Monday, April 13, 2009

April 13, 2009

Wow, what wacky weather.  Last week we were having 60 degree weather and all was looking very springish.  I even planted out all my viable cucumber seedlings, under cover of course.  Well, here it is 7 days later and my remote themometer tels me it is currently 40 degrees under that same cover.  My fear now is not that it will kill the cuke seedlings, but that it will stunt them into crappy production.  My plan was for 8 SF of cukes (16 plants) taking up the trellis space from beds #1 and #2.  I am not doing beans again this year.  If the previous seedlings don't survive, then these...



... seven cuke seedlings that were going to fill in more of the 8 SF that I couldn't plant before, will replace them come early May once the threat of frost is over for the season.

You may be asking why only 7 more instead of the 10-15 I need to fully plant the bed.  Well, these 7 soil blocks are what I've got left from my last seed starting session over a month ago.  Recall that I had extras that wouldn't fit in my seedling tray, so I froze them.  A few days ago I took them out of the freezer and thawed them for a few hours.  Then I hydrated them and planted these cuke seeds. 

Now they reside on the top of the fridge with the clay pot that my wife picked out that has a few stevia seeds germinating.  Of course since the moment of confustion where I couldn't tell what was a stevia seedling and what wasn't, and therefore replanted from scratch, I found them.  Thanks to SB158's comment a few days ago, I now know what a stevia seedling looks like.  Sure enough, all four of them are still hanging out in the near-empty seedling tray.



This shot is a bit dated now (about four days old), but the green seedlings in soil blocks are the stevia.  It's now clear that they look like SB's seedling, only much smaller.  Oh my goodness they grow slow.  I sure hope they take off in the spring and summer, because at this rate it'll be a few years before I can harvest off them, hehe.  If that's the case maybe I want more than one.  I just remember Judy's comments that hers got 3 feet tall in no time.  Ah, the joys of our different 8b zones, hehe.

Lastly, thanks for dropping by if you're here from one of the many links from Stumbledupon and TipNut.  Who knew those sites did all that.  Hope you enjoyed yourself and would consider coming back.  Trust me, things are just now heating up!  You don't want to miss this season's garden adventure! hehe

Enjoy your garden!

8 comments:

  1. It certainly took a turn for nasty this past few days. Had a close call with my tomato plants that were hardening off and the onset of some hail yesterday. Take heart though, the longer term forecast is looking right nice! Expecting a significantly improved situation beginning mid week.

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  2. I think you need to construct more trellises...heh. I'm going with 16 cucumber plants this year, because it seems we need more for pickles. No beans? Oh god...i'm growing tons! BTW, your package will be sent out today, and I put some interesting varieties in there.

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  3. I don't think I've ever had a garden without beans. I just can't imagine it. The funny thing is that I'm not a great bean fan (dried beans yes, green no), but from the garden they taste so good. And they are just too easy.

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  4. Just wanted to let you know that the package was sent today.

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  5. Man, you two sound like spies. "The package was sent today..." "Can't fly dogs won't bark without umbrella..."

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  6. I'm with Daphne, green beans (yellow too) are probably the biggest reason I ever started a garden. I always had garden beans growing up. It's what I missed about Mom's garden that got me started on my own. The couple years I didn't have a garden, it's what I missed most.
    (Greenbean08)

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  7. Good idea to freeze the soil blocks, must save on clean up time. I was just reading today in one of Coleman's books about planting out cucumbers and then starting more inside just encase.

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  8. Just curious why you're not doing beans this year. Is it the climate, or just your preference? I'm growing to try multiple varieties of beans to see what I like, and I'll probably have beans to give to everyone in town. LOL

    Love your site!

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