Edit: Due to a website change this post has been republished; it was originally posted on March 14, 2022
Going with my goals from my last post, the majority of what I’m planning will be for fresh eating or dehydrating. I have started some seeds inside already and thought I was behind but I learned from from CSUExtension (Planning for Success class) that I am too early! I’m growing my seedlings in paper pots (thank you to my hubby who can make them so much better than I could) which I can just put into the ground when I’m ready to plant outside. This should give the plants plenty of grow space and I hopefully won’t need to worry about hurting the root system.
I have a little greenhouse my parents bought me last year for my birthday that has been working out pretty well for seed starting. It has four shelves that are 26″ long, 17″ wide, and about 14″ tall. It is right in front of our patio door so last year we just got one square grow light that I had hoped would supplement enough light to what sunlight came in. That did not work out well.
My husband bought me some new grow lights for this year so my set up is a lot better and I can definitely tell a difference. My plants are growing so much better this year but I probably will out grow my small green house before they can safely be planted. I have a few more plants I want to start but will wait another week or two.
Here is what I have started:
1. Tomatoes. There are 3 varieties. Striped Roma (good for sauce and fresh eating), Pomodoro Pizzutello Di Paceco (good for sauce and slicing), and Tomata Trumfera Balaguer (good for fresh eating and hanging in the house for fresh tomatoes for most of the winter).
2. Peppers. I have 2 varieties for these. I’m trying a mini bell pepper mix (fresh eating) this year and the Alma paprika (to try making my own smoked paprika powder). I am only growing a few of these and don’t think I will succession plant.
3. Cucumbers. There is only one variety that I’m trying called Vorgebirgstrauben. It is supposed to be good for both fresh eating and preserving. I do want to try some fermented and refrigerator pickles but since I decided not to do any canning this year, I will only be growing a few plants with one round of succession planting.
4. Buttercup Squash. Last year I tried Black Futsu for a winter squash and it was the best thing that grew but there wasn’t many squashes and they did not grow to a good size. I had bought these squash seeds from last year but didn’t have room for them and so I decided to try them instead for this year. I am only planning on a couple of plants since they take up so much space and I’m still learning to cook with winter squash on a regular basis.
5. Zucchini. I like more unique and, for some reason, personalized sized produce so I grew Desi squash last year. It was good but not worth getting more seeds for so I am growing a couple of plants of the zucchini that I already had.
6. Watermelon. I’ve never grown watermelon before but found a variety that my boys were excited about called Moon & Stars. We’ll see how it does.
7. Sugar Ann Snap Peas. This is one I will succession plant for sure and plan on for a fall crop as well. Last year they stayed pretty small and not much harvest so I’m hoping starting some indoors will give a better start.
I am already learning a lot of lessons with the start of the growing season. Some from the classes I’m taking but also from experience. I need to be more patient with the growing process. I replanted all my seeds as I thought it was taking too long for anything to come up (I overwatered my paper pots to start so mold was starting to grow and I thought I messed up). I had to cut back extra seedlings because I definitely had seeds from both batches sprout. Being aware of the plant size and growth rate is another thing to learn. My squash plants started to block the light for some of the other plants that haven’t grown has quickly and I had to separate them.
In my next post I’ll list the plants I am planning on sowing directly into the garden.