Growing and Seeding

The weather has gone down a few degrees lately so I decided it's time to start the cool weather crops. The hot weather crops are doing alright, I suppose. With the cooler weather they don't take as much water and have not wilted at all recently. But, they do continue to grow.

Here you can see where the cucumber plant has grown over into the tomato area and is about to invade the basil plant.

I don't really mind it bothering the tomato; the silly thing has yet to produce one delicious tomato for me to feast on. It keeps blooming and blooming and blooming and blooming and blooming and NO FRUITING! I don't know what's it's deal, because I've seen pollinators. Both my cucumber and pepper plants have gone to fruit. Eh.












All that is exciting, but not as exciting as planting SEEDS!!!! WOOOOOOOO!

A few posts ago I think I said that I bought seeds from Seed Warehouse and was just waiting til the weather was right to plant them. I was bored yesterday and thought a productive way to procrastinate (oxymoronic, I know) would be to plant them.

Lettuce
I took one of my window boxes and made it just for lettuce. I have three different varieties and gave each a third of the window box. I planted about seven or so seeds for each variety to start out with. They recommend spacing lettuce about 6 inches apart.

• Organic Marvel of Four Seasons Butterhead: I don't know what is organic about it. The website also had non organic but what does it matter if you're just planting seeds? Whatever. Butterhead lettuces "have outer leaves that do not wrap tightly together but rather deveolpe an open, fairly flat rosette surrounding the inner leaves" (Vegetable Factory). So these are the floppy ones that aren't iceberg or romaine looking but still maintain a ball in the middle. The Seed Warehouse described this variety as having "stunning reddish leaves flaunting cranberry red tips with excellent flavor make this lettuce a must for your garden. If you are looking for a lettuce that is both attractive and tasty, this heirloom may be your choice." They also say it's a good container plant that will grow to 12-16inches in diameter and mature in 55 days. 
• Cimarron Romaine: A romaine lettuce, so long and skinny and delicious. This one is a deep-red color and is heat and cold resistant. Seed Warehouse says this is a good container plant that will mature to 10-12 inch long heads in 60 days. 
• Tom Thumb: This is a miniature butterhead!! It grows to the size of a tennis ball so cute. Seed Warehouse recommends growing these in containers and using them for individual salads. They also say they can grow indoors fairly well. Hmm... Matures in 50 days.

 I also do a window box just for leek. I think I put about 9 seeds in it. The only variety Seed Warehouse had was the Large American Flag Leek, and I think it's the most popular variety here in the states (go figure). If you've never used leek before, you are missing out. It has a sweet, mild onion flavor that does not over-power like green onion can. American Flag takes 120 days to mature, so it's very slow growing and sensitive to heat I think. I'm keeping mine in the shade mostly.

I popped three Super Sugar Snap Pea in with my cucumbers. The cucumber's root system has taken over the window box so I'm not so sure the peas will pop out. Sugar peas are easier than regular peas because you don't have to shell them, and that is why I got the sugar snaps. They mature in 66 days.

I put some Little Finger Carrots into the top of my strawberry pot. These are miniature carrots that grow no larger than 3 inches.  These are the true baby carrots; the ones you buy at the store are just shaved down large carrots. Little Fingers supposedly taste sweeter and have a deep orange color. These mature in 57 days, and I plan on planting them in waves in various pots.

I also transplanted the mystery tomatoes from the pepper plant pot to their own window box. They were just getting super leggy and in the way. I did not plant my Corriander/Cilantro because 1) I forgot 2) I didn't know what pot to put it in. Next time maybe. I also just remembered that I have some mesclun (baby greens) stashed somewhere that I need to plant as well. Oops.

Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be harvesting my peppers, which seem to have stopped growing, but aren't turning red, and perhaps a few cucumbers. And, goodness willing, I'll get to eat a tomato before it gets cold. In a few months I will be eating lettuce and carrots nomnomnomnom!!

Growing Cucumber