Sprouts in the garden!

A couple of weeks ago I decided to plant radishes, spinach and mache.  I had been getting concerned since nothing had sprouted, but this morning when I went out to work on the garden beds I saw little sprouts all over the place!  The weather this weekend (upper 50's to the lower 60's) should be perfect for keeping them growing quickly.  So excited for fresh treats from the garden in the coming weeks.


I have also spent some time going through all of my old seeds from last year and cataloging everything to determine what needs to be picked up this spring.  It looks like I have a pretty good base to work with, but I'll probably mix things up with some new varieties.  


Later today I will likely start planting early season seeds and plotting out the garden.


I'm particularly excited about adding some cool new eggplants from Birch Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com) as well as some Asian bean varieties.  


What are you planning on growing this year?

Winter Gardening

Well I have been getting antsy and I decided to start planting in the garden the other day.  It has been unseasonably warm for several weeks now and all of the extended forecasts I am reading are suggesting that we will not have a freeze for at least the next 30 days.  Risky, but I'm willing to take the risk at this point given the crazy winters we have had the last couple of years.  I ended up working over a few beds with a bit of compost, crushed egg shell and rotting leaves.  Thus far I have planted two varieties of radish (a white columnar variety and a red and white round radish) as well as spinach and kale.  All cold hardy things, unless we get prolonged freezes.  The bed they are in is fairly well protect from the elements so hopefully all will be good!  I'm looking into getting a greenhouse this spring so I can start many of the plants I want from seed with better success than last year.  Anyone have any good suggestions on economical units?