How is 2012 treating everyone so far?

Me..Okay I guess some complaints and some surprises but all in all not too bad...for day 3 anyhow...lol

The Bee that I am hosting has got me Buzzing...not in a bad way what so ever though! I think I have a few more days of buzzin and then I should be able to sit back and just enjoy the whole process. If you want to see what block the amazing person for month one chose you can click HERE. (And yes I went 1st..Lol)

A lot of my gardening buddies have been posting about planning their garden, buying seeds and some have already started seedlings indoors. I get excited and then I look outside and see my garden covered by about a foot of snow. We have had a mild winter and I am sure that the worst is yet to come, so it is a little hard to get into the garden mode. I do want to start a few things indoor this winter though so I can have a bit more succession plants. Normally everything goes in as seeds in May and just about everything is ready at the same time.

Last year we really enjoyed having fresh spinach. I think I froze most of it though since it was in a 15ft row and was all up and starting to bolt at the same time. I wasn’t sure on when to pick the spinach and read that you had to wait until there were 6 leaves the size of your hand. Well by the time I had 6 leaves that were that size some of the older ones were the size of my head! Oh well it was my first year growing it and I have learnt from my mistakes. Another mistake was trying to grow a second crop of spinach. I didn’t work up the row and threw some seed in....nothing came up.
Typical size for my 2011 spinach :o

So here is my question. Does anyone start their spinach inside first or do you simply plant a few seeds directly in the garden in different spots every few months?

Also does anyone have any succession planting tips or a suggestion on a veggie or fruit that I MUST try growing!!

Okay I better get lunch ready Mr. Pickles should be home shortly and I said I already was done making it...LOL

Comments

  1. Day 3 is so far A-OK for me. Have done some cleaning so now I intend to do some sewing. No gardening for this chickadee. I watch Hub do that and just go out and supervise now and again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Boy! that leaf of Spinach sure is a big one! I'd love to be able to grow some like that...I love spinach too .

    ReplyDelete
  3. OK Mrs.P this is what you need to do. Go to this website and put in your zip code and it will create a chart telling you when to start seeds inside and out.

    http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates/zipcode/18104

    ReplyDelete
  4. and here

    http://www.almanac.com/content/vegetable-garden-planner

    ReplyDelete
  5. Day 3 and I am still cleaning out herb beds and the last of the tomatoes! I don't think I will ever be ready by planting time. I never have much indoor success in seed planting. It's in the ground and grow, Hoover Dam it! Finished putting away scraps used for Christmas projects, washing new material for blankets and quilts for new great grand baby's shower (golly only two months until she arrives!!!. Other than that I love to try weird veggies, pick out one or two and try something different! Hugs
    PS It was been 80 degrees here since Christmas Day!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've got a great electric propagator that fits on the average window sil. It has seven separate compartments so that you can sow seven different things without worrying that some sprout faster than others. The one I got was a budget one. Good price but not at all cheap feeling. And when I used it I got a better result than what I'd tried before.

    But spinach, I just sow straight into the pot (only have a pot garden at the mo), but my neighbour sows them as seedlings in a greenhouse then puts them in the ground - great way to get a staggered planting.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I do not have a green thumb. I kill a garden every year! We do not have a very big back yard and our garden was only about 6ft x 10ft. the only things I keep going are my chives! Can you ever really kill those buggers... I think not! Oh and the silly mint I planted in my flower beds and an now kicking myself for because I have decided that mint should be added to the catagory of WEED!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I only grow spinach in the spring and fall. I plant when the ground is thawed out in the spring. I chit the seed first. I don't let the roots get big. As soon as the first sign of the root starting to come out in some of the seeds, I sow them in the garden. I usually plant my fall spinach at the end of August and hope I can get it to germinate at those temps. Sometimes I'm lucky, sometimes not. Spring spinach is always more prolific. BTW spinach bolts when the days get long. At one point I knew the day light hour numbers and calculated that at May 15th on the 42nd parallel (where I live) is when the daylight starts to make them bolt. Though they also bolt due to heat so they can bolt earlier. But usually I keep picking spinach all spring until they bolt. Then I live spinachless mostly until the next spring, but sometimes the fall crop will produce.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment! I enjoy reading all of them and I try my best to respond back asap via e-mail or on here :)

Popular Posts