Sunny Days and Seedlings

In contrast to last weekend’s cold, wintry weather,  this weekend was balmy and spring-like.  I took advantage of the sunny conditions and let my seedlings sit outside for the day.  They loved the sun!

Everything seems to be growing nicely.   The peppers, pictured above, are getting big enough to transplant to larger containers.

Last weekend, I moved the first flat of tomatoes to larger pots and gave them a dose of fish emulsion.  It looks like the seedlings have already doubled in size.  The second flat of tomatoes, started last weekend, are already sprouting.

I also started a flat of squash last week, and the zucchini, below, is beginning to appear.

My snow peas and sugar snaps had grown so big, I just had to transplant them.  They are now living in pots, pictured below.

Next weekend, I’ll start some green beans and eggplant.  And if I’m really brave, I’ll start the purple hull peas.

Until then, I’m hoping the rain lets up some so I can get in the garden beds to weed and dig in the cover crop so I’ll have somewhere to plant all these lovely seedlings!

 

Advertisements

Read Full Post »

I Spy…

A pepper seedling!

So now I know the trick:  when seedlings aren’t germinating, just write a blog post and that will generate the extra energy necessary to get the seeds going.

This seedling is most likely a chocolate bell.  Here’s hoping at least one of the other varieties also sprouts.

 

Read Full Post »

Tis the season to start making holiday gifts

My niece B. posted a query on Facebook last week: was it too early to start putting up her Christmas decorations?

I’m thinking she should at least wait until after Halloween, but whatever makes her happy…

Her post did get me thinking that the holidays are just around the corner. Time to start thinking about gifts from the garden. Yes, I’ve got quite a lot of canned goods, but I’m hoping to actually keep a few for my own consumption this year!

So today I put together something different: pepper vinegar in antique cruets. I was inspired by Granny B, who used to make her own hot pepper vinegar to add a little punch of flavor to greens.

Plus, those red and green jalepenos look so festive, don’t they?

After de-seeding the peppers, I cut them into strips and put them in the cruets. Then I filled the jars with vinegar and added the stoppers.

It’ll take a few weeks to infuse the vinegar with pepper flavoring, so there will be time for me to taste test.

I hope the vinegar tastes good! There’s definitely plenty of greens to use it on.

Read Full Post »