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.
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| Waltham broccoli |
I finally got the peppers and eggplants all potted up in a growing medium on April 21st.
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| Poblano pepper |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Potato leaved Brandywine from two sources, one says Red Brandywine tomato and the other Pink Brandywine |
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| 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.
