Calling All Volunteers

Thank goodness I have a good crop of volunteer plants this year as my seed starting was in the “sad to pathetic” range. With starting a bit too late, leaving on vacation and T-Daddy forgetting to water the seedlings, they were a bit set back.

oodles of tomatoes, fennel and dill...

and you've got to love those flowers that just "show up"

The volunteer relocation project…

I thought they might enjoy a "garden view"

It’s a good thing my 1 new item to start by seed, onions, is actually making it (most of my new varieties are doing okay)! Otherwise I would be useless to The Growing Challenge. I have a couple tomatoes that made it (Black from Tula and Long Tom). They’re still pretty small, but I think they’ll pull through.

Our grapes are filling in by the bunch loads.

And our raspberries have started their first give for the season. Who knew when T-Daddy and I planted these several years ago that we would have our very own fruit bat! CiBaby doesn’t seem to like that at all (can you tell by the pictures?!). Just wait until the blueberries start producing! oy

Now you see it, now you don't!

Almost Done! (The Growing Challenge)

I feel like I'm behind the 8 Ball here!

Sunday I started seeds for some of my herbs down in the basement. After feeling quite defeated and looked at the packages I surmised that I would start the rest of my greens via direct sowing...which started on Monday.

The newest additions to my seedlings and sowing is:

Onions*:
White Lisbon Bunching Onions*
Yellow round*

Peas:
Sugar Bon peas*
Mammoth Melting Sugar peas*

Greens:
Spinach*
Strawberry spinach*
Tom Thumb butterhead lettuce*
Mache*+
Swiss Chard+
Five color siverbeet+
Mesclun - sweet mix+
Mesclun - spicy mix+
Arugula+
Sumerlong Gourmet mix lettuce*+
(and maybe broccoli raab and Simpson Elite...but I'm not sure)

Radish:
Round Black Spanish*
French Dressing
Watermelon radish*

Carrots:
Dragon

Herbs:
Lovage*
Korean mint*
Curled Chervil*
Genovese basil*
Mammoth basil*
Sage*
Italian parsley
Greek basil+

(*denotes a new item or variety)
(+ denotes items to be planted VERY soon, but didn't warrent boring you with a whole new post)
I was going to continue planting seeds tonight, but it's raining. :-( (but yeah for the already planted seeds!)

whew!

Shhhh - can you keep a secret?

So can I. HA!

I have to get my rear in gear and plant the rest of my herbs and greens (I'll post my list later) before CiBaby and I go off on a secret excursion tomorrow, leaving before the butt crack of dawn. More on that later, I don't want to spoil the surprise.

The Growing Challenge - 2 flats down

a million more to go

(one of the very lonely flats in my dishevelled growing room)

Okay not a million but at the rate I'm going it sure feels like it! Thankfully CiBaby has been exhausted after lunch the past couple of days, giving me a wee bit of time to throw some seeds into the soil.


The Growing Challenge, started by Melinda at Elements in Time: Creating Edible Landscaping, has taken over my growing room and has pushed my rear in gear to get back into starting the vast majority of my veggie and herb garden from seed. The challenge is to grow at least one new thing from seed than I did last year (which won't be hard since I copped out and bought most things last year). But if I follow the "rules" I need to grow something I've never grown before, which is a challenge for this gardener as I've grown a lot, and a lot of it from seed. And remember, I live in the city, with a typical city lot.

My garden usually starts out neat and tidy, but doesn't end that way.

beginning:
end:
(I work to eek out every last possible inch by using inter-planting methods. I've even started encroaching on the flowerbeds in the front!)

This years list includes: (* denotes a new item or variety)

Tomatoes (which CiBaby loves - just like her Mama!):
Black from Tula*
Big Rainbow
Long Tom*
Bloody Butcher
Mortgage Lifter
Green Zebra
Mexico Midgets
Christmas Grapes
Green Grapes

Peppers:
King of the North*
Jimmy Nardello's
Holy Mole

Eggplant:
Listada de Gandia
Bambino

The rest of my planting list is to come, as I plant it!

Prior to planting these 2 flats, I had the gardening itch really bad and I'm trying my hand at growing a few items (and possibly adding more) in the growing room only.

from bottom left: looseleaf lettuce, cress*, mache*, watermelon radish*