Despite forecasted low temperatures of -5 Celsius in the next week or so, I've decided to get some seeds started in the greenhouse. It is plenty hot during the day, but overnight it still seems to drop close to outdoor temperatures. So I started with cool weather crops.
I've planted the following seeds east to west (top to bottom per the photo) in the greenhouse bed, putting low growth crops under the upper shelves and taller crops between the shelves:
Lettuce (Kindle): Butterhead variety. This is the first time I've used (or even seen) a pelleted lettuce seed. I'll need to keep it plenty moist in the first few days until the coating cracks open.
Bunching Onions (Red Baron): These seeds are left over from last year. Intended as spring onions, but will grow quite large if left long enough.
Radish (Easter Egg Mix): William Dam Seeds mix of coloured radishes. I haven't grown radishes in a couple of years so looking forward to these.
Kale (Nero Di Toscana): Black Kale, same seeds from last year.
Borage: In the order I've planted, this is meant to be one of the "low" crops. Borage are very large herb plants, so these are only here until they grow large enough to transplant outside (OK this isn't really a cool-weather crop, I just thought I'd give it a try).
Tsoi Sim: First time even growing these asian greens. I will also be starting some outside when the temperatures warm up.
In fact, I'll be planting all of these outside as well as in the greenhouse - this is just a head start on some of them!
I'm still not planting anything outside yet - our highs have been hovering in the low single digits for the most part so our soil is defrosting very slowly - an inch or so in most beds with my plastic covered beds being only 3" down so far.
ReplyDeleteI'm also looking forward to what you think of the Easter Egg mix radishes - I'll be growing this variety this year too (for the first time).
I've grown the Easter Egg mix before (always from William Dam). They grow well enough and I love the different colours when using them in salads. I don't eat a lot of radishes so not really sure what to say about the taste.
DeleteWe are still getting cool temperatures too, but it looks like no sub freezing weather in sight. So I've started to seed outside today. They may take a while to germinate though. Usually carrots take about three week in the spring.
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice big greenhouse you have there. We're having some nice warm weather but very windy, still not time to plant out warm weather crops, maybe another 2 weeks or so.
ReplyDeleteYes, at least a few more weeks before anything will go outside here.
DeleteSounds like a good selection to start with. You are lucky to have the greenhouse. I, too, was surprised to receive some pelleted lettuce seed, Little Gem from Territorial, and it came in a little plastic bottle, not an envelope.
ReplyDeleteEaster egg radishes sound cool, it'll be nice to get a variety of colours.
ReplyDeleteBorage is great, it seeds all round my plot and pops up all over the place. I then just have to weed it out of areas where I don't want it. Have you tried letting it seed around or do the seeds not survive over winter there? Actually it sounds like this is your first time growing it.
I actually grew it last year for the first time - in my larger garden space. So I'll only know this year if the seeds will survive the winter. I know some people think it's annoying to self-seed but I kind of hope it does - easier to pull out what I don't want instead of having to start new ones every year!
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