Spring is in the Air/ Seeds in the Ground

[Cagolddigger]

It's been a great few days in the garden. Other than a day of rain (2 days ago) the sun has been out and the coming week is supposed to be great. Looking at 70's all week.

I planted my salad beds 3 days ago.
It consists of Romain, Bibb, Iceberg & Simpson Lettuces.
Mesclun mix, Radishes (Scarlet & Sparkle)
Beets (Bulls Blood & Early Wonder)
Mustard Spinach
Green Onions

Two weeks ago I planted 150 Peas and they are about 2 inches high now.

Today I planted Yellow Wax Beans (88 total)
White potatoes (30 Total)

My seed flats are brimming over.
They have:
Brandy Wine, Ace, Rutger, & Roma Tomatoes (only 36 Plants this year)
Green Peppers, Cayenne Peppers, Banana Peppers & Red Jalapeno Peppers
Eggplant
Cilantro, Dill, Basil

Flowers:
French Marigolds
Cosmos
Zinnia
Snapdragons
African Daisy
California Poppy
Morning Glory (assorted)

Still so much more to do.
Just waiting for the soil temps. to stay 80F and the night temps 60F.
Then I can start transplanting and get the rest of the goodies in the ground.

[rainbowgardener]

Sounds like you will have a wonderful garden! Be sure to show us pictures of it at some point!

I love the California poppies. I plant them as annuals here, just as a little nostalgic reminder of my childhood in California! Plant the parking strip between street and sidewalk full of California poppies. Very cheerful welcome to my place!

[jal_ut]

Its amazing how things vary across the country.
I am still waiting for the snow to get off my lot.

You are off to a great start. Have a great garden!

[Cagolddigger]

I'll get some pics soon. My camera took a dump and I 'm probably just going to get one of the disposables till i get a new one.

Yesterday I planted another 100 peas. That makes 250 total.
I like peas. lol I like to have more than I need for4 seed the next year and split pea soup in the winter.

Today I rummaged through my finished pile of compost and picked out about 100 worms and started a worm bin. It's for castings and fishing .

Tomorrow is more weeding, mowing and digging 2 new beds. The new beds will now give me about 2000 sq. ft. of raised bed gardening.

The funny thing is I still don't have enough room.

[runfox]

jal_ut you must be a patient gardener to wait so long to plant, and you still have snow in Utah, wow.

I am excited, my first garden here in fla zone 9, and my plants are starting to sprout, I planted March the 5th.

My wife picked up some Romain lettuce plants a while back, I transplanted them into my garden. They are are like 6" tall now with many nice looking leaves. I have never frown lettuce before so when is it ready to start pulling leaves to eat? I know you pull the leaves from the outside and let the plant continue to grow.

[rainbowgardener]

You can eat your lettuce leaves any time. Just don't take more than say 1/3 of the plant, so it will have plenty left to grow with.

I plant lettuce thickly, then don't thin them until they are big enough to eat (which can be pretty small, the baby lettuce size). Pull them and eat them as baby lettuce, very tender!

[garden5]

You can eat your lettuce leaves any time. Just don't take more than say 1/3 of the plant, so it will have plenty left to grow with.

I plant lettuce thickly, then don't thin them until they are big enough to eat (which can be pretty small, the baby lettuce size). Pull them and eat them as baby lettuce, very tender!

OK, two questions:

1. Are you referring to 1/3 from the top down or from one side going across.

2. What exactly is "baby lettuce" size?

Thanks and congratulations to the OP on getting his garden growing !

[Cagolddigger]

I do the same when planting lettuce.
I just sow lots of seeds and thin them out by eating them.

I very rarely pull leaves from the lettuce. I just cut the whole thing about 2-3 inches above the ground. Depending on the type of lettuce I can get 1-2 more growths from it.

[Cagolddigger]

~Update~

Today I thinned out my seedlings.
Did the usual weeding in the garden.
I planted (started from seed indoors):
2 Yellow Squash
2 Zucchini
2 Spaghetti Squash

I know they should be direct planted, but I always like to start a couple from seed and plant them in the garden early.

I strung my twine up for all my peas. Boy was that a chore. With over 300 plants that took half my day.

Tomorrow I transplant tomatoes in bigger pots.

I also started another flower bed by the new flag stone walkway I put in this week. It consists of 3 types of Marigolds, California Poppies, Daisies, Cosmos, Snapdragons & many others.

Ground temps are perfect for all plants right now. I just need to wait till the night temps come up by 5 degrees and it's time to plant everything. woohoo!