Sprouts and Peas

So I appologize for not posting my sprouts every day.  Seems a bit redundant so I am just going to talk about them at the end.  I have been eating my sprouts and they are delicious but not long and thick like you can get at the grocery store.  I think I should do them the other way next time in 2 plastic containers with a weight on them - apparently it's the weight that helps them grow longer and thicker.  Here is a picture of a few of my sprouts.  The seed cases are a bit of pain to separate from them at this stage but I figure I should eat them as it had been a week. 

I also plan on starting my peas outside.  I have sprouted them inside between 2 paper towels right now just to make sure the seeds are ok and should be planting them in the next few days.  It has been nice and sunny but cool out there so I think it's perfect pea weather.  At least I hope so.  I am attempting to sprout 32 plants, 8 plants per 1foot square grid.  Should give me lots of delicious peas.  They are the Sugar Snap Peas from Ontario Seed Company.

Likely when I plant my peas I am also going to plant my leeks.  Maybe they'll do better outside as they are certainly looking pretty sad inside.  Maybe it's too warm for them.  I am thinking I may also just bit the bullet and buy a fancy grow light for my tomatoes and peppers.  I need them in tip top form :)  my fishtank just isn't cutting it.

Sprouting Day 1

So I started soaking some mung beans last night and this morning I decided to try them in the 1L Mason Jars with the cheese cloth at the opening and see how that works.  I think I have to rinse them a few times a day so I should do that soon but this is what they look like now:

I think this method with the mung beans (in the Mason Jar) is for alfalfa but I couldn't find 2 different sized plastic containers that I thought would work.  If you want to know more about this I have been following THIS blog.  I soaked too many seeds so I split them into 2 mason jars.  We'll see how this goes.

Transplants

Well I haven't blogged in awhile but I have still be continuing my gardening adventure.  I have now transplanted my first round of leeks and peppers into Jiffy pots...the roots were starting to come out the bottom of those peat pellets.  Hopefully my leeks will start to look better...haircuts are definately helping but I'm sure bigger pots help too.

My peppers are coming along nicely and are starting to get their second set of leaves.  Some of the peppers are still kinda small but are growing nontheless.

My tomatoes are still pluggin away but as they are in cell packs I likely won't transplant them until the 2 set of leaves come out...which might be a bit.  I'll see how it goes.  If I start to see roots out the bottom then I'll transplant them, I'll just have to keep an eye on them.

I planted a second planting of leeks last week and all but one have germinated and already had their first hair cut.  Now that I know that won't kill them, I'm not affraid to give them a little trim here and there.  I also planted some marigolds, basil and chamomile, all of which are coming up quite nicely.

Here are the marigolds:

And here are the Basil and Chamomile.  The chamomile is the tiny tiny greens that are barely visible...I don't know if I'll thin them as I want a dense crop of Chamomile for tea this year.

All the snow has finally gone off my raised bed in my backyard and we are getting alot of rain and some sun next week.  I can finally start thinking about planting my peas.  I will have to construct a cover for them just in case for the night when it still dips below zero.

I also think I'm going to try my hand at sprouting today.  I have some mung beans I bought at an asian grocery store and have sprouted them before but only just a little bit, I've never sprouted them to the point where they look like they came from the grocery store.