We vowed not to get behind early this year.  If there is anything worse than getting behind - it is getting behind so early in the year.  Last year we started late, and like in most cases – time is something you cannot make up for.  You can always fertilize more (organically of course!), or maybe keep some lights on them a lil longer – but when it is all said and done, it will all come back to you haunt you.

We did “OK” with peppers last year, late tomatoes… eggplant… okra was perfect.  But anything early in the season – a BIG FAT FAIL.

No early peppers, no early tomatoes… hell our tomatoes seemed to be mediocre for 80% of the growing season last year and if it wasn’t for the mild temps for most of Fall – we would have been near to SHUT OUT on tomatoes. 

But this year we weren’t going to let it happen.  We started the end of Jan.  Built us a brand new grow shelf – and now we are reaping the benefits of the time we invested so early.  Hopefully we will have LOTS of plants this year to share with friends and family (we hoped to do that last year and it was a flop).

All that to say this…

We spent our Valentine’s Day getting our first batch of tomatoes potted up for the first time this early growing season. 

How ya like that internets? CHECK ‘EM OUT!

How are you seedlings doing?  Have you potted up for the first time yet? 

Lots of people are wondering…

When Do We Pot Up Tomatoes For The First Time?

Let’s help ‘em out.  Got any tips on potting up… do share.

Tags: Container Gardening, Crappy Weather, Gardening, Gardening Tips, Growing Tomatoes, Organic Fertilizer, Organic Gardening, Recession Gardening, Seeds & Seedlings, Winter Gardening by James
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Anybody else already get started?  We have something like 9 billion tomato varieties this year, 50 million different peppers… and then a whole bunch of other stuff we probably  shouldn’t be growing – since we could hardly care for the ones we had last year.  But that is gardening right?  Taking on too much, and griping about it the whole time… right?

What do you have going on in  your garden… err basement… or… greenhouse?

Tags: Container Gardening, Crappy Weather, DIY, Flowers, Gardening, Gardening Tips, Growing Peppers, Growing Tomatoes, Living Green, Organic Gardening, Recession Gardening, Seeds & Seedlings, Sprouts by James
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Like a girl fresh into college, this year we tried a few new things (what a great first line eh?).  One of those new things – eggplant.  When we moved into our first home, there were some already growing, but hell if we knew what to do with them.  So we gave them away, and never really thought of them agian.  Well this year we picked one up that was on “clearance” – it is always funny to talk about plants on “clearance” but still – we think we are saving the lil guys when we pick them up.  Or at least that is what we tell ourselves anyhow.  Any reason to get a new plant eh?

So with eggplant planted – we sat and waited.  And waited.  And so on.

Before long we noticed some purple blooms and hoped our lil bee friends would do their part.

I guess they did, because soon enough – a baby eggplant had started to develop. 

How cool eh?  So with little to no effort – we were eatin’ eggplant parm and lovin’ life. 

We did have a little bit of help though – did consult a few online buds and used a Eggplant Guide the first go ’round.  But who doesn’t need a little help their first time?  “That’s what she said”.  Too easy.

What new things did you try this year in the garden?  We had a few others, beans are going now – and we had very little experience growing beans in the past.  But… that is the glory of gardening – trying new things each year… am I right?

Tags: Container Gardening, Fall Gardening, Food, Gardening, Growing Eggplants, Organic Gardening, Pictures, raised beds by James
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