Month: March 2011

The Indoor Lettuce Patch

I’ve decided that for us, it just wasn’t really worth it to keep the lettuce patch growing, and I doubt I will do it again in the future.

First of all, it never got crunchy.  I know that is often the case with different greens in a mesclun mix, but we’re crunchy lettuce people- we prefer romaine varieties above all other lettuce.    It took a lot of attention- I had to water almost every day, and the amount of time it was on the lights… well, I’m sure the electric bill increase was much more than what buying a few heads of romaine would cost.

It was fun to grow something and eat it in the dead of winter, I’ll give you that.  But I was recently turned on to sprouting, and I’m really enjoying the flavor and the crunch that fresh sprouts bring to the table.

I’m still figuring out this growing under lights thing too.   The first few peppers that I potted up ended up too close to the lights (I think?) because some of the leaves got a bit crispy.  So I’ve upped my watering and adjusted the shelves a touch.  I think they’ll do okay, but I’m a little concerned as the tomatoes start to pop out a few of their leaves in the days ahead.  If I was just growing for myself, that would be fine, but growing for others adds a little layer of pressure to get the sproutlings safely transitioned into healty plant.

Peppers and Tomatoes

All my seeds are planted for peppers and tomatoes, and I think all the peppers that are going to sprout have done so. I really scaled back from what I started last year. Between giving tomato plants away and what I planted in the garden myself I had more than double what I needed. I planted 62 seeds late on the 16th, and I need 38 total plants for what I am planning on putting in the garden and plants I am starting for other people. This is what I planted:

• 4 – Black Cherry
• 5 – Sungold
• 4 – Yellow Submarine
• 5 – Carbon
• 6 – Purple Russian
• 3 – Vorlon
• 3 – Orange Icicle
• 5 – Golden Sunray
• 5 – Chernomor
• 6 – Cherokee Purple
• 5 – German Red Strawberry
• 5 – Cuor Di Bue
• 3 – Pantano Romanesco
• 3 – Black Icicle

Quite a few of those are new to me this year; Yellow Submarine, Orange Icicle, Chernomor, Cherokee Purple, German Red Strawberry, and Black Icicle.

Yellow Submarine is supposed to be a better tasting version of Yellow Pear. I liked the yellow pear until I tasted the Black Cherry and the Sungold. After that they just tasted bland to me, the only reason I picked them (and I did leave a lot to just fall off) was to give away in my tomato “gift baskets.” I am doing 4 cherry tomato plants this year, and all 4 of them will be front and center (four rows of tomato plants planted 6 deep) so we can reach them from the yard and pick them easier. The 4th one is Reisentraube from Erika, and I am looking forward to that one too.

If you look at my list I have an abundance of purple tomatoes. I could not believe the flavor I got from the purple tomatoes. If you ever get a chance to grow Purple Russian I highly recommend it. I think it is the best tasting tomato I have ever had in my life, and there are a lot of fabulous tomatoes. Chernomor is another Russian tomato, and this one is a potato leaf plant. It has gotten very good ratings, and everything that I grew last year from Russia/Siberia/Ukraine grew fabulously in our climate. Essentially this is replacing Black Krim in my garden which did not grow well for me.

Everyone raves about Cherokee Purple so I had to order some seeds for it. Black Icicle was just a new offering from Baker Creek and I loved Purple Russian so much I had to try another roman candle type of tomato. I figured if I am going to try the purple version of it I might as well give the Orange Icicle a try too.

I ordered and planted German Red Strawberry based on Erika’s recommendation, and I am trusting it is good as I am starting some for two other people as well.

This is what sprouted for peppers:
• 6 – Chocolate Habanero (1 questionable)
• 11 – Red Habanero
• 5 – Suave
• 5 – Serrano (1 questionable)
• 2 – Fresno
• 3 – Sunrise/Sunset
• 4 – Jalmundo
• 8 – Grande Jalapeno (2 questionable)
• 6 – Purple Jalapeno (3 questionable)

Now I am planning on growing two each of the Habaneros, two Suave, two Serrano, one Fresno, one Sunrise/Sunset, three Purple Jalapenos, two Grande Jalapenos, and two Jalmundos. 6 of those are for hot sauce, the rest are for salsa. There really isn’t much difference between the Jalmundo and the Grande jalapeno. Both of them are productive producers with larger than average jalapeno pods.

The Purple Jalapenos are my favorite pepper. I will need to get more seed for next year as I used what I had left. I hope the seedlings perk up and pick up or I will not have any to share.

I love this time of year!

Tomatoes Are In!

Exactly two weeks after I started the first round of pepper seeds, I decided it was time to get the tomatoes in.  In addition, I thought I’d try Minnesota’s trick of soaking pepper seeds and then planting them.  When I planted dozens of seeds, and only had four or five up, I was concerned that I wasn’t going to have hot peppers.  They still may come up, but I feel that soaking seeds overnight, and then planting a second round of hot peppers will be insurance.  I can always give the extras away, or find another space of ground to plunk them in.

