Beware of earlier varieties that are tart, crunchy, mushy, or flavorless. I’m trying out some new to me varieties, though varieties I grew last year were all pretty good to great.
These are my Aztek and Pinocchio Orange seedlings at about 3 weeks. They have been growing in 55-70°F conditions. For size reference Aztek are in Chobani yogurt containers.
...I’m going to try to grow Peas two different ways — these will be pre-germinated and started indoors in something small — I tried plastic egg cases before but found them to be too small and difficult to manage the connected cells if the seedlings get overgrown. I think individual separate cups would be better for starting this early — trying to remember if it was 3 oz or 5 oz that was recommended.
...I think I’m also going to try direct sowing later, although I think I had the best results when I pre *sprouted* the pre-germinated peas in the plastic egg cases, then planted them in the garden barely covered so they would actually sprout in 2-3 days, so I might try that way again.
...I don’t know? 
Variety selection is based on flavor — some are on my family’s annual returning fave list, many are repeats pending addition to the fave list, and new-to-me have been chosen for reputation of excellence 
) and some have sprouted while I wasn’t looking
Fedco Seeds-
— is it a kind of Chard? The sage were started from seeds last spring and had been growing in the exposed windowbox-on-an-old-picnic bench. I Uppotted them to 1 gal and 2 gal containers for the winter but wasn’t sure if they would make it since they had not been established in the ground, so I put them in “Siberia”. I think they should be fine if planted in much larger container or an appropriate location in the ground. But last time, I lost sage because the location was full sun in the summer but full shade (house shadow) in the colder months, and probably also too moisture holding.... need to see if I have a good place to put them (white sage and broadleaf sage).
Only a partial and moderate infestation in the house, no doubt thanks to the previously released ladybeetle Indoor Garden Patrol, and so far none in the Winter Paradise. But the Garage V8 Nursery was hit and localized infestation is very severe, meaning the garage was too cold for the previously release ladybeetles to stay active, but warm enough under the lights for the aphids, although they didn’t spread out. I’ve released the last of the refrigerator-stored hibernating ladybeetles 
) — I get mine via amazon, but have seen them in garden centers that also keep/sell bait and earthworms (refrigerator). The adults will be thirsty/hungry after the forced hibernation and will start in on the smorgasbord right away, even though they might not stay on the plant as long as you might wish for, and once they lay eggs and larvae hatch, they will stay on and crawl into every nook and cranny of the plant foliage, demolishing the aphids. The few aphids that might be on seedlings will disappear right away, and larger plants can handle light infestation that might remain to feed and keep the ladybug life cycles going. It’s a good idea to get ladybug food to feed the adults if you don’t have any flowering plants to provide the pollen they need.
