Thursday, April 22, 2010

Just some reference pictures...

In a few blogs i read there are pictures of seedlings. Those who have a higher zone number than i do, their seedlings are giant. Some of those gardeners still have a couple weeks before their planting date still....  i think mine is about 35 days away at the least....  my seedlings sure look puny compared to those early planters.  This year is an experiment to see if Wintersowing actually gives me a boost on a short season or if i break even.  I hope it won't delay...  but if it breaks even, i have to say that having the seed flats outside is a relief, since the inside of the house isn't severely cluttered from it. I only have a light shelf for the houseplant type seedlings.

Anyway, here's the pics:

Burgundy Okra


Bright Lights Swiss Chard


Point One Cabbage



I half hope this is the Strawberry. Out of 27 seeds its the only one up so far... :-/


Shiso, also spelled "Shisho"...


Should be a poppy. Out of most of a packet of seeds, only a few are showing up...  i sowed a whole flat.




Assorted melons, squashes and cucumbers


French Marigolds...  i let them get too dry by mistake, lost a few. But i have more seeds.

Gypsy Broccoli


Buttercrunch Lettuce


Polfast tomato


Purple tomatillo


Pruden's Purple tomato


Yellow Pear tomatoes

Collards and Pak Choi

Welsh Onions and Mirage Shallots


Chives all the way back, second from front on the left is the Burdock, left front is purple kohlrabi and then Red Russian kale on the right.  The other things are being slow to germinate.

Peppers, eggplant, a melon or two  and some very old tomato seeds that i am almost shocked to see them germinate at all, much less be numerous!


Sweet basil


Sweet marjoram


no less sweet itself.....Genovese basil...


And little grape is doing well.

Three trees...

My citrus trees came in today and i am actually impressed.
They weren't in the ridiculous plastic bag that i remember Henry Field's used to ship things in...  they were in a real cardboard box packed with inner sleeves and air pillows.

I still wasn't sure what i'd find...


Sturdy shipping sleeves

This is the Meyer Lemon,  much bigger than expected and looks rather healthier than i hoped!

Next, the Key Lime

A bit small, but this was the size i was expecting them all to be, but i didn't expect this size both healthy and leafy!


Last is the Venous Orange.  Leaves are a bit pale and rolled, but they are soft leaves, i think its just how they grow in.

No sign of scale, spider mite, whitefly or anything else. I can see roots in the soil that was loosened in shipping, but that means these are well rooted plants and  not recently propagated cuttings just barely started.

So i am relieved and pleased. For about $10 each, shipping included, i got some nice plants from a company with a poor reputation.  I hope this is a sign of a company on the move upward.

   I hope my little Fig plant arrives looking as well as these do.  It is scheduled for shipment around the first week of May.

*****

Another gorgeous weather day today. A bit before noon and its almost 65 degrees and the sun is shining.

Later on i plan to take a few more reference pictures of the seedlings in the mini greenhouses.  Things are popping up all over in there!