American Egg Idols - 3 of our stars

Leghorn lady, hasn't missed laying a large white egg since August. Probably over 180 eggs so far, many times her weight.

Rhode Island Red lady. She and her identical twin sister have been prolific as well, laying a light brown egg, each, every day since mid October. About 90 eggs so far.



Australorp Lady. Beautiful, iridescent bluish black feathers. Very timid - she escaped my arms and flew into the pond. Amazingly, she just sat there and floated. Like a duck. Didn't paddle, though. She has laid a daily egg almost every day since mid October. I'm guessing, about 85 eggs so far.

Seed starting test #2. Mostly pepper seeds.

Seed viability test #2. Mostly peppers.

I decided to get out more old pepper seeds and see if they will start. Each square contains 10 seeds. Varieties are:

Aji Pepper 04
Cayeene Pepper 08
Portugal Pepper 08
Doe Hill Pepper 04
Alma Paprika Pepper 06
Red Delicious Pepper 06
Thumbelina Carrot (not pepper) 06
Louisiana Hot Pepper 04

I made the following changes in the method:
(1) The paper towel sits on a plastic sheet, cut from a thick plastic bag. That made it easier to handle when wet.
(2) I placed a layer of kitchen towel between the heating mat and the seed bag. This was because I was concerned the mat is too warm.
(3) I moistened the paper towels with a solution of 1/4 tsp miracle grow in 1 gallon of water.


Depending on what happens, if the pepper seeds germinate, I may try to keep a few as early starts. It's a bit too early for that, I think, but we'll see.

Unseasonably early growth: Rhubarb

A few perennial vegetables are making themselves known in the winter garden. I have one small chive-like onion that I gave up on a few years ago, but keeps coming up. The leaves are now about 6 inches long. Last week I used them as flavor in a savory crepe. Rhubarb is showing signs of life. No where near eating, of course. Then there are the onions, garlic, and shallots that I planted and commented on earlier.



I like this about living in the Pacific Northwest. Even though it's Winter, some signs of life remain. In addition to the edibles, some daffodils also have about 3 inches of growth.

Another Cymbidium Photo

As long as I had the camera out, I took another photo of this Cymbidium. Cool color!

January planting

Thursday (3 days ago) I sorted through saved starts from Multiplier Onions (White Potato Onion) and Garlic (by now I've mess up and I don't know the variety - it's either Inchelium Red or German Red. Probably Inchelium based on the size of the bulb and # of cloves, more than German Red usually has).

Most were firm and appeared viable.

I planted about 50 White Potato Onion starts, both large and small, in last year's tomato bed. Large ones become clusters of small ones next season. Small ones become one large one, next season. There should be plenty for scallions and to save. I wanted to keep these going, they are an heirloom variety and I used to grow them as a boy, a gift from my grandmother's sister. The flavor is more complex than the "normal" store-bought onions, and not as harsh as the Egyptian Walking onions. I hope they grow - normally I plant them in the fall. My goal this year is to have a good supply to eat, but also to have a good supply to carry on to next year, both large and small bulbs.

A few came up in last year's bed, apparently having forgotten them during the summer.

Generally speaking, Garlic planted in the Fall grows to about 6" tall in the fall, overwinters, and makes good bulbs by June or July. Garlic planted in the Spring usually grows into one large clove. That's OK, but the goal is for a multiclove bulb. We'll see what happens with these January-planted garlic plants.

The soil was quite workable. Not too soggy.

It's rained for 2 days since planting.

Friday I saw some nice brown shallots at Safeway, bought a package of 3. I planted them today - just because I can. Shallots are about the same as multiplier onions, but a bit smaller. I planted them out of curiosity.

I read in a garden calendar (see prior entries last week or so) that onions and garlic can be planted now, which is what inspired me.

Seed Germination Experiment: 14 days & Conclusion

I wondered, just how warm is the heating mat. I placed a thermometer between the mat and the thin kitchen towel that covered it, left the thermometer in place overnight. A toasty 86F degrees. Wow!

I had unplugged the mat and forgotten it for 2 days, which may affect the results.

The additional seeds that sprouted were" Cherokee Purple tomato, all. Lemon Boy, all. Tabasco pepper, 2 more. Spinach, all.

