Garden update: Repotting seedlings, fertilizer tea and more

This was a busy weekend, garden-wise.

All day Saturday - 12 hours! - I spent repotting seedings (which was fine, because it rained outside all day long). The tomatoes and peppers outgrew their peat pellet starters and needed to be transplanted into larger containers.

I repotted them into 16 oz. plastic drink cups (like Solo cups).

With the peat pellets, it was easy. Just put some potting soil into the plastic cups, remove the nylon netting from around the peat pellets, put the seedling into the new dirt, and fill the cup the rest of the way with dirt.

When you repot tomato seedlings, you need to plant them deep. You can cover up the first leaves and plant them as deep as their second set of true leaves. When you plant them deep, you force them to root out and strengthen their bases.

When repotting pepper seedings, don't bury them as deep as you would tomatoes - just enough to get the roots buried, plus maybe an inch of the stem.

After repotting, it's okay to start feeding them a weakened fertilizer solution. You can either use a commercial fertilizer (Miracle Gro for vegetables is a pretty good one), or you can make your own "tea."

Get a large piece of cloth for straining - an old sheet works great. Put a shovelful or two of finished compost, weed trimmings, or aged manure in the cloth. Put it over a large bucket. Pour several gallons of water over the stuff in the cloth to make a tea and strain it into the bucket. You can pour this tea over your veggies as a fertilizer. Be sure NOT to use fresh manure (except rabbit manure) because fresh manure will burn your plants. Rabbit manure is the only manure that can be used fresh and won't burn your plants.

After repotting your seedlings, it's time to start looking at your calendar/almanac to see when it's time to plant the seedlings outside. We'll be planting ours the last weekend in March, if the weather cooperates.

Once you've determined your outdoor planting date, then you'll know when to start hardening off your seedlings. Seedlings have to be hardened off, or they may suffer, weaken, and fail to thrive because of the shock of going from one growing environment to another so sudden

To harden them off, a week before planting, start taking your seedlings outside and leaving them outside in a fairly sunny spot during the daytime. Be sure to bring them back inside at night.

So, starting March 21st, I'll need to start setting the tomato and pepper seedlings outside to harden them off to have them ready to plant outside on March 28th.

As for the rest of the garden...

The remainder of our potatoes have been planted. We've got tire planters all around the perimeter of our main garden and in just about every other available sunny spot. This July 4th (traditional 'tater harvest day) should be a busy one! When I was a kid, every 4th of July as far as I can remember was 'tater digging day. Pap would plow up the 'tater patch and my brother and I would go behind him with buckets, picking up 'taters. Hey, what a way to celebrate a true Independence Day!

The first planting of English peas (Little Marvel variety) have sprouted up and are between 2 and 3 inches tall now. I should be picking peas before the end of April. The second planting (Green Arrow variety, planted 2 weeks later) have also sprouted, but they aren't yet showing true leaves.

We planted the large cabbage plant this weekend. It is a real space hog, requiring a 3 square foot area of growing space. If you have a limited space garden, I do not recommend growing cabbage. The only reason we're growing this one is because it was a freebie.

We also planted broccoli seedings that we started indoors. They have to be planted 1 foot apart and need to be fertilized with a weak fertilizer right away to help get them established quickly. Broccoli, if you take care of it, should produce a fall and spring harvest. The large central head is the spring harvest and smaller side shoots will be ready in the fall.

If you're getting the garden itch and think it's too late because you haven't started any seedlings indoors, don't fret. You can still get live plants - tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, etc. - from your local nursery when it gets time to plant outdoors. Don't buy any live plants yet unless you have the means and the space to care for them indoors.

You can also get seeds for veggies to plant directly in the ground - green beans, for example.

And you can grow herbs and lettuce any time.