Garden Update & New Plants

After a few busy weeks of life with little to write about I'm back with a quick garden update and a few new seedlings.

In the garden the garlic is looking really amazing! The shortest plants come to about my knee and a few of the taller ones reach up to mid-thigh level. The radish, arugula, and kale we planted are looking really healthy while  the leeks, red bunching onion, and butter head lettuce aren't growing at all. Oh well, that is why I over plan!! If something doesn't work I will try and squeeze something else in when the time is right!

Speaking of planning... Saturday Gail and I visited Russell's Garden Center to pick up some marigolds, our pepper and tomato seedlings and a few impulse buys: shiso, parsley, and eggplant. When we got back to our apartment and set them all down our table looked like a small jungle of marigolds and veggie plants:

The shiso and parsley were planted in the garden yesterday along with most of the marigolds. I will give the peppers and tomatoes some time indoors while it warms up. For tomatoes this year we went with:
1 Matt's Wild Cherry
1 Black Krim
2 Caspian Pink
2 San Marzano Redorta
For peppers aside from 1 Jalapeno plant I went with some new varieties:
1 Jalapeno
1 Corno Di Toro
1 Cherry Bomb
1 Thai Dragon
1 Valencia
2 Carmen
The eggplant was Gail's request and is a Fairy Tale, which look like purple monster fingers! We've never grown eggplant, and I'm excited to see how it goes.

How's your garden growing?? Are you growing anything new this year??

Seeds are Sprouting!

The title might be a little misleading. It really should be 'Seeds are Starting to Sprout.' I came home from work yesterday afternoon to this:

The Happy Rich mini broccoli has started sprouting. I can see little sprouts about to push their way through most of the cells. Also, the Arugula disk we planted has began to sprout. No sign from the other herbs or the leeks yet.

Seeds Orders & Garden Planning

My seed order from Johnny's is relatively small for the spring but it definitely has an unexpected surprise.

Mostly we stalked up on herb seeds: Garlic Chives, Rosemary, Sage, Cilantro, Chives, Parsley, Thyme, Basil, Arugula. The Cilantro, Chives, Parsley, Thyme, Basil, & Arugula come as a collection of biodegradable herb disks made to be grown in containers.

I also ordered Mini Broccoli(Happy Rich) and Leek(Tadorna) seeds as well. The leeks are going to be started on the kitchen counter as soon as they arrive. Finally, the last part of the order is the unexpected surprise: Horseradish!!! I ordered a set of horseradish roots (5 total) which I will be planting in the space that will be freed up by many of the herbs. Hopefully the little horseradish experiment works. If so, come fall I will have enough to make my own horseradish as well as a supply of roots for the following year!

Along with the seed order I've also sorted through my seeds and have begun planning the layout/schedule of my garden.

Already in the ground is my garlic and Egyptian onions. Hopefully both will produce edible results as well as viable seed!

In addition to the herbs, mini broccoli, leeks and horseradish here's a good idea of what I'll be growing based on the seed I have on hand:

Bush Beans (Fresh Pick), Dry Beans (Ottawa Cranberry & Vermont Cranberry), Kale, Dill, Spinach (Bloomsdale), Butterhead Lettuce (Red Cross), Mustard Greens (Ruby Streaks), 2 different Greens Mixes (Johnny's Elegance Greens & High Mowing Mesclun Mix), Beets (Detroit Dark Red), Radish (Champion), & Carrots (Scarlet Nantes).

Lot's of greens and plenty of variety in that mix. In addition to the seeds I will be getting tomato, pepper, and some flower seedlings from a local farm.

Up for debate on planting is another attempt at cucumbers and zucchini (both of which were serious failures last year), as well as Swiss chard.

Missing from what I tried last year: full size broccoli, cabbage, onions, and potatoes. The broccoli and onions produced poor results while the cabbage took up valuable room and the results were less then impressive. The potatoes were fun to grow, but my little plot doesn't have the room to successfully grow them. With more space I would definitely try them again.

Looking back at the list it seems pretty daunting for my little plot, but I'm eager to take the lessons I learned last year and see how much further my knowledge and experience can take me in the upcoming year. Despite my plot currently being buried under multiple feet of snow I am looking forward to getting to work and building upon the great results I experienced last year.

Potato Seedlings!

With the temperatures hitting 90F/32C the past few days(unseasonably warm for Boston) Gail and I made sure to stop by the garden today to water the plants and do some small things. Upon arrival Gail was delighted to point out that we had potato seedlings!!!

