Ginger + Turmeric= A Bit O Spring

It's BEAUTIFUL outside!!  I've been so out of wack during this long winter and now with the sun and warmer weather this weekend, I feel like I'm getting back to my old self!  So what's been up??  A lot of seed starting. That's what!  And in addition to the usual suspects, I decided to try growing my own ginger and turmeric. :-)  On my windowsill, I have organic turmeric and ginger rhizomes ready to plant.

Seed Starting: Onions

I started my onions in January as usual but unfortunately, the winter has been lousy.  Last year, I started scallions and red onions in plastic water jug "green houses" and they did really really well.

So I did it again this year.

Feb 2014: Winter Garden Update

Winter SUCKS!  This winter especially!!  My raised beds have had it rough. :-(  As a warmer day today, I just had to go out!!  I was very curious as to who survived, what I needed to do better, etc.  There were some serious surprises, which makes me even more enthusiastic about growing and the mysteries and resilience of plants!!  Sometimes, some plants scare the living crap out of me!!

This guy!! This guy is my rogue cilantro in Bed #1!!  This guy has been under maybe 5 to 8 inches of snow up until yesterday. If you recall, I didn't replant these seeds.  They just started growing in Sept.-ish. Just showed up! So I didn't bother to use extenders or anything since I was planning to rest the bed and just grow a cover crop (vetch).  I thought for sure the cilantro would die from freezing, snow, and wind, but NOPE!!  A true survivor.  This is guy wins the award this year!

August 2013: Garden Update + Hugelkultur

It's AUGUST!!  AUGUST! This summer is really going by fast!  I've been trying to get all my fall crops in before Sept.  I sowed mustard seeds and lettuce seeds but of course, it's become a buffet for my slug population.  Thankfully, some have survived and sprouted but I ended up having to sow more seeds, which sadly were eaten within a day.  So, I decided to start mustard seeds indoors using wet paper towels!!

This is the komatsuna.  They germinated in a day and this pic is from today, DAY 2.  I'll be able to set these guys out tomorrow morning.  The Korean mustard is being started using the moist paper towel method, too.  Apparently, carrot seeds can also be germinated this way if germination is an issue.  I've never had a problem with carrots but it's good to know!

Seed Starting 2013

Last year, I started my seeds in Feb. but the weather started to really warm up earlier than expected and my early Spring planting didn't happen.  So I decided to start some of my seeds now.  Today I started my onion flats, Thai eggplants and Swiss chard.  I also direct sowed red beet seeds in the raised beds.