Growing and greening

There's not much new to report since the last update. All of the tomatoes have been transplanted; the basil has sprouted; there's hardly any room left in the greenhouse. On Wednesday Dad seeded the zucchini, and this evening the first sprouts were just barely beginning to poke out of the soil. Knowing zucchini, by the tomorrow morning it will be an inch tall. The onions were getting tall, so I trimmed them all to about 3" which should keep them under control until we can put them in the ground. The corn has not yet sprouted, but it has gotten a little bit of rain and should be doing well under the ground. I haven't dug any up to check.

Meanwhile, out in the fields ...

On Saturday Dad started plowing, yesterday he ran the cultimulcher over it, and today he planted the first rows of corn--Seneca Arrowhead, which is nothing fantastic, but it's quick growing. Since the corn was planted before April 26 (my grandmother's birthday) it will be ready in time for Aunt Laurie's birthday in mid-July, as long as the weather cooperates. Over the weekend he also got the cub running again to help loosen the last section of plastic we need to get up. Back in the greenhouse, he's still working on transplanting the last of the tomatoes. On Friday mom planted basil seeds: lemon basil, lime basil, purple basil, cinnamon basil, Thai basil, and regular old Italian basil.

Spring has re-sprung

After two weeks of cold, cloudy weather, the temperature has turned. The sun warmed up the greenhouse so much that mom had to open the doors today. The first pair of barn swallows has started swooping above the greenhouse. I don't have to wear a hat inside the house anymore. It seems that Spring has arrived to stay.

With better weather, things are growing faster. There are a few sprouts that need to be transplanted, but most of them (like these tomatoes) just need to get bigger.Here are the latest seeds started: a few onions that sprout like green hairpins, and spindly tomatoes just starting to open their leaves.

Cold, wet, and miserable

This week the weather has taken a turn for the worse. The nights have been down in the thirties, and sometimes below, and some days haven't gotten much warmer. The only thing in the ground is the garlic which was planted last November. It was up pretty high, but now is wind-blown and a little frost damaged.

The gas heater keeps the greenhouse warm enough, but with all the cloudy days it hasn't reached 100 degrees lately. The lack of heat and not much full sun may have slowed the plants growing a little bit.

Despite the bad weather, there's still lots going on in the greenhouse. Most of the tomatoes have been translated, as well as some of the cabbages, lettuce, zinnias, and marigolds. It's really filling up in there!

The tomatoes are still tiny, but the peppers are getting pretty big.

Plant pictures

The peppers are doing well.














Baby cabbage plants--they are just so cute.














Onions sprouting look so odd with their single stalk folded in half.



















The tomatoes are almost all up.














They smell like tomatoes already.

Busy week in the greenhouse

The pepper and eggplant seeds planted in the 32 square foot germination chamber have been transplanted this past week. They now cover 160 square feet in the greenhouse. Sue helped on Thursday, her first day at the farm this year. On Friday and Saturday, Phil planted most of the tomato seeds, plus cabbages, lettuces and onions. Mars, a red onion, is already sprouting. The germination chamber is full once again!