2013 has begun (albeit late)

Spent the day turning the soil in the verge patch. Sieved three barrow loads of compost and composted one of the three beds. More composting needed, soothe time with the sieve needed. 

The garlic had sprouted and they look strong and vigorous. 

Into seed trays went (2 days ago). Onion, leek, broccoli, kohlrabi, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts.

Seeds

Sewed seeds of:
Cabbage, Copenhagen market
Cauliflower, giant of Naples
Broccoli, premium green f1

Lettuce:
Red flame
Cos
Paris white cos
Green magninette

In the weekend

Brasica back yard

Moved from trays into the patch. The germination rates were terrible, but it isn't really spring yet so another experiment is needed before seeds are ditched.

Seeding is believing

Time to get some more seeds in since the weather is so bad today:

4 pottles with:
Zucchini - ambasador f1

3 pottles with:
Pumpkin - spooki

A tray of:
Leek - winter giant

6 each of:
Cabbage - Copenhagen market
Spinach - winter giant
Kohlrabi -early purple Vienna

Germination and Onions

The Copenhagen Market cabbage and All The Year Round cauliflower have started to germinate. The germination rates are low, the cauliflower rate is so low that the seeds are essentially non viable.

Also planted some Red Wing F1 and Italian Longkeeper onions in trays. According to the Tui NZ Vegetable Garden, you can plant onion seeds February - July.

Brassica Fantatisica

Spend the evening planting cauliflower (all the year round), cabbage (copenhagen market), and Kohlrabi (purple and green), into seed trays. In total 20 of each being 2 seed trays.

Seed Seeds Seeds, on the grow

All three seed-trays were empty, and its summer. This was a sad state of affairs that needed resolving. The seed-trays were washed in hot water, then rinsed in hot tap water, then filled with black-magic seed mix.

Into the three trays went 20 each of:
Spinach (winter giant)
Spinach (bloomsdale)
Cauliflower (all the year around)
Cauliflower (violet sicilian)
Cabbage (copenhagen market)
Brocoli (italian Precore)

That a load of Brassica and a lot of spinach.

As its early summers its also time to get the cucurbits in. They are a lot larget than the tiny brassics so they go into individual pots rather then seed trays. Into 4 pots each went:

Pumpkins (harvest gold)
Squash (sunbeam)
Zucchini (blackjack)
Zucchini (blackbeauty)

In previous years the pumpkins have suffered mold and not produced fruit - perhaps this year will reverse the trend.

Putting the brassicas to bed

The brassica that were reaised in seed-trays did generally very well with the exception of the cauliflower. The got too big for the seed trays and so were transplanted to the vege-patch.

As a reminder, they were: Broccoli (Premium Green F1), Cabbage (Copenhagen Market), Cauliflower (All Year Round), Pak Choy (White Stem).

Also transplanted peas (from way back) from trays to the patch. They do well inside, and outside they are a centimeter or so in length.

Finally, found the orange chedar cauliflower at Bunnings in Dunedin. One tray of 6 went in beside the other brassica. Overall a good weekend for the vege-patch.

Brassica Germination

Planted 4 kinds of brassicas into one of the seed trays: Broccoli (Premium Green F1), Cabbage (Copenhagen Market), Cauliflower (All Year Round), Pak Choy (White Stem). The "plan" is to compare the seeds with the seedlings.

The Kohlrabu have germinated with nearly all peeking up out of the soil. Both the emerald and purple varieties have gerninated well.

The onions are showing signs of germination, but some are rotting. They get a white mold on them. I suspect that the seeds germinate then some mold sets in and they turn into little mold balls. None-the-less, it looks like enough will be successful to result in a first-round ready for planting in a week or two.

Pic-ing vegetables

Rhubarb
At about week five after divison three of the plants are doing well and the other three are doing reasonably well. Certainly no deaths (yet).

Borlotto Beans
The first of the borlotto bean plants to be planted out. This plant has been in the garden about two weeks and continues to do well.

Cabbage
Relative new-comers to the vege patch, cabbage also seems to be thriving.

Venturing out

The seeds from the seed trays had been there a little too long and the time had come for them to venture from the home into the world (well, the vege patch anyway). All three of the seed trays were emptied into the garden which included:

Onions: Both the longkeepers and the sweet red did well with most seeds gernimating and growing. The Borettana did badly with only about 2 sprouting and only one making it into the vege patch.

Articokes were a similar disaster. One Imperial Star sprouted and amde it into the garden whereas about 6 of the gren globe made the transition.

Lettuce (cox) and the strawberry spinach. The strawberry spinach are tiny brittle weak littl plants; it'll be interesting to see if they survive a Dunedin summer.

Also finished the sprinkler sytem by laying the last few meters, burying it, adding uprights and so on.

All in all a good weekend.

Rest & Relaxation: Seed Sewing

After a busy day digging the vege patch (and not even finishing one bed), rest and relaxation took over. That is, an evening spend sewing seeds into seed trays. The 2 new trays are now in action and in the green room (which is cold tonight).

First tray:
15 * Artichokes Imperial Star F1
15 * Artichoked Green Glove Improved
10 * Cabbage Copenhagen Market

Second tray:
15 * Spinach Bloomsdale
15 * Strawberry Spinach
10 * Lettuce Cos.

The strawberry spinach seeds are the finest seeds I've ever seen and were hard to work with.

Finally, in an effort to get the Borlotto Beans up and running

5 * Borlotto Beans

Planted in seperate pots. The beans were not soaked overnight, which apparently helps.