I'll piggyback and wish everyone a happy and productive New Year as well.

We're expected to warm up for today. I'll have lots more cold to wintersow.

Happy New Year! I am going to start my onion, celeriac, and leek seeds soon, as soon as they get here. Usually I start them by the end of Jan. Last year was the first time i grew celeriac or onions from seed. If I had known they were that easy I would have done it sooner! Anyone ever try starting parsnips inside? I never have luck starting it in the garden. I also started beets in plug trays, they are so slow to germinate outside. They took off great, didn't even mind being transpanted and they were huge, probably due to the constant rain we had. I winter sowed my lettuce and we were eating it about a month earlier than usual. We're getting rain today and very mild temps but it's supposed to get colder next week. Guess w/s will have to wait a while. Marg

I really wish I have a large enough yard to grow veggies but since I don't I'm concentrating on growing plants for next year's living wall. I have many echeverias now growing nicely under lights. I've propagated many from single mother plants and so that's my present interest at the moment.

Marg, I grew parsnips for the first time last year and they were quite slow to germinate. I treat them like carrots-- put a big piece of landscape cloth or a sheet over them to keep them cool and moist. I water with a fine spray from the hose, right through the fabric. When they germinate, remove the cover (pick a cloudy day) and they just take off. It was a huge crop and they are really delicious eating right now. I don't have proper cold storage for root veggies, so I just left the parsnips in a box on the porch. With all the freezing and thawing they're no good for boiling or baking but they're terrific mashed.

Thanks Bev. I'll have to give that a try this year. I love parsnips, especially in soups or roasted, and to think that as a kid, I hated them! Marg