I want to join in!
But really, the only thing I need to "start" is tomato and peppers seeds. We have such a long season here that everything else does so much better being direct sown into the garden.
It's still too early to start the tomatoes and peppers though. I shoot for a May 1st transplant date for those heat loving plants. One year I started them March 1st and had a jungle in my kitchen by the time we could plant. Last year I waited till the end of March to start and they were a little too scrawny. So this year I'm thinking I'll get the party started around mid March, so I've got a few weeks yet to go.
I was SO TEMPTED to place my order online this weekend for my onion sets from Dixondale. But their zipcode release dates show that they'll ship them this week if I place the order. Not a good idea. While our temperatures are supposed to be around 50 during the day, we've got lows close to (or below) freezing with every other day rain being forecast.
Too yucky and wet to prep the beds so I think I'll wait another week or two.
The catalog is right here next to the computer though and as I peruse it I have to stifle my desire to buy more than what I need.
Last year I bought the Intermediate Day Sampler. Red Candy Apple, Super Star and Candy.
They were MONSTERS. So huge! So easy to grow! (Maybe I should become a backyard onion grower?) But I ended up giving most of them away as the "sampler pack" had 50-75 plants.
Way too many onions for SM and I alone.
As much as I like to see the happy smiles of folks accepting freebies from my garden haul, it's not my job to feed the world, so I'm planting fewer onions this year.
Deb (my neighbor across the road) wants in on the onions but wants me to grow them at my place since last years haul was so good. She thinks I have the touch.
Ha! Little does she know.
But I'll play along. I'm partial to red onions myself. I'm eyeballing the Red Torpedo Tropea (3 month storage)
or the Red Marble Cippolini (5 month storage)
Anybody grow these? Dixondale's website shows several "Thumbs-up" for the Torpedo so that's the red onion I'm leaning towards. But I'm also thinking of doing a Copra batch too for a longer storage onion.
Whatcha ya'll think?
Those Red Torpedos look intriguing in that I think they would make for easier slicing. But I've never personally tried growing them . . . so I can't give a recommendation.
ReplyDeleteGosh, seems like you just had a blizzard and now the garden is nearly ready for planting? Ah, how different our areas are! And yet, we all plant gardens. Interesting, eh?
I can't wait any longer! Like you, I had huge transplants last spring. But I use lunar calendar which means Feb 20,21,22nd are great seed starting dates and the next ones won't be until end of March. So I'm going for it. Plus, the snow has slowed down all the outside work so into the greenhouse I go! Stevie@ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com
ReplyDeleteI'm officially envious of your onions. I've never done well with mine, but I certainly do love onions.
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