First Deliveries!

Well, after weeks of worrying and watering, the first transplants of the season are ready! So, this weekend, I'll be at the farmer's market, and, hopefully, delivering transplants. It's also time to set out my own transplants to begin the 2015 season. All are heirloom, non-GMO, and grown using non-certified organic practices.

2015 Transplants $2.50 each

Early Vegetables: Transplants expected to be ready around March 15 March 21

Broccoli: Waltham 29: Tolerates cold well, but may “button” at colder temperatures.

Broccoli: Early Purple Sprouting: Tolerates cold well, may “button” at colder temperatures.

Broccoli: Calabrese Sprouting: new variety; Likes somewhat warmer temperatures.

Broccoli: Umpquah: Likes somewhat warmer temperatures.

Cabbage: Early Flat Dutch: new variety; reported to be good for kraut!

Small selection, but carefully curated. What do you think of my prices?

What's growing in your Savory garden?

Nancy

Bouncing Baby Brassicas!

And on the fifth day after sowing, the brassicas sprouted!

After being sown on Saturday, the first baby cabbage sprouted on Thursday, five days later!  Today, the cabbage and broccoli are popping up all over!

As I wrote previously I've made several changes to the seed starting operation this year and, so far, they seem to be working.  I really like the new seed-starting mix (no longer using a commercially prepared mix), but the biggest change this year is the addition of temperature control.

Bunches of babies by day seven!

In years past, I've been fortunate enough to enjoy a decent germination rate, but the plants have been very, very slow to mature to transplantable size.  This year--especially with the extreme cold--I knew I had to try to warm up the greenhouse earlier.  I considered seed mats, but, after much "ciphering" I decided it would be more cost-effective to try to heat my tiny greenhouse.  Again, after many computational gymnastics, I decided to pilot my project with an inexpensive heater fan (with an adjustable thermostat) purchased when they first hit the shelves last fall.  The fan now sits on the bottom shelf of

Convection seems to be working!

the greenhouse, relying on the magic of convection to warm the top shelf.

It's been a wickedly cold winter (0 and -1 lows on several mornings), but the greenhouse has maintained the targeted temperature range for brassicas of 50-60 degrees even on nights when temperatures dropped into the teens.

Jim likes violas and I like johnny-jump-ups, so I started a mixed flat of those today to plant on the shady, cool north wall.  I also started some onions in squared

Let's see how the onions like this arrangement!

toilet paper rolls so they will not be disturbed by transplanting.

All of these are cool-weather plants, and I hope that they will be ready to move to the unheated cart before it's time to start the warm-temperature plants.  I plan to target the 60-70 degree range for tomatoes, and the 70-80 degree range for peppers.

But, in the meantime, I'll continue watching those bouncing baby brassicas!

What's growing in your Savory garden?

Nancy