DIY Seedtape

I was sowing my first batch of seeds today and started remembering how tiny many of these are. In fact, I found the tiny alpine strawberry seeds hiding under my fingernails. Planting these outdoors is even trickier due to sun/wind/ etc. I've done my research and this year will create seed tape for those direct sow veges (ie carrots, beets, lettuce). Here's how:

There's Time ..... to Grow!

Now that we are in August, some of you (like me) are probably wondering where your summer has gone as you realize that the time for gardening left is limited. But, there is good news! There is still enough time to get lots more out of your garden this year.

To name a few -
 •Beets
 •Carrot
 •Lettuce
 •Rutabaga
 •Swiss chard
 •Broccoli
 •Brussels sprouts
 •Cabbage
 •Collards
 •English peas
 •Kale
 •Kohlrabi
 •Mustard greens
 •Radish
 •Spinach
 •Turnip

Realizing that I neglected my garden for most of July, I have turned to quick growing vege's that will give me a harvest before it gets too cold. There are a number of options but below I have noted a couple of great "fast growing" varieties of fall garden veges.

Little Finger Carrots (57 days)

Pea Snow Oregon Sugar Pod II Seeds (60 days)

Broccoli Di Cicco (48 days)

Radish Cherry Belle  (24 days)

Kale Red Winter Organic ( 50 days)

Begonia in Bloom, Huzzah!

Begonia 8.2.14

The Begonia Bulb from last year is blooming again, which I am most happy about. The tomatoes on my balcony are turning yellow. These ones look a bit odd as they are quite round when they are supposed to be yellow pears. I also found a single pea plant still blooming and then I planted many more pea seeds for a late season harvest. The weather outside is feeling more and more like fall which is surprising as its still August. I planted a row of carrots today and started romaine lettuce seeds.

Yellow Pear Tomatoes 8.2.14

Last Pea Plant 8.2.14

Moving Day

Alpine Strawberries Day 37

Today marks the day that ALL of my seedlings have been moved from 1" x 1" egg crates to 4" x 4" slightly bigger homes. I watered the soil well and used a fork to lift up and move the plant. Moving the alpine strawberries was particularly tricky as the soil kept breaking apart. I was very disappointed at by the root system that these strawberries had, which was quite weak. These seedlings are 37 days old and I would have thought the plants would be much stronger by now. Nonetheless, everyone seems to have made it through the move.

Sweetie Romaine

One of the more impressive vegetables has been the Renee's Garden Sweetie Romaine lettuce. The germination rate was high and fast. Unfortunantley quite a few of the seedlings outgrew their egg crate home a bit too fast and perished before I had the chance to replant. This plant is kind of funny as the stem cannot support the leaves too well. To prevent the leaves from falling to the ground, I created a little "popsicle stick fence" to keep the leaves upright. I've looked into this problem online and have not heard of anyone else seeing this.