January Through a Gardener's Eyes

Those seed packets on the last plant are so silky. You have a great start for your new plants already. I am curious to know what the name of that last plant is as I think it very pretty.

DOING GREAT!

Thats a butterfly weed JoAnne..very easy to grow(ergo weed)

I can't wait until spring!

Lovely!

My mom and I garden. It's always exciting to prepare for the coming spring!

Lou Anne, that's not fair!!! Parading seedlings in my face when my Christmas Tree is still up and I can't even get to my seeds yet!

I can't think of starting seeds until early March otherwise seedlings get too scraggly if not transplanted repeatedly into ascending sizes of pots. Too much work for this lazy butt.

I prefer my seedlings transplanted once only to a bigger pot and then to go straight into the ground after they get to the right size. May 10th is the safest planting date for me. Any earlier and Mother Nature can still freeze my fragile plants.

Very cool... I'm an herb aficionado myself. Never tried cabbage or spinach, but one of these years...

Looks like you're already off to a wonderful start. Great photo essay.

I do a lot of transplanting for sure Duckie! I have found that tomato plants actually liked to be handled and moved....by doing regular repotting...they develope great root systems.
Pepper plants are real sturdy too.
I trade and sell plants in the spring, so its important for me to have plants that are ready to be in the ground at early planting dates..many who buy from me, grow their tomatoes in pots that can be taken in in cold weather, so they ae looking for those the size of the ones you pay 4 and 5 dollars for at the stores.
All my seeds are heirloom, except for a few I grow for my garden club sale(flowers mostly)
I saved seeds this year too...which is real exciting, because I have had 100% germination with all my saved seeds so far...
what I have going now are my cooler loving weather tomatoes...
and my heirloom peppers take longer to mature
I kinda do a starting things in shifts, based on their supposed peak time....
The biggest issue with starting early is of course the untimely weather that can take out electricty...then I have to be prepared to use alternate heat..but I never put all my "eggs' in one basket..have PLENTY of seed for backup in the event of a catastrophy!

Excellent article. It is good to see your love of gardening. I garden some now, but not as much as I use to.

This comment is to let you know that this content has reached ten comments, and as such has been removed from Comment Speedway! Congratulations!

those are some lovely plants

Wow - I wish I had seedlings already. I haven't even decided on what I am growing this year! I usually begin the seeding in late Feb or early March. Love the oregano shots and the seedlings. Oh how I wish I had that in my kitchen window already. You are so lucky to have a cold frame.

LOL..Risa...I start collecting seeds in march of the year before! and keep a diary of all the seeds...then I usually do trades two times a year with other gardners...once in fall for others who start early(mid december to early Janurary) and again in Janurary when I have my seeds started that I am gonna use and know what my extras are with people in cooler climates who start much later. It is a great way to make use of seeds in trading them ifyou have the time...specially once you start self saving seeds( they are usually the best seeds with germination counts)
and its great networking for making new friends that have your same intrests..and every seed then has a personal story...the thing I love the most!!!!

Wonderful...

Can't wait to see your gardens in full bloom :)

Oh, I'm so envious of you! My daffodils are coming up already. (I don't bring the bulbs up after they bloom). The crocus bulbs are "supposed" to go in this weekend. (The past couple of weeks the weather has been too wet to do anything in the garden.)

Last fall I was fortunate to trade harvested seeds with several gardening neighbors. A friend was in the high sierra's at summer's end, too, and he brought back baggies filled with wildflower seeds for me.

This spring and summer will be my first attempt at growing "edibles". Wish me luck. I'm pretty certain that what I'm planting will develop nicely ~ if I can keep the deer and the raccoons at bay!


"And mother earth begins calling out to me through the earthy browns and still vibrant greens that embrace me through winters chill.
She longs to share with me her stored secrets, dreaming still under fallen leaves and white blankets.
And I wait impatiently to share my new found treasures with her.
Together we whisper like school girls of our plans to redecorate this small piece of ground with the exquisite colors and tastes of summer's fare."

Beautiful words, Lou Anne.

Oh, I feel so behind now! : ) I grow only heirlooms, too. What are the tomato varieties you're growing that like the cooler weather?

One more question. Just out of curiosity, what kind of seed starting medium do you use?

this is so neat!

Congrats on the Feature!

With a forecast of up to 10 inches of snow, your warm photo essay about the "hope" and promise of spring is definitely needed here in the Northeast - Thanks!

Lou, you have turned into quite the poet......this line is lyrical:
Together we whisper like school girls of our plans to redecorate this small piece of ground with the exquisite colors and tastes of summer's fare.

LOL
Our garden has not been tended too well since before Thanksgiving and it shows....It needs a lot of TLC and a big rehauling...which we plan to do as soon as it stops raining every day!!!

