Friday, February 27, 2009

Yesterday.

Yesterday was a noteworthy day. Indeed.
It started snowing - for the first time in weeks. It eventually accumulated enough that we still have snow on the ground today. That hasn't happened in longer than two weeks.

To mark the first snow in a long time (and/or because they arrived, finally), I started my artichoke seeds.
They're in the glass there. I have special artichoke seeds, seeds that make plants that make actual artichokes their first year. However they still require 90 days to reach maturity after transplanting. While our great valley has slightly less severe weather than the surrounding plains, we still only have about 110 frost free days, I'm playing it safe with the artichokes and starting them early. I'll see how the first 8 seeds do, and go from there.
They're sitting in a glass of water for a day to help them along. Later, I'll plant each happy little seed in a peat pot, and if all goes well, in a month or so, they're get planted up into small planters, till they can go outside.

Despite my best efforts I could not get a hold of any "Northern Star" seeds, which are the only known cultivar capable of weathering cold winters, so my lovely artichoke plants-to-be are going to be annuals, which is sad, cause normal artichoke plants can live 5-10 years in zones 7 and warmer...

4 comments:

Chris said...

Where'd you learn all this stuff? I want to plant a garden (or at least start with a small one) but I have zero idea where to start.

Meredith said...

Let me put it this way - you know a lot about bikes, where'd you learn all That stuff???

Luckily, you've picked the perfect time to be interested, you can start reading and getting ideas and have enough time to get a hold of some plants and make a go of it this spring!

P.S. I would start by figuring out what your USDA hardiness zone is, and your average first and last day of frost each year. Also, define your scope, do you want to grow food, create a pretty yard, grow specific plants you like, you can do all three at once, but what's your main intent, that will help keep you from wanting to grow one of everything, which can get really tempting!

Google will provide.

Designs By Leigha said...

awesome planting stuff! check out the moon cycles re: plating :)
I LOVE that building!!!

Meredith said...

Leigha - you like the buildings across the street???

So far as I can tell it's 6 different condos, three in each building, with two identical buildings facing each other, with the walkway and entrances down the middle.

One, maybe two, of them are still for sale, and people are constantly stopping in front of our house to grab the leaflets or write down info, which is somewhat obnoxious.

One of our friends knows someone who lives in one of them... she says they're nice inside... I'm somewhat ambivalent to them... they're in a neighborhood build in the 1910's and 20's... lots of newer houses have gone in, but usually they stay with Craftsman-esque and/or Farmhouse/ Country Victorian style (though sometimes with metal roofs and other more modern touches... while I think they did what they did well, I would have liked to see them do something a little different. They stick out pretty harshly.