Grow-Along Week 3

Hiya folks!

We've got a lot growing on this week that we are excited to show you! First off, we'll be potting up the little tomatoes and peppers from the grow room soon as they are fast outgrowing their seed-starter flat. Many growers agree that tomatoes and peppers should be potted up as soon as they have their second set of true-leaves. However, we are operating on a slightly different method that many growers also swear by. We pot up based on root development. When our little seedlings are showing signs of their roots outgrowing their starter tray, we pot them up to 3" peat pots. Peat pots are, perhaps, not the most sustainable of options as peat is a limited natural resource, but we find them to be perfect for indoor seed starting as they are very forgiving when it comes to watering. Plastic pots tend to take a long time to dry out of if you get heavy handed with the watering can and peat pots are breathable and will dry out much more quickly if you happen to over-water. Peat pots are also compostable, and relatively inexpensive to purchase. Operating on the root-development theory, we expect to pot up our little plants one more time before they go in the ground in May.

Grow-Along Week 2

Happy Spring!! It is finally here! We made it!

So, we're super excited this week to share our growing progress with you. This week confirms a lot of the earlier suspicions that we'd written about when we talked about past seed-starting failures. The combination of excellent soil and a much better growing light have definitely solved our problems!

Two weeks into our seed-starting adventure and we are proud to report that we have a total of 56 little plantlets in our grow-room. We have some that already have their second set of true leaves coming in and they all look so much stouter and heartier than any seedlings we've ever started before! We are simply jumping for joy!

Grow-Along Week 1

Spring daffodils are coming up!

Hi again, Micro-Farm Family!
Welcome to Week 1 of our Grow-Along! We're super excited to announce that we have seedlings to show you! It seems our peppers and tomatoes have sprouted right on schedule and are being rather cooperative for the timeline we set for the Grow-Along updates. Also, we thought it would be fun to have a little contest since we've got a rather unusual plant getting ready to put on a display in our grow-room.

Let's Get Growing!

Can you guess what time it is?

We are excited to announce a new feature on the blog today! But first, just a quick reminder to our friends and followers in Zone 6 - you need to start your seeds for peppers, tomatoes, onions, and other heat-loving plants this week if you haven't done so already! (Find your growing zone here!) This week puts those of us in Zone 6 at the critical seed-starting time for plants that need a long warm season in order to fruit. You'll want to get seeds started for those types of plants now to ensure that they have approximately 8 weeks of grow-up time to be ready to plant as soon as the first frost date has passed. If you start the seeds too late, your plants won't have enough time to set fruit and produce before the cool season starts again in the fall. Also, pea planting will be just around the corner! My Pap-Pap Jack always planted his peas on St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) to ensure the best harvest as peas should be planted outdoors a few weeks before the last frost. 

Moving along, we'd like to give a warm shout-out to our good friend, Mary Jane Bigley who recently commented on our interest poll to let us know that she is very excited to have some land to garden but is looking for some beginner tips and hints. (Hi Mary Jane!!) Her comment gave us the idea to host a grow-along. So, here we go! We now declare an opening to the first annual Dusty Rose Micro-Farm Grow-Along! So, here's how it works. We'll be posting weekly updates on what plants we have started, what varieties we are growing, and share progress pictures of our plants as they grow and fruit. You share your planting/growing progress with us in the comments on our blog, via our Facebook page, or by email and we will feature your pictures and stories once a week in our weekly Grow-Along post! :) The Grow-Along post will be featured on our blog every Thursday. The exciting thing about this kind of community project is that even though some of us live in very different areas, we can all learn from each other and support one another along the way! So... Let's Get Growing!! :)

Preparing for Spring

So, I don't know about you, but I'm SO ready for spring to get here!

Here in Southwestern PA, the last couple of months have been a weather roller-coaster. We've had everything from 60° and sunny to -12° and icy. I don't know about you, but I sure am ready for sunshine, longer days, and warmer weather.

This time of year I always start to get anxious and tend to jump ahead of myself (and Mother Nature!) on my spring planting. The feed stores and hardware stores have started stocking seeds and growing supplies, and I find it so hard to avoid jumping in headlong and getting started right away. I just keep reminding myself that plants started indoors this time of year will outgrow their pots far too soon and it will still be too cold to move them outside by the time they do.