Our weather has been so spring-like, it's hard to believe it's January! Sunny, 50's and 60's, and all the snow we had (which wasn't a lot) is now melting. Today we have rain/snow mix, moisture for the first time in a couple of weeks. Still, the fact that I have to wear a heavy coat and scarf in the morning and I'm scraping frost off the windshield are reminding me that it's the dead of winter. I was looking through photos of last year about this time and we had about 2 feet of snow on the ground on the 1st of February. This year - almost zip. Most of the yard is clear of snow and there is no ice on the side streets and along the roadways, which is very unusual. If it wasn't for the short days, and dark by 6pm, I'd be thinking it was spring. No matter what, I'm glad to see the back side of January as usual.
HOWEVER - seed catalogs and spring bulb catalogs are filling my mailbox every day. I've gone through the seeds I have and it's looking like I'll have to order some for my seed starting in February. Although I sometimes end up with extra seeds after I get everything planted in my seed trays, I try to use them up each year. I usually can get seeds to sprout for me if they are last year's, but any older and the germination rate begins to go down.
This is the time of year when I decide what vegetables I'll plant, and which flowers I should start early so I get some blooms. I used to try to keep track in a notebook of what I planted and what did well, but now I just take lots of pictures.
We have a pretty short growing season at 5,700', so it's always a good idea to give the plants a good head start. Time to jump down past the swirly orange seed thingy and see what I've got planned for this year's seed rack....
Last year I planted different types of squash and had a limited success, due to whitefly infestations on the red kuri and kabocha plants. I really didn't want to spray with a pesticide, and used yellow sticky cards and pyrethrum. I did get one butternut squash and two red kuris. They will not be on my plant list this year, not because I didn't get a good yield, but because I'm the only one who will eat them. You may remember the squash that ate the dog house last year.... that was the red kuri and kabocha.
I had a good success my first year with potatoes. A friend had too many to plant, so I took some off her hands, and researched on the internet about growing potatoes. I learned that you could put them into pots and then at the end of the season you could dump the pot and harvest the potatoes without any being hit by a spade or garden trowel. I probably didn't do everything I was supposed to, but they were good eating and I got quite a few out of each plant! I'm sure they had some kind of problem as the skin was kind of pebbly, but I peeled them before cooking and they tasted just fine. I plan on buying some seed potatoes again this year.
This year Mr. Light and I discussed what we'd like to eat from the garden, and decided not to plant too many veggies. We'll plant herbs, of course. Lettuce and chard. Tomatoes, many varieties. Last year I had some darker red/green tomatoes, I believe they were Cherokee heirlooms, and we both loved them as slicers. Delicious! We want cherry toms, of course, and some mid-size salad tomatoes to go with the lettuce. Mr. Light likes mild peppers but I find that if they are raised from seed, I don't harvest too many. I've had better success with purchased plants, so I'll probably buy some nice mature plants from my favorite Denver "chain" nursery, O'Tooles. I can get a million hot peppers of all sizes and heat indexes just by planting the hot pepper mix, so I'll start those from seed. I must not go overboard, or I end up with too many. Fortunately I have family and friends who also like hot peppers so it's not a problem giving them away. They really do well here.
Of course there's flowers. I plan on many different flowers, including zinnias and Texas hummingbird sage (salvia coccinea). Such a beautiful red! They do well in a side porch barrel, so I'll put them there again this year. Last year I got some painted tongue seed from Select Seeds and they were gorgeous all summer long. Loved the color! I never could keep them alive when I bought them as bedding plants, so I'll definitely order more.
That's what I've got going on at the Light house right now, how about yours? I could spend another whole diary talking about the flowers I would like to try starting from seed. However, you all want to get to the comments section, so I'll let you tell me what you are starting from seed this pre-spring season!