It may be miserable and wet outside, but it’s balmy here under the Gro-light.
It’s been so wet here in Vancouver that even if the soil weren’t too soaked to support seed growth, not even the most hardcore gardeners are braving the downpours to plant. Today, I literally ran out to the salad garden during a break in the rain, scattered some seeds (no time for actual, measured planting), and ran back inside just as the clouds opened.
Cold? Arugula thinks it’s perfect, thankyouverymuch.
And it’s cold. One might almost say unseasonable. But despite it being about 5°C cooler than optimal, I went ahead and planted my lettuce anyway. (Lettuce prefers temperatures between 15°C [60°F] and 21°C [70°F]).
And boy, did I plant lettuce:
‘Garden Babies Butterhead’ container lettuce from Renee’s Garden
‘Garden Ferns’ heirloom Italian lettuce from Renee’s Garden
‘Heirloom Cutting Mix’ (‘Speckled Troutback,’ ‘Blush Butter Cos,’ Red Ruffled Oak,’ ‘Sucrine,’ and ‘Devil’s Tongue’) baby leaf lettuce from Renee’s Garden
‘Red Sails’ looseleaf lettuce from West Coast Seeds
‘Esmeralda’ butterhead lettuce from West Coast Seeds
Oh, and some more radishes:
‘Crop Circle’ (heirloom ‘Purple Plum’) radishes from Soggy Creek Seed Co.
What are you sowing?
I am so tired of this rain but my seedlings are still growing away in the greenhouse. Hope we get some sun soon. April is not supposed to be like this.
I have snap peas and radishes up but should have bought fresh lettuce seed – germination rate was abysmal! Or I could blame the weather…
looks great!
i’ve planted a ton of seedlings in my basement under a growlight (tomatoes, peppers, basil, stevia, kale, chard, melons, zinnias, calendula, and marigolds) and am getting ready to plant arugula, lettuce, radishes, carrots and peas outside! it’s probably about the same temps, but less wet here in minneapolis.
Nice to see tiny plants!
The snow is finally melting, and a bit of spring weather. No outside plantsing for a couple more weeks (things like sweet pea, larkspur and early veg). Just planted indoors a few types of Tomatoes, some dyeplants – japanese indigo, coreopsis tinctoria, comfrey, eucalyptus, and chinese jujube for kicks. Herbs to follow.
looks like a great place to tan! move over seedlings… i need to even out my farmer’s tan!
The arugula looks great. I fear that I have started my seeds too soon here in Bellingham. Luckily, there are a lot of seeds in one packet, so I can try again in a month!
Kristin – I KNOW! Thank goodness today was lovely; I was starting to think we’d never see sun again!
Janis – When in doubt, blame the weather! No one will fault you ;)
Julia – Yay! That sounds like quite a seed-starting operation you’ve got there. And you’ve reminded me to start some flowers, too.
Jake – dyeplants? Very interesting. I want to grow Chinese jujube, too! Love the name. Are you dying fabric or yarn?
Dirty Girl – LOL. Haven’t you heard the news about tanning beds? They’re just for plants now ;)
Morgan – True! That’s such a benefit to seeds – they’re cheap enough that if one seeding doesn’t work, you can just do another!
Lots started inside, nothing outside yet :( Between the snow, rain, wind, and random 80F weather, I’ve no idea when I’ll actually be able to plant outside! Hopefully soon, as the seeds have nearly outgrown their containers!
Sorry it’s been so wet there. Could you send a bit of the rain our way? We are in a terrible drought. Ugh, it’s always chicken or feathers, isn’t it?~~Dee
Andrea,
I’ve been growing/gathering dyeplants for a couple of years – for yarn, t-shirt, old clothes, etc. It’s so cool to produce indigo blue form Japanese Knotweed or Woad. Also lots of sources for yellows, oranges, greens, browns. I hope my Madder plants (red)survived the winter. It’s amazing to consider that untils the mid-1800′s all textiles were coloured using natural dyes – for thousands of years. If you get a chance check out India Flint and her book Eco-Colour. Maiwa Supply is on my list whenever I am in Vancouver.
Here in the Alberta Foothills anything that can be grown or gathered is a gift. As well a growing whatever i can to eat, i also like to grow things for dyeing, soapmaking, winemaking, crafting, baking, fragrance, etc.
10 cm snow in the forecast tonight…not much outside gardening until may.
cheers,
jake
excuse the typo’s…oops
The weather has been miserable here in Seattle too; rainy and cold, cold, cold. I hope to get my salad greens planted this weekend. I’m late, but the poor things would have drown before now. I have some tomatoes potted up, but they’ll have to wait a bit…
about a month ago i planted tomatos and sweet and hot peppers indoors. they are looking pretty happy. had to transplant the tomatos (all 30 of them because they were getting too big… and yes, i will give many away as i can’t imagine the space i would need for all 30!) I went overboard with seeds this year and ordered a bunch from Annie’s Heirloom Seeds. Pretty excited to plant my outdoor garden today- consists of lettuce, beets, carrots, broccoli, peas, beans…i am probably forgeting something… was so happy about the weather we had today. has been cold and rainy here too but today was sunshine and almost warm, a bit on the windy side so did my best to protect the seeds from being blown away. happy gardening!
I planted too early too…lots of greens including some chard. Most things are languishing but that mizuna just seems made for the rain and popped right up. Red Russian Kale is drinking it up too.
Too early for planting here, glad to see your seedlings all coming along so nicely. We are expecting 5 to 10 cm of snow tonight and the clouds look dark. Thought you might be interested in a new site all about the Island http://peiblog.ca/ hope you visit soon.
I like your gro-light setup.
Currently we are also getting a lot of rain which is a bit unusual for autumn. It does make planting winter seedlings very difficult
From the picture, your gro-light set up looks fab. Possible indoor point of interest while coaxing your plants to grow despite miserable weather outside. Good post.
I’ve got some hungarian poppies and a strawberry doing very well at the moment. I finally got around to planting some arugala and mache yesterday and thinking about digging up the ground outside my apartment today and planting some more–we’ll see! I love your site!
Hey!
I am planning on getting to my garden plot over the next few days to plant some lettuce and other greens. I was wondering if you have any advice on preventing greens from going bitter. Last year after a bit of sun hit my plot my lettuce turned way to bitter to eat, and I ended up composting the lot of it. I was so disappointed! I was hoping to find a suggestion to prevent this from happening this year, and if it requires a cover of some kind, I was wondering if you have any links to good and easy tutorials for shade covers. Thanks!
Love your blog. You’re now on my reading list!