Seed Starting Time Approaches

I was debating with myself on when to start my seeds this year since last season I kind of blew it with my peppers and tomatoes because they got started so late.  This year I am prepared though!  I already have the seeds that I bought from last year (seeds last up to 3 years if stored in a dark, cool space) and I just need to get carrot seeds.  Well the problem was solved on when to start through the Gardener's Supply website "How-To" pages:
http://www.gardeners.com/When-to-Start-Your-Seeds/5215,default,pg.html

They are very helpful people over there!

I also did some research at my college's library on companion planting and came up with this layout:

I did made this in Photoshop CS3 to make it look pretty!  :)   So it isn't to scale, but the general layout is correct.  The garlic and marigolds are key pest control players, the radish are pest control and filler plants (because they grow faster than some of the larger plants, you can use them to fill up empty space and pull them out when the bigger plant will take over).  I read in Carrots Love Tomatoes that you should plant 3 radish in with your squash and cuke hills and LEAVE them there; this way they act as a natural repellent.
I surrounded my tomatoes by garlic, basil, carrots and scallions because tomatoes grow well with all these plants.  Beans, cukes and peas also benefit from each other.  And bell peppers also love basil.
So that was the reasoning and thought process behind the layout.
You can make your own layout easily using the Gardener's Supply designer tool: 

http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KGPJS#clearbed

I think that's it for now! I'm going to start planting in a few weeks! yay!

:)

A Little Chilly

Today it is -14 in Richmond, VT and a bit cold to be thinking about gardening, but I've been looking at seeds anyway. 

This coming year I'd like to try to grow a few more pepper varieties and tomato varieties. 
I found some on Burpee.com that I thought looked nice!
They are hybrid tomatoes:
1. Kings of color-which is just a mixed seed packet
2. Golden Mama
3. Tumbler
4. Black Pearl Hybrid
5. Sweet Tangerine
6. Italian Ice
7. Red Lightning
I think I'll choose 3 types to grow and save the others for another year. 
I also want to grow Banana peppers and Cubanelle peppers this coming year too.  Both are a sweet variety and good for salads and sandwiches.  This year, I think I may plant my sweet peppers and hot peppers on opposite sides of the garden this year to prevent cross pollination.

I've been getting ready for March by getting some better grow lights.  And that's about it.  I'll be checking on  my ginger that I started to grow in the fall.  It should have a little extra bulb on it by now! So that will be exciting to see; since it's buried, I can't tell if it has been doing well or if I've been watering a dead ginger plant. I'll post pictures if it works out!
Cheers!

A Wee Bit Chille'

I've got Jalapeno peppers!!!!!  YAY!!! Success.
After much hard work and trial and error, I have peppers.  I actually picked one jalapeno this weekend! and I can pick the others soon!  I think the pollinating I did actually worked because only those plants that I experimented on have peppers.  The pepper plants in the containers definitely failed.  They haven't grown for months.  I'm going to make salsa with them! 

I also got 3 more cucumbers! Hard to believe, I know.  Growing them vertically really was a success!

They are in the background above-all the water has spread a bacteria on them.  I still have to look it up, so I can prevent it next year, but the cukes are still coming! 

The pumpkins are fantastic!  I'm so excited! I thought there would be more, but 2 will do.  I'm going to have to see if I can use a pinch off method next year, because they've taken over.  I tried a little this year, but it didn't seem to stop the growing!  Hardy buggers! 

Lettuce in a container works awesome!  It didn't work in doors at all, but outdoors, it grows like crazy. 

My beans grew a LOT taller than I thought....  I've never grown pole beans, usually the bush variety.  So I thought they would be a few feet-didn't end up that way.  They are about 6 feet.  Maybe I should have read the bag.  But they have been a success; I got 1.5 lbs this weekend off the plants.  And they were huge! 

My tomatoes are doing excellent considering I started about a month and a half late.  I have tons of green tomatoes.  I don't know if any of them will turn red, but I have a good recipe for grilled green tomatoes if they don't.  So I'm just happy they were so successful. 

I grew a fall bunch of peas! And this is how they are doing:

I also planted 4 new blueberry plants for my parents.  I love blueberries! 

Mom has been working quite a bit lately and hasn't had time to go get her mums.  So I bought mums for my mom!  I tried to match the colors so it would look as cheerful as possible for her when she came home!

I still don't have a spot for my garlic-I just have to talk to dad about a good-out-of-the-way spot. They should be mailed out soon, so I should probably get that ready....

Cheers!  :)

Progress!

