How Time Flies

A month ago, I began but didn't finish a post, and would have titled it "In a frozen hell". A lot has happened since then. 

The first being that my seeds have sprouted and grown up into awesome little baby plants.

And when those little baby plants got their leaves, I put them into the larger pots I've been making from a collection of plastic drink cups. And when they got even bigger, I planted them outside!

So far I have planted, as seedlings:


- Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage
- Buttercrunch and Black-seeded Simpson lettuce
- Borage
- Bloomsdale longstanding spinach
- Red Russian kale
- Rainbow chard

as seed:

- Dill
- Cilantro
- 2 types of carrots, gotta check on those
- Hollow crown parsnips
- strawberry spinach
- peas
- more spinach

and as starts:

- Quinault strawberries
- Jersey Green Giant asparagus
- Mt. Hood, Sterling, and Willamette hops

Not to mention the raspberries, whose leaves are unfurling, the garlic that I started last fall and is well on its way, the mint, sage, rosemary, thyme, and chives which are starting to sprout back, the rye which survived the winter, and the couple of radicchio roots I came across when I was digging spots for strawberries.

Oh, and tomatoes:

Courtesy of Rutgers Gardens, and there's another sale coming up in 2 weekends. Plus all the other seeds that are still in my bathtub.

 What I've Learned (most important part)

1. Start EARLY. With new, cold-weather spring crops, you can start at the end of January. I began my first round of seeds indoors at the end of February, which gave me enough time, but a lot of my seedlings weren't as large or vigorous as I would have liked, or as an extra month would have allowed, when planted outside. The problem here is that to do this, space is necessary, so I need to...

2. Work on space provisions, lighting, and fertilization of seedlings. I'll tell you what I come up with.

3. 2 FULL WEEKS to harden off. Lest your plants get sunburned, which mine did. When they go into the outdoors, for the first day leave them in the shade, then the next day in sun for an hour only. Every day, for 2 weeks, add an hour a day, until you can eventually leave them outside overnight, and in the sun without them crisping up.

Like a kid in a candy store.

Gardener in a seed store is more like it. I'm addicted. As I scroll through online inventories and flip back and forth through catalogs, I just want it all. I want to plant all the seeds. There are so many beautiful plants and so many I have never seen before. 

I already have unopened seed packets from last year, as well as open seed packets with seeds still in them from last year, because I bought too many as it was, on top of the seeds I saved. There was just no space left to keep planting. 

The lack of space won't be an issue this year, since I do plan on adding another garden plot, at least a few hundred square feet. And I'm very happy about the seed I did save: Sweet Bantam corn, Waltham butternuts, Long Island cheese pumpkins, dill, cilantro, 3 kinds of basil (purple, globe, and some other one), various beans, and Purple Osaka mustard (which was already a volunteer from when I planted it 2 years prior). Ideally, in a year or two, I won't even need the catalogs anymore, and I'll have all the seed I need from what I've grown before.

I'm leaving Burpee behind this year. Almost everything I had previously was from them, on those big rotating seed displays that pop up in Home Depot and WalMart. They do carry hybrids and some GMOs, but also heirlooms and organics, though I don't want to buy from them anymore due to the money. I don't drink Budweiser or Miller not just 'cause it tastes like shit, but also because those companies monopolize the beer market and make it difficult for smaller companies to survive. I can imagine it's similar with Burpee vs. smaller seed suppliers, and even so, Burpee is a lot more expensive than the smaller companies I'm finding.

One supplier I plan to use is the Kitazawa Seed Company. Recommended by my professor Marc Handelman, they specialize in Asian specialty plants, and Asian varieties of the same plants I'm accustomed to seeing in the US. I'm picking up Chinese bellflower, mulukhiyya, Burgundy okra, maybe an eggplant and radish variety or two, and ngo gai.

I'm also looking at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Check out their winter squash selection, holy shit! I love squash, want to grow a lot, and they seem to have it all. When it comes to squash, I want to focus on growing North American landraces, and they have a spectacular variety of native types. They carry some other very cool natives, and I'm looking to step up the number of native plants I have around.

 My Patriot Supply carries only non GMO varieties, and they're having a sale (!!!) right now, on top of already great prices. And then Renee's Garden has some fantastic prices on potato and onion starts, and they carry all organics.

For now I'm back to browsing, and making my credit card cry just a little bit. I will tell you how much I spend on seeds and supplies, and over time compare that to how much I would be spending on everything, "organically", in stores. It's great to come out on top.