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You are here: Home / Gardening / Spring Garden Update – Sprouting Seedlings

Spring Garden Update – Sprouting Seedlings

February 2, 2018

Well, this is an exciting week to give an update on the garden! The garden is full of sprouting seedlings! Aren’t those tiny seedlings amazing?? The last ones holding out are the green onions, but I’m hopeful they will be up any day now. I must admit, I check on those boxes every day (and sometimes twice) to  see what else has popped its head above ground. It’s really quite exciting! The little sprouts just push their way up through the dirt – moving every obstacle out of the way. Up up to the light!

  • Radish sprouts
    Radish sprouts
  • Lacinato Kale sprout
    Lacinato Kale sprout
  • Garden sprouts
    Garden sprouts
  • Radish sprouts
    Radish sprouts

I also started some tomato and eggplant seeds indoors a few weeks ago. Both those, and peppers, are supposed to be planted as transplants in March, and not as seeds. I didn’t buy any pepper seeds this year, so I cheated and bought two starter plants at the nursery. But the tomatoes and eggplant I’m starting from seed. The tomatoes took off right away. In just a couple of days we had sprouting seedlings. But the eggplant is another story. 3 weeks later I still have no sprouts.

(Since the time of writing this post, I have learned that both eggplant and pepper/chile seeds need a heating pad or other way to warm them to sprout efficiently. You can use this for tomatoes as well, although they are not as dependent on it. For this reason I typically start all three of these in the same container, so I can set it on a heating pad, set to low, until they sprout.)

For starting these indoor seeds, I got some Jiffy seed starter trays, dropped the seeds into those, and put them, damp, into their little “greenhouse” with the lid closed. Once the tomatoes sprouted, I propped open the lid, then took it off, and moved them under a grow light. I’ve read that for tomato seedlings it is important to have the right amount of light. The light should sit just 2-3 inches above the little plants to encourage strong, straight growth. So we invested in a small countertop grow light that fits on the kitchen counter. (Good thing I cleared the counter clutter with those kitchen wall baskets last month!)

Tomato seedlings

I can’t wait to get all these sprouting seedlings transplanted into the garden in another month or so!

Post Category: Gardening Tagged With: garden, SFG, sprouts, square foot garden

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Our neighbor has a #kumquat tree, and invites us t Our neighbor has a #kumquat tree, and invites us to pick whatever we can reach from over the wall (best 👏 neighbors 👏 ever). We have discovered we really love them! They are actually quite nice sliced up on salads. They are tart and sweet all at once, and the perfect size to just pop in your mouth for a tasty snack (they are about the size of an olive).

Do you have a kumquat tree? We definitely plan to plant one if we ever have the space!
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#cookcraftcultivate #cultivate #azcitrus #azcitrusseason #kumquattree #citrustree #growyourownfood #growwhatyoueat
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We're planning to take them out towards the end of this month to refresh the bed and plant with something different. I think they would probably keep going if we let them though! They have tons of new growth and more flowers. We have been cutting all that new growth off so they can put their energy into all thier fruits 🤗
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Wondering what to do with that turkey carcass?? Ma Wondering what to do with that turkey carcass?? Make some bone stock! I've got you covered with instructions, tips and tricks. I even talk about condensing in order to save on freezer space 🙌 Check out the details on my site (direct link below), or tap @cookcraftcultivate, go to the link in bio, and search for stock 🦃
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https://www.cookcraftcultivate.com/how-to-make-stock/
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Alright I've got one more pre-Thanksgiving post fo Alright I've got one more pre-Thanksgiving post for you all! This one's super easy and packed full of flavors. Whip it up tonight and you'll be one step ahead 😉
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! May you and your family have a lovely time wherever you spend the day 💗
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#cookcraftcultivate #cook #thanksgivingrecipes #thanksgiving #cranberry #cranberrysauce #homemade #quickandeasy
Have you ever smoked your turkey for Thanksgiving? Have you ever smoked your turkey for Thanksgiving? It's our favorite method! If you have a smoker, or have a friend with a smoker 😜 I seriously recommend you give it a try! Step by step instructions on the blog - tap @cookcraftcultivate and go to the link in my profile 🙃
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Bonus - It's pretty hands off once you get it started, and frees up your oven for other things!
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