. I am nervous to direct sow bean seed because in the past few years, either the voles have eaten the seed in the ground, or the robins have puled up the young plants right as they germinate. So instead, I decided to plant the seed in small cells and then transplant the beans after they germinate. So into the flat pictured above, I seeded 16 cells with "Poletschka" pole bean.

Then I got out the new 36 cell trays I bought and moved my cosmos starts. First I transplanted the "Rubenza" starts. I ended up with 23/24 plants germinated this year. Not too bad! Then I seeded 12 cells with "Titus" cannellini bean.

In another tray, I transplanted my "Xanthos" cosmos. I ended up with 22/24 plants germinated. Next to them I seeded another 12 cells with the "Titus" cannellini seed, for a total of 24 seeds planted.

I also transplanted my "Country Fair Blend" zinnia starts. I ended up with 22/25 plants germinated this year so I had lots to move into bigger digs.

Finally I moved my "Lemon" cucumber plants. This was my challenging seed this year. I only ended up with 5/18 plants germinated. But 5 is still better than nothing I guess. I set them in the tray with the winter squash. I ended up with 3/4 "Crown Pumpkin", 1/1 "Delicata", and 3/4 "Waltham Butternut" germinated so I was really pleased with that. I will have to buy another "Delicata" but that's my own fault for not starting enough seed to have 2 plants.

With this big job done the pressure is off to get all of these seedlings into their final homes. The weather is suppose to get quite warm by the end of the week and I don't want to set these young plants out in a heat wave. They all have fresh soil and lots of room to grow, so they will be fine now for a few more weeks.

Seedling Updates

It's been 8 days since I planted two of my flats of seeds. During that time we have enjoyed some warm, sunny weather and we have had some rainy, cold days. Thankfully my seed starting system has worked well in all the varied conditions and I am pleased to report really good germination for most of the seeds.

A tray of "Xanthos" Cosmos

The flat I seeded with strictly cosmos looks great. On one side 22/24 cells of "Xanthos" cosmos are up and on the other side 17/24 cells of "Rubenza" cosmos have germinated.

I also started seed of "Country Fair Blend" zinnia. Of the 25 cells I seeded, 18 are up. Next to the zinnia, I planted melon and cucumber seed. I have 9/10 "Magnificenza"  melon up and 2/10 "Lemon" cucumbers have germinated.

A "Crown Pumpkin" young plant

In my third tray I have a mix of winter squash, melons, and cucumbers that I planted in straight Nature's Best soil instead of a planting mix. At this point I am having a mixed result with this method. So far only 1/4 "Crown Pumpkin" squash have appeared and I want two of them

A "Magnificenza" melon seedling

The "Waltham Butternut" squash have fared a little better with 2/4 germinated. I only planted 1 "Delicata" squash and at this time there isn't any sign of it. I have 2/8 of the "Lemon" cucumbers up here, so I should have enough of these plants between my two sowings of them. And the big winner is the "Magnificenza" melon. I have another 7/8 germinated in this flat, so I have a grand total of 16/18 plants sprouted. I was worried that this might be a difficult seed to germinate. It looked quite small so I seeded a lot of it. As it turns out this is very viable seed and apparently not very hard to start! I definitely have all of the melon plants that I have room for so I will be looking for some good homes for my extra seedlings.

Below, a "Waltham Butternut" winter squash seedling

Working on the Kitchen Garden

We ended up with about a 2-3 hour window of dry weather between more serious rainfall today. While I certainly didn't get anywhere close to as much done as I had hoped, I still was able to make a little gardening progress on this wet, wet weekend. I focused today on the area I call my "overflow" kitchen garden. I began by giving it another quick, complete weeding. Then Dad helped me and we added 6 buckets of fresh Natures Best to extend and build up the bed.

Then I placed my two large size grow bags and planted the "Red Chieftan" potatoes that I had ordered from High Mowing Seed out of Vermont. The minimum order was 2.5 lbs and that was really more than I needed. But of coarse I had to plant all of the seed potatoes that they sent. So 6 went into the largest bag and 5 into the slightly smaller one. 

As you can see they were definitely ready to be planted! I also stuck a small volunteer potato plant of "Red Norland" into another pot placed between these two bags. It had sprouted up in the middle of this bed and I couldn't stand to toss it into the compost pile.

Next to the three potato bags I planted a row of 9 "Redwing" onions. I purchased these storage onion plants at the Farmer's Market a few weeks ago and I am glad to get them in the ground.

