Seed starting...

 

Spring arrives in the greenhouse...

The Chard has reseeded itself and is flourishing along with the Italian Parsley.  The Chard is a tasty substitute for spinach in omelets. A hand-full of parsley added to a prepared tomato sauce gives the sauce a lift. 

The tomato plants will be ready to transplant when the ambient temperature rises with a. nighttime low of at least 55 degrees. We are not there yet.

Seed starting is more successful when the best medium is used. This year we are using Coast of Maine Seed Starter in starter equipment from  Johnny's Selected Seeds. These inserts were purchased last year and are proving will worth the expense. They wash easily, hold up very well and the plants are easier to extract the seedlings from then the ones made of lighter weight plastic.

For more inspiration: Rodale - Look to the 40's

Links open in other websites

 

Love this! - Farmacy

"Medicine doesn’t always come in a pill. In fact some of the most powerful medicines are delicious and can be found at your local supermarket or “farmacy.”

From a post by Dr Mark Hyman,  5 Asian Superfoods

Whole post here

I will be trying Daikon, an Asian white radish in the garden next year. Johnny's Selected Seeds has the seeds!

Want to get started on your garden?

With the sun higher in the sky every day my thoughts turn to planting seeds.

Here is a way to make planting small seeds easier!

Your own do-it-yourself Seed Tapes

Think I will try it with some onion seeds first. Oh, and lettuce too! And . . .

This year I will be trying Copra (Allium cepa) from Johnny's Selected Seeds in Maine among other varieties.

Hybrid, genetically modified or heirloom seeds . . .

A case for heirloom seeds:


If you are interested in what has been happening the the seed industry

Saving heirloom seeds is easy. Select the best example you have grown. Collect the seeds and dry them. Store in a paper envelope (make on from the pages of a newspaper -most are printed using soy based inks now- or telephone book

Johnny's Selected Seeds, located in Maine, Heirloom Seeds, located in Pennsylvania and others supply quality seeds and plants. I have use many seeds from Johnny's with success.

Sweet potatoes . . .

This is the first year we have grown sweet potatoes. They were planted in a cool and a sometimes shady place so its not the plants fault they are not bigger! The skins are very pink as they appear in the photo.

Because the area for the sweet potatoes was not the best we selected:
Beauregard (Ipomoea batatas) - One of the most popular sweet potato varieties. Dark red-orange skin with moist, sweet, orange flesh. Quick maturing and well adapted to difficult growing conditions. High percentage of usable roots. Excellent choice for cool season areas.
Plants from Johnny's Selected Seeds

The potatoes we cooked were very tasty.

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Ginger

• 9 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 c honey
• 2 T grated fresh ginger
• 2 T walnut oil
• 1 t ground nutmeg
• 1/2 t ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Parboil the whole potatoes, peel & cut into cubes. Combine sweet potatoes, honey, ginger, oil, nutmeg and pepper. Grease shallow baking dish. Pour in mixture. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the mixture in the pan over. Bake for another 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender and caramelized.