Showing posts with label seed starting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seed starting. Show all posts
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
January 26, 2010
FatCow is now advertising with Roofscape in both the magazine and Garden Journal. Located in Burlington, Mass., FatCow is a consistently top-rated Web host serving individuals and small to medium size businesses. Plus their operations are entirely powered by the wind. They also host Roofscape and we've had a great experience with them, so we're happy to have them as advertisers. Now you can also support Roofscape by hosting your site with the best in the business ... FatCow.
The tomatoes (Mexican Wild, seeds saved from the garden the year before last, 4/5) and eggplant (Burpee Garden Blend, 3/5), planted on 1/19, just germinated over night, 8 days from planting. The hot peppers and kale remain. I'm surprised the kale isn't up by now. Moved the seedlings into the big bright office window and bottom watered.
The weather continues warm, a welcome respite after all the wickedly (or wicked, if you're from Boston) cold days we've had.
Checked later in the morning and the kale (Specialty Toscano, Johnny's, 1/5) had sprouted.
Pete and I wrapped the job on Isabella Street. I did PR in the lower South End. Visited client on Beacon Hill to arrange projects for next week. Biking here and there, walking around. Low 40's with a sometimes stiff west wind.
Chinese takeout from New Garden on Dudley. My experience with restaurants is that for each of them there are a few things that they do well, most with mediocrity and another few awfully. It's just the unavoidable bell curve shape of things. The question, therefore, is - what can they do well? And that's not always easy or obvious.
Image ... Procession over mountain pass. Japanese wood block print.
Monday, January 18, 2010
January 19, 2010
Snowing again, just showers, a light sifting of powdered sugar from a sugar bowl sky.
Working on Starting from Seed, an article on seed starting for Garden Gates. Finished the first page and started the second. Getting ready to plant seeds and photograph the how-to.
Started the following ... Basil, Burpee Sweet. Eggplant, Burpee's Garden Mix. Kale, Johhn's Specialty Toscano. Peppers, Burpee Hot Mix. Tomatoes, Mexican Wild (from saved seed).
Photographed all the steps using window light and flash for some setups, as the images looked dark in the preview window.
Image ... Frederick Douglass heads north following his star to freedom. Mural in Boston's South End, Tremont Street by Mass. Avenue.
Starting from Seed . 1 | Garden Gates
The seed catalogs, like late presents packed with promises, begin arriving soon after Christmas then, as winter finally surrenders to spring, the garden season gets under way. One of the gardener's many pleasant seasonal rituals, the first of the new year, is indoor seed starting.
Some seeds are started indoors for later transplanting out into the garden as seedlings or young plants. This technique allows the cultivation of the boys of summer, the warm weather lovers - tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. - in the northerly latitudes. It's also useful for getting a jump on the growing season with many of the plants that prefer cooler temperatures - lettuces, kale and mustard for example. Some plants can be treated either way, others dislike transplanting and must be direct seeded or sown directly into the outdoor garden beds they will grow in. Spinach, peas, beets and beans are among these finicky vegetables.
Image ... Jimmy with Tomatoes. By Lois Johnson. They look like Mortgage Lifters for sure. Fenway Victory Gardens, Boston.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
January 6, 2010
Imaged Olmsted's Green Ribbon . 1 & 2 for Garden Journal.
Added the current Beans About Boston (Malcolm X - Gardner Heist) puzzler, Thought for the Week (Thoreau) and On the Cover . 9 (Snow Train) - a Sneak Peek feature that runs only in the Journal until the next issue of Roofscape (January 15).
Labeled all Journal posts back to the beginning of the year, after discovering the incredible power of labels.
Finished the Croutons article (directly above) for Cookout. Released it as a Sneak Peek.
Set up the seed starting table by the big window in the office. It's too early for Yankees to be starting seeds - you'll notice all the snow covering the ground and planter out on the fire escape - but we need to start well ahead of time to photograph the seed starting how-to article in time for people to DIY. We'll start the actual plants for Roofscape's demonstration garden at their proper times in late winter.
The table's about 5-feet wide by 18" deep, holding dozens of transplant pots and seed starting containers. It's at the height of the window sill, which holds a dozen or so more, and supported on two saw horses we built in Roofscape's woodworking shop. A shelf below stores the planted seed starting containers before they germinate. On the floor the starting containers, pots, seed starting medium, potting soil and other tools of the trade are stored.
Finished editing and uploaded Olmsted's Green Ribbon - 2. It will continue to be serialized daily in the Journal.
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