All my seedlings seem to be doing great. I have 2 grow lights and 2 shelves of plants.
The tomato plants I started 5 weeks ago are bigger than what I normally buy in a store. I seeded them too early. Now I have to deal with these plants that are too big and take up too much space.
I moved all the seedlings I planted 3 weeks ago to bigger pots. They should be about the right size when I’m ready to put them outside.
I planted carrots, radish, lettuce, and beets in the 2 new raised beds.
The tomatoes I planted from seed are taking off and growing quickly now. I planted these 1/7, which is probably too early. I transplanted the tiny seedlings before they grew their true leaves into larger cups with holes poked in the bottom. They are under led grow lights that stay on 16 hours per day. I water with a weak fertilizer solution from the bottom.
I planted 8 each of 4 varieties of peppers today. I’ll keep the potting soil moist and sitting on a heat pad.
The plants I seeded a few weeks ago are starting to grow– I transplanted the sprouts into individual pots and they’ve been living under some new LED grow lights. It was probably too early to start the tomato plants, but I did it anyway. I was told by several online that I shouldn’t try to transplant seedlings until the plants have 2 to 3 sets of real leaves. But I remember reading about someone who liked to plant them closely in a big container, then transplant them into pots as soon as they sprouted. I’m trying this out, because it is easier to sprout them in a big container and you can quickly see if they are going to grow or die.
Buying potting soil is such a pain! Seems like all the normal brands and what is available at the stores is complete garbage. I think it is worth it to buy ProMix BX. It is great, very consistent texture, no trash or sticks in it, and has worked great for me. Problem is the shipping. The big bags weigh 60lbs each. I feel like I lucked out and found that I can order it from my local Ace Hardware store for about half the price the big stores wanted for it, and they even delivered to my house for free.
planted a few tomato, pepper, and eggplant seeds today. They are on a heat mat to bring the soil temperature up to a temperature that will promote seed germination
I planted all the tomato seedlings I had: 5 each of Celebrity, Red Cherry Large, Cherokee Purple, and Yellow Pear. I planted them all in one row, so I can use the ‘Florida Weave’ method of holding them up.
I bought 4 6-packs of tomato plants from D&L in McKinney for $3.99 each. Varieties: Celebrity, Cherokee Purple, Red Cherry Large, and Yellow Pear. I took one plant from each pack and planted them in the front raised beds. (bed #4 and 6).
We planted 2 bunches of onions about 3 weeks ago. They are growing well now and look healthy. Bed #3 has come from together. I’ve started moving the soil out of the bed to prep rebuilding it. I also made good progress on the fence around the front yard. I need to build another gate and a 15′ section then it will be complete. The comfrey I planted several years ago and cut down every year since is back again as a huge plant! I have piles of cardboard sitting out waiting for me to line the whole yard and fill with wood chips.
Amber pulled up the onions. Some of there were huge. I think onions are year-to-year the easiest crop we grow. She rigged up some wire fence across a few saw horses and hung the onions on the wire fence to dry for a week or so. He plans on freezing some and storing the rest.
We also harvested broccoli, as the weather is getting too hot. The bugs are eating it up quickly and most of it has already bolted. Good eats though!
The tomatoes are getting really close to being ripe. We picked a few that are starting to turn red because we don’t trust the local wildlife to leave them alone. The bushes are getting really tall, to the point we are going to need to top them to keep them from falling over.
The melons in the backyard are growing well. Sweet corn seems to be doing well too. Okra, not so much. I sprayed it all with a foliar fertilizer (Hasta Grow) and I hope that helps. A big mistake from last year was letting the wild non-edible melon continue to grow. The seed it released is now germinating and I have hundreds of those plants growing, in and among my useful plants. Lesson learned: stay on top of the weeding!
We also harvested a few carrots (meh). The blackberries are starting to get ripe, but they are absolutely covered with moths and wasps. Some of the plums are starting to ripen, but they are all infested with bugs because I didn’t spray insecticide at the right time. And our chickens have been naughty and are hanging out and laying eggs in our raised beds. The local rat snake found the eggs and had a nice meal.
My oldest fruit trees along the west side are finally producing fruit! I wish I would have been on top of spraying them for insects though. I lost 7 young fruit trees from last summer’s heat and transplanted the 4 figs that survived in pots last summer.
A few of the blackberries are already starting to ripen. I’m surprised by the number of blackberry plants that have died off. Only the thornless varieties have died, the native thorned variety I have is multiplying faster than I can keep it trimmed. A wasp was occupying the fruit I was photographing.
The raised beds in the front are all doing great. The squash and cucumbers I planted a few weeks ago are all popping up and I’ve already thinned them out. I added a layer of old tree leaves as mulch. We need to hurry up and harvest the broccoli before it bolts. Onions are almost ready to harvest. The peas are putting out fruit faster than we can keep it picked.
In the back in-ground row-garden, all the mellons, corn, okra, and cover crop is starting to come up. I thinned out the melons today and tried to transplant some of them. We should have enough melons to supply the grocery store if these do well.
We planted 4 tomato plants in the raised bed in front of our house. This bed is usually just out-of-control mint. I’m happy to see the start of delicious tomatoes well on their way! We are having a hard time keeping the chickens out of this bed though. The love to hang out and dig around.
We had a cold snap that killed the 3 tomato plants that I had already planted in the front raised bed area. Amber thought we needed more tomato plants, so we planted 7 more in the row garden area. I also planted a lot of watermelon and muskmelon. The cucumber, squash, and bean that I seeded several weeks ago have still not sprouted. My fig tree rootings are all alive and growing.
All six of my raised beds now have something planted in them. I moved wood chips into the walk paths in the row garden.
I bought a peach tree from Tractor Supply for $15. The variety is “Sam Houston”. It is now planted in the new swale.
Here is what is now planted:
