Monday, January 16, 2012

Harvest Monday - January 16, 2012 - making preparations

It snowed last night. 

This is how one of my square foot gardens looks right now.

On the 6th of January I planted onion seeds.  Last year I planted them on February 1st indoors and they were not big enough for transplanting in the spring.  This time I sprinkled fewer seeds over the soil so they would have more room to grow. 

The other problem is that I do not have my grow light station set up.  They are in the window sill on the south side of the house.  Less light and I'm at the mercy of the weather.  I bought a full spectrum work light but haven't set it up.



And then I thinned them today. 
Not all of the seeds have sprouted so I'm sure I'll have to do it again. 
These are Big Daddy Onions.


I saw this post via pinterest and thought I'd give it a try. My stalk sat in the water for a while longer than hers did, as you can see in my photo.  And I bought celery hearts instead of the large stalk because the big stalks don't fit in my fridge drawer. 

I've never grown celery before because the lady at the garden center said it takes two years to start them from seed.

In the post I linked to it said you can grow it in 9" pots so today I transplanted that celery into a 9" pot full of potting soil.

The water seeped out of the soil into the tray below but with our dry air it will be gone quickly.

And if you are wondering' "Why Big Daddy Onions?"
It's because they store well over the winter.  Some onions go soft within weeks of picking them.

I have the Big Daddy onions in a box in my unheated garage and they are doing well.  I just run out there and grab one when I need it.  If I still have some close to the end of spring I will chop them up and saute them and freeze them.  But for now they are doing great.

4 comments:

kitsapFG said...

I can't believe what some people say at garden centers. Honestly, you need to take their "advice" with a grain of rock salt! Celery can easily be grown from seed and grown to maturity by the mid to late summer. I always start mine around mid January and plant out right at the time of our average last frost (mid March for us).

Your start from a root will indeed produce but will be inclined to bolt to seed as it is a secondary plant on the root system.

Stoney Acres said...

You onions look like they are doing great! Another great variety that we like to grow that last in storage all winter are Corpra. They are very tasty and last about 10 months under ideal conditions.

Lynn said...

Your plants look great!

Lynn

Barbie~ said...

Looks like you are gardening in the dead of winter, and being sucessful. Indoors things tend to go awry for me. Good luck!