Final results, including sprouted seeds that I removed to make the new ones countable:




Chinese Parsley 2005 0/10
Gambo Pepper 2004 0/10
Cherokee Purple Tom. 2009 10/10
Lemon Boy Tomato 2007 10/10
Lemon Boy Tomato 2006 10/10
Tabasco Pepper 2006 2/10
Tabasco Pepper unknown 0/10
Bulgarian Carrot Pep. 2008 10/10
Supersweet 100 Tom. 2007 10/10


Roma II Bush Bean 2008 10/10
Goldn Wax Bush Bean 2008 9/10
Scallop Bush Squash 2008 9/10
Roma Bush Bean 2009 10/10
Icicle Radish 2008 pkt 1 10/10
Icicle Radish 2008 pkt 2 10/10
Golden Nugget Tom. 2009 10/10
Spinach Savoy 2009 10/10
Black Krim Tomato 2008 10/10
Better Boy Tomato 2006 1/10

Orchids

Representatives from two more genera. I did not plan on adding either. Most Cymbidiums are too large, and I have never seen an Epidendrum available.

I'm trying to photograph the entire plant. Web photos are cool, but all too often, they just display the flower. It's difficult to find good photos of the entire plant. For me, much of the allure is in the form, from the roots, to the pseudobulbs or canes, to the thick leaves, to the flowers.

A small Epidendrum. These are also called "Reedstem Epidendrums" or "Poorman's Orchid". The flowers are held in bunches above the reed-like stems (duh) for an appearance similar to a kalanchoe. Culture is said to be very easy, similar to most other windowsill orchids - American Orchid Society directions here.

A brownp-flowered cymbidium. I had no plans at all to buy one. Most are too big. This one is smaller, and I'm partial to unusual colors like this one. I had a bit of buyer's remorse, solely because there isn't much room. Culture is similar to epidendrum and Cattleya.

The entire Cymbidium. We'll see how it does. In a way, the flowers are too much - one flower on a stem would be less extravagant. These are said to last 2 or 3 months. We'll see how it does in my room.

Seed Germination Experiment: 7 days

Chinese Parsley 2005 0/10

Gambo Pepper 2004 0/10

Cherokee Purple Tom. 2009 8/10

Lemon Boy Tomato 2007 7/10

Lemon Boy Tomato 2006 10/10

Tabasco Pepper 2006 0/10

Tabasco Pepper unknown 0/10

Bulgarian Carrot Pep. 2008 0/10

Supersweet 100 Tom. 2007 6/10

Roma II Bush Bean 2008 10/10

Goldn Wax Bush Bean 2008 9/10

Scallop Bush Squash 2008 9/10

Roma Bush Bean 2009 10/10

Icicle Radish 2008 pkt 1 10/10

Icicle Radish 2008 pkt 2 10/10

Golden Nugget Tom. 2009 9/10

Spinach Savoy 2009 8/10

Black Krim Tomato 2008 10/10

Lemon Boy Tomato 2006 1/10

Planning ahead for seed starting.

This is planning WAY ahead, but having played with seeds I wondered what are the best dates to start vegetable seeds.

The information below is from Suite100.com:

They recommend starting seeds 4 to 6 weeks before the date to set out plants.

Very Early: 4-6 wks before the date of last frost. March 16th to March 30th.
Asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, spinach, turnips.

Early: 2-4 wks before date of last frost. March 23rd to April 6th.
Beets, carrots, chard, mustard, potatoes.

Average: On or just after date of last frost April 20th. (WSU extension states set out tomatoes Mid May)
Beans, corn, tomato.

Late: One or more weeks after date of last frost April 27th.
Cucumbers, eggplant, melons, okra, peppers, squash.

To find date of last frost, check farmer's almanac here. For Vancouver WA, date of last frost is April 20th. (Date of first frost is given as Oct 15th). That's interesting, because for Seattle, date of last frost is March 10th, and for Portland, which is next door, date of last frost is March 23.

For starting seeds, then, we would time our starts 2 to 4 weeks before planting dates.

Tomatoes - start seeds March 16th to March 30th.
Peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, squash - start seeds March 23rd to April 6th.

I'm not sure about the beans, because they grow so fast and need warm soil. I'm tempted to say start them in May.

For direct sowing of seeds in the yard, zone 8, this site recommends:

Carrots: Feb through April
Lettuce: Feb through March
Onions: Dec through Feb
Peas: Feb through March
Radishes: Feb through April
Spinach: Feb through April
Beans: March through August

These seem early! I'll need to check some other sites as well.

We should be about the same as western valleys of Oregon - maybe a week later. So from OR state extension service, this site:
Beans: May through July
Carrots: March through July 15th
Corn: April through June
Garlic: Sept through Feb (interesting)
Peas: Feb through May
Radish: March through Sept
Spinach: April

What's growing? What's blooming?

Lycoris radiata leaves remain alive. I thought the freeze might kill them. So far, so good. A small amount of slug damage - need to get out some slug bait.



Hazelnut trees are blooming - I think. The catkins on one are long and green, and the others are shorter and grey. They are supposed to pollenate each other . One is Ennis and other is Butler - I'll have to go out and check the tags next weekend.