Happy Easter!
Greenhouse Update:
Seeds that germinated from the first batch of herbs, celery and brassicas are doing great. They have all been up-potted into 3.5” square pots. The ones we haven’t sold yet are growing bigger every day in our outdoor greenhouse. These include: Sweet Basil, Lemon Basil, Common Chives, Fernleaf Dill, Florence Fennel, Sweet Marjoram, Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley, Common Thyme, Sweet Violet, Catnip, Waltham Broccoli, Arcadia Broccoli, Snowball Cauliflower, Copenhagen Market Cabbage, Franklin hybrid Brussels Sprouts, Tango hybrid Celery, several different kinds of lettuce and a spring salad mix called Ovation Greens, which includes Red Mustard, Mizuna, Tatsoi, Kale & Arugula. Mmm, delicious! Unless otherwise noted, all vegetable varieties are open-pollinated heirlooms.
On the Bench:
Currently sprouting on the bench is the second batch of herbs, along with all the heirloom summer vegetables, including the following: Cilantro, Caraway, Tarragon, Sage, Rosemary, Moss-Curled Parsley, Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley, Sweet Marjoram, Black Beauty Eggplant, Jalapeno Pepper, Golden Calwonder Bell Pepper (green to golden), Calwonder Bell Pepper (green to red), and the following varieties of heirloom tomatoes: Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Chocolate Cherry Tomato, Mortgage Lifter, Pink Brandywine, Roma VFN, and Yellow Brandywine.
Things I’ve Learned this Month:
Certain seeds like parsley and rosemary must be stratified for at least a week in the freezer, then soaked overnight, before they will sprout. Even then, parsley will take its sweet time, usually about a 70% germination rate after 2 weeks. Other seeds, like cilantro and sage, seem to benefit from cold-moist stratification, which is where you put the seeds between a couple layers of damp paper towel & keep them in the fridge for at least a week.
Beagle puppies like to eat broccoli sprouts. Our neighbor’s female beagle puppy made a quick snack of 17 Waltham broccoli plants! I don’t blame her - I tried one myself, and they are delicious! The plants all survived - strong root systems, and the ones that lost all their leaves are sprouting new ones. We have so many broccoli plants we’re trying to plant them in our friends’ gardens!
Celery seeds need light to germinate. Most of our celery has its second set of leaves now.
French Tarragon cannot be grown from seed. True French Tarragon plants produce sterile seed; therefore I am in search of real, live French Tarragon plants from which to take cuttings.
Sage and Rosemary are easier to start from cuttings than growing them from seed. I am still trying to grow them both from seed, because I’ve heard the plants are of higher quality this way. I had 0% germination with the first batch, so I am trying again with the second batch, this time following stratification.
Not all seeds like to be grown on a heat mat. Cilantro in particular, and the other herbs which require stratification - I suspect may do better under cool germination conditions. Except parsley, which likes 70 degrees to sprout.
Not all seeds like to be constantly moist. Some like marjoram and thyme seem to do better when we let them dry out a little between waterings.
I am going to have to create a page for each specific herb to keep track of all the things I’m learning.
Spring plant sales are oriented much more around retail holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day than actual correct planting times for this area of Ohio. We will need to follow this schedule next year instead of aiming to have things ready by correct planting times.
Near Future: Our next delivery is scheduled for 4/29, and the third delivery around 5/5 or 5/6. Once the summer vegetables are ready, we will revisit our first two stores to deliver these in mid-May. Our clients seem to like my brochures, labels and signage. I enjoy every aspect of this work - there is so much to learn!
Greenhouse Update:
Seeds that germinated from the first batch of herbs, celery and brassicas are doing great. They have all been up-potted into 3.5” square pots. The ones we haven’t sold yet are growing bigger every day in our outdoor greenhouse. These include: Sweet Basil, Lemon Basil, Common Chives, Fernleaf Dill, Florence Fennel, Sweet Marjoram, Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley, Common Thyme, Sweet Violet, Catnip, Waltham Broccoli, Arcadia Broccoli, Snowball Cauliflower, Copenhagen Market Cabbage, Franklin hybrid Brussels Sprouts, Tango hybrid Celery, several different kinds of lettuce and a spring salad mix called Ovation Greens, which includes Red Mustard, Mizuna, Tatsoi, Kale & Arugula. Mmm, delicious! Unless otherwise noted, all vegetable varieties are open-pollinated heirlooms.
On the Bench:
Currently sprouting on the bench is the second batch of herbs, along with all the heirloom summer vegetables, including the following: Cilantro, Caraway, Tarragon, Sage, Rosemary, Moss-Curled Parsley, Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley, Sweet Marjoram, Black Beauty Eggplant, Jalapeno Pepper, Golden Calwonder Bell Pepper (green to golden), Calwonder Bell Pepper (green to red), and the following varieties of heirloom tomatoes: Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Chocolate Cherry Tomato, Mortgage Lifter, Pink Brandywine, Roma VFN, and Yellow Brandywine.
Things I’ve Learned this Month:
Certain seeds like parsley and rosemary must be stratified for at least a week in the freezer, then soaked overnight, before they will sprout. Even then, parsley will take its sweet time, usually about a 70% germination rate after 2 weeks. Other seeds, like cilantro and sage, seem to benefit from cold-moist stratification, which is where you put the seeds between a couple layers of damp paper towel & keep them in the fridge for at least a week.
Beagle puppies like to eat broccoli sprouts. Our neighbor’s female beagle puppy made a quick snack of 17 Waltham broccoli plants! I don’t blame her - I tried one myself, and they are delicious! The plants all survived - strong root systems, and the ones that lost all their leaves are sprouting new ones. We have so many broccoli plants we’re trying to plant them in our friends’ gardens!
Celery seeds need light to germinate. Most of our celery has its second set of leaves now.
French Tarragon cannot be grown from seed. True French Tarragon plants produce sterile seed; therefore I am in search of real, live French Tarragon plants from which to take cuttings.
Sage and Rosemary are easier to start from cuttings than growing them from seed. I am still trying to grow them both from seed, because I’ve heard the plants are of higher quality this way. I had 0% germination with the first batch, so I am trying again with the second batch, this time following stratification.
Not all seeds like to be grown on a heat mat. Cilantro in particular, and the other herbs which require stratification - I suspect may do better under cool germination conditions. Except parsley, which likes 70 degrees to sprout.
Not all seeds like to be constantly moist. Some like marjoram and thyme seem to do better when we let them dry out a little between waterings.
I am going to have to create a page for each specific herb to keep track of all the things I’m learning.
Spring plant sales are oriented much more around retail holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day than actual correct planting times for this area of Ohio. We will need to follow this schedule next year instead of aiming to have things ready by correct planting times.
Near Future: Our next delivery is scheduled for 4/29, and the third delivery around 5/5 or 5/6. Once the summer vegetables are ready, we will revisit our first two stores to deliver these in mid-May. Our clients seem to like my brochures, labels and signage. I enjoy every aspect of this work - there is so much to learn!
1 comment:
Cool! Love the new blog, and am very jealous that you have room to grow a lot of plants!
I have so many questions: Where do you get your seeds? Are you composting? Do you have tips for getting rid of aphids without scary pesticides (they killed off a bunch of my plants last year ... boo!)
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