The Last of the Seeds

This afternoon I worked in the greenhouse and I think I planted the last of the seeds I wanted to start. I either don’t have or can’t find my green bell pepper seeds that I saved from last year so I’ll buy a couple of bell pepper plants from the nursery.

Last year I put out my little starts as soon as we had passed the last chance of frost (if anyone really knows the last chance of frost) and then I had other plants I had started later because Chad brought home seeds from my grandpa’s collection and I started those. While I was starting those, I started a few more of the seeds I had already started and put those plants out about the second or third week in May and they actually did as well as the first plants I had transplanted so I figured instead of worrying about cold nights and having to cover them all, I’m just waiting til mid-May to set out tomatoes and maybe the first part of June to set out the peppers. The peppers will produce til frost.

The seeds I started today:

You can probably read the labels but . . left to right and there are four in each row. If all the seeds germinate and make nice plants, I’ll stick labels in each one so I’ll know what they are once I transplant them to grow bags.

Poblano (pepper)
Lipstick (pepper)
Orange Accordian (tomato)
Red Kuri Squash
Candy Roaster Squash
Sunbright (pepper) – three rows – yes, that’s one of my favorites!

Borage – I planted 12 cells of borage. I think they really helped with the bugs last year.
Chocolate Cherry Candy Cane peppers – I can’t wait to try those. First time to grow those.
Tabasco – two rows of those.

Peredovik Sunflowers
Sugar Rush Peach (pepper)
Sugar Rush Red (pepper
Ajvarksi (pepper) – This is a new one for me. Based on the reviews at Rare Seeds, I can’t wait to try it.

Sweet, Crispy Red Bell – I eat most of these right off the vine!
Lilac Bell – Another new one for me.

Nadapepper – The jalapeno flavor without the heat
Sweet Banana
Marconi Giant – Two rows of these. I grew them last year and we really liked them. Great flavor, seemed somewhat similar to poblano without the heat.
Buena Mulata – Another new one for me. Looks interesting.

If I counted correctly and if I posted all the pictures, there are about 84 pepper seeds planted. Hopefully we’ll have a great crop of peppers.

Some may wonder why so many peppers. First, we use a LOT of peppers during the year. Just a few years ago – when I first got here four years ago, jalapeno peppers were often .39 to .49/pound. They’re now $1.55 per pound. Bell peppers were often .39 each. Now they’re .86 each. If I use three bell peppers per week, and I often use more, the savings by growing my own (not counting water and I’m not including the cost of the raised beds because over the years, their cost isn’t much per year) would be about $80 per year and that’s just for the bell peppers. We use a good many poblano peppers. We probably average two pounds of jalapeno peppers per week and more when I’m making salsa, jalapeno ketchup, etc. but say it’s 2 pounds per week, that’s $110 per year. Red and yellow bell peppers are $1.48 each now. I probably use two or three of those per week so growing my own saves over $150 per year. I can’t grow ALL our potatoes but I probably grow half of what we eat. Potatoes aren’t usually expensive but the quality of what I’ve been getting lately has been horrible. We ran out of sweet potatoes probably about three weeks ago. I’m planting more this year. The home grown ones are so much better than the ones we buy at the store.

Of course, there are no guarantees with a garden. I could spend all this time and effort and get nothing. Last year was an amazing year for gardening. The year before was awful. I’m hoping for another amazing gardening year.

I’ll keep you posted on my garden this year.