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Harvest Monday and Plant and Seed Starting Progress

Posted on March 27, 2011 at 5:02 PM

Harvest Monday                

  

Each Monday, Daphne’s Dandelions hosts “Harvest Monday” where everyone submits links to their blog posts summarizing their harvest for the week.   It’s fun to see what everyone else is harvesting from gardens in so many different regions.   Check it out and join in!                

         

Just a couple of fresh harvests this week, one on Tuesday and another on Sunday.   They look identical to each other as the only thing really producing right now are the kale and swiss chard plants.             

      

       

 

 

   

 

Harvest totals for the week of March 21st through March 27th (rounded to the nearest ¼ pound).

  • Lettuce & Greens 0.25 lbs

Total For Week 0.25 lbs

Total Year To Date 11.50 lbs                 

    

Eggs harvested this week – 33                    

      

Plant and Seed Starting Progress                   

  

The garden activities have been somewhat minimal this week for two reasons – 1) I was in Los Angeles Thursday through Saturday on business, and 2) the weather has been quite wet.   Before I headed out of town for a few days, I did get all the remaining tomato seedlings potted up to bigger containers.   Sunday I thinned out several trays of greens started about two weeks ago and they should really take off now without the competition.   The pepper starts were ready for potting up as well.             

    

 

  

So I got that done on Sunday too.                 

    

    

 

The celery and first group of swiss chard starts are ready to begin hardening off.   They are moving out to the greenhouse where they will spend nights inside and days outside for about week to get hardened off sufficiently before being transplanted into the garden the weekend of April 2nd and 3rd.                         

 

 

 

I did the last big round of spring seed starting on Sunday with all the cucurbit family plants and some dill. I got the following underway:

  • Two 6-packs Dill - Long Island Mammoth
  • Two 6- packs Cucumbers - Little Leaf
  • Two 6-packs Cucumbers - Alibi
  • One 6-pack Zucchini - Partenon
  • One 6-pack Winter Squash - Early Butternut
  • One 6-pack Pumpkins - Small Sugar
  • One 6-pack Melons - Tigger
  • Two 6-packs Melons - Haogen

How is your seed starting going?                 

 

Laura

kitsapfreedomgardener

Categories: Harvesting, Seed Starting, Plants

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17 Comments

Reply Dan
07:33 PM on March 27, 2011 
All your plants look extremely healthy, especially the peppers.
Reply Sandy
08:18 PM on March 27, 2011 
I'm having major space problems under my grow lights. I only have one set of lights, although it is a long set, and I don't have room for the next batch that needs to go under. I think I'm going to give the current crowd another week and then start moving them out so I can get my curcurbits started.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
08:40 PM on March 27, 2011 
Dan - The seedlings are all thriving. The only issue I seem to be having this season is that the potting soil I used for the tomato starts potting up is denser than my usual brand and the tomatoes are not as happy in it. The drainage is not as good as a result of its denseness and so they either have too much water or are suddenly really dried out. Balancing the moisture has been a challenge.

Sandy - I always have that problem but do have the added tool of a second overflow light set up that I purchased last year. It has helped tremendously!!
Reply Mike
08:29 AM on March 28, 2011 
Your peppers look incredible, approximately how old are they now?
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
08:49 AM on March 28, 2011 
Mike - I started the peppers on February 12th - so these are just at six weeks from seeding. Peppers always take a really long time to grow for me at first, but seem to reach some magical point where they suddenly get serious about growing. These plants seemed to reach that point last week - as they put on quite a bit of growth. I have not grown this variety before but it is supposed to be a fast maturing and cooler temp tolerant full sized bell pepper.
Reply Daphne
09:18 AM on March 28, 2011 
I haven't even started my warm weather crops. I need to start them in about a week. At least the peppers. My cool weather crops are growing well though and if the weather would start warming up, I'd let them sit in the sun. But it has been way too cold outside. I hope we get back to average temps soon.
Reply foodgardenkitchen
10:41 AM on March 28, 2011 
Wow, your pepper seedlings look *really* good (actually, all of your seedlings look good). Both your celery and pepper starts are much larger than ours. And I feel like I've been taking such good care of them :(
Reply Robin
10:44 AM on March 28, 2011 
Your starts definitely look quite happy and healthy. I started my peppers about a week after you did. They are starting to get big...but not as big as yours are.
Reply Jay
01:21 PM on March 28, 2011 
Looks good. Your peppers definitely look better than mine. I have a lot of stuff going as well plus getting stuff ready to give to others.
Reply villager
02:27 PM on March 28, 2011 
Let me join the list of admirers of your pepper plants and other seedlings! My peppers are just now coming up, as it will be May before we can plant them here. I'm hoping to get the brassicas planted soon if the weather cooperates. Those seedlings are raring to go!
Reply Barbie
04:08 PM on March 28, 2011 
Your seedlings look great. I can never wait until my seedlings are that big to plant them.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
08:48 PM on March 28, 2011 
Daphne - I have to get my warm weather crops well started before they go in the ground or they just do not have enough growing time to get to the right stage of production to ripen fruit during our very brief period of warm weather (basically late July and early August in a good year!).

foodgardenkitchen - Light, soil mix, and a host of other factors can influence where the seedlings are growth wise. Being a little further behind is not bad at all. The main thing is to have healthy plants and varieties you are interested in growing! I do think my plants benefit from my choice of lights - I use full spectrum lights rather than regular cool flourescents and I really do think it makes some difference in their overall healthy and vitality.

Robin - These peppers really popped in size just this past week. Peppers are kind of fussy and late to get going but once they their stride they seem to really take off (assuming things are warm enough for them etc!).

Jay - I love giving some of the seedlings away. It's almost as rewarding as putting the plants into your own garden. This year, I will be giving several of my extra plants to a group of new gardeners who are in a housing assistance program. They are learning to grow some of their own food in a community garden plot they are sharing. And I always give away some tomatoes to my coworkers and staff!

Villager - These peppers will probably go into their permanent home sometime in late April. They have a month or so to grow in these roomier pots until then. They will be grown in the greenhouse in containers as we do not reliably get warm enough summers (or at least not long enough) to really bring peppers to proper maturity without some passive solar assistance.

Barbie - You should see my tomato starts! I have not taken any pics of them lately but they are eye popping big and healthy!
Reply Lynda
09:15 PM on March 28, 2011 
Everything looks so green and wonderful. Today was my first day to really enjoy the garden in over a week...we finally had sun. I have lots of seedlings that need to be tucked in and a few more raised beds that I should build...I hope I can get it all done before the rains return.
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
11:44 PM on March 28, 2011 
Lynda - You sound like me, always in a race to get things done before the next batch of rain comes in! I am hoping April is a little drier than our soggy March was.
Reply Diana
07:43 AM on March 29, 2011 
All you seedlings look so healthy what a great way to start spring planting. I just bought Tigger melon seeds as well but to wait until next spring to plant them as we just entered fall.
Reply mac
10:30 PM on March 29, 2011 
The greens look so pretty especially the red chard.
Your seedlings look so lush and healthy, what's your secret?
Reply kitsapfreedomgardener
08:45 AM on March 30, 2011 
Diana - While you wait out the fall and winter, you can watch mine grow and see how they do!

mac - I think my success with seedlings is a combination of aggressively thinning at the right time, I keep the plants in a comfortable temperature whle they are germinating and growing on, I keep them properly hydrated and use a very weak kelp emulsion tea weekly for the seedlings once they get their true leaves, and I use a full spectrum grow light. I still get losses and some "failure to thrive" cases - but on the whole my seedlings are sturdy and healthy.