What a difference two weeks makes...

Today I transplanted my tomatos, eggplants, and most of my peppers, until I ran out of time and soil. Oops. I'll finish tomorrow and start round two in the Aerogarden. I love my little plants, so gorgeous and green! I am determined to pamper some sweet peppers into glorious production this year. Last year my peppers were overcrowded by squash and monster marigolds and produced all of one tiny bitter green fruit. This year I'm giving them their own pots and/or bed, starting them early with wall-o-waters and putting something behind them that will collect and hold the heat (like brick) to keep them nice and warm on chilly days. Still working on what that will look like, but I have some time.

Also this year I'm going to try out the upside down tomato planters. I have 8 varieties of heirloom tomatos I'm growing this year and am experimenting to see what works best. I LOVE my tomatos and eggplants. They are so beautiful and so much fun to watch growing.

This past week I planted peas in my front yard and out at the farm. We planted four different types of peas along a 30 (?) foot fence that will be a beautiful and delicious backdrop for flowers later. Yippee! It feels so good to be out working in the garden again. We had two fabulous sunny days and rain ever since: perfect for my new seeds. Tomorrow I'm going to be setting up 4 new grow lights and a work table in the garage with Patrick's technical assistance and then we're going to put up trellis', supports and wires for the 2 climbing roses and 4 clematis that will be arriving this week.

It Begins Again!

Above are broccoli (rapini), tomatos, eggplant (not sprouting yet) and lettuce. I started this broccoli under the lights from the beginning and the brocolli below I started on the kitchen counter for the first three days. Just three days and the second batch is taller and skinnier with much smaller leaves. I'm going to have to get a few more lights.

I had to start my AeroGarden seedstarter under flourescent lights (top) because there is a problem with the base of the aerogarden and it won't work. I didn't purchase it directly from AeroGarden but from an on-line store, but AeroGarden is sending me a replacement base quickly (fingers crossed). I purchased two 4ft shop lights and cool light bulbs for them at Lowe's for under $30. Patrick helped me set them up. I have a space for them in the garage but it's a touch too cold so I have them in my closet. This works well but it feels a little funny growing seedlings in an upstairs closet! What will the neighbors think? :-) This didn't occur to me until I was googling something for my AeroGarden and found some prominent marijuana references and then realized that from a distance down the alley, my grow lights could look funny. Yikes! Below is a picture of the closet set up.