Seed Orders For 2017 Outdoor Garden ... Part 1

I try to order seeds early to make sure I have them. I put my seed inventory into a few categories:

1. Old seeds
2. Seed saved seeds
3. New seeds

I make sure I have plenty of seeds of the plants I want to grow. I tend to start them earlier than I should to make sure I have enough plants. I try to use up the old seeds and then use the seed saved seeds. I also grow about 50% more plants than what I need. There is nothing worse than a possible blank spot in the garden. Or not having enough of your favorite plants. It is better to have seeds left over than missing plants at planting time. 

I bought these seeds from Johnnys  Johnny's Selected Seeds   during a sale. They are Zinnias, Rudbeckia, Coneflower, Lettuce mix, Kale, Collared Greens, Lettuce, Swiss Chard, Broccoli, Cherry Tomato

The flowers are annuals. The collard greens, cherry tomatoes, lettuce mix, lettuce, swiss chard, kale will keep producing new harvests. 

I will use succession planting to supplement the broccoli and lettuce growth. 

As you can see from previous posts, I use a lot of zinnias and rudbeckia in the flower garden. They attract bees, blooms last a long time, and the plants can handle the local climate.  

Seedling Status 3/14/16

The process I use to start all plants from seed is basically the same. Go to the links below to see the sequence. I get good results from this process and have been using it for 10 years.

To see the seedling status on 4/26/16:  Seedling Status Post 4/26/16

To see how I start zinnias from the beginning go here: Seed Saving And Starting Zinnias

To see how I start lettuce from the beginning go here: Seed Starting Bibb Butter Crunch Lettuce

I also water the plants very sparingly every day. Remember to water the soil, not the plant. Cuts down on potential for spreading disease.

Full trays of the same thing are labeled with one name tag until they are transplanted into bigger peat pots. Then each plant is given a unique tag with its name and start date. You may have to shift things around in the trays and not labeling each one will cause planting errors.

I keep the lights on 12 hours a day using an automatic timer.

All seedlings shown were started on 3/14/16

Zinnia in the front, Calendua in the rear

Calendula left, Coleus foreground, Nasturtium in the rear 

Zinnias

Zinnias, Cabbage and Kale in  the rear

Bachelor Buttons

Cabbage, Kale, Cosmos, and Zinnias in the rear

Zinnias with Nasturtium in the rear

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums and Broccoli

Tomatoes

Seedling Update - Petunias, Zinnias, Calendula, Collared Greens, Kale, Broccoli - 04-16-2013

Again, continuation of the previous post.

Petunias

Zinnias

Calendula

Collared Greens, Kale, Broccoli

What I Grow Part 2

This is a continuation of a previous post.

Yukon Gold potatoes:

Two pound beefsteak tomatoes:

Broccoli:

Cilantro to make pesto:

Black currants to make jam:

Basil to make pesto and tomato sauce:

Strawberries: