"Pop" Goes the Growlight!

It doesn't take much to startle me, just ask my family!  And this morning was a doozy, jumping clear out my chair!

I was sitting at the kitchen table and heard a few crackling sounds.  I looked toward the growlights and saw sparks shooting out of the 6-way surge protector. It seems one of the chains on the T-light strips came into contact with the outlet and caused a short.  I immediately turned off the switch on the surge protector and pulled its plug out from the wall. 

After letting the growlights rest for a few hours, I was brave enough to investigate the situation.  I unplugged the entire set up and, carefully, one by one, plugged in the ten lights.  Everything looked fine, no burned out lights, no overheating, etc.  The surge protector is credited with the save.  My husband had set a timer for both the kitchen table and slider setups.  I am going to manually throw the switches until he checks out the situation this evening. 

Today I did nothing more than reorganize the containers, and water and thin seedlings where needed.  Here are some visuals below:

Consolidated most of the flowers on the kitchen table

Onions are only looking "ok"; can't decide if they are getting too much or too little water.

The rosemary are growing strong!

The asparagus now total over 40, some are begging for water!!

The parsley is developing its curly leaves!

The pansies will be ready in time for spring!

Postscript #1 - I am declaring the Disco Belle Hibiscus seeds not viable.  It has been 23 days (range is 14-21 days). The seeds were six or seven years old from a seed swap; the outcome was not unexpected. 
Postscript #2 - There was germination in the petunia flavours container today, one teeny, tiny sprout!

Dreaming of Last Year's Garden

In the midst of single digit temperatures and mounting snowfall, it's therapeutic to dream about last year's garden.  It was my best garden ever, harvesting over 1,600 lbs.  All plants were grown from seed, mostly indoors under growlights, and then hardened off in a 12'x20' hoophouse. The real thrill was donating to a local food bank and sharing the bounty with friends and family.

Here are some pictures to help alleviate winter woes:

 

Pepper and tomato plants were ready for hardening off in the hoophouse.

The hoophouse filled up fast with flats of vegetables, herbs and flowers.

Aerial view of the traditional row garden on the east side of the property

Look at that golden goodness from the sun.  Love it!

The west side of the garden has fourteen raised beds.

Four varieties of kale were planted in a small patch in the front yard.

The flower bed is a mix of perennial and annual flowers all grown from seed. 

Window boxes -- a fun way to grow cut-and-come again lettuce.

An early morning harvest!  A good ratatouille recipe, anyone?  

Twenty-one different varieties of tomatoes  

Although small, it was the first time growing a melon. 

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

The equipment for my seed growing stations have been dug out of the basement and shed.  I'm ready to go!

The kitchen table was pushed against the wall as growing station #1.

A shelving unit was set up in front of the slider as growing station #2. 

Two shelving units were set up in the bay window as growing station #3. 

In addition, I've completed the following chores:

• All pots and trays have been sanitized. 

• Three bags of seed starting mix have been purchased.  Metromix 830, 2.8cf each (79 liters). Contains 60-80% Canadian Spaghum peat moss, composted bark, vermiculite, coarse perlite, starter nutrient charge with gypsum and slow release nitrogren, dolomitic limestone and a wetting agent.

• Databases and germination/planting schedules have been updated.

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas): Stop & Shop, 2015. Slips have been started on the wood stove mantel.  I had a
meager harvest two years ago; I hope to do better this year.  I plant to start twenty slips indoors, move them into the
hoophouse in May and then plant out in a raised bed the first week of June. 

The temperature above the mantel is over 80 degrees!