So far, so good!

What a busy garden weekend we had! We expanded the garden to double in size (the new plot is for squash, pumpkins and corn) and "seasoned" it with a lovely batch of manure, thank you to our farming friends. We transplanted all of the marigold and eggplant seedlings into 4" pots, set up a new table for the seedlings inside, and planted brocolli, lavender, parsley, basil, oregano, and cilantro seeds indoors. We also planted peas and 1/2 a row of broccoli directly in the garden. I think peas are supposed to go in early, and I have heard that brocolli can withstand some frost. We still have about a month to go before our last frost, but we thought we would give it a shot. If they plants don't make it, we'll have seedling to transplant by the time Memorial Day comes around. Our pepper plants are huge! We may have started them a bit early, but hopefully, that will just speed up the process. I wish we had done tomato seedlings as well. Next year for sure!
The weather was absolutely perfect both days this weekend - in the 80s! Aside from the fact that the mosquitos and gnats came back with the sun and proceeded to eat me alive, it was fabulous!

Impatience!

I am so ready to start getting in the garden, but my time constraints and the fact that it is still too early for most vegetables here in the cold Northeast, is preventing me from doing so. Our indoor garden is expanding rapidly, but it is hard to see much of a change on a day to day basis in the crowded window where we have our plants. Our peppers are doing very well and starting to get some "girth" to the stalks.

1/2 of the marigold seedlings were transplanted this weekend. The other half will follow later this week - but we already have over 40 of them in four inch pots. Kevin insists that we will use all of these plants despite the fact that I feel like we are growing enough for a small army! Can you really use 100 marigolds in your home garden? How about 50 peppers? Our plot will be about 17' by 60' this year, but we have so many other things to try this year! Hopefully our friends and neighbors will enjoy a plant or two...or twenty.

Daffodils!

The buds are there - but still no sign of blooms! Our neighbors just a few miles down the road have full flowers already! This Spring, Kevin is going to design a flower garden outside our double paned window facing the woods behind our house. I never used to care much about flowers but this year I am really getting into them.

Seeds!

Sooooo excited. Did I go a little over board on seed purchases this year? The garden will need to expand that is for sure.
Here is the list of the seeds we purchased for this year:

Veggies:
Beets: Cylindra
Beans: Roma II (Bush); Kentucky Blue (Pole); Golden Butterwax (Bush)
Broccoli: George's Favorite Hybrid
Carrots: Vita Rich Hybrid
Cucumbers: Pickalot Hybrid; Sweet MarketmoreEggplant: Black Beauty
Lettuce: Buttercrunch; Vivian Romaine
Sweet Peppers: California Wonder
Hot Peppers: Hot Salsa Mix
Mesclun: Spicy Mix
Onions (Sets): Yellow
Peas: Dark Seeded Early Perfection
Pumpkins: Giant Pumpkin; Trojan
Spinach: Melody
Summer Squash: Early Prolifiq Straightneck
Swiss Chard: Ruby Red
Zucchini: Black Beauty

Herbs:
Cilantro
Parsley
Basil
Lavender
Oregano

Flowers:
Marigold: Frech Dwarf Double
Livingstone Daisy: Ice Plant
Sunflowers: Autumn Beauty Mix; Vanilla Ice; Aztec Gold Hybrid; Jade Hybrid
Nasturtium: Jewel Mix

Leftovers From Garden 2008!

When we cleared the garden plot a few weeks ago we uncovered some remnants from last year: Oregano and Chives. I did not know that Oregano would survive the Winter! We will have to transplant both of them - herbs are moving to a new location this year.

More Sprouts!

I am experimenting with the different blog styles and picture sizes. Its hard to decide which one to choose! I think the pictures are really the focal point. As the garden progresses I feel I might overload this blog with pictures -I like them all! Here we have the early Marigold seedlings and Eggplant just beginning to peek out of the soil. It's neat how their first leaves curl into one another.

Pepper Farm!

Apparently we are going to have a pepper farm this year. We re-potted our whole tray of pepper seedlings into larger pots, 3 plants in each pot. We found last year that crowding the peppers together helped them grow. Or at least we think that helped. Friends of ours have had bad luck growing peppers, but we had no trouble at all! I am thinking that perhaps the close proximity helps with wind pollination? Even if we are only somewhat successful this year, we will have plenty of peppers to go around - we have 24 pots of hot peppers and 27 bell peppers!

Seedlings!

Its so much fun watching the little seedlings grow. Its much more fun though when you have a whole garden to watch - there are many more things to keep an eye on. Our first try at starting some seeds indoor seems to be working well, although just as the plants came up, the winter returned. We need more sun!