This post was supposed to go out Monday while I was on vacation, but I got sidetracked so here it is a couple days late.
Finally, there is no snow on the ground. Monday the 8th was the first day since Christmas Eve that there was no snow visible in the webcam.
Temps have actually also been near to slightly above normal and we are getting rain instead of snow. It’s about freakin’ time that winter ends!
Here are the latest garden updates. Onion sets and potatoes are starting to show up at Planter’s Seeds in the River Market so you know spring is getting close. The seedlings growing in the garage are doing pretty good.
Here’s a few freshly transplanted seedlings.
There was a whole other tray of seedling transplanted over the weekend and there are a few more that are ready now. I am rapidly running out of space.
Here are a couple pics of the seedlings growing away on the shelves under the florescent lights.
Coming soon. Weather summary for February and a list of all the seedlings currently growing.
The seedlings for the garden are coming right along. If half of the seedlings that are growing right now survive that will be more than twice as many than I had planned for the garden. Better too many than too few.
Here is the 1st tomato that was potted into its 4′” pot to hang out in until it is garden time. Go back a couple posts and you can see how much growing this thing did this week. Just below that is the first Ceyenne Pepper that was transplanted into a 4” pot. The Ceyenne is from seed from last years Ceyenne’s. The tomatoes are all from seed purchased this year.
And finally here is a group shot of the tomatoes that got transplanted tonight. There will be more tomatoes and peppers transplanted this weekend.
And finally, I am getting rather confident that I can create a post next week announcing that there is no snow at all on our lot. This would be the first time since just before Christmas that I could make that statement. We are getting pretty close now but there are several stubborn drifts still hanging in there that will take a few days to melt. One of them can be seen at the webcam but there is a much larger one in the backyard that spends most of the day in the shade that will take awhile to melt. We almost hit 50 today and we are supposed to be above 50 tomorrow. Forecasts here. It’s about freakin’ time since it’s March already.
Later
Hard to believe, but I noticed a couple tulips coming up yesterday. South side of the house, sheltered from the wind and full sun. However, it is still a sign that this freakin’ Winter is finally coming to an end. However, it still doesn’t really feel like it.
If this winter were to ever end I’d be a happy camper. I start veggies for the garden hoping they’ll be in the ground in late April. Even with plastic and/or mulch on the soil before hand it will be a miracle if I can get the starter plants in the ground before June. The plants started from seed don’t know any better, but the fact that the garden has been frozen over for more than 3 months with no end in sight does not bode well.
Speaking of the seedlings here is their update.
I’ve started transplanting some of them to their 4” pots from the small starter pots. Here’s a pic of one of the Roma tomatoes that has made the transition quite well.
It was transplanted the other day and most of the original stem was buried in the potting mix. Every site that I researched suggested burying transplanted tomatoes almost up to the first true leaves. Roots will grow from the stem buried in the potting mix. I’m not one to argue with most of the internet so I followed those suggestions. Seems to be working great as this plant, one other tomato and two pepper plants seem to be thriving in their 4” pots buried up to their true leaves. The sand and cinnamon on the top of the potting mix are to thwart off gnats.
I put a few watermelon seeds from last years crop into a pot just to see if the seeds were viable. I believe that they are since I planted 3 seeds and this is what has sprouted. Supposedly watermelon doesn’t transplant well. We’ll see, plus I have a couple dozen more seeds that will be sown later this spring. These are Black Diamond watermelon. Juicy, sweet, seedy and sloppier than all get out. But, that is the way watermelon is supposed to be. This is definitely not a seed free plant.
I also transplanted a couple ceyenne peppers to 4” pots. They are also doing very good.
Another 6” of snow today. That brings our season total up to 34”. A normal season’s snowfall around here is about 20”. It is not unusual for us to see less than 15” of snow for the entire season. I didn’t get out to get pics. It was cold and windy as heck. I took a couple measurements (one early, one when the storm was done) and that is it. Here is a pic from the webcam this evening. I might provide some more detail early this week, but I kind of doubt it.
If next winter is anything like this one I’ll place a snow ruler in front of the webcam for snow depth. It won’t be very accurate because this view is of the north side of the house and the wind is always blowing and drifting the snow around.
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