What did you do in the garden today?

[NewBoots]

I have been in the hospital and home now . Diverticulitis - perforated colon . Lots of antibiotics . Surgery is in my future . Not sure how much gardening I will be able to do for awhile .

Both I and DP have had bouts with diverticulitis but no perforations to our good luck. DP has had the surgery and it immediately made a huge difference. I wish for you as speedy and complete a recovery as DP has had.

@NewBoots - always trying to get your gardening friends to move to OR!

Ah you have seen through my devilish plans! I've invited at least 3 maybe 4 of my friends here to come join us at the Oregon coast and we'll have a lovely colony and I can cook for everyone and we'll have fun outdoor get-togethers and trade eggs and chickens and rabbits and those inclined can come fishing and it would be awesome!

My native onions (planted for flowers) and celery are beginning to sprout.

I have another snap pea coming up in the greenhouse but I am so envious of all of your sprouts!

 

[BReeder!]

I have another snap pea coming up in the greenhouse but I am so envious of all of your sprouts!

They are nearly too much to handle. I setup the 4 teir sprouting station with a metal rack and grow lights and I'm running out of space. All the garlic just got upgraded from 4" pots to 6". The kids enjoyed digging in a bin of soil and helping as I worked to seperate and repot 67 plants (22 pots with 3 each except one that had 4 cloves planted). Only one root was broke in the process. They had to get repotted because I found roots poking out the bottom of every 4" pot. 6" pots take up more space though...
Now I'm going to double the lighting so I can turn all the trays sideways allowing me to have 3 starter trays per shelf instead of 2. This is a heck of an investment, but it should pay for itself quickly in the amount of produce we get. I can even grow indoor lettuce in this setup all year round if I wanted.

In a few weeks just I'll be starting 30 tomato plants for which I barely have room. Then, I'll get the garlic and flowers outside about two weeks later to make room to start cucumbers and peppers and whatever else.

 

[Elyrian1]

So all my lettuce, the red kale, the spinach, and the basil has germinated and is sprouting nicely now. A bit early too, which is a good sign. Now just waiting on the mizuna, but as I recall that seed pack had a warning about low germination rates... so they sent extra, which was nice! We'll see what happens in the next three days or so.

 

[TJAnonymous]

We are finally starting to thaw out! Yay! Supposed to be near 60 by Tuesday.... I made the long trek down to the garden today and uncovered the leaves I had tossed on the strawberries & garlic before the snow storms hit. I was surprised at how green and lush they were....almost like they had grown under the insulating warmth of the snow even though we spent the previous week with highs in the 20s and teens. Weird mother nature....lol.

 

[chickengr]

Sending warm wishes your way @jerryse. I have the same problem but fortunately have not had to do an overnight in the hospital yet. It is very painful, but it does get better. The temps are warming here slowly which is a good thing. There's so much snow and ice I really don't want it to melt too quickly. I'm going to start looking around for strawberry pots. I will have to cage them in hardware cloth. If you have chipmunks around, chicken wire will not keep the little cuties out, and remember they are very good climbers. I've watched them climb up very tall trees and try to raid bird nests. I did some looking at my BR baby pictures @Sueby. Their legs were mostly black when they were little chicks. They still have black on the legs and their skin is a pinkish white. Princess had a very small comb until a few months ago. here's two shots. One they were about 14 weeks, the other is Princess at 22 weeks.
View attachment 2539275

View attachment 2539276

shouldn't BRs have yellow skin and legs? I don't own them, it is just what I read about them.

 

[chickengr]

When I start tomatoes, I end up with somewhat leggy plants, no matter what I do. I put that legginess to use. When I plant my starts, I snip off leaves from the bottom until there are 2-4 pairs of leaves. Then I bury the plant to about 1/2-1" of stem from the bottom leaves. The stem will send out roots, helping the plant grow.

If you do this, be aware that for a while (a week? two?), the little plant will look like nothing is happening. Then, zoom. That has been my experience, anyway.

I do the same. when I plant it I do not put it vertically but about 45 degrees - that way tomatoes (and peppers) develop stronger roots.

 

[WthrLady]

Yup. Bury them laying down.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I do the same. when I plant it I do not put it vertically but about 45 degrees - that way tomatoes (and peppers) develop stronger roots.

Are you saying that you plant your tomatoes & peppers crooked? ha ha...I don't know if my OCD could handle that....

 

[BReeder!]

Are you saying that you plant your tomatoes & peppers crooked? ha ha...I don't know if my OCD could handle that....

It's common for added root production. Think of it as the "right" way and maybe your OCD will enforce it rather than prevent it.

 

[WthrLady]

Are you saying that you plant your tomatoes & peppers crooked? ha ha...I don't know if my OCD could handle that....

No. You dig a deeper hole or a trenched hole and lay the leggy tomato down, like it's lounging on a sofa, with only a few sets of leaves above ground. Bury it and call it a day. Any part of the stem that is below the ground, gets roots. The more roots, the stronger the plant and the better it can tolerate odd water situations, and the more nutrient take up it can manage.