Showing posts with label seeds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seeds. Show all posts

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Starting from Seed . 2 | Garden Gates



TEXT

cotyledon, seed leaf

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.