3 seedlings have emerged off of 2 potatoes in the trench, and I'm just delighted. According to the Potato Growing Guide that Wood Prairie send along with the seed potatoes it normally takes 3 weeks for seedlings to emerge from the ground. The potatoes were planted 16 days ago, so it looks like a few of them are just eager to get growing!!

I trimmed down the basil transplant, cut the chives down to 2 inches, and snipped some cilantro as well.

I also had a great gift waiting in my plot when we arrived. Marie, a fellow gardener and sometime blog reader (Hi Marie!) left us 2 moonflower plants in pots! This weekend they will be planted along the fencing. I am not positive as to the specifics of the plant but I think that it's Ipomoea alba which seems to be the most commonly referred to moonflower I was able to find online.

Potato seedlings and more flowers for the plot! All in all a pretty good day!

Garden Progress Report!

Some things are progressing quite nicely others not so much. Here is a quick overview on the goings-on at the plot.

My neighboring plot has a large rose bush that grows alongside the fence we share. The roses are starting to bloom. Here is a rather resilient rose that grew through the fence and bloomed on my side. I believe that the rose is 'The Fairy Rubra Rose' based on some rudimentary internet sleuthing.

Pictured below is a bud off of the same Fairy Rubra Rose bush:

Alongside our gate we also have a 6 foot tall wild rose bush that provides some protection from intruders and some cover for our tool area. I spotted a few of the beautiful small white roses blooming. From the looks of it we will be inundated with tiny white roses very soon:

On the vegetable growing front things are doing pretty well. I was concerned with the incredibly hard rain we received on Tuesday after I had transplanted my broccoli, cilantro and tomato seedlings to the garden on Monday afternoon. Some of the plants looked like they took a bit of a beating in the rain, but I think the seedlings are young enough that they have plenty of time to bounce back. Below are pictures of relatively healthy looking tomato and broccoli seedlings:

Here is a quick rundown on what is & isn't growing in our plot. Our leek transplants & broccoli seedlings are doing very well. The carrots are starting to show some signs of life, I was concerned the top layer of soil had crusted over to much for them to break through. The potato trench looks great but hasn't seen any signs of life yet. Onion seedlings are coming very slowly, as are the cabbage and romaine lettuces. I have a feeling the romaine and cabbage were planted too late to grow to a healthy size before the heat of summer arrives, but we shall see.

Continuing with greens the spinach seems to be doing well and the mesclun mix is flourishing, as are the beets. Our dill and sage that was planted last week has started to come in, but the chives and garlic chives are taking their time. The cilantro seedlings looked quite happy as well.

Half of my tomato seedlings were a little droopy from the rain but the other half seemed to be flourishing. I managed to salvage 4 tomato cages from a fellow gardener which was nice because when I arrived at my plot yesterday I discovered my brand new bamboo stakes which I was going to use for tomatoes and a pole bean trellis had been stolen. This brings to light the disadvantages of gardening in a community setting. The gardens are located in a heavily trafficked area. I guess I have to be more careful when storing some of my tools and supplies.

Without the ability to set up my bean trellis I was only able to plant 2 small sections of beans. I choose the wonderful looking Ottawa Cranberry Beans that Daphne of Daphne's Dandelions sent me last fall. Kentucky Wonder will have to wait until Sunday. If all goes according to plan Sunday should also see some cucumber and zucchini seeds put in the ground as well.

The extended forecast looks pretty good, warming up for a few more days before showers roll in middle of next so the overall outlook is pretty great!

Seedlings!

Gail and I picked up our seedlings from the Natick Community Organic Farm this afternoon!

Peppers and Tomatoes:

Nasturtium & Sunflowers:

Broccoli, Cilantro, Morning Glory & Borage:

The folks at the farm hardened off all but the Peppers so most of these will be going in the ground just as soon as it gets a little warmer and I have the time to plant them. Not all of the seedlings looked healthy and full of life after sitting out all day in the unseasonable cold, getting picked up, and jostled on the ride home. Specifically the morning glories looked worse for wear but I've watered all the seedlings and will be keeping them in sunny windows until they get put in the ground. Wish them luck!

We have liftoff (and bindweed)!

Gail and I headed to the plot Friday afternoon. When I arrived I found Gail happily weeding with a large pile serving as proof that we will be fighting an uphill battle against Bindweed (Calystegia sepium). Lots of serious hand weeding is ahead of us!

Besides the Bindweed springing up everywhere it can we saw signs of a garden coming to life.

