Quarantine Vegetable Gardens

[Eleven_11]

my carrots are sprouting
except I found it very hard to separate the tiny seeds so my husband thinks I'm gonna end up with a couple huge carrots instead of several smaller ones\
planting more stuff on the weekend

Funny, my carrots are the only thing that haven’t sprouted yet!

I put the rest of my seeds in tonight, let’s see what happens!

 

[Midwestmom2019]

my carrots are sprouting
except I found it very hard to separate the tiny seeds so my husband thinks I'm gonna end up with a couple huge carrots instead of several smaller ones\
planting more stuff on the weekend

Mix with sand. Then sprinkle sand seed mix with radish seeds. Radishes come up so fast. Carrots so slow. By the time radishes are grown and ready to eat, carrots will be taking their places.

 

[Midwestmom2019]

Funny, my carrots are the only thing that haven’t sprouted yet!

I put the rest of my seeds in tonight, let’s see what happens!

Carrots are very slow to sprout. Patience.

 

[Gardenista]

View attachment 249826 View attachment 249825 View attachment 249824 View attachment 249823
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kale is on the bottom - and the lettuce, arugula and spinach are in the cart - green beans and squash are in old refrigerator drawers and the tomato plant is in a 5 gallon bucket from Lowe’s that I used to catch rainwater in herbs are in a large round terra cotta planter - thyme, sage, cilantro, rosemary and basil plus I have a very large herb planter with more - we love homemade pesto !

Awesome

 

[Gardener1850]

I'm slightly jealous of all of you growing carrots currently. I had no room for them in my garden this spring and it's way too hot here to start them now (in the Midwest and North it's probably perfect weather though). I'm going to try to get a batch of nantes carrots planted in some flower boxes in the fall when it's cooler.

My re-growing of celery experiment has also now officially failed. The celery stumps did start to regrow in water but they died a couple weeks after I transplanted to pots. I tried everything to save them but it seems like the base just rotted in the soil and then the tops turned yellow and wilted. Oh well, I'll go back to planting celery seed next time for new healthy plants. This was an attempt to make up for lost time as I wasn't initially planning on having such a big garden this year. I didn't get most of my spring cool weather crops planted in time. My sweet peas and radishes are still growing but torrential rains from an early tropical storm and the sudden switch in temps from cool to blazing hot has slowed them down.

Fortunately my CSA has had plenty of carrots and celery which are 2 staple veggies I buy weekly. I love to grow my own, but I know I could never grow enough for us and I love to support my local farms too.

 

[mickey2942]

I just hope anything grows. It is supposed to snow here this weekend.

 

[beatrixpotter]

I grew my first Black Prince 14 years ago and it was so wonderful I had to have every heirloom black tomato variety available. It's a staple in my garden. Hope you love it as much as I do!

Black Prince is my husband's favorite tomato hands down! We have some in the garden this year. We have a lot of tomato disease though so we actually have to graft to get disease resistant plants that will produce for a long time.

 

[155etta]

I just hope anything grows. It is supposed to snow here this weekend.

Same.

 

[mickey2942]

Same.

But my spinach, carrots, radishes are doing well

 

[155etta]

I found a great deal on strawberry flats today so I bought one to make jam. My rhubarb in the garden is ready as well, so I'll be trying out a new recipe for rhubarb vanilla bean jelly. It's supposed to rain this weekend with possible snow so I think I'll make it then when I'm stuck indoors. The other jam we like is raspberry peach. I'll have to wait a bit to make that one.

 

[LadyL]

I'm not sure if you know this or not, but you'll want to thin out the carrot seedlings or they won't develop into full size carrots.

Here's a good video on how to thin carrots:

that's a very delicate operation
I'm not sure I have the finesse or desire for that lol

 

[LadyL]

Mix with sand. Then sprinkle sand seed mix with radish seeds. Radishes come up so fast. Carrots so slow. By the time radishes are grown and ready to eat, carrots will be taking their places.

but why?
also, I hate radishes lol

 

[Jax49]

but why?
also, I hate radishes lol

LOL at hating radishes. I can't think of anything to substitute, but thought I'd try to explain the reasoning.

