Plant Rescue 104 - Beets

      Last year on December 31st, I wrote a blog that included an experiment to see if I could rescue some old beet plants discarded at the park:

  http://fromseedtoscrumptious.blogspot.com/2011/12/plant-rescue-101.html

Here is a shot of the beet plugs that I planted in cell packs on that last day of the year:

Beet plugs,  12/31/2011

      All of the plugs are still green as of now, and some I have already planted in the ground.  This batch is about to go into the ground to free up some porch space:

Beet cell pack,  3/3/2012

Roots coming out of the pack,  3/3/2012

      Yes indeedee, the beet plug has developed nice roots.  It is ready to go into the garden.  I guess I will put them into a cold frame, though I suspect they would be fine now unprotected.  The question is whether these plugs will develop into beets, or just go to seed thinking it is their second year of growth.  That would still produce edible beet tops much earlier than I could get from a new seeding.

Mustard anyone?

Mustard greens, 4/22/11

      We often times try so hard to grow things in our gardens.  Buy things and they will die.  Plant seeds and they don't germinate.  Or the bunnies or the birds eat the new starts.  Other times we do nothing and are over run by volunteers.  These light green plants are Florida Broadleaf Mustard that are coming up where I had mustard in a cold frame TWO years ago.  Go figure.  The darker green leafed plants are Purple coneflowers, and these too would not be so successful had I tried to grow them.  So if you could use either, give me a holler and come on over for a dig.
      Planting notes:  On 4/20, I planted two short rows of Chioggia beets in the seed bed just to the west of the box cold frame in the Bellevue garden.  Just to the left of those rows were two rows of Fedco White Satin carrots.  Those carrots did well last year and were delicious.  In the middle of the seed bed was a row of salsify, Tragopogon porrifolius, a first time try for me.  Say that name fast.  Heck, try to say it slowly.
      I finally planted a border row of Purple Top White Turnips along the south edge of bed number three.  Hopefully they will grow quickly and be able to be pulled.  I broadcast multiple tablespoons of home grown and harvested carrot seed along the north side of bed number two.  The carrots seeded the same way in the onion bed are coming along nicely.  When I pulled a clump of weed grass out last week, three small carrots pulled out as well.  The largest was about the size of my little finger.  I made three holes in another area of the bed and stuck them back in.  The tops are recovering now after a couple of days of wilting.
      After having very poor germination with some nasturtium and zinnia seeds, I tried a different tack last night.  I had received a seed sprouting kit as a present, which does a great job for sprouting veggie seeds to eat.  So both of the above mentioned flowers now have a tray apiece.  If the seeds sprout, I plan on transferring them to dirt before they leaf out.  At least I can keep an eye on their development.  Will update with a progress report.