Garden Log -- February 7, 2019

Goodness, I really need to catch up with this log -- I've been working hard to get the seedlings started, but haven't taken time to document. I really need to put this all down so I don't forget when all of these were started.

I've pretty much "potted up" all of the tomatoes that germinated and there's about 2 large trays of those. 

These pictures are a couple of weeks old now, so they've grown quite a bit from here.  I'm putting a fan on them in the greenhouse to strengthen their stems and they're coming along just great! Don't you love my new big white trays!? They're VERY sturdy and hard and so easy to pick up and move around compared to those flimsy black 1020 trays. I got two of them from Amazon, and I'll add a couple every year until I have all I need.

So.... my germination rate with the tomatoes was not that great, so I cleaned out the tray and planted a few more of some varieties that I really want to grow this year. After that I think I'll be done with the tomatoes. There's so many really interesting types and I just want to grow them all!

The peppers are just as slow to germinate as every other year, so I'm not terribly worried about them yet.  I'll probably just throw them in the corner like I do every year until they decide to show up just to prove me wrong. They're obstinate that way.

Next up is a tray of herbs of every type (but mostly basil, which I love, love, love!) I have some dills, sages, fennel, etc. Some are up now and I'll be transplanting them up to Solo cups as they do.

Then I planted a tray of morning glories, Dutchman's pipe vine, and some bluebonnets.  The morning glories are up and transplanted up to bigger pots, but only two bluebonnets are up so far, and nothing so far with the Dutchman's pipe vine.  I'm going to give them plenty of time -- not giving up yet.

Then a 12 pack of two different types of tomatillo - Gigante' Verde and Heirloom Green.  They've all come up and been transplanted up. This photo is a about 2 weeks old - they've huge now!

Meanwhile I'm starting the garden clean up which means I'm harvesting as much of the fall/winter garden as possible.  All of the cabbages are picked, including this gorgeous Scarlette (F1) Chinese cabbage.  This is the "crunchiest" cabbage I've ever grown, it's so full of water it snaps when you put any pressure on it.  It's pretty tasty, too! We had three of these.

Update on the fava beans - they've bloomed.  The Extra Precoce A Grano Violleto is in full bloom, while the Aqua Dulce is just starting. I'm hoping it's still cool enough for it to form pods, this plant really likes cold weather.

Next up is harvest for all of the carrots. I'm going to need John's help with these - there's digging involved! I've brought in just enough for a meal when I need them, but I really need to get them out of the way now.

Our fruit trees are all confused - they think it's spring.  We're expecting a frost tonight and tomorrow night, so I'm hoping the weatherman is wrong (he often is.) We'll just hope and pray - all of these trees are way too big to cover.  This is one of our two nectarine trees.  So pretty.

The plum trees have bloomed and are already dropping their blooms. Waiting to see what fruit shows up. It looks like snow under these trees with all of the blossoms - and the bees are all over these things.

I'll close this post out with a picture of the bluebonnets that are coming up near our front entrance.  John's been trying for years to get a stand of these going and we've had one or two come up every year, but this year I guess all the stars aligned and there's more then a dozen out there coming up! Yea! Can't wait to see the flowers!