I took these pictures the other day of my seedlings, but I just didn't have time to post them. :)  Finals take a toll on my free time!

The poor lettuce grew sideways because I didn't rotate them! oops.

The tomatoes finally sprouted!

And the pepper plants are getting big!  

Here are most of the plants! The pumpkins are really taking off now!  I've made sure to water them regularly; my seedlings need water about every few days (depending on the sun).  I bought a "daytime bulb" (it looks like it's just tinted to look like day light instead of a yellowish hue) and put it in the lamp about 5" above the seedlings.  I think the heat is what is making them grow more than anything.  I left it on all night on Tues night (by accident) and there were tomato plants 2 cm high the next day! There was no sign of life the night before!  It might be a coincidence, I don't know.  Pretty soon, it will be warm enough to put them outside anyhow (during the day). 

Here is a picture I took while at a stop sign yesterday! The rain was coming down in sheets! It's a little hard to see in the picture, but trust me it was terrible!  

Time to finish my exam! Then I'm done for the semester! woot woot!  ;)

As usual, I have more pictures on my flickr account (see link in right hand menu) if you want to peruse them! 

Good night!

PS. I'm FUNDED this summer for my project! hurray!!!

Winter Fun in Spring

So, it snowed yesterday and continued through today.  And not just a dusting, but it was a blizzard!  This is not normal; although it has snowed in June before (but it didn't stick that time). So me and Patch decided to make a day of it and take some pictures!

Just to show how LARGE the snow flakes are!

You can't even see my poor garden layout! I measured it and laid it out the other day; I'll probably have to do it all over again.  You can kind of see the sticks I used as markers.

 

My decorative bird house is all iced over!

 

Daffodils and Apple Tree buds; they both got glazed!

Patch is very unhappy with me.  He's being grumpy about the snow.

Here are the trellises I bought for the cukes; Home Depot!  The installation is being delayed by snow.

Deer came to play too!

Inside....the seedlings are nice and warm.  The lettuce popped right up!

Onyx and Patch are very happy to be inside, toasty.

There are more pictures on my flicker site if you want to check them out!  Hope everyone stayed warm!  Our power was a little shaky but at least it didn't stay off! 
Good night!  :)

Seedlings

Every year, me and my mom make a garden together.  This year, we felt adventurous and start our own seedlings.  We got the seeds from the Vesey seeds website.
Since the seeds are from Canada, it took a month to get to VT (which we didn't plan on).

Here are the brands/types I'm using:

Veseys:
Tomato Applause
Tomato Tiny Tim (extra early mini cherry)
Summer Squash Richgreen (early hybrid zucchini)
Pepper Early Jalapeno (Certified Organic)
Pepper Fat 'n Sassy (hybrid sweet green pepper)
Pumpkin Howden (hallowe'en pumpkin)
Cucumber Sultan (Beit-Alpha cucumber)
Beans Stringless Blue Lake (Early Green Pole)

Burpee:
Nasturtium Alaska (Capuchina Alaska)
Garden Bean Burpee's Stringless Green Pod
Pea Super Sugar Snap
Onion Parade

Page's Seeds:
Lettuce Mesclun Blend
Spinach Bloomsdale Long Standing

Fredonia Seeds:
Radish Early Scarlet Globe


Ferry Morse:
Chives
Parsley
Basil

I reused rinsed out yogurt and frosting containers as planters. 

I drilled holes in it with my Black and Decker drill.

 Here's everything I used to plant the seeds.  I love Miracle Grow!

 These seeds are a lot bigger than I expected!
Nasturium are a natural bug repellent.  I've never grown them before, so we'll see if it works.  I have to look up what kind of bugs they repel still.  They will look pretty no matter what!

Since VT is still at risk of frost, I brought the seeds inside.  They don't need to be in the sun, but I put them in front of the window anyways, so I don't have to move them again!

 This is my indoor "garden"  so I can get my gardening fix during the winter.  It's just a plastic shoe mat from Bed Bath and Beyond to stop the dirt and water from running everywhere.
I bought a little gnome the other day from JoAnne Fabrics.  I love him! He's so cute! He makes me giggle!

To tell each plant apart, I labeled the containers with numbers; this way I can reuse the containers next year and not have to match them up exactly with the plants.


Here's the lettuce and spinach I'm trying to grow inside (it's an experiment).  The huge branch is my 2nd attempt to grow a blueberry bush from cuttings (Rootone and water); if it works, then I'll post directions.
That's all for now.  Next thing to do is to measure out my square foot garden!
Ta ta for now!  :)

They've just started to grow leaves! I need to replant some of them.  I grew too many in one area.