Starting Seeds

We’re almost ready to start our seedlings. We don’t want them to get too leggy, but we also want to get a jump on the season. Peaceful Valley has a good video about starting seedlings indoors. Peaceful Valley conducted a tomato taste test in 2014, and they provide a narrative description of how they grew the plants from seed to harvest. The last frost in Grass Valley, CA is only a week or so after ours, so the timing of their planting is similar to us here in northern Illinois.

After reading about starting seeds, I learned that peppers do best if allowed to sit between moistened paper towels in a warm place. Even with our southern sun, we have few places that stay “warm” (70 degrees) in our house. I rigged an incubation surface next to the wood stove, which should be warm most of the time.

Pep Germ

The following picture of our osage tree was taken at about 5:15 pm. The days are getting longer, which means more sunlight for our seedlings.

3_1_15Osage

 

Gardening Near Black Walnut

We have several large, beautiful black walnut trees in the area near our house that we will be planting with orchards and gardens. Although these trees are gorgeous, they are toxic to some plants, including apple trees.

More on gardening near black walnut.

Companion plants for black walnut

More companion plants

Black Walnut Society

List of plants that do, and don’t, grow near black walnuts, with measurements.

A video with measurements.