In The Garden - February 25

Although I haven't posted about the garden in a while, that doesn't mean that things aren't growing around here!  I spent a good chunk of this morning potting up the little seedlings that I started on January 28.

Here are all the newbies in their new, bigger homes.

Pesto, anyone?  The Genovese basil already smells heavenly.  I'm going to be hard pressed to let it get to maturity before I start harvesting those tasty little leaves.

These are the round two tomatoes.  I only had 7 successful plants from round one.  Since I want at least 10 plants of this variety (Rutgers) in the garden this summer, I had to start some more.  They are about three weeks behind the others time-wise, but a couple of them are nearly as big as round one already.  I've been hauling them outside on warmer (above 40 degree days) for the last couple of weeks hoping to get them all growing a little faster.  I'd like to set them out in walls-o-water around April 1.

I divided the Laguras ovatus nursery pot into quarters and planted each tiny piece of sod into its own pot.  The plants are over three inches tall, but are a bit spindly.  I have the lights positioned right over the top of them with zero clearance.  They've also been going outside on warmer days.

These are the round one tomatoes.  I guess I should have photographed the two rounds side-by-side for comparison.  These are really not much taller than the younger plants, but their stems are thicker and they are have many more leaves.

Also pictured are the 'Tyee' spinach seedlings and 'Pink Lipstick' chard seedlings that I started a week ago.  They're moving right along.  They can go into the garden soon, so as soon as they're husky enough to withstand the wind and snow, they'll get transplanted out.  I have transplanted straight from the nursery pot in some years with good results.  If I need to, I might pot them out in four-packs to get them a little more room to grow.

Not the best picture, but it is a little difficult to shoot through a plastic bag.  This is my tobacco crop.  lol.  'Only the Lonely' is a four-foot-tall ornamental tobacco with fragrant flowers.  I've grown it in the past a couple of times.  It's very persnickety and temperamental, but is worth it when it blooms.  It's also quite expensive to buy at nurseries and so worth the effort to get it to blooming stage.