Seed starting
Early January
The impatiens I started last fall are doing well. They have taken residence in many converted yogurt containers.
Jeff brought many tiny garlic plants from his plot in Manassas Park. I will need to find a good spot to let them take over as soon as I can work the garden.
Jan. 7 – I planted some of each kind of eggplant, hot pepper and sweet pepper in small flats to test germination. If they are duds, I want to be able to order seed in time for early spring planting inside.
Jan. 14 – I discovered some kind of tiny bugs (aphids maybe) on several plants, including some of the impatiens. So I started a campaign to get rid of them.
Jan. 20-21 – I designed and built a plant stand out of leftover boards from the deck we demolished last summer (another story). Dennis helped by cutting and sanding the boards for me, and by shopping for materials. I used thirteen 52-inch pieces and six 22-inch pieces of six-inch decking. Here’s a picture. The two lighted shelves hold four trays each, and four more trays can fit on top. The fixtures hold special lightbulbs for growing plants and hang from chains for easy height adjustment.
Jan. 23 – Three kinds of eggplant seeds germinated: Black Beauty, Millionaire and Twilight.
Jan. 25 – Some of the pepper seeds are up: Garden Salsa, Anaheim, Golden Summer and Four-way.
Jan. 28 – The final type of eggplant, Ichiban, germinated. And the rest of the sweet peppers are up, Banana, Big Bertha, Lady Bell and Blockbuster. Although the germination rate for Lady Bell and Big Bertha is fairly low. The Early Jalapeno hasn’t sprouted yet at all. I have a package of mixed hot peppers from Henry Fields that I can use to fill out the hot pepper selection for my garden. No need to purchase eggplant or pepper seeds this year.
Madeline brought home small-sized yogurt containers to add to the collection. I used some for small impatiens transplants.
Mid March
Seed starting with help from Carrie and Julia.
