A Pre-Order Seed Inventory

With the January arrival of seed catalogs, I've been hard at work planning this year's garden! I have ordered some seeds, but I wanted to make sure to use what I already had on hand to keep costs down, but also just to not be wasteful. So...without further ado, here is my list of what I already have on hand.

1. Sunflowers - I've got a 1/4 lb of these suckers....I'm thinking of just digging a (shallow) trench along the back fence, tossing them in the ground and seeing what happens. That said, I've still got a LOT of sunflower seeds....anyone in Nashville need some???
2. Lettuce (Summer Mix) - this is a cut-and-come again loose leaf variety that I've had good luck with in the past, but have some left over from last year.
3. Tomato (Costoluto Genovese) - leftover from last year. I was a little disappointed in the yields, but I also didn't get them in the ground until July, so that MAY have had something to do with it.
4. Basil (Mrs. Burns lemon) - I was unsuccessful in getting these to sprout last year, but I may try again, just because I have the seeds. I can always buy a started basil plant if it's unsuccessful.
5. Jalapeno - again, leftover from last year. These didn't get as big as my monster jalapeno two years ago, but they still had decent yields, despite the fact that these also didn't make it into the ground until July.
6. Red leaved Perilla - leftover from last year, though I have to admit, I never actually used any of it in my cooking!
7. Dill
8. Green Bean (Blue Lake 274, bush type and Bush Blue Lake 156)
9. Broccoli (Packman Hybrid) - at last check, this was actually still producing!
10. Turnip (White Lady hybrid)
11. Onion (Parade) - this is a green onion that was just starting to sprout in the garden when it got dog-trampled....boo.
12. Columbines - I had meant to plant these last year, but then we bought a house and moved, so they are now in my refrigerator chilling since I neglected to plant them in the fall (fail)
13. Cleome - these are pass-along seeds from my voice teacher's wife.
14. Nasturtium 
15. Hibiscus, red and white - these seeds were saved from some growing along Nashville's greenway
16. Mustard Greens - never managed to get these planted in the fall....again....fail.
17. I also think I have some yellow squash seeds around somewhere....There were lots of things that just got tossed in boxes during the move....I'm still finding things!
18. Caroline Reaper - THESE are special. My mother is friends with a man named Eddie Currie, who breeds hot peppers in SC. He owns Pucker Butt Pepper Company (you can check them out here). Eddie now holds the Guinness World Record for the hottest pepper in the world, and this lucky girl has some seeds! My hubby loves spicy food, and these are supposed to have a nice fruity flavor to go with the heat. I'm really excited to get these babies growing!

Fall Plantings

Whew! It's been a busy month! The hubs is getting ready to deploy, so it's been a whirlwind of traveling to see family, hosting family who are visiting us, and various other social events. They haven't left much time for thinking (or sleeping), much less blogging! Hopefully things will quiet down here soon. Oh well....onward.

I mentioned some time ago (back in August) that I had planted my fall crops. Well, some have been more successful than others, but here is the latest update.

My lettuce and green onions got trampled by a visiting dog when they were still seedlings, so they died. Boo. I have plans to put a few more seeds in the ground this week, but wanted to wait until all off the visiting dogs were gone before I did so.

On the flip side, my green beans are doing fantastic. In fact, they have nearly taken up the entire raised bed where the onions and lettuce was, so maybe it's a good thing they died.

And they're also starting to put out beans. Maybe I'll even have enough to can this year!

Also, my turnips seem to be doing quite well. Anyone know how to tell when a turnip is ready to be harvested?? One of them is even showing its white root above ground. I'm looking forward to some tasty turnip greens this fall.

 

The broccoli and cauliflower are coming up nicely.

Broccoli

Cauliflower

 

The peas I'm not so sure about. They got much bigger much faster in the spring. Maybe it's the difference between fall and spring plantings?

So what have you all been up to lately? Anyone do some good fall planting?

