Last week of January..

...means it's the last week of downtime for me, garden wise. I've enjoyed my off time, I hope you have. But, it's time to start revving up for the season.

Actually, the 22nd is my day to plant broccoli and cauliflower...based on frost dates. Last season, I staggered indoors. This year....no way. I still need to adjust my lighting station and finish my hoops for outside. I plan to get them started in a week or two. I plan to do celery again, too, since it went well.

I also plan to make things easier on myself by planting my lettuces, spinaches, and carrots at the same time. Staggering them is great, but staggering your harvests accomplishes the same thing with the cut and come agains. Carrots can be left in, being a bi-annual, through the fall...so there's no rush to harvest them in my opinion. Oh, and the peas.....my God.....the peas. I have a ton of space reserved for these little guys.

Anyone have plans to share yet? Anyone still have projects they need to do? Anyone have questions?

Let us have it.

Projects?? Oh, my! Yes! We have two large beds still to get up and running before our mid-February planting date (I push it a couple of weeks since our last frost date is Feb. 25th). My hubby did a wicking bed for our first one and it worked so well that the other two will be the same.....sometime! Our weekends from here on out until mid-Feb. are crazy. Hopefully they'll get done. And the trellis needs to be made - still trying to figure out how I'm going to do it. Didn't trellis my toms this time and am really regretting it! Right now I have about 27 little tomato seedlings under the grow lights - not sure why I did so many. It was just too much fun taking them out of the vermiculite and potting them up! (My son thought I was a little weird). Guess I'll be sharing some transplants.

We are planning to try watermelons and cantalopes - vertically, of course. As well as winter squashes. Plus all the usual - herbs, tomatoes, peppers (sweet and hot), zucchini, which I have never grown succcessfully yet. I'm also going to try a variety of spinach called Malabar spinach - it grows vertically as well and is supposed to be very hardy. We got it at a farm here that develops seeds and plants for third-world applications. Their mission is to combat hunger by sending out seeds that will grow in poor conditions and yield plants with high nutrition levels.

Have appreciated all the garden plans I've seen - I like to use paper and pencil - I printed out a blank grid with enough squares so I can write in my plan and then move things around as I see I need to. I have to see it in black and white since I have a hard time visualizing how it needs to look.

Oh, my other project, after reading the organizing threads, is to organize my seeds and make some dessicant for storing them. Lots to do!

I have to finish up my germination tests so I can get my seed order in. And order onion plants.

I don't start seeds according to my schedule until the first week of Feb, and already have cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower seed that is good, so am ready for that.

Except hubby needs to bring in the starting soil (frozen on the porch) and vermiculite (doesn't freeze solid, but is cold) so it is usable inside...

jpatti wrote:I have to finish up my germination tests so I can get my seed order in. And order onion plants.

I don't start seeds according to my schedule until the first week of Feb, and already have cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower seed that is good, so am ready for that.

Except hubby needs to bring in the starting soil (frozen on the porch) and vermiculite (doesn't freeze solid, but is cold) so it is usable inside...

HI Jpatti, I know you are in hardiness zone 5b but what is your location. I just started my onion seeds last week.

With 352 sqs to plant, I'm starting seeds this yr. Will see what comes up well, and buy transplants if seed starting doesn't work.

I must try to get potato planter made(square with boards that unscrew to get new potatoes) Spuds are sprouted and ready to plant.

I'm itching to plant (80 deg today)but, we've not had any winter yet! We'll probably have snow in Feb!

Jo

camprn wrote:

jpatti wrote:I have to finish up my germination tests so I can get my seed order in. And order onion plants.

I don't start seeds according to my schedule until the first week of Feb, and already have cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower seed that is good, so am ready for that.

Except hubby needs to bring in the starting soil (frozen on the porch) and vermiculite (doesn't freeze solid, but is cold) so it is usable inside...

HI Jpatti, I know you are in hardiness zone 5b but what is your location. I just started my onion seeds last week.

I'm in 6B, must've screwed up my profile. I'll go fix it. I'm in Carlisle, PA.

My average last frost date is Apr 26, which is what I calculate from.

I don't start onions because I need hundreds of them and just don't have room to start that many seeds here. I buy bunches of plants instead of starting them.

Broccoli and cabbage are my first starts.