There's not much to write about yet, but I *did* start my broccoli seeds!
That's actually my second attempt at starting broccoli this year. There's a "seedling heat mat" under the tray, and the cats like to scrunch in with the cups o' plants because it's nice and cozy warm. So yeah, Tuesday Ninja managed to tip over the entire tray. Dirt and baby broccoli plants everywhere! Grrr. I think I was a little early starting the broccoli anyway, so I decided to just start from scratch again. The above little plants were planted Tuesday afternoon after the broccoli massacre and popped up earlier today. I screamed pretty loudly when the tray overturned (the seedlings are by a window in my office and I was sitting at my computer at the time), so I'm hoping that was enough to make the cats never want to hop up there again. Crossing fingers!
The broccoli seeds were from my local Ace Hardware store. I also placed a good sized order with Territorial Seed last week, which arrived today!
Their seed packets are so pretty!
I'm trying some new veggie varieties this year.
- Fava Beans. I'm getting tired of green beans, and for the past few months Tom has been searching for fava beans in our local grocery stores to no avail. He found a recipe online claiming that favas make the best hummus ever. Also, one of the garden bloggers I follow grew them for the first time a few years ago and said they were delicious. They're good with liver and a nice Chianti. ;) I've seen them described as rich, creamy, sweet and succulent. They're shelling beans (also totally new to me) and can be eaten fresh or can be dried, stored and eaten later. They like cool temperatures and are planted in the spring at the same time as peas, and grow on 2-4 feet tall bush-like plants. Anyhoo. Excited to try them! Hope we love them!
- Habanero Peppers. One of my new pen pals was lamenting that she has trouble growing peppers, probably because she lives in a relatively cool climate (same here re: peppers and climate!). She went on to say that the only exception to that is habaneros. They grow like gangbusters for her,and she makes a pepper jelly out of them. Not sure what she *does* with this pepper jelly... those suckers are *hot*. I intend to ask her though! Maybe just puts a little bit in chili or Mexican dishes? Wonder if the jellying mellows the peppers enough to use as a rub on pork or other meats? Anyhoo... We *love* spicy. And I love the idea of *anything* growing like crazy, plus growing new things makes gardening fun. Woot.
- Sungold Tomatoes. They were growing in the teaching garden where I volunteered last year and were SO yummy. I'll also be planting Park Seed's Whopper tomato and Sweet Million (have leftover seeds of both from last year).
- Diamont Cucumbers. One of my fellow teaching garden volunteers was saying she usually has trouble growing cucumbers (same here! Last year I ended up with a grand total of *two* cukes!) but she had strong healthy plants and lots of cukes with Diamont. Hope they grow for me!
- Pumpkins. It's been a long time since I've put much effort into growing pumpkins. Last year I planted two seeds that I got free at the seed exchange table at a gardening event, and we ended up with *one* pumpkin. This year I want a pumpkin *patch*, dang it.
I'll start the tomatoes and peppers in a few weeks.Yay gardening!
