Meanwhile, inside...

Today it is rainy and cool (50F). The rain is quite welcome as our soil is pretty dry right now. I am hoping that, after the rain, everything will come to life.

Some of the trees directly outside of my apartment are just starting to get small leaves. And the grass is getting a little greener, but not growing much yet. The same is true for my cabbages and onions outside. While they're still alive, they haven't grown much yet. The seeds I planted outside (spinach, carrots, radishes, and lettuce) have germinated with the exception of the slower carrots. But they haven't moved past the seed leaf stage yet.

Meanwhile, inside, my plants are growing faster than before. It was sunny and windy this week. I left the window open and the wind blew my peppers over. They are recovering nicely and are, hopefully, stronger due to the wind stress.


Tomatoes.


Peppers, tomatoes, and okra.

I planted marigold seeds that were from last year's garden. In hindsight, I really didn't NEED to plant them indoors since they germinate so quickly. But, what a delight to have marigolds blooming under my grow lights! The photographs do not do the vibrant colors justice.


Marigolds and basil.


Marigold.


Marigold.

My okra has been another suprisingly delightful plant. The seedlings are beautiful with red stems and fuzzy leaves. They also grow quickly.

Okra.


Okra.

Ground Breaking

We put the first of the plants outside last week. I was worried about hardening them off. But they have been in a sunny window with a fan on them. So we transplanted them outside in the morning on a grey, rainy day. They seem to have survived.

Cabbage (a tricot!)

Onion seedlings.

I was more worried that the bunny would eat the cabbages. But so far, so good.

Unscathed cabbage. So far.

Bunny-trimmed tulip.

I am excited to see buds on the tulips and it looks like the daffodils are coming up now.

But, of course, it's the weed patches that are the greenest spots in the garden!

Soil Temperature

I bought a soil thermometer today so that I can figure out when to plant my early spring plants. The instructions advise inserting the thermometer "to a maximum depth of 2" to 3".

My soil temperature at 2" was 74F, at 6" it was 49F.
Current air temperature is 53F (near today's high).

At first, it didn't make sense that the soil would be that warm. But when I felt the top of the soil, it did in fact feel like it could be 74 degrees. The deeper soil felt pretty cold, but not close to freezing.

The instructions recommend the following soil temperature ranges:

Dwarf Iris

It is a beautiful day in the garden. The sun is just coming up. The birds and squirrels are very active and talkative.

Today, my dwarf iris is blooming. I wish that I'd saved the packaging for the bulbs I planted last fall so I knew what to expect now. Fortunately, I didn't throw away my bulb planting map so I have some way of identifying what is coming up now.

Dwarf Iris

Bulb map. This area is 9 feet x 2+ feet.

The west side of my garden is the side of the garden that faces the road. Thus, I consider it the "front" edge of my garden. This western 1/3 of my garden will be my flower garden and the eastern 2/3 of my garden will be veggies.

Zone Map

I like living in the Midwest, but I am envious of everyone who lives in zones with bigger numbers.

Garden in Early April

Here's what my garden looks like today.

-Most of my bulbs are starting to stick their leaves out.
-My snow drops and crocuses are blooming.
-I've started making small beds in the southeast corner for early veggies.
-Predicted temps for the next week: lows of 29-37 degrees, highs of 46-55 degrees.


The bulbs are in the foreground, but too small to see from this distance.


New veggie beds starting to shape up.


Tulips.


Thriving chives.



Snow drops.

Dandelion!

Tulip.

The world's smallest crocuses.

Early iris.

Dream Grow Light

Like most Minnesotans, I have been dreaming of spring. It feels so close right now. My snow drops are blooming in the garden and the tulips and daffodils are sending forth their first shoots.

My plants are thriving under the grow lights. So far, I've had only a couple of mortalities. It turns out that cats like onion seedlings.

I've been enjoying looking at the garden blog of a woman who lives near Boston. She has a warmer climate (zone 6, compared to my zone 4a) so her garden is one step ahead of me. Today, I was looking at it and saw that her grow light set-up looks very similar to mine. Only she has more plants and longer lights. I felt pretty good about this because she has a bigger garden. I can only hope that I will have a bigger garden someday and need more grow lights.


These are my grow lights.

This is what I hope that my grow lights look like in the future.

This picture is from http://carletongarden.blogspot.com/

Seed Starting Calendars

University of Minnesota Seed Starting Calendar
This calendar does not specify zone, but the southern half of MN, including where this was written, is zone 4. This link will direct you to a page about how to start a vegetable garden and the calendar is at the bottom of the page. http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1422.html

Bachman's Seed Starting Calendar
This calendar is for zone 4. It is put together by a local nursery, Bachman's. http://www.bachmans.com/retail/tipsheets/Seed_and_Seeding/IndoorSeedStartingCalendar.cfm

Onions' First Haircut

I was wonering why all of my onions were laying down. So I looked online. The details vary, but most sources recommend allowing onion seedlings to grow to 4" tall, then trimming them to 3". This should be repeated as needed until the seedlings are transplanted outside. The physical movement of the seedlings during the trimming process promotes stiffness. And the shorter length promotes girth.


Before.


After.

Onion seedlings are tasty, by the way. They taste like mild chives.

Addendum, 4/11:
-My Candy Hybrid Onion is thriving. Each plant had one shoot that was 5" tall today. I trimmed these back to 3" again. All six seedlings are healthy.
-My Spanish Utah Onion, on the other hand, hasn't grown much at all. One plant shriveled up and died and one was eaten by my cat. Of six plants: 2 died, 2 are small and not too healthy looking, 2 are vigorous.

Morning Glory Transplant

I've heard that morning glories are hard to transplant. But my morning glories are getting too tall to live under the grow lights with the other plants. So I decided to try transplanting just one to see how it will do.



The empty spot in the middle is where the morning glory was. The tall morning glory on the left was the same size as the one that was transplanted. The roots were all the way to the edge of the dirt ball and already wrapping around. I tried to not disturb them.


Morning glory's new home. The holes in the seed leaves are actually from the seeds themselves tearing holes as they came off.

Addendum 4/7/09:

My morning glory is doing OK. A coule of the leaves have dried up and turned brown, but I suspect it is going to make it. I transplanted my other morning glories today.

Horse Manure

Dad brought me some fertilizer from home (courtesy of the horses). It rained the day after he put the manure in the ground so hopefully it is on its way to becoming one with the soil.


The bulbs are in the near half of the garden so the manure is just going on the other half of the garden (where the veggies will grow this summer).

I have been doing some research about horse manure:
1. Horse manure is best not applied fresh since the chemicals in the horse feces and urine (nitrogen and uric acid) may cause chemical burns to plants. Horse manure can be composted to avoid this problem.
2. Horse manure is a good source of bacteria which may be beneficial to garden plants. However, it is possible (though unlikely) that it can carry bacteria like E. coli that can make people sick.
3. Horse manure can be a source of weed seeds since horses' digestion is inefficient. There are processes that will decrease the seeds' viability.