Sending out an Army of Seedlings
Can anyone guess what kind of seeds these are?
These are on my hosta “Frances Williams”. It’s a beautiful hosta with variegated deeply corrugated leaves, it’s one of my favorites.
This spring I had tiny little hostas sprouting up all over my gardens and I knew one of my plants was sending out it’s army of seeds, but I wasn’t sure which one. This year I’ve been keeping an eye out and I finally spotted which plant it is. I guess I’ll be digging up a few of these seedlings to see if they grow into true specimens of Frances Williams or not.
Anyone else have a plant that sends out an army of seeds each year?
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Making the Bed
This past Thursday I cleaned out one of my raised beds. I harvested the carrots and cabbage and gave up on the broccoli that was growing in it. The carrots were teeny-tiny, which means I need to add more compost to the bed.
Since I plan on growing some Napoli carrots in this bed for over-wintering, I added several inches of compost and some Dr Earth Starter Fertlizer.
After smoothing out the soil I planting seeds late into the night (until I could no longer see the seeds or the holes in which to put them). So far I have planted 192 carrot seeds and I still have at least twice that many more to plant (I’ll be busy this evening). I’m looking forward to the sweet crunchy carrots this winter. I’m optimistic since this is my first time planting for winter harvest. I’m also growing kale and spinach for the winter. Wish me luck!
Have you planted anything for winter before?
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Bring on the Salad Bowl
A few weeks ago I ordered some lettuce seeds. I started them on the 23 of July. I put them in the basement where it’s cool (lettuce likes cool weather). A couple days later they germinated and then under the grow lights they went. This is what they looked like on July 27th. 
I can’t believe how quickly these seedlings grew. I think the secret this time was the Dr Earth Starter Fertilizer that I added to my seed starting mix. From now I’ll be using this with all my seeds.
Today the seedlings went outside on the back deck to get ready for planting in the garden. They’ll stay there a couple days to get used to the sun & wind.
So what kinds of lettuce do I have for our late summer & fall salad bowl?
Black Seeded Simpson
Green Jericho Romaine Lettuce
Simpson Elite Lettuce
Red Sails Lettuce
I also started some Red Ruby cabbage for the fall.
The spinach seeds I started haven’t germinated much yet. I have one that’s just starting to emerge.
I can’t wait for all these salads.
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More Seeds
I ordered some more seeds from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
They have just about anything you’re looking for. I ordered mainly lettuces for august growing and a few things for the fall & winter garden. What did I order?
Simpson Elite Lettuce
Crimson Clover (Green Manure)
Spargo Spinach
Jericho Lettuce
Napoli Carrot for Overwintering
Ruby Perfection Cabbage
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
Totem Endive
VIT Mache (for Fall & Winter Growing)
Red Russian Kale (for Fall & Winter Growing)
Red Sails Lettuce
Purple Top White Globe Turnip
Bright Lights Swiss Chard
This should keep me busy for the rest of the season.
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Starting a Few More Seeds
This morning I started a few more seeds: 3 Burpee’s Fordhook Zucchini seeds, 5 Super Red Cabbage seeds (I bought these at DeHoff’s in Alliance), 5 Hale’s Best Cantaloupe seeds (I know it’s late, figured I’d give it a shot, I’m planting them on my front hillside that a zone warmer than the rest of my lot), and 5 Saffron summer squash seeds. I’m hoping the zucchini and squash will be ready for a late summer harvest. I recently read about starting a few more plants in early July, so when the plants that are producing start slowing down you still have a few plants at peak for a heavier harvest later in the season (we’ll see how that works out!). I’m trying to do a better job tracking what I start and when I start them (part of the reason for starting this blog). I also need to label my plants better, so here’s what I’m doing now.
Zucchini Information
Cantaloupe Information
Saffron Squash Information
