Greenhouse seed starting

A greenhouse allows me to start growing year round! I do grow alot of things year round already!

 A greenhouse will allow me to extend the season on most things I grow! 

It may even be possible, that I could be eating Tomato's in December or January! 

That gets me really excited!

I have already started seeds in my greenhouse! I wasted no time getting started.

I love using these large flats to start lettuces and greens. Once my lettuces are about 2 inches tall, I transplant out to the big garden.

Here is how I plant in large flats.

I use weed mesh to line the bottom of my flats,so none of my soil falls through the cracks. I reuse the pieces until they start to get holes and can't be used anymore.

I add my seed starting mix to the flat and then moisten the soil before I sow my seeds.

These are the seeds I will be sowing. Some Chard, Lettuce Blend, Arugula, Sweet Greens & Reds along with some Bloomsdale Spinach. 

I sprinkle the seeds in sections, this way I have an idea of what is growing wear.

You can see the different seeds in the soil. I sprinkle a layer of soil across the top of the seeds and spray a mist of water over the top.

 I am trying a new type of growing container this year. Every year I like to see what's new.

I am trying Planters Pride Fiber Grow containers. They are fully Biodegradable which I love! I am always in search of items to use in my Organic garden.

 I will be starting Alpine Strawberries from seed in Fiber Grow Strips. 

I will keep you posted on how they work out! I just added seed started mix and seeds and watered.

The Alpine Strawberry seeds were very tiny. I used tweezers to sow the seeds. I did 5 seeds per pot. 

I have never grown them before. So I figured, I would  sow 5 seeds cross my fingers and hope for the best!

I will keep you updated on the process of starting Strawberries from seed.

I also started some Cilantro. 

Cilantro should sprout pretty quick. I use a ton of cilantro. I will be starting Cilantro every couple weeks. I have noticed that I have a few rouge Cilantro plants popping up in the main garden. 

At least Cilantro seeds are a little bigger, no tweezers required for this seed. I put 4 seeds in each pot. They will go outside as soon as they are a couple feet tall.

My first greenhouse seed sow!

I am so excited! Can you tell!

I will have many more greenhouse shares as time goes by. I am sure it will be alot of trial and error as I get used to the temps in the greenhouse. I hope you are all ready for a fun new journey in the greenhouse!

Do you grow in a greenhouse?

What are some of your tips for starting seeds?

Happy Gardening Friends!!!

A weekend of Gardening...

Spring has sprung in our back yard! Which means lots of gardening. Introducing veggie starts to the outdoor world! We did so much this weekend, yet we didnt make a dent. More work to be done next weekend, after the birthday party of my lil miss Kyla who will be 7.

Here's what we accomplished this weekend!

We picked our first Radishes! French Breakfast and Cherry Belle.

Swiss Chard, Torpedo Scallions with the Radishes and some Romaine lettuce made a great salad with our dinner!

We introduced Hansel Eggplant to the Garden along with some shallots.

In this raised bed we planted more Shallots, Baby Pak Choi & Cilantro. More will be added as time  passes.

We also started Beans and Flowers!

Here is what we started.

Beans:

Tri Color Pole Beans

Black Eyed Peas

Dragon Tounge

Lima Beans

Kentucky Bush

Blue Lake

Flowers:

Orange Cosmos

Bachelor Buttons

Forget Me Nots

Thumbegia

Crimson Morning Glorys

Dbl. Gleam Nasturtiums

Butterfly Bush

Pepper Boy Poppys

Cosmo Rose Dbl. Bon Bon

Cardinal Climber

Echinacia

Love Lies Bleeding

Then I started more veggies in this mini greenhouse.

Veggies:

Endeavor Cucumbers

Lemon Cucumbers

Yellow Crookneck Squash

Cumin

Okra

Sweet Watermelon

French Pumpkin

3 colors of Zuchinni

Kellogs Beefstake Tomatos

Jalepanos

Lavendar

I also stuck all my Tomato's and Pepper's outside to start hardening them off before adding them to the garden. I am almost certain I will not be without Tomatos this summer.

My Potato's are getting ready to hit the garden this week too! I am growing Russets and French Fingerling.

The herbs will hit the herb garden this week. I love fresh herbs when cooking!

Scallions are ready for picking! We enjoyed some in our salads this weekend!

What did you do this weekend? I hope you enjoyed a wonderful weekend!

Happy Gardening!!!

As the Garden Grows, Expands & Gets a little work here and there..

This time of year Gardeners are super busy getting seeds started & getting the dirt ready for planting.

I have been attempting to get things done . Garden beds need to be cleaned out and dug up, seedlings need to be thinned. Raised beds are a work in progress! I have been working on my compost pile and getting all the rabbit poo ready to make the first batch of tea for the plants I grew indoors. In about a month, most of those veggies I have been growing indoors will be in the ground.

This week we are having lots of rain, which is good! This will make the soil more workable in the next few weeks and will hopefully fill the rain barrels full of water for future use. Here are a few pictures of whats happening in my Garden Spot!

