Stoney Acres

Every year we like to add new plants in the garden.  Some of what we try ends up making it into our annual rotation, others get one season and they are gone!!  To see a summary of the new stuff we grew last year you can go here.  Usually we limit ourselves to 3 or 4 new crops but this year my master gardener course has filled my head with all kinds of new veggies to grow, so I’m going to have to make some space for a lot.  Here’s the list of new veggies for this year.

Pickling Cucumbers – Wisconsin SMR 

I’ve wanted to make our own pickles for several years now, this year we are going to take the leap.

Pumpkin – Small Sweet Sugar/Pie 

We have also wanted to use our pumpkins for more that just jack-o-lanterns and chicken food so this year we are going to try a “pie pumpkin”

Melon – Crenshaw 

This one was recommended to me by our master gardener instructor.  It is supposed to be one of the better melons to grow in our climate!

Summer Crisp Lettuce – Nevada 

This is an attempt to have fresh grown lettuce for more of the year.  We eat a lot of salads and this variety should resist bolting and going bitter in the summer heat.

Heirloom Tomato – Brandywine Pink 

All the tomatoes we have grown in the past were hybrids, this year we are going to branch out with an Heirloom!

Leeks – Large American Flag

We have never grown leeks before, we are hoping to get these to grow in the cold frames for winter harvest

Herbs

We haven’t grown a lot of herbs in our garden, this year I hope to add Dill, Parsley and Basil

Others 

Others that we hope to find space for include a pat-a-pan squash, parsnips, a yellow tomato and shallots.  We may even get a black berry plant or two!

So, big plans for the year, I’ve bought the seeds for most of them so I guess I’m committed.  Now if I can just find the space!!

The longer I garden the bigger my collection of seeds has become.  Especially since I have been raising my own seedlings the seeds seem to pile up.  I use to keep them all stuffed in a little Rubbermaid container but as my collection has grown I needed more space and an easy way to find them. Most seeds will stay viable for several years, many for 5 years or beyond if kept under the right conditions.

I found this little wooden box in a closet of an apartment I lived in years ago in Northern California.  I think it was originally meant as a fancy box to hold a bottle of wine.  (My friends and family always giggle at my seed box when I bring it out because we are not wine drinkers).  Whatever it was in its last life, it works perfectly now to hold our supply of seeds.  It’s just wide enough to fit even the larger seed packets and just the right height.

I added some simple tabs made out of card stock to keep things organized.  It has a nice lid that slides in place.  Seeds like dark and cool.  I keep our seed box in a cool corner of our basement.  Just out of curiosity I counted up how many seed packets it holds.  It currently has 75 seed packets in it with quite a bit of space in the back.  Wow what am I going to do with 75 seed packets??

So this week a lot of my posts are going to focus on the art of starting your own seedlings.  I do not profess to being perfect at growing seedlings (I still struggle with tomatoes and peppers), but I’ve been doing it for a few years now and I’ve learned quite a lot.

Today I’m going to outline my plan for this year’s seed starting schedule.  Keep in mind that this plan is for my Zone 5b garden.  If you live in a warmer area you will want to get started sooner.  Colder?  Start later.  But these dates will be a good starting point for anyone in Zones 5, 6 or 7.  If you are blessed with warmer weather than zone 7 you are probably laughing at the very thought of having to start seeds indoors!!

January 15, 2012

Okay I know this one has already passed but I planted lettuce starts and some spinach around this date.  These starts are meant to go in the cold frame about March 1^st.  If you don’t have a cold frame or hoop house then this early of a planting is too soon for you.

February 15, 2012

This will be the first big planting.  I will start Broccoli, Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Kale, Swiss chard, Totsoi, Pak Choi, Celery, more lettuce and Leeks.  Also this year I’m hoping my larger seed starting shelves will allow me some space to start some flowers so I will be planting some Pansy’s.  Target plant out date for these plants will be April 1^st with protection from either the hoop houses or cold frames.

March 15, 2012

Time here to get some early starts of tomatoes and peppers going.  Most of these will go out under protection in early May.  Also more lettuce plants will be started today.  And if I can make the room, more flowers, Petunias and Marigolds.

April 1, 2012

The balance of the tomatoes and peppers will go in today to be set out around our last frost date of May 15^th.

April 15, 2012

More lettuce today, switching now to some of the summer varieties that will hold up to the heat better. These will go out in the garden on June 1^st.

April 21, 2012

Time to get serious about warm weather crops, melons, summer squash, pumpkins and winter squash to be planted out on May 15^th.  Notice that these summer crops only need to be started about 3 weeks before they go out.  Much longer and the plants will get too “leggy” to be useful in the garden.

May 15, 2012

More summer lettuces to be started indoors these will go out on July 1^st.

June 15, 2012

Time to start thinking towards fall.  I will start Broccoli, Cabbage, Kohlrabi and Kale.  All of these plants will go out no later that August 1^st.

July 15, 2012

Fall lettuce starts along with some spinach, kale and Chinese cabbages.

August 1, 2012

Time to start seedlings for winter harvest now.  Today I will plant several types of lettuce, Swiss Chard, Kale, Pak Choi, and Tatsoi

As you can see the seed starter will be busy this year.  It will run pretty much non stop from January to mid September.  Let the fun begin!!!