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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So we have been on garden-watch for the past month or so just begging our plants to do SOMETHING.  But they don’t listen.  We buy them things.  We pet them.  We baby them like no other…

but nothing seems to really do the trick.

They are stubborn.  Like us.

But finally, this week – a few of them have budged.  Yesterday we were walking around in the heat snapping pics and hi5-ing each other as we saw each new development.  So it is only fair for us to share with you guys eh?

So here ya go…

You have likely seen this guy before, but he has gotten so BIG.  We are proud.  Our lil boy’s growing up!

Disregard the ant… he was being an asshole and wouldn’t move.  This is our okra.  It is slow growing, but growing still… working on its second set of tru leaves – we can’t wait to jump head first into some fried okra this summer.

We had a million blooms this year, and thought – man we are going to actually get some limes this time around.  Well then they all fell off, we got 40MPH winds – and so on.  But this lil guy and one other are still hanging on.  I’m sure it will fall off, but hopefully it will be garnishing a beer at some point.  Who knows?

Shala’s Fuschia is pimpin’ as ever.  We murdered one of these last year in about a week (record time).  So we are happy to see it doing so awesome.  The foliage is nice and healthy – not to mention about 100 blooms on it.  I know Nestmaker just threw up from all the blooms.  Sorry.

Just had to give you a closeup of one.  So cool.  Ok – enough.

Ok – you know you see them in there.  The first lil blooms of our tomato season.  Right there in the crotch… see it?  We do.  FINALLY.  Maybe we can get them germinated pollinated (wrong word sorry hehe) and then next pics we take will be baby tomato butts.  We can only hope so.

Yup, that is a strawberry bloom – nice and healthy.  We saved this guy from death – since Lowe’s didn’t think it was worth saving.  Now it is about to produce some of its first strawberries.  MmmmMmmm.

How does your garden grow?  Anything we should know about?  Any new blooms, new veggies… anything?  Do share.

Tags: Container Gardening, Flowers, Food, Gardening, Growing Okra, Growing Peppers, Growing Strawberries, Growing Tomatoes, Living Green, Organic Gardening, Recession Gardening, Seeds & Seedlings, Springy, raised beds by James
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