Overwintering Successes - So Far

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I was so happy to finally be able to get outside and see what made it through - so far.
I'm not stupid enough to think that old man winter might not give us one more good smack upside the head, but here's to hoping, anyway.

The two rhubarbs that we transplanted last fall are budded. (thought they weren't too happy about their location as I wasn't able to harvest anything after two years)

Some lavender made it! I can't believe it. I was sure it was all going to croak as I left it in an exposed, wet area all winter. But, tada! It's out there and alive. Even seems as if it has grown a lot.

A few of the rhody seedlings are looking good. A surprise there, too! I can't find any of the azaleas.

I'm not too sure about the garlic, though. They had beautiful green shoots last month, but then we got a quick thaw that was just long enough to get rid of the protective snow cover, followed by ten below 0 F. I dug one up just to be nosy, and the roots look good, everything else just looks like mush. I guess I'll just have to give it some more time and see what happens.

I got some pepper seeds (chinese giant reds and a mix, 56) in soil last Friday the thirteenth. (Figured that was as good a day as any the way our luck has been running) No sprouts yet. It's much too early to expect any.

This weekend I'll be sowing the green ones. All I have is the leftover Cali Wonders, so they'll have to do.

The cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and broccoli seed I started a while ago are growing nicely. Short and bushy - perfect. I'm also out of seed for those now.

Only two weeks to getting the tomato started. Oh, I can't WAIT to smell that foliage!

We started getting the ponds cleaned out, but with the temps going into the mid-teens F this week, we'll wait until next weekend to get the pump and filter up and running. We lost two koi. ~sigh~
:(

Oh, on a side note, I had an opportunity to tell the Nielsen Company exactly what I thought of HGTV, and wow, do I feel better!

Free Tomato Seeds From Campbells

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Campbells is giving away free tomato seeds until June 21, 2009 or while supplies last, as a part of its Help Grow Your Soup campaign .

Campbell's will also make a contribution of 100 tomato seeds to National FFA Organization when you request yours. You have to enter a code from the label, but I'm sure there are many already scattered across the net if you don't have any in your cupboard.

Have patience as it's a flash program and mine took forever to load. Then again, I have a dinosaur of a comp, so your load time may vary.

This came at an awesome time for me as my stash of seed isn't so much a stash any more. This year's garden will probably clean me out of saved seed.
Now I'll be able to grow some toms next year, at least. Yay for preserving spaghetti sauce! (and anything else I can get my hands on. lol)

Seeds Sown And A First Haircut

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No, not a haircut for a kid (the last first one of those was 17 years ago). For the onions.
:)
They're so cute!

I sowed the cole crop seeds today:
Broccoli
Cabbage
Brussel Sprouts (I'm hoping the weather cooperates for them a bit better this year)
and Cauliflower

There's still two more weeks to go before I can get the pepper and tom seeds started.
~sigh~ It's so hard to wait!
Crap - they're already getting these plants in the ground down south.
Yes, zone envy rears its ugly head. Even Flighty is seeing lots of green!
My ground? White, frozen, undigable and depressing.

Total WS jugs to date = 21 (yes, I'm a slacker)

A quick aside:
Trudi, at Wintersown.org, has changed how people have to go about getting the free seed offer. As of tomorrow, March 1, you have to print out a dated page and send it with the SASE postmarked within a week of that date to get them. Really, I understand her reasoning and people who take advantage of these offers suck, but what are you suppose to do if you don't have a printer? (like, right now, I have no ink, and at $20ish a pop, I won't be getting any soon!) This may leave some of those that are very deserving of these offers with no way to get them.
:(

Oh! And I'm going to do the 'Hay Bale Gardening' this year as an experiment. Our neighbor is getting rid of a bunch of them that are already degrading, so yay! I can't wait - like I need something else to obsess over.

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The Onions Are Up

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And, wow, is it nice to see such bright green life!

These are from the seeds I gathered last fall from a Yellow Spanish that we'd missed pulling in 2007 (oops!).

People always ask why I bother growing them from seed when you can just as easily buy starts, but if they saw the softball sized, delicious, juicy bulbs I yank every August/September, they'd understand.

First, it's cheap, cheap, cheap. Second, with me, it's a 'thing' to start plants from seed.
:)
I just gotta!

I can't wait to get the toms and peppers going. Yes, I'm being a good girl and holding out until it is time.
Waiting is sooooo hard!

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The End Of Agriculture In California?

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Wow, more doom and gloom.

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu:
"I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," Chu told the newspaper. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California.
"I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going," he added.

Last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told California's farmers to prepare for a third straight year of drought due to low Sierra snow levels and some of the state's top farming counties may get little or no deliveries of water.

Entire REUTERS Article:
Climate change could end California farming

Maybe instead of proselytizing, they should actually start doing something? I know, I know, how dare I suggest such a thing. Yes, I slapped my wrist for having such an outrageous thought.

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