Grow lights and sweet tomatoes

I get really lucky sometimes and yesterday was such a day. I noticed over the weekend that my seedlings were growing larger, so I needed to put some of them in bigger pots and also get more grow lights. I thought of using one more desk lamp. As I was mulling this last evening I suddenly remembered that the previous tenant had left behind a tubelight holder. As luck would have it, not only was the holder in working condition, it also had two functional tubelights in it! And I hadn't bothered using it for nearly two years! Even more amazing was that the holder had chains and I had some twine. So I ended up hanging up quite a nice looking grow light for my seedlings from the curtain holder near the windowsill! This should allow me to grow more quite comfortably. Losing no time, this morning I started 3 seeds of Burpee super sweet tomatoes (100 hybrid variety). Here's a picture of the setup and of the new potato patch I made over the weekend at the garden.

Potato time!

The last frost of the season is expected around two weeks later. So I thought this was a good time to get the seed potatoes out. I had mixed in some compost last week into the potato patch. Today, I dug four trenches about four inches deep and put all the seed potatoes in. I also included half a potato that had started shooting at home for a total of 22 cuts.

On the spinach patch I saw some seedlings today. I am still not sure if these are spinach or weeds, so I let them stay. There are about seven growing in a line close to where I had sown the seeds, and there aren't similar seedlings anywhere else on the plot. So I am hopeful that these are indeed spinach!

The peas and onions are coming along slowly but steadily. Tomatoes at home are growing fast. Need to transfer them to bigger paper pots soon. All but one pepper plant, have started growing true leaves. I hope they grow into sturdy young plants. The next set of seeds will be beans, after last frost.

Updates

Ten onion and ten pea sprouts. What I thought was a spinach sprout is most likely a weed, unfortunately. Spread some compost on the ground in preparation for sowing seed potatoes next weekend - that should be two weeks before the last expected frost.

Rains!

It was summer one day and winter the next.  Which was a little sad as I was just packing my winter clothes away. But it's been awesome for the garden! Tiny onion shoots, a couple of pea seedlings and finally one that looks like spinach! I now hope it rains some more and stays cool.

The plants at home are doing well too. I figured out that the reason they were so tall and wiry was because they did not get enough light near the window. So now they have a focus light, and are doing much better. They can now concentrate on getting true leaves out instead of growing longer.

75 onions!

Planted a bag of bulbs in 3 rows yesterday.

No sign of peas, spinach or the mystery bulbs yet in the garden but things have been happening at the greenhouse at home! All the tomato and pepper seeds have germinated! One tomato is droopy, not sure why. I hope it picks up strength soon.

Also soaked all the rest of the giant winter spinach seeds from Bountiful Gardens and sowed them in the ground because I read that spinach seeds do not store well. 

Spinach and peas and peppers and tomatoes

First workday of the season at the garden today. Day was cloudy and windy. Picked up trash in the woods. Found beer bottles! And then remembered that football parking is close by during football season.

Laid more bricks around the plot, now the whole boundary is done. I may lay a path of stones inside the plot to walk on, depends on whether stones are easy to find around the garden. Sowed giant winter spinach seeds from Bountiful Gardens and Burpee peas. Stuck another trellis into the ground. Need to find twine from last year and weave support. Need to wait till after last frost to begin beans. Plan to get seed potato from Tait farm. Really like the yield last year. Should find out when to start pepper indoors. So exciting to grow again!!!

Update: Started 6 Burpee jalapeno peppers and 6 Ferry Morse roma tomatoes indoors on 6 April.

More preparations

More bricks to line the plot. Last year's trellis for peas and beans (will sow in the weekend along with spinach I think) and support for tomato plants. Also watered the mystery bulbs, which I think are of either tulip, hyacinth or daffodil.