Fall Seed Planting

Now that I've got my garden boxes built, it's time for fall plantings! Following the planting calendar for my area (zone 6), I got my fall planting in the ground just a few days ago. Here's my planting list for this go-round:

1. Looseleaf lettuce. This is a cut-and-come-again salad mix, so I should be able to get several rounds of harvest from this. I also held back some seeds so I can do successive plantings. The next one will be in about two weeks.
2. Green beans (Blue Lake 274, Bush Type). These are left over from the ones I planted back in the spring. Only problem in the spring was that I planted them too early, and they froze. Shame on me for not following the directions on the seed packet!
3. Peas. These are the same bush habit Sugar Lace peas I planted in the spring as well. I actually had good luck with these this spring....hopefully I'll get some more delicious sweet peas!
4. Cauliflower. This Cheddar Hybrid is actually orange! Park Seed says it has 25 times the beta carotene of regular cauliflower. This is an experiment, so we'll see how it goes, and whether I will choose to plant it again.
5. Broccoli Packman Hybrid
6. Turnips White Lady Hybrid
7. Onions Parade. These are actually green onions.

I've also got some garlic on order as well as a packet of mustard green seeds I need to dig up. I think they got buried in my seed basket during the move, and over-looked when I started pulling things out for planting.

For flowers, I have a packet of columbine seeds, some tulip and daffodil bulbs, and a peony (which I have not received yet, but should in the next month or so).

Anyone else got big plans for their fall garden?

Lovely Lettuce

We had some nasty weather in Nashville yesteryday. The type where the rain goes sideways and you wonder if the hail is going to leave dents on your car. The hubby and I got soaked coming out of the movie theater (we went to see The Avengers....I highly recommend it) and got home to find that it hadn't started raining at our house yet.

I had noticed that the lettuce was in need of some trimming, so before it got hailed on, I ran outside with my kitchen scissors and cut it back. I planted a "cut and come again" variety, so I will have plenty more lettuce soon. Here's what I brought in the house though.

Looks like I'll be having salad for lunch, but are there suggestions on something else I could do with this bounty? Do you do something special with your lettuce or do you just got for the tried and true salad?

Update from the Vegetable Garden

Garden update part three...it's been a few days now since I took these pictures and the weather has cooled of a LOT. There was a frost advisory last night and another for tonight. Here's hoping everything pulls through! I've brought a few things inside, but that's not possible for everything. That said, I present the veggie garden.

Look at those peas! They're climbing the tomato cages nicely, and if you look beyond, you can see the green beans I planted a couple weeks ago. It always amazes me how fast those puppies grow!

The first planting of lettuce is coming along nicely. I'm seeing salad in my near future!

And here is the beginnings of the second planting of lettuce. Last year I (unwisely) planted all my lettuce seeds at once and we were completely overrun. This year, I am trying successive plantings so I only get as much as I can eat at any given time.

If you look closely, you can see where the blueberry has been doing its pollinating thing. I'm really looking forward to some homegrown blueberries!

You can see how my seedlings are coming along. I put some of my tomatoes in larger containers to see if they'll grow larger root systems before I transplant them. I also wanted to be able to keep them in the greenhouse for a little while longer since we're getting some cooler weather.

2012 Planting List

I just ordered my seeds for the year! Here is my planting list for this year:

Vegetables

1. Green Beans (Blue Lake, bush type)
2. Peas (Sugar Lace)
3. Tomato (Costoluto Genovese and a container hybrid)
4. Jalapenos
5. Bell Peppers
6. Yellow Squash (Enterprise Hybrid)
7. Lettuce
8. Mustard Greens

Herbs

1. Basil (Mrs. Burn's Lemon)
2. Red Leaved Perilla
3. Dill
4. Rosemary (this is last year's plant that I've - so far - successfully overwintered in the living room!)

I will probably also grow some type of mint and sage.

Flowers

1. Sunflowers (my mother-in-law gave me about half a pound of seeds last fall....I have plenty to share!!)
2. Nasturtium (Whirlybird Mix)
3. Daffodils (these are already in the ground and beginning to sprout)
4. Cleomi
5. Marigold (Inca II Hybrid Mix)

Lastly, I found a self-pollinating, dwarf blueberry bush that can be grown in a container called Sunshine Blue. My plan is to plant it in a large container and sink said container into the ground. That way, when my husband and I decide it's time to move, I can pull up the pot and go!

In other news, my landlord approved my request to put in an in-ground garden/more garden boxes! Hooray!!

What are you planting this year?