getting ready to plant onions and celeriac

Yeah! It's time to begin planting indoors. This weekend I'll clean some of my old planting pots and trays and get out the seed packets and potting soil. So fun to get my hands into soil again.

I used to plant onion sets instead of seeds, but onions grow bigger and are less disease prone from seed. It's a stress on the plant to hold it as a little bulb then get it growing again. its really easy to grow onions from seed. Only two tricks, get the right variety for your area - in the north, grow long day onions. I like Pontiac, White Wing and Red Wing from Johnny's Seeds, but there are many long day varieties. The other trick is to start them early, 11 weeks before your last frost. Count bhack from your frost date, or download my calendar app.

Onion seedlings like to grow fairly dense. Scatter the seeds about a half inch apart in a small tray, like a saved lettuce container. I'll use smaller pots so I can grow fewer amounts of more varieties. And I like to have some small pots to give away. you can still fit a lot of onion seedlings in a small pot.

it's time to start planting!

The first event on my planting calendar is winter sowing. Many flowers need a cold period and winter sowing in plastic milk bottles is an easy way to start these seeds.

I used Skippy's Flower and Herb Calendar App to make my sowing calendar. I have a large new bed at the front of my vegetable garden that I want to fill with flowers for my bees (and me) this year. So, I'm looking forward to starting lots of flower and herb seeds.

Today I planted seeds in four bottles: Anise hyssop, wild NE asters, a bee mix, and a butterfly mix.





I collected my plastic milk bottles from Starbucks. I was a bit disappointed because I asked at the counter if they had empty milk bottle they could give me and I was told "no". But I since I saw them using lots of them, I went around back to their dumpster. Lot's of empty gallon bottles there. (I wonder why they weren't recycling them?) I pulled out four, a bit smushed and scattered with coffee grounds. There was even a nice paper bag to transport them. (Other places I've found plastic bottles are my Town recycling center, and curbside bins on recycling day).

Directions for winter sowing in plastic milk bottles are in the app. Also on my previous winter sowing posts.

chickens staying warm

Big Bertha, my heavily feathered white Brahma, doesn't lay as many eggs as the rest, but she's really nice to snuggle up with on a cold night. All my chickens are fine after the frigid night. -12.9F!

frigid temperatures

At sunset: 18 F (-7.8 C)
8 pm: 0.6 F (-17 C)
10 pm: -2.5 F (-19.2 C)
midnight: -5.6 F (-20.9)
3:30 am: -10.7 F (-23.7)
7 am: -12.8 (-24.9 C)
10 am: 9.1 F (-12.7 C)

Minimum: -12.9 F (-24.9 C)

I'm a bit west of Boston, but the previous Boston record low for this date is/was -3F/-19C (1967). I'm amazed at how fast the temperatures are falling tonight.

bee hives wrapped up for a cold night

I wasn't planning to wrap my bee hives. At my bee club people usually just add insulation to the top, which I did back in November. But this is way colder than we're used to! Predictions for tonight are 5 to 15 below 0 F (-20 to -26 C) with a gusty wind to 35 mph. So I wrapped both hives in a tarp. At least this will cut down any drafts getting in the openings.



I also secured the chicken coop better than usual. At less than 20 F (-7C), I turn on a ceramic bulb heater in the coop. That's been on most of this week. This afternoon I lowered tarps that protect the run from wind. I'll go out after they start roosting and close the coop door - which I never do.

Brrr! Stay warm!

seed swap announcement

Seed Swap
Hosted by the Belmont Victory Gardens
At the Town of Belmont MA Public Library on Sunday, March 6, 2016, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Get ready for spring planting! Seed swap is open to all gardeners – whether you are a member of a community garden, grow vegetables or flowers in your yard, or would like to try sowing seeds for the first time.

Bring fresh vegetable or flower seeds to share and go home with new varieties to try. Heirlooms are great but purchased hybrid seeds are also welcome. Divide seeds into labelled, sharing-sized envelopes before your arrive to save time. Most store-bought seed packs can be divided into 2 or 3 "swap-sized" packets.

Please come even if you don't have seeds to share. There will be seeds and conversation to share with everyone. Belmont Victory Gardeners will be on hand to provide sowing tips and answer questions. Come visit with new and experienced gardeners and start dreaming of spring!

AmeliaGardens blog

Amelia is an avid vegetable gardener located in Cambridge MA and she's got a great blog: AmeliaGardens. She's taking and teaching vegetable gardening classes now and I'm reading up and trying to learn as much as I can from her. Also, she's a programmer and built all of Skippy's Calendar apps. (Thanks Amelia!) Here's a post she wrote about the apps: Skippy's Vegetable Planting Apps.