Thursday, February 05, 2009

It's that time...

By now, if you're a gardener, I bet you've already received your garden seeds, or are real close to placing your orders. Honestly, this year I really tried to dial back how much I bought. See for yourself...


Aside from a couple extra packs of veggie seeds (swiss chard Rainbow Lights for one!) that I ordered with my annual/perennial seeds from Thompson & Morgan, what you see above is all I ordered for veggies (plus there's some flower seeds as well).

I only ordered one variety of tomatoes this year. I've sorted through all my old seeds, alphabetized them, consolidated some, thrown out any packs that were empty (why'd I save those!?), and realized even with OLD seeds I should still have enough germination to use what I already own. I may have some seeds that are really old, like tomato seeds from as far back as 2003, but I'd rather try using those all up this year than buying more if I don't need to.

This year I'll be trying some new stuff, like leeks, chinese cabbage, and Tuscan kale... I figured, even if I was dialing back on getting a bunch of new varieties of tomatoes to try, I still need to try SOMETHING fun and new, right?

And here's something else I'm trying this year - growing my own ginger. I found instructions online where you just buy a healthy looking piece (not all dried out and shriveled) at the grocery store, wrap it in damp paper towel, and store it in a bag in a warm place, such as on top of the fridge.


So here's my two pieces, which I set up about a week and a half ago. I've checked a few times for mold - no problems!! And it looks like there are small sprouts starting. not sure if those are roots (will it form roots?) or stalks...I'll have to wait and see. I figure it won't be much longer before I can pot up the two tubers. It sounds like you get your best/hottest ginger by about 265 days after starting, so while I won't have massive crops of the stuff right away, I'm hoping we have some nice ginger to enjoy by late summer!

7 comments:

Sharon Andy Holderman said...

for those of you who don't know Jeph that well, this is WAYYYYYYYYY scaled back for him! The key is to ask him how many seeds he has in his leftovers! That may indicate how overboard he has gone in the past.

I chide with love, because he gives me some extra seeds - yay!

Jeph said...

Thppppt! ;-)

But yes, I DO have a lot of old seeds as well. AND I placed and order with T&M for annuals/perennials that hasn't shown up yet. But, honestly, I DID dial back this year!

Brettcajun said...

I tried planting squash one year and ended up with a crop of 95% ornamental (useless) squash. Perhaps the soil conditions weren't well. I dunno. Now I buy vegetables in a grocery store. Way easier!

Good luck with your crop though. Have fun planting your seed!

FinnyKnits said...

I haven't ordered my seeds yet BUT I do have a friend holding some of her leftie overs for me. I'm only ordering a few packs since I know I have a ton left over from last year.

Meanwhile I can't believe you are growing chard. WATCH THE F OUT!

Jeph said...

Brett -
Thanks for stopping by!
Planting seed is one of my favorite things! Wow, up here, if you can get past a surprise late frost, and if your plants can survive the squash bugs and cucumber beetles, then squash is your go-to crop if you want an over abundance of something!
Well - that and swiss chard. And speaking of which...

Finny -
LMAO YES I'll grow it EVERY year! I bet you do too! You bitch about it, but you love the stuff! Admit it - your summer (and fall) (and winter) would be incomplete without it!

Granted, I still have quite a bit in the freezer, so I guess I better work on using that up, hunh?

I'll be curious to hear how well you do at restricting your ordering. It really IS hard to do!

Anonymous said...

I just ordered more seeds...I was going to be good, but couldn't resist getting some herbs that I had missed. We are doing the rainbow swiss chard too. It looks so yummy. You can use up some of your leftover by tossing it on pan fried potatoes (with curry powder), saute for a few minutes to wilt and serve. Yummy pairing of starch and greens.

Jeph said...

Ooh, the potatoes and swiss chard sound REALLY good together - thanks for the tip!