Third Year SFG in Canada

Recent indoor sowings:

Saturday, April 22:

• Okra - Clemson Spineless (2017, presoaked seeds in water for 24 hours)
  

Sunday, April 23:

• Amaranth - Dreadlocks (2017)
  
• Marigold - Sparky Mixed (2016, full height 10 inches)
  
• Marigold - Crackerjack (2017, full height 30-36 inches)
  

This morning I noticed that another Brandwine Tomato has sprouted as well as many other things. For those seeds that have sprouted in pure vermiculite, it's time to transfer them into cells or pots containing potting soil or MM.  The struggle for space under the grow lights is about to begin. Veggies will get precedence over flowers.

Some random shots of the indoor sowing scene.

The peas are doing well and really should be transplanted outside. I plant the whole thing (i.e., cardboard tube) because I don't think peas like to be transplanted.




More of the True Black Brandywine Tomatoes have sprouted.




Last night I transplanted this Brandywine Tomato from the verniculite starter pot into this bigger pot which contains Mel's Mix.




These are Alyssum seedlings.




The Zinnias are doing well.

These babies look really great, TD! Have you grown peas and toilet paper rolls before? If so how did they turn out? Do you start your squashes in TP rolls?

CapeCoddess wrote:These babies look really great, TD! Have you grown peas and toilet paper rolls before? If so how did they turn out? Do you start your squashes in TP rolls?

I have started peas in TPRs before and it worked out fine.  I also direct seed but have to protect the seeds from creatures.  I don't remember starting squash in TPRs; I'll have to check my records.

I picked up two bags of Vermiculite at a cost of $28 Canadian each. When I got home I realized that the person at the garden centre who put them in my car gave me one bag of Large and one bag of Fine (as evidenced by the big letter F near the bottom of the bag on the right). So now I have to take the Fine back and exchange it for a Large version.

What will I do with all this stuff?  Some of it will be used when I mix up a batch of Mel's Mix that will be used in two 3x3 boxes that my son has made for his two children. So the next two generations are getting into SFG. Our grandson is very excited about having his own garden for veggies. The remainder of the Vermiculite may get used for a new box that I will make for my own garden.

I also bought some multiplier onion sets for the SFG.

Great price for vermiculite. Would you add this info to the Vermiculite Data Base? Thanks

sanderson wrote:Great price for vermiculite.  Would you add this info to the Vermiculite Data Base?  Thanks

I tried but the International Form for the Vermiculite Database would not open for me.

We visited our friends who have chickens and picked up some of the stuff (mixture of bedding and poo) from an area of their coop where it is well aged.

The coop with the ladies and roosters.



Wider view which includes their traditional row garden.



Bags and buckets of the good stuff in the trunk of the car.



And the same at home.

Checked on the Winter Sowing containers and here is what I found.

First up is the Lettuce sown on March 6.



Kale also sown on March 6.




A lonely Broccoli seedling.  The seeds were sown on February 4.



A couple of Purple Coneflower seeds have sprouted. Sown on February 4.




This Kholrabi was sown on April 13.




Beet also sown on April 13.




Finally, Swiss Chard sown on April 13.

Well, that worked out well, TD.  But did you only plant one broccoli seed?

(btw, I now have chicken poo envy.)

CapeCoddess wrote:Well, that worked out well, TD.  But did you only plant one broccoli seed?

(btw, I now have chicken poo envy.)

CC, I planted several broccoli seeds.

Picked up more vermiculite this morning.  I now have 3 bags of coarse vermiculite each 4 cubic feet. I should be OK on that for a while. Also bought some sheep manure that was on sale.

Now I need to do something about my 3 compost bins. I'll need to screen what is in them and then get them cooking again. Hopefully the big bin is thawed out after our 80F temperature.

Now how do you get those baby plants our of their winter cntrs? Is there enough room for your hands and/or whatever tools you use to fit down in there?

CapeCoddess wrote:Now how do you get those baby plants our of their winter cntrs?  Is there enough room for your hands and/or whatever tools you use to fit down in there?

