Officially Spring

The official first day of Spring has come and gone, but the weather seems to be still hovering around zero.  Despite the winter-like temperature we're still getting, I'm definitely enjoying the longer day and warmth of the sun!    

Here's the first sign of Spring in our house - cat grass!  Lucky cat, she's the first one that gets to enjoy this season's veggies.  :)  

Seed starting (in take out boxes) are coming along.  The cucumber seeds are already sprouting (with green leaves) and the tomato seeds are just starting to sprout.  Seedling transfer probably just a few days away!

~ Rebecca

2015 Season

This week we finally got some above zero temperatures and the large amount of snow accumulated is finally starting to melt.  We've had one of the most consistently cold Winters (especially February) this year and everything have been frozen solid till now.  

Although the start of Spring is still one week away, I've been having a serious case of Spring fever the last few days.  I started the first batch of seeds with the "take out box and wet paper towel" method.  These are the seeds that requires the earliest start because it takes a while for the seedlings to grow - various tomatoes, bell peppers, and eggplants.  I'm hoping that by starting the seeds early this year I will have stronger plants and hopefully a higher fruit yield. 

Along with that I've started some seeds for cilantro and dill.  Hopefully they will get going soon and give us some delicious herbs to use early Summer.  This year I'm also going to start some seeds outdoors directly (such as beans, peas, and lettuces) as soon as the soil is warm enough to work.  

Next step is to plan out this year's vegetable garden design!

~ Rebecca 

March

It's March and we are still in the midst of the deep freeze here in Toronto.  Snow, snow, and more snow.  I was reading through some of my old blog post from 2012 we were already seeing movements in yard with Spring bulbs and shoots peaking out of the ground by this time already (that was a rare/unusually mild Spring though).  

Seed starting began for me almost two weeks ago and the Cayenne pepper is beginning to sprout.  Added some eggplant seeds as well.  

 

This weekend is time to start the tomato seeds.  This year I am going to plant 5 types of tomatoes.  Technically I only need one seedling of each, but I always plant a few extras because there's always some seeds that don't start or the seedling doesn't survive.  And if I end up with more healthy seedlings than I can handle, my family and friends certainly doesn't mind :)  

~ Rebecca

Seed starting has begun!

Happy Valentine's Day!   And seed starting has begun!  

I might be jumping the gun with the seeds this year, but with this long cold Winter that just won't east up, I really needed to have some sense that Spring will (eventually) come by doing something gardening related.  And thus seed starting is the closest thing I can get to at this point.

According to the gardening book I read recently, peppers are the first on the list.  Here we have yellow bell pepper and cayenne pepper.  I haven't had a very good harvest with yellow bell peppers in the past few seasons and I think one of the main reasons is that I start the seeds too late.  And since our planting season is so short here in Toronto, the late starter pepper plant doesn't have enough time to fully develop and pump out a good crop of peppers.  So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that by starting these indoor a good month and a half earlier than I usually do, I will get a decent size plant by the time it's warm enough to transfer the plants outdoors.  

Keep your fingers crossed for me!  :)

~ Rebecca

Preparation

Time to get planning!  After reading a few excellent gardening books by Gayla Trail and learning about some excellent gardening hints and tips, I'm all ready to think gardening!  First, let's do some organizing....

With the slightly disappointing planting season last year (not entirely my fault - the weather really did not cooperate), this time around I'm going to start specific seeds as early as possible - in this case it's peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes.  I've started my seed starting and planting chart (above) to get myself organized,  but also to review my seed inventory and figure out what seeds I need to replenish.

Speaking of seeds, do other gardeners have the same problems of buying / collecting too many seeds?  It takes me a few seasons to fully finish using a packet of seeds, but every year I still have the urge to buy more (seed hoarder?).  I buy almost all my seeds from Urban Harvest - they carry heirloom and organic seeds with varieties that are tried and tested for planting in our climate zones (on top of that it's a good way to support local businesses).

Summary for today:
- seed planting schedule:  check
- buy new seeds - done.
- collect and clean planting vessels (this weekend)....

Almost there! :)

~ Rebecca

Seed starting 2013 and Frost Chart

I started looking at my calendar and realized that I really need to hurry up and begin starting some seeds for my vegetable gardens.  Compared to last year I am actually quite behind schedule so I need to get to work straight away if I want to have decent size plants to plant outside by the time we get our last frost here in Toronto.  (here's a handy Frost Chart for Canada: http://www.almanac.com/content/frost-chart-canada )

Luckily I've been collecting used food containers all winter so at least I can start the seeds using the wet paper towel method before I have a chance to go purchase and prepare other containers with potting soil etc for the seedlings.   

