springing into action (or at least trying to)

The tomatoes now have their first true leaves which means that I'll be putting them into pots this weekend. That means there is space in the window for eggplants (started the seeds yesterday) and tomatillos (hopefully started today or tomorrow) and then my snap peas before too much longer.

Outside, most of my herbs are coming back so I'm ready for cooking up some yummy stuff here soon. I also have some extra tarragon so let me know if you want it (it's currently in the small green pot in the back of the picture and could get transplanted most anywhere with decent sun). The daffodils and hyacinths are also coming up and being the first blooms (other than weeds) in my yard.



















I'm also working to get my native wildflowers ready from the NC Botanical garden www.ncbg.unc.edu , which means that part of my fridge is being invaded by plants. Because the seeds are used to a cold winter before sprouting, you have to put them through stratification, or 1-2 months in the fridge, before they'll germinate. I just took a workshop on plant propiigation so hopefully the tips that I picked up there from the pros will lead to a higher success rate.


I also need to share my first mistake of the year. I've heard about plants like lettuce and spinach "bolting" when the get too hot. That means that leafy plants send up flowering shoots which also means that the yummy veggies get bitter. So I have recently experienced that broccoli bolts too! I got all excited that my broccoli finally started growing again and even flowering- but then I tasted the broccoli and found out that flower do not equal tasty. Oh well- the moral of the story is to pick your broccoli before it shoots up/bolts.