Categories
Growing

Time To Start My Corn Seedlings

Today I planted some corn. I’ve never planted corn as indoor seedlings before, but after attending the Veggie Basics Course held by Alberta Agriculture, I’m thinking that a three week head start on the season might just be what my corn needs. Why? Because for the last two years this is about all I got…

Cornless Corn

Just nice looking plants. Not much to eat though. So after Jennifer from www.alibisrandom.blogspot.com reminded me that it is “only three more weeks until garden time”, I decided it was time to start some corn.

I had planned on one large corn patch of two varieties, but after reading a little about corn, I discovered that you may not get the kind of corn you want if you plant two varieties. In order to stay true to the variety of corn you plant, different varieties must be at least 100 ft. apart (so they say). I have two garden patches this year, so if I plant corn in the farthest edges of the two, they’ll end up being about 60 ft apart. So that’ll have to do. If it isn’t far enough – well, hopefully the corn I’m starting now will be finished pollinating before the later corn is ready to begin. And if that still doesn’t work out, maybe I’ll get funny corn. Either way, it’s worth a try.

So the variety that I’m planting today is ‘Fleet Bi-color’. Its very early for corn – just 59 days. If I’m calculating right, that should give me corn on July 26th. Hmmm, I’m not sure I’m that optimistic.

Categories
Growing

Starting Tomato, Cucumber, Watermelon, and Pepper Seedlings

Yesterday, April 7, 2008 , I planted my first seeds of the year. If you’ve never started your own plants from seed before, you’ve got to try it – it’s amazingly simple! Here’s what I did.

First I collected my supplies:

  • A plastic starter tray complete with transplanting inserts (72 cells)
  • Some potting soil
  • Plastic labels (plastic margarine container lids cut into strips)
  • And yes, seeds
Planting Seedlings

Then I filled the cells with the potting soil and lightly patted them down. Each cell then received a finger poke in the center. My daughter and I then dropped two seeds in each little hole. (The weaker of the two seedlings will get pinched out after they’ve sprouted.)

Here’s what I planted:

Categories
Growing

Planting An Oak Tree

A couple of days ago I planted an acorn with my daughter, and by George, I think it’s going to grow. Over Easter I traveled to BC to visit my folks who live south of Revelstoke, and as we waited for the ferry, we took a little walk in the park-like rest area. Most of the ground still had snow on it, but there were a few bare patches underneath a few oak trees. Most of the acorns had been taken by the wild animals over winter, but we found a few. And wouldn’t you know it, some of them had begun to sprout.

Sprouting Acorn

So we collected them in a little plastic bag we had and added a little water so they wouldn’t dry out. Once we got to my folks house, I filled the bag with some damp sawdust so they would survive the several days it would be until we returned home. And they seemed to thrive in that sawdust, because what had been just a little knob peeking out of the shell grew into a good sprout by the time we got home.

Now on the top of my fridge sits two little pots that are hopefully growing a couple of oak trees. I’m not sure how long it will take to see anything on the surface, but I’m confident that by next spring, I’ll have at least one little seedling that I can plant in our yard… as long as I remember to water it.

Update: April 12, 2008

One week old oak tree seedling

Wow! Just one week later, this little seedling has sprouted and sits at about two inches tall! The other acorn I planted is slightly smaller, but it has two stems. Is that normal?

Update:  April 21, 2008

Three week old oak tree seedling

Now five inches high and eight inches wide. Looking good!