15th February 2010
Got my composter in the garden before the rains went crazy yesterday. It was great talking to Carl and we talked tomatoes for a long time. Not long enough really, but we both had things we needed to do. He is cleaning out his greenhouses which he said he wanted done in November as he is planting this years tomatoes soon, so he is behind. He also gave me a couple hundred pots that we can use for our blueberry seedling sales for the agriculture organization I now belong to. Now we just need potting soil and I am working on that one.

The rumor is that it is supposed to be nice on Tuesday and Wednesday and if it is, I am chucking everything out the back door onto tarps so I can get the office done. I am sure I can accomplish most of it in one day (other than my reference library as I have to put shelving up for the books) as well as the potting shed, which holds the other 1/3 of the disaster. I would also like to get the dresser which is my tool cabinet out of the middle of my front room and into the shed where it belongs.

I got some of my gardening seeds planted in flats this morning before 10 am and into my greenhouse for my own personal garden. My lineup always changes a little as I plant them out VS what I had sorta planned on, as I note that a certain variety needs to be regenerated and seed saved from this year. That is Ok. If I have extra I will send them to the community garden as I think they would probably like them.

Artichokes - "Green Globe"
Broccoli - "Calbrese"
Broccoli - "Purple Sprouting"
Brussels Sprouts - "Evensham Special"
Brussels Sprouts - "Rubine" (Even though it is old seed I just found)
Cabbage - "Early Jersey Wakefield"
Cabbage - "Late Flat Dutch"
Cauliflower - "All the Year Around"
Peppers - "Sweet Banana"
Peppers - "Aurora"
Peppers - "Cow's Horn"
Peppers - "Sweet Chocolate"
Peppers - "Fish"
Peppers - "Golden Californian Wonder"
Peppers - "King of the North"
Peppers - "Medusa"
Peppers - "Portugal Hot"
Peppers - "Quadro d' Asti"
Peppers - "Caribbean Red Hot"
Peppers - "Taltos"
Peppers - "Tequila Sunrise"
Tomatillo - "Toma Verde"
Tomato - "Silvery Fir Tree"
Tomato - "Ailsa Craig"
Tomato - "Beef Steak"
Tomato - "Free Emerald Evergreen"
Tomato - "Black Krim" (my fav)
Tomato - "Garden Peach"
Tomato - "German Gold"
Tomato - "Kentucky Beefsteak"
Tomato - "Large Red Cherry"
Tomato - "Manitoba"
Tomato - "Mexico Midgit"
Tomato - "Nebraska Wedding"
Tomato - "Old German"
Tomato - "Purple Prince"

And I need to plant some paste tomatoes.. I am deciding which ones I want out of my seedbag.

If it gets nicer out over the next couple of days and baby & I need some fresh air, we will pick up the few remaining apples in the garden area and plant...

Peas - "Green Arrow"
Peas - "Blue Prussian" (from my friend Monika)
Peas - "Carouby de Mausanne" (from my friend Deb who died)
Kale - "Siberian" (from my friends Stephanie & Mike)
Kale - "Lacinato Blue"
Lettuce - "Yugoslavian Red Butterhead"
Lettuce - "Red Coach"
Lettuce - "May Queen"
Lettuce - "Reine Des Glaces"
Lettuce - "Red Sails" (one my dad liked)
Swiss Chard - "Five Color Silverbeet"
Spinach - "King of Denmark"

And in the next couple of days when I feel better (I am coming down with something, overtired or not enough humidity in the house), I will pull the starting mix out of my truck and bring it in to warm up and start the leeks, celery and asparagus.

Leeks - "Giant Musselburgh"
Celery - "Golden Self-Blanching"
and Asparagus "Connover's Colossal.. every time I have one good feed off my asparagus plants.. I move. I wasn't going to plant it, but I am.

Then I will have to wait on planting squash, melons and such until  mid-March to late March. Also in the next couple of days I will call ONE CALL, to make sure I can till where I want to (they check for things like underground utilities such as electric or gas) and I am not sure how long it will take for them to come out. I need to weed a couple raised beds so I can get the lettuce and peas in. It must be spring as I noticed that plum trees are started to break bud and forsythia as well as quince are starting to bloom.