CC ... The photos were taken looking down through the one inch opening at the top of the plastic Winter Sowing containers.  Before sowing the seeds, the containers were cut in half and then after sowing put back together and sealed with tape.  I just need to take them apart again and I will have full access to the seedlings. I do need to get some of those things transplanted. The beauty of Winter Sowing is that there is no need to harden off the plants outside before transplanting into the SFG.  I will probably do Winter Sowing again but only for things that I know will grow well. I think my climate is too brutal in the Winter to do true Winter Sowing in the middle of Winter.

I was going to chit my Yukon Gold potatoes but when I opened up the package this is what I found. They appear to be "over chitted".  I hope I can still plant them.




Spent some time cleaning out the Soil Saver plastic compost bin.  I sifted the contents and will recycle the leftovers through the composting process again.


This storage bin contains leftover compost from last year.




This is the first batch of sifted compost from today's effort.




And here is the total of what I got today.




So this is the compost that I currently have available. I still have to sift what is in the 3x3x3 bin and the wire cage bin.




These are the leftovers from the sifting.

trolleydriver wrote:We visited our friends who have chickens and picked up some of the stuff (mixture of bedding and poo) from an area of their coop where it is well aged.

The coop with the ladies and roosters.

The chickens look so happy and healthy running around on the grass. Their pooh has got to be healthy black gold!

I finally got around to doing some transplanting into the SFG. I did Snow Peas and Sugar Snap Peas as well as Leeks. The peas were started indoors in cardboard rolls. I didn't harden them off outside so I'm not sure if they will survive. The Leeks were started indoors but have been left outside on the front porch for several days so are well hardened off. I put in two squares Peas and two squares of Leeks. I still have a lot of Leek seedlings that I could transplant but I'm not sure I want to sacrifice any more squares for them.

As I understand it, leeks are actually edible at any point in their growth, so with the extra leeks seedlings you could plant some more into the squares you already have leeks, then thin them out as they get bigger and eat the small leeks.  I planted mine 9 per square with the intention of eating 5 while they were pretty small (maybe 1/2 to 1 inch thick?) and leaving the 4 to grow to full size.

Robbomb116 wrote:As I understand it, leeks are actually edible at any point in their growth, so with the extra leeks seedlings you could plant some more into the squares you already have leeks, then thin them out as they get bigger and eat the small leeks.  I planted mine 9 per square with the intention of eating 5 while they were pretty small (maybe 1/2 to 1 inch thick?) and leaving the 4 to grow to full size.

Great idea ... Thanks.

There is a great sense of satisfaction when running your hands through a freshly made batch of Mel's Mix. MM is an amazingly simple formula for gardening success. This batch is one of several I made up for two of our grandchildren who are starting 3x3 beds. 

Too wet and raining for any outdoor gardening activities, so I spent most of the afternoon in the basement in the indoor growing area. I pressed the new AeroGarden into action but only as an additional grow light for some of my starts. I also reorganized the two existing grow light shelves. As well I potted-up some tomatoes and peppers. Finally I sowed Tomatillos. I'm probably way late on the Tomatillos.  

And now I'm having a bit of a breakdown/cry concerning my dear Mom who passed away in March.


Here is my Amaranth "forest".  Looks like I need to do some thinning.




Peppers started in fine vermiculite. Some were potted-up today into MM.




Here is the AeroGarden which I am using only as a light source (i.e., the hydroponic pump is turned off).  The nice thing is that it has a built in timer for the lights.




Part of the lower grow light shelf after reorganizing.




This Roma Tomato seedling is looking healthy.




More tomato seedlings.

Your seedlings look wonderful.

I hope an emoticon hug can help you in your grief, it is all I have to give from so far away.

Turan wrote:Your seedlings look wonderful.

I hope an emoticon hug can help you in your grief, it is all I have to give from so far away.

Thanks Turan.

trolleydriver wrote:

Turan wrote:Your seedlings look wonderful.

I hope an emoticon hug can help you in your grief, it is all I have to give from so far away.

Thanks Turan.

This is what I love about this Forum. 

Very true KJ.

It has become painfully obvious to me that I am trying to grow too many things in too few squares. I am struggling with the decisions as to what to plant and where. For the most part I use a patchwork quilt approach. For example, if I have six pepper plants I will place them in different locations in several beds rather than next to each other. Even the garlic is in two separate beds albeit I did plant them in adjacent squares in those beds. I am going to have to leave out some of the things I bought unless .... unless I build more beds.