Get Set to Grow

Spring is getting underway. My greenhouse is overflowing and we're now adding more cold frames. With our crazy weather, going from hot to freezing, it's still to early to plant here. Ground and night temperatures won't be warm enough for a few weeks yet. I know its tempting to see all the pretty flowers available at your local greenhouses, but planting them in cold soil will only stunt them. My herbs and vegetables will be ready closer to the end of the month. I won't start selling at the Croswell market until then. The greenhouse will be open on weekends and by appointment after May 15th, weather permitting. I'm already taking orders for tomatoes.

Herb List for 2008

• Anise Hyssop
• Basils: Sweet, Cinnamon, Genovese, Holy, Large Leaf, Lemon, Rubin, Serata, Spicy Glob, Thai Magic
• Borage
• Burnet
• Catnip
• Chamomile, German & Roman
• Chervil
• Chives: Fine leaf & Garlic
• Calendula: Deja Vous
• Coriander/Cilantro
• Dill: Bouquet, Dukat, Fernleaf
• Fennel, Bronze
• Feverfew
• Horehound
• Hyssop
• Lavender: Hidcote, Lady, Munstead, Rosea
• Lemon Balm
• Lemon Verbena
• Marjorams: Sweet, Variegated, Zatar
  
• Marigold, Sweet Mexican/Spanish Tarragon
• Mint: Peppermint, Kentucky Colonel Spearmint, Orange, Mountain - will have Apple, Chocolate & others a little latter.
  
• Nasturiums
  
• Oreganos: Compact, Ditany of Crete, Golden, Greek, Hot N Spicy
  
• Parsley: Curly & Plain Italian
• Pennyroyal
• Rosemaries: Arp, Goriza, Huntington's Carpet, Salem, Spice Island, Prostrate, White
• Sages: Bergaten, Common, Golden, Pineapple, Purple, Tricolor, White
• Savory: Dwarf winter, Summer
• Scented Geraniums: Apricot, Atomic Snowflake, Citronella, Ginger, Lady Plymouth, Rober's Lemon Rose, Rose, Snowflake Rose & more.
  
• Sorrel
• Stevia
• Tarragon, French
• Thymes: English, Lemon Variegated, Miniature, Mother of, Oregano, Silver

Tomato List for 2008
Heirlooms:

• Brandywine
• Cherokee Purple
• Giant White
• Oregon Spring
• Red Oxheart
• Rutgers
• Striped German

Small/Cherry Tomatoes:

• Tumblin Tom
• Supersweet 100
• Sweet Olive (grape)
• Yellow Pear

Other Tomatoes:

• Beefsteak
• Better Boy
  
• Early Girl
• Giant Delicious
• Celebrity
• La Rossa

I'm also growing a large variety of peppers this year. So start getting your gardens ready. It's time to clean them out, amend the soil and plan on a great harvest this year. Peas should be in, mine are already up. Potatoes can go in now too. Spinach and lettuce are also great early crops. We're expanding our vegetable gardening area and will also have produce available in season.

We're looking forward to a great gardening year!

Cabin Fever, Thinking Spring!

It's been below zero degrees two nights in a row now! While our frozen world is quite beautiful, we can't wait for spring! Even Rosie, the lab, doesn't linger long outside these days. We've been managing to keep the greenhouse from going below 40 at night with the help of a kerosene heater. More snow coming today.

I've been pouring over seed catalogs in my spare time. Need to get my orders in soon! Have already started planting some seed flats inside. Can't wait for the seeds to sprout! All that beautiful spring green. But, I'm greatly enjoying all the wonderful Rosemary in bloom in the greenhouse.

Started some more cuttings in the greenhouse too. Over the next few weeks I will be doing lots more. Growing from cuttings is so gratifying and easy to do. I have found most plants will grow from cuttings. Things like the Rosemary that have a woody stem, just take longer to root. Geraniums (Pelargoniums), coleus, and other green stemmed tender perennials root very quickly. Anyone can do it at home. Just get yourself some soil-less potting mix, without fertilizers mixed in. Use small containers, (I use grower flats divided into small cells.) a recycled annual pack or dixie cup with a whole for drainage will work great. Or purchase a domed planting flat. They're widely available at most places that sell seeds. Take healthy tip cuttings from your favorite plants. About 2" to 4". Remove the leaves from the lower 2 or 3 leaf nodes (where the leaves connect to the stem). Insert into the potting mix with 2 or 3 sets of leaves above the soil. Water well and cover with dome or tent with plastic wrap to maintain moisture level. But not too tightly, the baby plants need some air circulation. A great project with kids is to use an empty clear plastic drink bottle. Cut around the bottom so you have about 3" or so in depth for soil. Put a few holes in the bottom for drainage. Insert your cuttings and use the top of the bottle (without the cap) to form a mini greenhouse. Within a week you will begin to see roots on plants like geraniums and coleus. I have found that it is better not to use rooting hormone for these plants. But it does help with more woody stemmed plants. The enjoyment you feel watching things grow is something the whole family can participate in!



Happy Valentine's Day!
Think Green!