A Garden Year ~ March~

Mosquito Creek Garden ~ March 25, 2014

I had wanted to plant my cruciferous (cabbage, broccoli, etc.) and onions by now. Maybe by the end of the week there will be a better picture. At least to the point where I can go out and mess around in it! I spent the one nice day cleaning up the yard instead. Oh, there were a few other nice days and I spent them behind the steering wheel!

Anyhow here is what is going on inside:

 This is my first experience starting onions inside. I was thinking that maybe they should be thicker stalked by now. I did let them get very dry a few times and that is supposed to be a no-no with onions.

 These peppers were the last to germinate (sweet banana) so they are the smallest. All the others germinated in a week and are doing well.

 These guys are begging to be out of their pots. I am ready to remove them and plant other things! Yes, more seeds, I made an order to Sand Hill Preserve and will be needing room to start some celery, asparagus, and more potted herbs. More things I've never tried before, where have I been?

 Ok, I'm done with this inner debate. Note to self: I will no longer start my tomatoes in February! This is ridiculous! They are big enough to set in the ground! This time of year my basement usually cools down without the wood stove going full blast, but not this year. Good for the peppers! Too fast for the tomatoes. They will be fine, I really can't help the heat but at least next year I will wait until the end of February or the beginning of March for the tomatoes.
On the other hand (I have learned quite a lot about these by reading the Sand Hill catalog gardening tips) sweet potatoes do not like cold whatsoever. Hence the verrry slow growth of my starts. Kitchen window being far too cold. I'll be moving them down to the basement. I just kept waiting for it to warm up, to no avail.

 Kind of an interesting photo of the effect of a very warm seed starting location. All off with a bang: cabbage chaffing at the bit, perfect peppers and tall tomatoes.

At least I think they look healthy! In the past I've had to deal with potassium deficiency (slow to no growth with dark purple stems) so far I am pleased with our progress.
I also wanted to note that a few of my cabbages and other assorted pots had a white looking mold covering the top of the soil. I assumed that I was keeping the soil too moist, so I let them all dry out very well a few times between waterings and now the "mold" has disappeared. Glad.