The snow we had Sunday was much to my liking. Started at 6PM. Ended during the night. Looked lovely for an hour or two and was gone. 🙂 Left a nice crisp chill in the air, but not enough to keep me from enjoying this mild winter and the promise of early crops from my winter sown seed.
Report on Lettuce Transplanted
The Green Deer Tongue lettuce that I had winter sown on December 25th was transplanted to the garden in mid January. I left the cold frame off that lettuce during the storm so the moisture would saturate the bed. When I went out to find that it had been colder than what was forecast, I was a bit concerned. But – when I checked the seedlings — they not only looked wonderful, but had doubled in size since last week!
Report on Direct Seeded Garden Bed
Then I checked the garden bed that I had seeded directly on January 25th and had left under row cover fabric. All the spinach was up and looking great. Black Simpson lettuce was up more than an inch and really looks good. (Black Simpson is not one of my favorite lettuces, but I planted it because it does well when other won’t.) Now I wish I had seeded some Green Deer Tongue in the garden earlier. I’ll do that this week.
The red oakleaf lettuce, the rainbow swiss chard and the beets in that row have not germinated.
That row is earmarked for tomatoes this year, but I’ll have plenty of time for these crops to mature before I plant tomatoes in April or May.
German Giant Radishes – Transplanted
The icing on the cake for my garden activity today was the jug of German Giant Radishes that were winter sown on January 29th. They’ve been ready for the garden for two weeks, but I just never got to them until today. About 30 of the most healthy and beautiful little radish seedlings you’ve ever seen were transplanted this afternoon. I’ve never transplanted radishes. Usually, they get direct seeded right into the garden. I was so impressed when I saw the roots. The fullest root system I’ve EVER seen on a radish! At least two dozen little white roots coming from each one. (Of course, in all fairness — I have to say I don’t take radish seedlings out of the garden to look at their roots.)
For Tomorrow
The Hakurei Turnips wintersown on January 28th are scheduled for transplanting tomorrow. They too could have been transplanted a bit earlier had I gotten to them. They look as healthy and robust as the radishes did and I can hardly wait to see what their roots look like.
Final Thought
It’s been a long time since the winter has been as mild as this one. I’m grabbing all the gusto while I can. Hope you are too!
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Related Posts
You Can Plant In December
Warm Weather Crops and The Winter Sown Method
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Organic gardening is easy, effective, efficient — and a lot healthier.
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