Seedling update!

It's been a long two weeks, all garden/seeding work delayed by kids with colds, coughs and ear infections..   yet, today, I'm hoping to get more seeds started under the lights - basil, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, cabbage, zinnias and more.. I'm a few weeks behind schedule!

The tomatoes and peppers that were seeded a few weeks ago are growing well - it seemed to take forever for some of the peppers to sprout, but I really wasn't keeping that close an eye on them and when I peeked a few days ago, I realized that some of the seedlings were purple in colour and therefore blended in with the potting soil!! Thanks to Craig at http://nctomatoman.weebly.com/ I have a bunch of new-to-me tomatoes and peppers that I'm growing this year, so I wasn't sure what to expect.. (for more info on what I'm growing, check out my posts from earlier this month and Feb)

All the tomatoes have now sprouted, except for the Mexico Midget, which I'm told are a bit pokey to germinate. So I'll continue to be patient. I also planted several packs of ruffled pansies.. sigh!! I grew them about ten years ago and LOVED them so much. I bought the Can Can F1 Pansy seed from McFayden (see photo) and they sprouted within 4 days! Can't wait to put these in the garden. The butter yellow pansies from last year are in bud in the veggie garden right now - with no protection! Their hardiness amazes me. Not sure if these ruffled ones will be so persistent, but fingers crossed!

It's also time to be seeding and transplanting under the mini hoop tunnels - seedlings of the cool season cole crops - broccoli, kale, cabbage, kohlrabi and more can be transplanted now under their protection.. as well as seed  of all of the cold and cool season salad greens - mustard, arugula, lettuce, spinach and more..

Mind you, we did wake to a dusting of snow, but the rest of the week looks sunny and mild with temps around 7 and 8 C.. Let's hope the coughs go away ASAP and we can all get back to playing outside..

Happy Gardening!