I have also had the Hubby and a friend dig out an old shrub to make room for a Pomagranite Tree!

A little more clean up of this area is still needed, but this is where my tree will grow!

Here is the garlic bed I started!

It's off to a great start!

Here's the Red Onion Bed!

Here's how its looking today!

The Radishes are doing well! I have 3 differnt kinds growing!

White Icicle, Cherry Belle and English Breakfast (I think thats what the last one is called)

The Wheel Burrow Lettuce bed is doing great! I have multiple greens growing plus some scallions!

I have Black Seeded Simpson, Arugula, Italian Greens & a Gourmet Blend. The best part of growing lettuce this way, NO SNAILS!

In this bed I have Brocolli, Spitfire Nasturtiums and some Lettuce of some sort thats sprouting from last year! I have also added some eggshells in hopes that the snails leave my lettuce and brocolli alone!

The Peas are starting to work there way up the trellis. More Pea pictures to come as soon as they grow in a special design I have come up with! I think you will enjoy seeing the way I grew these Peas! But its not where I want it yet. So you will have to wait a bit longer.

My Spitfire Nasturtiums are doing great. I have them growing in a few places. Im going to train these to grow up my tiki tourches to hide the poles! Hope it will make it look more natural.

Here are my Turnips. I still need to thin them out. They are off to a great start too!

Swiss Chard is still going strong! I love the red! I cant wait to add some chard with my flower beds.

Here's a view of a small section of the garden. There is some Fennyl, Spinach, Celery, Chard & Onion.

Here is 2 of my kids helping me out. 2 out of 4 like to garden, not bad! They are big helpers! My son always has big ideas and my lil girl loves to just pick everything, lol.

Here is a new bed we started. This will hold our Baby Pak Choi (Green Fortune) It will tolerate some of the summer heat! Im hoping to add other Herbs around it for shade.

Well, thats all I have going on so far! I have been growing alot of seeds indoors. Soon all that will be joining the garden.

Whats growing in your garden?

Happy Gardening!!!

Dreamy Red Swiss Chard, A bolt of Color for any Garden!

Swiss Chard has become one of my favorite leafy greens! I love the lush green leaves with its bright red veins. It screams a vibrant, Boom Boom Pow to the dull greens that surround her in the Garden! Am I being extreme? Maybe, or maybe im not saying enough about this vibrant green! They say Swiss Chard is the new Spinach! I say Swiss Chard deserves to shine on her own! I just love the look of Swiss Chard in the Garden!

I usually start my Chard directly into the garden! I toss a couple packets of seed in its designated spot! I try to plant the seeds a couple inches apart in a wide row, near other lettuces and leafy greens with a few scallions tossed through out! You can usually start harvesting your Chard in about 60 days! Its a fast growing food that you can see and enjoy early. I usually let mine grow about 5 to 6 inches from the ground and cut it about an inch above the soil. The more you harvest the more it grows back! Swiss Chard just keeps on giving. Another great tip, keep your chard cut back. Dont just cut the large outside leaves, they are the oldest of the plant, yet still good to eat. Cut back the whole plant to about an inch from the ground. You will see new tender leaves in a few days and produce another harvest within a couple of weeks!

As you can see, I have Chard growing with some Spinach. There are some great ways to enjoy Swiss Chard. Chard tastes great in green salads, stir frys and you can cook it down like other greens!

If you havent grown Swiss Chard, try it! Its a gourgeous leafy green with flair. If anything you have added color to your garden. You can also try adding some Chard to flower beds for extra green foliage.

Happy Gardening!

Happy New Year & A look at whats growing in the Garden...

Happy New Year to all of my Friends and fellow Bloggers!

I thought I would just post a few pics of whats happening in the Winter Garden! Not too much going on but enough to hold me over till summer time!

Enjoy!

The Lettuce is growing nicely!

Swiss Chard is looking nice! Harvested some for a salad, super yummy!

Red Onion growing very well.

Fennyl, growing nicely from what went to seed over the summer!

Bok Choy, It doesnt look so good! But the flowers are pretty!

Celery Is bright green and looking nice! Cant wait to harvest the celery and dry the leaves for soups.

Im not sure what these are, but they pop up everywhere in the winter months throughout my yard. Very pretty though.

Happy Gardening my Friends!

Winter Garden

Today, I was playing catch up on some of my blog posts I have been meaning to write. I wrote about my Winter Garden on my Recycling Gardener blog when I meant to post it here! Obviously I wasnt paying attention! I couldnt figure out how to import it over here! So, here is the link to my other Blog all about my winter garden! http://recyclinggardenmom.blogspot.com/2009/11/winter-gardening.html

I hope you will take the time to see what me and little miss Kyla have planted this winter!

I would love to hear about your winter gardens and what has worked for you and what has not.

Here is a couple of pictures in case you cant get to the other blog!

Our small makeshift winter garden!

Swiss Chard!

Our wheel burrow salad bar!

Peas!

We also still have Peppers growing! Although I am sure they wont be much longer.

Happy Gardening!