For the tomatoes, I have several people that I am starting some for, so first I had to determine what varieties I was starting for which people.  My brothers each had specific requests, the two others I am starting for had requests for tomatoes for canning and cooking- good producers.  Then I had to make my list, taking into account the amount of space I am planning for…

All told, I need 41 tomato plants, minimum.  So this year, when I placed the seeds in the soil, I added 2 or 3 to each cell for insurance purposes.  Yes, that means I could have a super abundance of tomato plants, BUT since my seeds are from years past, the germination might be less, so I wanted to be sure.

The hardest part was choosing the tomatoes for myself.  I have six plants coming from Minnesota, and I have 16 spaces designated for heirloom tomatoes.  4 determinate tomatoes will be going in their own spaces, so that meant that out of the 30+ varieties of tomato I have, I needed to narrow it down to just 10 plants.  TEN! Do you have any idea how difficult that is?   It took no time at all to choose the ten most reliable and most abundant- as well as my favorite flavors.  But then I would wistfully look at a packet that didn’t produce last year and wonder how it was.

You do know where this is going, don’t you?

About eight  extra varieties made it into the cell trays.   I had eight  extra little cells when all was said and done with my tomatoes and peppers, it seemed only right.  I’m sure I can find plenty of patches of dirt to put extra plants if I need them.  Plus they are added insurance that I will have a good crop this year, and I am always willing to share extra plants as well.

So, this is what was planted:

  • Black Cherry
  • Green Pineapple
  • Emerald Evergreen
  • German Red Strawberry
  • Woodle Orange
  • Lemon Drop
  • Pantano Romanesco
  • Sub-Arctic Plenty (one of 2 determinates)
  • Cosmonaut Volkov
  • Brave General
  • Arkansas Traveler
  • Amish Paste
  • Pink Grapefruit
  • Grace Lahman
  • Golden King of Siberia
  • Siletz (the second determinate)
  • Roman Candle
  • Ananas Noire
  • Gold Medal
  • Reisentraube
  • Green Zebra
  • Malakite
  • Sungold
  • Gypsy
  • Valiant

I swear I can taste some of them already.  My only concern now is that I’ll have enough room in the grow center as they turn into plants and need to be potted up.

I’ve already determined that I’m going to be saving seeds from many varieties this summer.  Some of my seed stock is getting old, so I want to replenish it with fresh seed. Since I grow heirlooms, that’s entirely possible.

Seed Starting Alert

Well, there’s no artichokes for me this year.  I’m not sure what I did wrong in starting the seeds, I’ll need to do more research on them.   I dug them out yesterday, and the seeds look the same as when they went in- nothing going on.  They may need warmer temperatures to germinate, or they need to be scarified, because they have one hard shell!

Anyway, yesterday I started all the pepper seeds.  I’m not starting any pepper seeds for anyone this year,  yet I filled 18 little cells with pepper seeds- 13 of them with hot peppers.  I wasn’t as sparing with them this year either, in most cells I planted 3 or 4 peppers, thinking that then I can cull them to the healthiest seedlings.  But I want to ensure that I have at least one seedling from each pepper.   Here is my list of hot peppers:

  • Hungarian Hot Wax
  • Black Hungarian
  • Chile De Comida
  • Cascabella
  • Aji Cristal
  • Georgia Flame
  • Hinkelhatz
  • Maule’s Red Hot
  • Joe’s Round
  • Bulgarian Carrot
  • Serrano
  • Anaheim

Many of those are small peppers- intended for the pickle pot.  I love pickled peppers, but hate paying for them.  The rest are all different varieties of hot peppers that I cannot wait to use in salsa.   One of them is specifically a great one for drying and using as crushed red pepper- I think that’s the Georgia Flame.   This is my last year for the Chile De Comida, as I’ve had poor germination from it, and most of the rest are new to me this year.  I can’t wait! I’ll also have a few jalapeno plants coming from Minnesota.

For sweet peppers, two of them are varieties Zander wants to grow- those are the first two, the rest are pretty basic, just some bells and some minis.

  • Red Mercury
  • Yellow Belle
  • Sweet Red Stuffing Pepper
  • Sweet Yellow Stuffing Pepper
  • ACE Bell Pepper

The sweet peppers I plan to intersperse in the gardens wherever, while the hot peppers will have their own bed.

I also sowed a few more herb seeds yesterday.   I had intended to do a couple a few weeks ago, but decided to just wait until I got out the pepper seeds.   My parsley is doing well, and I actually potted that up yesterday too.  In addition to the parsley, I have these herbs now sown, and I am hopeful for good results.

  • Lovage
  • Marjoram
  • Thyme
  • Summer Savory
  • Sweet Basil
  • Genovese Basil

My lettuces are still growing like gangbusters, and I’ve harvested from the patch once already.  I added some thinnings to a salad we were having for dinner, but from the looks of things, it looks like I’m going to need to do some more harvesting quick, as the patch is bursting at the seems.

I’m just over a week away from starting tomato seeds.  I better get that grow list finished up here!