...And They're Off!

I started the tomato, tomatillo, ground cherry and some pepper seeds last weekend (President's Weekend). Some of the tomatoes are up! Black Cherry, Cowlick's Brandywine, Aunt Ruby's German Green, and Pruden's Purple have poked their little green heads out of the soil. I started everything in newspaper pots with seet starting soil- 9 rows of 5. I made a map of the tray and as they come up I'm moving the little pots (very gently!) into a 2nd tray and I'm starting a new map. The pots are fragile as they have absorbed some of the water and have kind of stuck together. The 2nd tray is put under a shop light. I have the timer set to go on at 7am and go off at 9:30pm. I might adjust the time, I can't remember how long I'm supposed to keep the light on. I also have a fan in the room, I haven't turned it on yet but I probably will before too long to keep the air moving in the room.

I think I'm going to start my Romanesco broccoli today. I tried it last year but just got leaves then it bolted. I'll try again. I think maybe last year I started it too late and it bolted in the heat before it could head. I have some old Organic Gardening magizines from the late 70's that give month by month tips on when to start seeds/garden chores. I'll check to see what I should be doing for February.

The picture above is one of my favorites from last year's garden. It's a new leaf from a lemon cucumber plant in my garden. I fiddled with the settings of the camera for about a week until I was able to get really good macro pictures. Each picture takes up a ton of space on the camera but the pictures come out really crisp and with a lot of detail.