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madabouteu

Sixty days to April 1!

madabouteu
11 years ago

Some of the seeds I have bought need 60 days of cold and wet to germinate well, according to the place I bought them from (Prairie Moon), so I have been sowing them already. These are species of wildflower native to the US, designed by nature to need this tretment to germinate well. Besides, it reminds me that spring is not that far away!

Before I learned about stratification and winter sowing, I would buy packets of seed and wonder why only a few - or none! - would sprout. Now I know! You'd think the seed companies would be a bit more informative.

Comments (16)

  • alabamanicole
    11 years ago

    9 days to February 15th -- but I planted my peas already anyway.

  • catbird
    11 years ago

    Kenneth: You'll have to post a picture of your wildflowers this summer. Enjoy.

  • drippy
    11 years ago

    Thanks, Alabamanicole - you'd think having been here nearly 3 years now I'd be more with the program, but this old New Englander still has St. Patrick's Day in her head - heck, the peas will all be toast by then! I'll get mine in soon now...

  • squirrellypete
    11 years ago

    I'm still not the most adept veggie gardener and a relative newbie with seeds, never with peas. What peas are you talking about that can be planted now? I assume you mean planting out rather than starting indoors?

  • alabamanicole
    11 years ago

    Snap peas, or anything called English peas. (Not field peas.)

  • squirrellypete
    11 years ago

    OK, thanks. I may have to try those this year. Father-in-law plants a big patch of what I guess would be considered field peas that we harvest in the summer. They look similar to lima beans to me.

  • bulzi
    11 years ago

    Time seems to be flying by, just 50 days now till April 1. Question:All winter long my Brussels sprouts have look like large opened cabbages. Planted in September ,should they not be putting on sprouts by now? Should I pull them up?

  • browneyedsusan_gw
    11 years ago

    They should put up long stalks soon with sprouts budding off them. The first time I grew Brussels sprouts I thought I had done something wrong and that they weren't going to produce, so I pulled them up. I accidentally missed one which then went on to produce sprouts-that's how I learned.

    Susan.

  • bulzi
    11 years ago

    Susan, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

  • bulzi
    11 years ago

    madabouteu, 30 days to April 1 and the weather is keeping this cold blooded body in doors,,,,,mid twenties at night. Can not complain,it has really been a mild winter.

    Brussels sprouts (some) looks like they maybe putting on little rosettes along the main stems. I sure had other plans for that area for spring. May just plant some poppy seed around them.

    So much to do it seems and always so little time to do it...and do it right.. Great therapy tho, both mental and physical.

  • drippy
    11 years ago

    I am getting annoyed with the cold, too - I've gone out and done a little weeding on milder days. I have a lot of wintersown containers that are sprouting and doing well, but they still have their covers on, and I am ready to do some planting out! Signs of life, though...roses, columbines, blueberries all have new growth. But it can't get warm fast enough for me!

  • madabouteu
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Well, I pruned a 9-foot Knockout rose today, getting it back to a decent size. Friday I started stratifying a number of seeds that need 30 days cold stratification. Gotta do SOMETHING!

  • squirrellypete
    11 years ago

    Got my tomato bed tilled up and ammended (no I'm not planting anytime soon lol). But I did want to go ahead and plant some onions in the same bed so I figured might as well get it all fixed up now. Added some bone meal and peat moss to the onion area and wood ash, coffee grounds and peat moss to the tomato area.

    Tomorrow if the rain holds off for a little while I'm hoping to get the other side of the veggie garden tilled in with some fall leaves for later planting.

    This morning I planted out the last of my broccoli seedlings I started indoors that were ready to be set out with another flat maturing out in the greenhouse to be planted later.

    Most of the greenhouse plants got moved out this morning for some sunshine and warmer temps but many will probably have to be brought back in for a few nights this week until the weekend warm-up.

  • jessewalla
    11 years ago

    Hi there. I am new to this forum and new to gardening. I did it with my grandparents as a child and loved it. I now own a home and have a place to garden myself. I am interested in growing vegetables and flowers organically when possible. I appreciate any help/advice you can give me. I knew all of this stuff yrs ago but I must relearn as 20+yrs of big city living has erased some of that knowledge. Again, thanks for any help. I am going to do raised bed gardening this year as my soil needs extensive work. I am bringing in 30 yds of loamy loamy soil next week and have been building beds of varying heights. I hope to get plants in the ground by April 1.

  • catbird
    11 years ago

    jessewalla: Welcome. Sounds like you're off to a good start. As you run into problems or have specific questions, just start a new thread and you'll probably get all the help you'll need. You might also want to check out the Gardenweb forum on organic gardening and the one on vegetables. They are listed on the main gardening forums page and I'll post the link to the organic forum below. Good luck.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Organic gardening forum

  • madabouteu
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I also suggest you contact your local county extension office - they will provide you with publications on how to grow the specific vegetables you want to grow. Starting April 1, Master Gardener helplines will be open and you can call them for answers to specific questions about home gardens - the County Extension Office should be able to give you the info on how to contact the one closest to you. Online, you can access the publications of the extension services of all 50 states at www.extension. org .

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