The Summer Purple, Waltham, and Di Cicco broccoli were sowed by putting a pinch of seed in peat pellets, so they needed to be separated right away. I ended up with way more seedlings than anticipated, 30 broccoli seedlings seems excessive. It's probably a good thing the Calabrese Sprouting broccoli didn't germinate.
 |
| Waltham broccoli |
I finally got the peppers and eggplants all potted up in a growing medium on April 21st.
 |
| Poblano pepper |
 |
| Aswad eggplant |
The Mary Washington asparagus, Percoce d'Argenteuil asparagus, and Purple Romagna artichokes have all finally been separated and put in individual pots. It is very odd how asparagus keeps its seed coat attached to the plant, first a root forms then eventually a spear forms from the upper root near the seed. And no matter the size of the seedling it seems the seed stays firmly attached at the midway point between root and spear.
I started the asparagus in a fluffy coconut coir as well as peat pellets. The asparagus roots had problems penetrating the dense peat pellet with some pushing their roots up out of the pellet. The ones started in the coconut coir came up a week or two earlier and have already started to fern.
 |
| Mary Washington asparagus |
All the plants that are potted up in growing medium are growing so much faster. The tomatoes are sizing up quickly and some of the peppers and eggplants are getting their first true leaves.
 |
| Potato leaved Brandywine from two sources, one says Red Brandywine tomato and the other Pink Brandywine |
 |
| All the seedlings started so far: leek, onion, flat leaf chive, shallot, celery, ground cherry, broccoli, asparagus, artichoke, tomato, pepper, and eggplant |
So much to do, there are still flowers and lavender to be started which will go in beds in the front yard with the artichokes and sunflowers.
Is it a bad idea to plant asparagus in beds against the front of the house? Are they invasive and will the roots interfere with the foundation? The front yard is on the south side, so it gets full sun all day long.
8 comments:
You have done a nice job starting the plants. Given the zone difference between MA and KY, I'm not so far behind, but your growing season will be a lot longer than mine. And I don't think you have to worry about the asparagus being invasive or damaging your foundation.
Hi David,
Thank you for the information. I'm going to go ahead and plant the asparagus in the front yard along with the artichokes .
It looks like you and I started our seeds within a couple days of each other. I can appreciate why you grow in raised beds, I haven't been able to till because of the very wet spring. If the ground is dry enough, we might be rototilling Monday.
Your seedlings are looking good! I have terrible luck with broccoli here. You apparently do not! :O)
I have to agree that I do not think asparagus would damage your foundation. However I question what other plants would do to your asparagus? Would the roots of those plants disturb your asparagus?
Hi Texan,
That makes sense, since asparagus is a long lived perennial they should have their own permanent bed.
I can't believe how much planting you've gotten done, it's just amazing. And your orchard is looking gorgeous.
Well I'm not a good person to ask as I put a tree right by my foundation. It is a small tree though - a weeping plum that only gets to about 8' tall. I would think most foundation plants probably have more dangerous roots than an asparagus plant though.
And that is a lot of broccoli seedlings. I planted out 10 myself. Though if I had more I could always freeze it.
You are so organised, looks like I will buying some seedlings ready started this year.
Hi Daphne,
Weeping plums are so beautiful, it's unbelievable how much you've gotten done in your garden.
I just thought that asparagus's wild fern growth would look good against the brown backdrop of our old home.
Broccoli is definitely one of my favorite vegetables, and it'll be good to freeze it since it is so expensive around here.
Hi Shaheen,
I do enjoy starting from seeds because of all the different varieties that's available. But the seedlings do go in the ground as soon as possible because the faster they go in the ground the less likely they die from inadvertent neglect.
Post a Comment