This year I plan on planting a lot of the same vegetables as last year and some new variety with seeds I purchased at the Canada Blooms show:

- Parisian Market Carrot

- Rosa Bianca Eggplant

- Caspian Pink Tomato

-Big Rainbow Tomato

- California Wonder Golden Pepper

I have never planted eggplants before, so that should be very interesting.  And I'm really looking forward to those Pink and Rainbow tomatoes, they are apparently of heirloom varieties and they have beautiful colours and distinctive/unique shape.  I'm also hoping that I'll have a better handle on how to space out plantings and replantings this year, so that for certain vegetables (i.e. lettuce) I can have a more manageable harvest where I harvest fewer plants at a time, but more continuously throughout the summer (instead of having 10 heads of lettuce at a time and having to wait a few weeks before the next harvest, I can harvest 3 hears of lettuce at a time, but on a weekly basis).  

Wish me luck! :) 

Seedlings growing up!

 

With an early start on the seeds, the vegetable plants are really starting to come along, in particular the cherry tomato plants and some of the herbs (cilantro and dill).  I think in a week or so I'm going to have to start planting some of the tomatoes in the big planters outside as they are getting quite tall and needs to be staked soon.  

Unfortunately some of the seedlings didn't make it .  The good news is, it's still April and I still have plenty of time to do round 2 of seed starting :)  So here are a few things that are in the works for Round 2:

- Basil

- Ciapoli onion

- Chives

- Sunflower (round 1 for this)

- Yellow bell pepper (round 1 for this)

I'm also going to start some Cayenne pepper seeds, and perhaps some lettuce?  

Seed Starting - Part 4

Here's an update on how my vegetable seedlings are doing.... 

(Going to have to change my post title next time, as they are much more than seeds now!)

(Seedlings getting a sun tan last weekend)

The tomato (both cherry and Roma), cucumber, radish seedlings are growing very well.  I think at our new location I'm getting THAT much more sun on the window sills (compared to the seeds I planted last year at a different house), these are less stringy and are producing more leaves already.  

The one surprise this time are the Nasturtium (Alaska Mix) seeds that my Mom gave me.  Even though only 3 out of 9 have sprouted, they are growing at lighting speed and are already almost 6" tall.  It's a little bit on the stringy side but the little plant already has about 6 or 7 small leafs each.  I hope these make it through the next few weeks as they are a GORGEOUS plant to look at, and it's edible!!!  

Can't wait for time to transplant these into large pots/planters when they get bigger.... meanwhile I have to stay patient and keep them indoors till May (that's my goal at least) as the weather is still unpredictable (they say it's supposed to be -2 degree Celsius tonight, coming from a weekend of +16 degrees!).  Well I guess after all it is still only March.  Hopefully all the pretty little flowers blooming in the front (super) early will make it through the next night or two!  

Seed starting chart

Here's a very useful chart I found online today from the Organic Gardening magazine.... it can help you figure out when to start your seeds depending on your vegetable types:

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/seed-starting-chart

Hopefully my vegetable garden this year will be as beautiful as this one I saw at the Canada Blooms show :) 

Seed starting - part 3

 

Update on seeds - it's been two weeks so far and most of the plants have sprouted little green leafs.  Cucumber plant is coming up the slowest, as well as Cilantro (those just started sprouting).  The rest are still pretty delicate at this point, but so far I'm very happy with the germination % of the seeds.  In particular the Radish plants are growing the fastest.... (above right)

Little basil plants are coming up too (left), can't wait to have fresh basil!!!!  Now if I can only find more room on my kitchen floor for more plants.... :) 

Have a great weekend!

Seed starting - part deux

Updates on the seeds - it's been 6 days and the seed starting is going very well!  Many of the seeds have already sprouted and so now comes the time to do some quick but careful transplant.... 

Some of the seeds definitely sprout much faster than others:

Fast (2 days or less): cucumber, raddish

Medium (5 days): dill, cherry tomato

Slow (7 days and still waiting): roma tomato, cilantro, basil, marigold

This is all very exciting, but I'm worried that I may have planted too many seeds... oh well, I can always give away plants to friends and family, plus, it's more fun when you share :)

 I have a feeling that my kitchen is going to turn into a mini-temporary greenhouse.... stay tuned for more updates! 

Seed starting!

 

I was reading through my Canadian Gardening magazine the other day and they had a feature on seed-sowing techniques (check it out here).  I was very curious at the techniques so I decided to get a head start this year with the plantings.  So I went and got a whole bunch of vegetable seeds (by Urban Harvest) from the Big Carrot .  The first time I heard about Urban Harvest was at Canada Blooms a few years ago, they sell organic and heirloom seeds, and it's a great way to support local Toronto businesses as well as contribute to bio diversity.  I bought seeds for tomatoes (2 kinds), lettuce (2 kinds), radish, cucumber, onions, basil, arugula, chives, cilantro etc etc.  (yeah I must admit I kind of went overboard).

So here they are, day 3 since I started with seed sowing technique #1 (no action yet).... come on little seeds, grow grow grow!!! :)