Things are getting exciting

Here is the veggie updates with entirely to many photo's, sorry if they load slow. I will start outside as that is what I am most excited about. Saturday afternoon I completed the oak barrel greenhouse and planted a 1/4 of the soil with Mesclun Mix lettuce. I will plant a quarter at a time every two weeks to spread out the harvest. I checked the barrel Sunday afternoon and the plastic was all steamy with an inside temperature of 20c(68f). They should germinate in no time with these conditions. It's great when things work the way they should.

The cold frame is also doing very well. . The early tomato & second seeded onions have been out in the frame a few times and soon will spend most days outside under glass. I have also seeded a few things, germinated them in my propagator and then will place them in the frame once they germinate. This includes kohlrabi, assorted lettuces, tatsoi, bright lights chard, rutabaga, peas & broad beans. My indoor broccoli has grown pretty leggy as you will see below so I start some more in the frame to see if they grow better outdoors. They are growing much slower in the frame so I think for now on I will start the broccoli transplants outside in the frame. Here are some photos of the crops in the frame:

'Bonsai" Bok Choy, also called Pak Choy.
You plant this like you would broccoli.

Kohlrabi, nice and purple.

Tuscano Kale

Romaine Lettuce

Veseys Baby Leaf Blend

On Saturday I planted a few rows of radishes & spinach outside in the soil. I sowed them right against the foundation in a sheltered spot by the redundant chimney. It is a little early to plant out in the open but this sheltered spot should hold enough heat for them to grow.

Spinach seeds planted.

Here is the photo of my garlic. They have pretty much completely sprouted like Chiot's Run reassured me last February when I thought half of them were dead. Cool heads prevail.

Garlic. The radishes and spinach are planted
between the garlic and chimney.

The last thing to update outdoors is I have started to blanch my rhubarb after watching it done on Down on the Allotment blog. I planted this clump 5 years ago, it is not a very nice tasting variety so I am hoping the blanching makes it much nicer. All you do is cover it to exclude light, leave it for a few weeks and then harvest. After harvesting then allow the plant to grow uncovered to re-feed the crowns.

Now for the inside seedlings. Almost everything that has to be sown indoors early has been and is growing under the grow light. I am still waiting on some herbs & ornamental annuals to arrive that I ordered late. Here are some photos of whats growing:

Peppers from small to large: Ancho, Jimmy Nardello's & Big Chilli II
The two short ones were started March 12 & the big one was start
Feb 16th. I will start all my peppers in Feb next season.

Purple Beauty Pepper, seeded March 18th
& is starting to germinate well now.

Second Seed onions, Yellow Storage & Shallots

Brussels Sprouts

Broccoli, They are doing so so. They are stocky yet floppy at the
same time. I don't think they like the heat from the grow light.

Eggplant, I am also going to start the eggplants in February next year.

The 14 tomatoes I started March 20th. Most are getting their first true leaves currently.

And I will end with Mister Early Tomato that is looking rather lovely.