Indoor Seedlings Update

First of all, my seedlings look woefully far behind compared to other bloggers even those that are in a close climate. Next year I'll be starting them earlier.

I'm very happy to report that I got germination from all of the varieties of tomatoes I planted. I wasn't sure that I would since I saved many of the seeds myself and this was my first time saving seeds.
Now I have no idea what I'll do with the four additional tomatoes I started in egg shells just last week. I don't have room for that many tomatoes. Hopefully I can give them away.

I also have one pepper sprouted. I dug around in the other cells and see that they others have a very small root protruding. I covered them back up and I'll wait.

My golden beets are doing well. They didn't germinate in all the cells, but since each seed you plant is actually a cluster, I gently pulled a few sprouts and spread them into the empty cells.
I spread out my bright lights chard in a similar way to the beets. Last year I didn't know that I should thin the chard and so I ended up with 3 plants clustered together in one spot. I think I should get a higher yield with each plant having more room. They are beginning to get their first set of true leaves. However, it seems that all the seedlings of the bright lights variety are of a reddish hue. Maybe they will change as they mature, but if not I don't really mind all the red, and hopefully my Pot of Gold yellow will round things out.
The oregano and thyme I started last week sprouted, the thyme first and then the oregano just today. When I planted them I couldn't believe how small the seeds were. I just sprinkled some in. I figure I'll thin it out when they get bigger. The thyme is pictured below.
Lastly my volunteer tomato is looking a little yellow. I think I'm over watering it.
I'm looking forward to seeing what else sprouts this week!

Garden Update 4/19

The warm and sunny weather we had all last week has done some good. I hope it continues so I can work outside on my vacation this week.

Here's the outdoor round up in the GOOD, SO-SO, and the UGLY format.

Here's the GOOD:
This week's warm weather sprouted radishes. (And peas seem to be close behind. I saw one beginning to peak through the soil today)
A few of last year's onions that never sprouted, or died back wintered over and are making progress. Similarly I have a few small leeks as well.
My garlic is loving the warmth and protection of the row cover as well as the sunny days we've been having.
The SO-SO:
The romaine lettuce is just alright. Not much progress, but not looking bad.
The spinach is putting on new leaves but they are staying small.The UGLY:
My kale looks like this, as does my arugula(it was so bad, I didn't want a photo). I guess didn't harden them off very long. However, they are under row cover. Is it too warm or too cool? I don't know. The inner leaves on both seem to be doing alright so I think they will recover.

Meat Smoker Link

Way back in November, I mentioned that my husband had built a home-made smoker which was used the previous year for our Thanksgiving turkey. Some people commented they would like to know how he made it. This weekend he finished some upgrades and wrote about it on his blog.

Sowing Seeds 4/18

Today I planted:

(4) Pot of Gold Yellow Chard - For some reason mine did not sprout the first two times I planted them. I seeded some for my mom in peat pots and they all sprouted fine. So I'm trying mine again in peat pots

(4) Arugula- My arugula that I transplanted is looking rather sad. This will be my insurance if it fails, or a successive planting otherwise.

(4) Oak Leaf Lettuce

(6) Tatsoi (an Asian green)

Sage

Rosemary (I'm rather late on this but I just bought the seeds)

I also started the bottom of a milk jug full of nasturtiums and another jug of marigolds.

Pictures of the garden and indoor seedlings will follow tomorrow.

April Garden Bloom Day

Here's my entry into May Dream's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Purple Striped Crocuses

White CrocusGlory of the Snow

And a few signs of things to come:

Sedum

Pussy Willow

Lilac Buds

Baby Placket Pull Over

I knit this sweater for some friends of ours who are about to have their third child, and first son. I made it out of cotton since he's a spring baby and because it will easily go in the wash. It always looks as though the proportions are odd when I knit this pattern, but then I have to remember that baby's bodies are odd proportions. It's a free pattern from purlsoho.com called Child's Placket-Neck Pullover and will download as a pdf from the link. It's a very easy pattern that is knit from the bottom up to where the arms join in. You knit the arms and then use a raglan decreases to knit the body and arms together. The only seaming to do is joining the underarms to the sweater. Next time I make one I might try some stripes.