Western mountains and highplains!! FEB 2013

So for me it has been a long winter with a few months left to go. I don't know about any of you but I am getting anxious to plant something! For the last month all I have grown are green onion stems in my windowsill. I want to start my summer seeds but have been reminded it's too early, by Camprn! Thank you Camprn! I am refraining until the 1st of March because of word of the wise except fot onions.... It seems that onions are hard to start from seed and they take so long to grow so have decided to start them first (nowish) and then get them in the ground as soon as I can. It may be a waste of my time but I am one of those people that the curiousity can get the best of. We have such a large region so somebody has to be planting something.... What are you doing in your garden??

Today I attended a "Month by Month" gardening seminar. For February I was told I could start these seeds indoors: perennials, geraniums, snapdragons, petunias, peppers, celery, onions, and most herbs, plus dahlia canna and begonia bulbs. I picked up some petunia, pansy, & onion seeds to experiment with. I have a heat mat to help with germination. I need to get a good grow light before the seedlings get too big. In the meantime I've got a lamp with a flexible arm that I put close to them.

Oh!! Sounds like fun and to the forum!! ow, you get to start a lot, I have to say I am a little jealous! Last year I started my seeds for the first time and I didn't have grow lights so I think this year I will "graduate" up to some cheap grow lights I found at Menards. I just have to figure out how to hang them Happy gardening!

Thanks for the welcome. Have you tried "Winter sowing"? It's another way to start seeds early, but outdoors. This site has a great explanation, A Garden for the House. I have 6 mini greenhouses that I set up using some old flower seeds. Hopefully they do well.

Yesterday I planted onion seeds on the windowsill. Today I uncovered the cold frame and sprinkled a salad mix. It looked a little dry in there so I dumped a couple buckets of snow in it.

The snow has melted off part of the beds. I see the Johnny Jump Up violas are still green. I may have to move them come spring to some place where they can stretch out.

I have Walla Walla onions up and determinate tomatoes. They live in a cold frame during the day and in the house at night.

I found you! Here I thought I was in the Pacific Northwest gardening belt but thanks to NGA, I learned that I'm in the Western Mountains & High Plains. Though they say my region in Palmer, AK is zone 4 - no way - I'm not losing another zone 4 plant to Winter.

It'll be a while for me - especially because the frost is so deep due to lack of snow early this Winter (got lots of it now). I am considering putting up some hoops over my raised beds to see if I can get the soil warmed up earlier. Anybody else try this??

Oh!! Sounds like fun and glad you\'re here to the forum!! ow, you get to start a lot, I have to say I am a little jealous! Last year I started my seeds for the first time and I didn't have grow lights so I think this year I will "graduate" up to some cheap grow lights I found at Menards. I just have to figure out how to hang them thinking Happy gardening!

Cheyannarach, I received the best Christmas gifts in the world this past Christmas- money to buy garden supplies!! I decided to start all of my own seeds this year (one bad experience with a purchased tomato transplant was enough for me!), so I purchased a grow light, pots & trays. When it came to hanging the light, my husband used the top 2 shelves from a couple of shelving units we purchased years ago from Lowe's, some pvc, s hooks and chain. It works great! The bottom shelf on the floor helps to keep the posts between the shelves stable (all of this comes apart) and the pvc goes all the way to the floor. Having never built one before, we did discover that you don't really need the light to go that far up, so the pvc could have been shorter. Next year we're going to add one more shelf and have 2 lights. Don't want to put the plants on the bottom near the floor. We have too many doggy and kitty critters around here! Besides, the older we get, the more difficult it will be to get that low! lol

Judi


Sorry for the sideways picture- not sure how to fix it! I took it with my phone and posted it here from my Dropbox folder, and it's showing normally there!

That looks like a great set up Judi! Thanks for the picture, it looks like someone got it turned the right way! The grow lights I found at Menards are screw in light (kinda look like a motion light bulb). I haven't got any yet. Hopefully one of these days!