Good job and congrats on the feature!

Every winter as the seed catalogs land in my mailbox, I say I'm going to begin my garden early, but it seems the only thing that's growing is my stack of unread books.

WOW , am I suprised! Thank you Gather and gather friends!
Farmgirl Susan, I read alot of you articles on Gather! My expertise(LOL) is homegrown, in other words trial and error...so with that in mind..this year I have chosen a mix of mushroom mulch and an organic garden soil that is sandy for now..I would prefer to have some peat to add to the mix, but right now,well I dont have any..I am big on using what I have, its my way of life. I also use fish emulsion only for fertilizer.
After watching my garden, specifically, last years cause I am in a totally new enviroment recently moving to the woods, and going totally (personally organic) I found more that a few of my tomatoes florished in the cooler temps Here.
Siberians..for one..they are made for cooler climates and there are a nice variety available through many heirloom seed companies.
oregon springs..an early tomato...but I have a plant that I took in and overwintered in my cold frame house..that did well early and late..
And most of my purple tomatoes...also produced well in the cooler early days of summer last year...cherokee, purple calabash
An I have some mennonite orange that came from canada
an some earlianas, also from my canadian friends
my golden currant..which produced well all year,but was one of the first to put on fruit.
right about now I am starting just about everything, in shifts to see wht Actually does better when,and keeping a diary.
In total I am trying out 33 varieties of tomatoes this year, some I have grown before some I have not.
This will be a deciding year for me with tomatoes!
Also know, I trade plants alot with other organic heirloom gardners that meet up throughout the early spring, by march most of us have pushed the calandar so that we have niced healthy plants and some idea of what we are up against for the year( last years freeze for an example, or aphids or had a good plant that didnt get wilt...well you know...)
I also grow things for my garden club sale, and have a few friends at work that get their tomatoe plants from me. Alot of them grow in containers an want those plants that are pretty much flowering and ready to produce by the time they get them.
okay dinner is calling.....
thank you again....for taking intrest in my article....ifyou would like more specific toamto varieties that grow in cool climates, I will be glad to share some ideas from some of my catalogues..that I know and trust!

Beautiful article, Lou Anne - and it's so delightful to see GREEN. I love the seedlings just pushing on up through the soil......Spring will, eventually come to us in NH, but for now, I'm enjoying yours!

So why does Gather feature someone who does not even know how to spell JANUARY and they make it a featured post??? I would like to think that there are minimum standards here but I have my doubts...

Until their 3rd birthdays all my kids pronounce the first month of the year the way it is spelled here. I assumed Lou Anne was having fun with it?

Your are absolutely right...Cynthia...
and unused to being read by most...
and you are right duckie...I play with everything...
but I must admit my fault in this...
SO...I will take this as a huge cue and exit stage right on posting to sites that might get a feature...
But I will repair my mistake.

Cynthia, I noticed it, but had assumed that Lou had just hit the correct keys in the wrong sequency.....which I tend to do too often.

That little typo does not take anything away from the value of her article.

Small typos are so common here on Gather, but I always cringe when they are in featured articles - thanks for changing it Lou Anne.

No, thank Cynthia!
I fly in and out between doing other things, that even when I do pay attention, I usually still miss obvious things that a real writer would not.
I'll admit, I rubbed my welt a bit this morning as I went of to work.
What bothered me most was thinking that I might have embarrassed my good friends here on Gather.

Thanks so much for all the helpful tomato info, Lou Anne! I really appreciate it. As for the typo, I didn't even notice it. Guess I was too busy enjoying your article and dreaming of this year's garden. And like Sonia said, it's an easy mistake to do (and then miss seeing) and one I've made myself. Have a delicious weekend! : )

Thank you Farmgirl..its nice to meet other heirloom gardners...
I am sure,you understand that I know most of these tomato varieties that I am statring...are EARLY tomatoes...not necessarily cooler weather ones...
all I am doing right now is a version of winter sowing, using my hot house.... at the first garden gathering in early march...I am hoping that there are a few southern gardeners that attend , and take intrest in a few of my plants...
They should be pretty hardy little ole things if they survive all my experimenting..
But I do love the mushroom mulch....It is a major improvement as a starting medium from what I used to do..holds the moisture and the seedlings come up through it easily.
Because of this...I am reading on mushroom soil, and although it can be weedy...seems to be very good for veggies..and is cheap to buy in loads..finding organic may be another thing...
I just now have some diamond eggplant seedlings comming up..very exciting..way ahead of last year..so I might actually get eggplant during the summer...ha..this year..
Iused to grow great eggplant...but the conditions here in the enviroment did not work well for them last summer.so sad..it is a favorite of mine...

A very nice photo essay :) I enjoyed reading your comments on the tomato's and mulch...looking forward to more of your gardening articles :)