Planting Seeds and Gardening to take away my worries of Mom and #COVID19 #GardenCuizine #tuttoandràbene

Planting Seeds 
and making Rainbows!

The COVID19 pandemic arrived on the heels of mom having a nightmare hospital experience that landed her in a nursing home. Mom is so hard of hearing that we can't talk over the phone. We can't go visit with COVID19 precautions. And, now, we can't even do her laundry anymore. What can we do? We can follow the recommendations for staying safe, think positive and carry on. 

Children around the world are making rainbows and hanging their art in home windows. I'm going to make a rainbow sign with the Italian words: Tutto Andrà bene to show mom via Google Duo. She will love that. Everything will be all right!  And, in trying to be normal, today, I finally got a flat of seeds planted and under grow lights. Yay!

Seed starting indoors can be done any time. For our gardens, I have always started our seeds on St. Patty's Day; this is late for me.  

I never know just what I'm going to plant. The fun part is sorting through the many colorful seed storage containers piled high with thousands of varieties. 

Seeds store well in airtight baggies and commercial packets kept in a dark closet. Some seeds are pretty old; they keep for years. Keeping a garden journal helps me keep track of germination results.

Some seeds will be directly sown outdoors. I scattered some native seeds: Meadow Blazing Star and Echineacea Pallida yesterday. Seeds I selected so far for under our grow lights include the below list. 

For those of you reading this who have traded with me in the past, let me know if there is anything you want. I'm sure we can plan a safe swap with no contact driveway pick ups. When I get the next flat planted, I'll post the list.

SEEDS planted 2020 Happy Frog soil w/ pro mix
Plant	Sown	Germinated
1.      Moonflower Giant White 2018 Burpee	3/27	4/6
2.      2017 Chiltepin	3/27	4/10
3.      Petit Moineau Tomatoes 2017	3/27	4/3
4.      Salvia Fariosasa blue salvia	3/27
5.      Zinnia Giant Lavender 2016	3/27	4/2
6.      2014 Yvonnes Salvia	3/27
7.      2015 Goldman’s Tomatoes	3/27	4/7
8.      2018 large Heirloom Red	3/27	4/4
9.      Lady in Red Salvia	3/27	4/10
10.   Chocolate Cherry tomatoes 2015	3/27	4/4
11.   2011 Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate	3/28
12.   2018 green top red bottom heirloom tomatoes	3/28	4/2
13.   Salvia Splendens Vista Purple Lynn Weidman’s garden 2009	3/28
14.   2018 Coral Nymph Salvia	3/28	4/3
15.   2011 Italian Parsley comm seed	3/28
16.   Surprise seed ??? tomatillos?	3/28
17.   Sweet Basil meadowbrook 2009	3/28
18.   Zinnia Envy Ferry Morse	3/28	4/2
19.   Coronado Hyssop 2014	3/28
20.   Large white salvia 2010	3/28
21.   Zebra Heirloom tomato 2014	3/28	4/4

Be safe and Happy Gardening!
Andrà tutto bene!
God Bless you and your family - Diana
 
Blog post and photo Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. Posted by Un po' di pepe in Amici e Famiglia, Italia, Italian life
Updated 4/3/2020

Seed starting for Summer harvest #GardenCuizine #NNM #NationalNutritionMonth #CSOWM

Veggie and Flower

Seed Starting 

for Summer Blooms 

and Harvest

National Nutrition Month, every March, is a great time to start growing veggies, herbs and flowers. Yesterday, we got some seeds started indoors, under grow lights, for our summer garden here in NJ USDA zone 7a. I'll post the germination time next to each plant as they germinate. It is not too late to start veggie, flower and herb seeds indoors for your garden too.

Typically I start seeds on St. Patty's Day, but this year I was side-tracked from the late season ice storm 'Stella' and studying for an exam to become a Certified Specialist in Obesity and Weight Management (CSOWM). 

I am proud to be among the first healthcare professionals in the US to qualify to test for the new Academy of Nutrition interdisciplinary credential. I took the 3-hour exam Friday and won't know the results for 6 to 8 long weeks. 

In the meantime, I'm happy to fit in some gardening and much needed yard clean up. Last weekend, we hauled a lot of tree limbs to the curb. Harry had a chance to use a newly purchased chain saw. We still have a fallen pine to deal with. Planting seeds was good therapy in dealing with the sadness of so much storm damage.

Around Mother's Day, after danger of frost, we will plant seedlings that were started inside, outside. Some of our seedlings will be added to our veggie garden; some will go in flower beds, some will be traded with garden friends and some will go into pots on our porch. Here is what we have started indoors under grow lights:

1. Black Krim heirloom tomatoes - germinated ?
2. Goldberg's heirloom tomatoes - germinated 4/3
3. large yellow heirloom tomatoes (not sure of ID) - germinated 4/3
4. Leslie's French Petit Moineau heirloom tomatoes - germinated 4/3
5. Zebra heirloom tomatoes - germinated 4/2
6. large red cherry - germinated 4/2
7. Pomodoro San Marzano (seeds from Italy) - germinated 4/2
8. Chianti Rose heirloom tomatoes- germinated 4/4
9. Chocolate Cherry heirloom tomatoes (love these!) - ? plant again
10. large red heirloom tomatoes (not sure of ID) - germinated 4/3
11. Jamaican Hot Chocolate peppers
12. Chiltepin peppers (they are super HOT, 100,000 Scoville, pea-shaped) 
13. Coronado hyssop (love the smell; hummingbird favorite!) - germinated 4/4
14. Salvia viridis 'Marble Arch Rose' - germinated 4/1
15. 'Fragrant Cloud' Nicotiana
16.  Hollyhock single pink
17. Cardinal flower vine - germinated 4/7
18. Capers (another try from seeds from a special visit to Cape Cod in 2013)
19. Salvia fariosasa 'blue salvia'
20. 'Lady in Red' salvia (must have for hummers!)- poor germination, try again!
21. Coral Nymph salvia - germinated 4/1
22. large white salvia
23. Nepeta tall pink (seeds from a Dave's Garden swap in 2010)
24. Amsterdam Seasoning Celery
25. Italian basil - poor germination 4/6
26. Black poppy 2012 - germinated 4/2

Seeds started indoors 4/1/17

1.  Korean Hyssop - germinated 4/14
2. Mina Lobata Spanish Flag - germinated 4/18

Seeds started indoors 4/9/17 

1. Chocolate Cherry heirloom - germinated ?

 More started indoors 4/14/17

1. Leslie's French Currant Tomatoes Petit Moineau- germinated 4/20
2. Lavendar Breadseed Poppies
3. Purple Majesty Millet
4. Mexican Sunflower - germinated 4/19

... replanted 4/16

1. Lady in Red - germinated 4/20

Seeds direct sown in veggie garden 4/9/17

1. Arugula! Rucola seeds from Italy 

Happy Gardening! Stop back for updates!
Blog post Copyright (C)Wind. All rights reserved. National Nutrition Month® is a federally registered service mark of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.Used on GardenCuizine with permission.