Almost all the pepper seeds have sprouted. Except for the poblanos. Brand new seed - the garden center even had to order them because they were out - and only 4 of the 12 seeds that I planted have sprouted. I was telling the Hubs this, and he said I say this every year - that the poblano seeds are always slower. So I guess next year I will start the poblano seeds a week before everything else.
Yesterday I transplanted the cauliflower and broccoli into larger containers. I left two per container, but I planted them deeper so they aren't so leggy. I've never had much luck with brassica transplants, so we'll see how it works this year. They may be one of those vegetables, like tomatillos, that I have to buy plants for.
Next weekend the garden calendar says to start tomatoes! I'm really excited because I got a package of heirloom blend seeds that has all different colors and sizes of tomatoes. I don't typically like "grab bag" style seeds, but I've never met a tomato I didn't like, and I figured this would give me a chance to sample several varieties to see if there are some I want to specifically grow in the future.
Yesterday I raked some of the straw in the garden to the edge, so that when we get manure from the farm we don't have as much prep to do here. The straw came from when the Hubs poured the concrete floor for his shop. It was getting cold at that time, so we insulated the curing concrete with tarps and straw. After the concrete cured, we had 6 or so bales of loose straw and I suggested we put it in the garden area to use as mulch this year. Genius idea! It wasn't even hard to move because the straw was on top of the tarps, so we pulled the tarps down the driveway and dumped the straw in the garden. Surprisingly the straw hasn't blown away, even though we've had a couple crazy winter storms that blew shingles off the roof.
Looking forward, I'm a little anxious about our baby kangaroo's arrival. I know, we have about another 6 months until the baby arrives. But I'm thinking about his/her arrival in the middle of garden harvest season; I'm going to need extra help weeding the garden, harvesting and processing the vegetables. I'm also making a list of meals I can put in the freezer ahead of time and meals I can have ready to put in the crockpot for the first several weeks. My ideas so far:
Lasagnas - both a bechamel sauce and a red sauce variety
Stuffed shells or manicotti or canelloni
Meatballs
Turkey burgers - mixed up, preformed and frozen
Enchilada casserole
For the crockpot - fixings for roasts, pulled pork, stroganoff, and chicken noodle soup
Also looking forward to fresh veggies from the garden!
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