After I got the whole row planted and water in, I covered the row with two hoops and remay fabric. This will provide some protection from both the deer and the birds.

When I was weeding the bed I was pleasantly surprised to discover 3 small plants of Cosmos "Bright Lights". I had some plants of this variety growing here last year and apparently they self seeded. So I moved the 3 starts to the front of the bed where they can happily grow in front of the Zinnias I am also growing for this area.

And speaking of those Zinnias, guess what starting germinating today? When I looked inside the greenhouse this afternoon I discovered that the first 8 "Country Fair Blend" Zinnias had come up!

When I checked the other flat I found the first 5 Cosmos "Xanthos" and the first 11 Cosmos "Rubenza" had also germinated. Since I had only planted this seed Wednesday night, and the last two days have been cool and rainy, I wasn't expecting the seed to germinate quite so soon. So even though I planted my seeds a little later than I had hoped,  I am off to a strong start with germination rates this year.

Zowie! Yellow Flame ZInnia

In mid-May, I purchased a 6-pack of "Yellow Flame" Zinnias at the Food for Lane County Youth Farm Plant sale. When I bought them, I assumed they would have a bright, solid yellow bloom. Boy was I wrong! The first bud opened today and I was surprised and pleased by what I saw. After googling the name, I learned that I had actually bought "Zowie! Yellow Flame" Zinnias. They are described as having "iridescent magenta centers and petals dipped in orange". Which is all quite true. I am not too sure where the Yellow in the name fits in but I am pleased just the same. Later in the season, after the plants have grown and branched out, they should put on quite an eye-opening display.

More Germination

With the weather back up into the low 80's the last two days, there has been a lot of action in my seedling trays. Today's big surprise were the "Cabaret" Zinnias. There was no green at all in these cells when I left for work and now 11 hours later - ta da! - I have 16 plants up.

Here is the breakdown of what has germinated at this point:

• "Howden" Pumpkin - 5/6 cells
• "Hale's Best Jumbo" Muskmelon - 2/6 cells
• "Addis Pickle" Cucumber - 12/12 cells
• "Red Metamorph" Marigold - 4/18
• "Dancing Petticoats" Cosmos - 5/18
• "Cabaret" Zinnia - 16/24

Below, 2 young plants of "Hale' Best Jumbo" Muskmelon, newly germinated today.

We Have Some More Germination!

As soon as I got home from work tonight, I went right over to my seed trays to see if anything had "happened" while I was gone. Happily, I had some surprises awaiting me.

I now have all 12 of the "Addis Pickle" cucumbers up and growing. I don't know if it is because I bought fresh seed this year, or if they just normally exhibit quick germination, but they certainly beat all of the other vegetable and flower seed that I planted that day.

I was especially happy to find that 3 of my 6 "Howden" pumpkins had appeared. There was no sign at all of them this morning when I pulled the trays out of the greenhouse.

I now have 3 "Dancing Petticoats" Cosmos up and growing.

And I was excited to finally find my first Zinnia had appeared. I now have one "Red Metemorph". Hopefully the warm weather that is in the forecast for the next 4 days will encourage a lot more of the seeds to germinate. It will be a fun surprise each day, to come home from work, and see what is new.

After dinner I worked for about an hour potting up dahlia tubers. I managed to get another 28 planted tonight, so I now have a total of 223 in pots. I should finish up with two more small potting sessions.

Fall Bouquets

My cut flower rows down in the big garden are really doing nicely. The plants are starting to get a bit tall and the rows are growing together. Instead of planned order, the whole cut flower area has "cottage garden" charm now.

Two fuchsia colored blooms of cosmos "kneehigh sonata mix".

A perfect white bloom of cosmos "Mixed seashells'. Most of the blooms on these plants do not have the perfectly tubular shaped petals. But the few blooms that do look like the picture on the seed packet are pretty cool.

A pair of white cosmos "kneehigh sonata mix".

My 5 plants of "Francis' Choice" marigolds are really looking great.

They are almost 4 feet tall now and are covered in bright bi-colored blooms.

Since rain was in the forecast for today, I cut 4 different bouquets for the house.

A beautiful dahlia bouquet made up of two "Red Velvet" blooms six "Pam Howden". So simple and so very pretty.

I also cut a generous handful of "Persian Carpet" zinnia blooms. Picked in mass, these little blooms make for such a pretty and long lasting bouquet.

My last little bouquet was made up entirely of "Francis' Choice" marigolds blooms. I wasn't sure how this would work but I was pleased with the results. It was bright and glowed with the colors of Fall.