I am extremely ecstatic to report numerous Beet and Mesclun mix seedlings emerging from the ground a mere 6 days after planting! I looked very carefully in the rows next to the Mesclun for Spinach and Romaine seedlings and believe I saw a few, however the Mesclun mix and Beet seedlings were easily visible in abundance so I will only confirm those for now. No visible seedlings from the Onions, Carrots or Cabbage yet but I will be back Sunday afternoon and hope to find more signs of life.

To celebrate our growth we began planting our herb bed. Garlic Chives, Dill, Sage and Chive seeds were planted in short rows before we left on account of darkness.

Seeds, Seedlings, and What I Hope to Grow

A few readers, friends, and fellow community gardeners have asked me what I'm planning to grow now that I have a plot so I thought I would give a break down of the seeds I've acquired and seedlings which will be picked up soon.
1)From Fenway Community Gardeners & The Fenway Gardens Spring Meeting:
Leeks (transplants gifted to us from a fellow gardener), Chive Seeds & Spinach Seeds - The Fenway Garden Society was nice enough to provide some seeds for their spring meeting, I got Chives & Spinach!
2)From the down:2:earth expo Gail and I attended in early April:
Mesclun Mix(planted last week!), Scarlet Nantes Carrots(planted last week!), and Dill seeds were all given out from the different garden & landscaping companies at the expo. Coincidentally all 3 seed packets were from High Mowing Organic Seeds.We also picked up packets of Basil & Sage seeds at the expo, but these come from the farmers of the Cabot Creamery Dairy Cooperative! Gail and I are huge fans of their cheese's and I think their business model is fantastic. They do not seal their seeds, they were giving them out as a gift. I am a proud supporter of their cheese products and will be proud to grow their herbs in my garden.
3)From fellow bloggers:
Daphne over at Daphne's Dandelions was kind enough to send me some delicious looking Ottawa Cranberry Beans(seen here). While Ottawa Gardener at The Veggie Patch Re-imagined provided me with Garlic Chive seeds, some of which were successfully grown indoors over winter, while the rest are ready to be planted in the plot soon!
4) Hometown Seeds:
The kind people at Hometown Seeds saw my blog months ago, long before I had a plot and were nice enough to send me their Survival Seeds package to try out. The Survival Seeds package contains 16 non-hybrid 100% GMO free seeds which are meant to have a shelf life of at least 5 years. The seeds were not in individual packets, but in 5 0z, 5 gram, & 10 gram packages, more then enough for my small plot. From the Survival Seeds package we will be planting Golden Acre Cabbage(planted last week!), Long Green Cucumber, Utah Yellow Sweet Spanish Onions (planted last week!), Detroit Dark Red Beets (planted last week!), Black Beauty Zucchini, Parris Island Cos Romaine Lettuce (planted last week!), & Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans.
5) Natick Community Organic Farm:
The Natick Community Organic Farm is a non-profit certified organic farm just west of Boston. Their mission is to provide farm products, hands on education for all ages, and to foster community goodwill through love of the land. I have visited the farm numerous times since I was a child and am honored to support them in their spring seedling sale. Next week Gail & I will be picking up the following organic seedlings for our plot:
Yankee Bell & Hungarian Wax Peppers. Peacevine, Early Girl & Striped Roman Tomatoes. Diplomat Broccoli and Cilantro.
Along with the above vegetables we will also be adding Morning Glory, Autumn Beauty & Mammoth Sunflowers, and a mix of Nasturtium's
6) Wood Prairie Farm
The prospect of having a garden of my own made me think of Potatoes. I absolutely love them. Wood Prairie Farm has a reputation as one of the best sources of certified organic seed potatoes. Not wanting to limit myself to 1 variety of potato and taking into account the limited space I will have for potatoes I decided to order the Experimenter's Special which allows you to choose 4 different varieties of potato. Each package contains 3 potatoes of each variety for a total of 12 hills. I picked All Blue, Cranberry Red, Russian Banana Fingerling, and Yukon Gold for a nice variety of color, size, and taste. Potatoes were ordered last weekend and shipped out on Monday. They should be here before the end of the week!

Looking back at this massive list of vegetables and herbs I realize successfully growing all of these varieties will be extremely daunting. I don't expect every crop to be a smashing success so I am growing a large variety in smaller quantities in the hopes that the success's will outweigh the failures. My hope is that smaller plantings will allow Gail and I to slowly ease our way into the challenge of caring for all of these(hopefully) delicious edibles.

With research, hard work, and some luck hopefully the season will be full of gardening success and delicious vegetables!