Carrots take "forever" to sprout so it is helpful to have something like radishes planted at the same time - basically serves as a marker, until the carrot seeds sprout.

 

[Gardener1850]

that's a very delicate operation
I'm not sure I have the finesse or desire for that lol

Some people gently pull them out instead of snipping with scissors... I know it might seem drastic but it's important to thin your seedlings or you might not get a very good crop. Carrots planted too close together will often end up being very thin or misshapen.

Some links on the subject of thinning:

What Happens if You Don't Thin Seedlings - The Beginner's Garden

How to Thin Carrots: A Guide – Properly Rooted

Thinning Carrots: How to plant and thin carrot seedlings

MOO.

 

[Midwestmom2019]

but why?
also, I hate radishes lol

Sand helps to spread out the carrot seeds. They are so tiny, it’s easy for them to get tossed too close together. Sand acts as a filler/expander if you will. So as you sprinkle sand carrot mix, more likely the seeds will be further apart. No need to thin.

 

[watergirl62]

We are starting to get a bunch of cucumbers so I made 4 jars of brine pickles (fermented)

• 1 and 1/2 lbs cucumbers, cut into spears
• 1 tsp coriander seed
• 12 dill sprigs (i used dried this time)
• 4 chilies
• 2 garlic gloves, halved
• 4 cups tepid water
• 2 tsp kosher salt

Divide first 5 ingredients into 2 quart jars
combine water and salt until dissolved
pour over cukes leaving 1/2-inch space in top of jar
cover loosely
let stand 5-7 days in dark cool place to ferment
(the brine may get cloudy and that's okay - sometimes i get some mold on the dill if it sticks up out of the water so I will check and throw it out before sealing tight and refrigerating)
refrigerate for up to 3 months

easy peasy and they never last 3 months around my house

 

[Gardenista]

The pickle recipe above made me think about the refrigerator pickle relish I make. It's always a big mess when I make it, but it's worth it. I make dozens of jars every year.

Our Favorite Cucumber Refrigerator Relish

 

[watergirl62]

The pickle recipe above made me think about the refrigerator pickle relish I make. It's always a big mess when I make it, but it's worth it. I make dozens of jars every year.

Our Favorite Cucumber Refrigerator Relish

Thanks for the recipe, gardenista. Great idea - way better than cucumber salsa lol.
I don't have a food processor, but I can work around that.

 

[Gardenista]

Thanks for the recipe, gardenista. Great idea - way better than cucumber salsa lol.
I don't have a food processor, but I can work around that.

this is what I use

https://www.amazon.com/Vidalia-Chop-Wizard-67366-Large/dp/B000I6JZWA?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1

 

[Midwestmom2019]

We are starting to get a bunch of cucumbers so I made 4 jars of brine pickles (fermented)

• 1 and 1/2 lbs cucumbers, cut into spears
• 1 tsp coriander seed
• 12 dill sprigs (i used dried this time)
• 4 chilies
• 2 garlic gloves, halved
• 4 cups tepid water
• 2 tsp kosher salt

Divide first 5 ingredients into 2 quart jars
combine water and salt until dissolved
pour over cukes leaving 1/2-inch space in top of jar
cover loosely
let stand 5-7 days in dark cool place to ferment
(the brine may get cloudy and that's okay - sometimes i get some mold on the dill if it sticks up out of the water so I will check and throw it out before sealing tight and refrigerating)
refrigerate for up to 3 months

easy peasy and they never last 3 months around my house

Sounds yummy. Maybe think about putting a very small plate with a weight on it to keep the pickles submerged. Crumpled up wax paper with something to hold it down. Anything works.
But this sounds really tasty. And easy. I’ll keep mine in fridge bc it’s already too warm here to find anyplace cool.