Wendy on Sprouting Seeds

Planting Peppers

Last year at this time I planted a couple of types of flowers, tomatoes and peppers.  The tomatoes got a bit leggy, so I am holding off another couple weeks for them. I already have pea shoots, rocket, broccoli sprouts and basil growing.  I'll be eating the pea shoots I planted again for supper tonight, and if I'd like to be eating my own peppers for supper in Saskatchewan, it is time to plant them.

How to plant indoors:

• Soak peat pellets in boiling water or fill small pots with a peat and soil mixture (I use pellets but they are less environmentally sustainable)
• When the soil is damp and cool, make a small hole with the end of a pencil or chopstick.  Check the seed package for the depth of the hole
• Drop in two seeds.  You will pull or snip on of the two plants in they both grow, but I use organic seed, so one seed in five doesn't sprout
• Cover over the seeds with the dirt you pushed to the side with the pencil and pat lightly
• Place tray under grow light or in very sunny south window (I am using my grow table)

Peppers need a minimum of 8 weeks indoors before planting time in most parts of Canada.  Mine will need 2-3 weeks more, and most will live on my south walls, patio or in the greenhouse where the heat is most intense.  Without that, I could grow pepper plants, but would never harvest more than the first pepper off of them. As it is, I will fertilize the first blossoms by hand so I can eat multiple peppers off the bell pepper plants.

This year I planted organic 12 green bell peppers and 12 yellow bell peppers.  I also planted 6 mini peppers and 6 of the hot chilies I liked so much last year.  I will buy one jalapeno pepper (I only use one plant, so the bedding plant is cheaper than the seed in that case).

I will mist my peppers every few days and re-pot them once before I put them in the garden. 

Lost along the way.

Here it is, the day before the realtor comes to take new photos of the completed work on our house. It has been a blur of a year so far, with washing, sanding, patching, and painting being the default activities between family and occasional substitute teaching. As I move in that armsore-and-underslept-but-determined-and-industrious way from room to room, from backyard to garage, beautifying, organizing, "putting right what once went wrong..." I cross paths with old friends: - The K'nex tower I had Molly build me based upon my design specifications for homemade sprouting shelves. - The small modified ice-cream pail that is home to half of my clew of red wiggler vermicomposting worms perched atop the very large Rubbermaid bin that houses the other half. - Bags and trays of materials for constructing homemade musical instruments. - Several years' worth of seeds (purchased, begged, harvested in the field, and saved from previous crops) that await news of a change in residence (and garden access) before I can start any of them. - Books on terrariums, greenhouses, prairie xeriscaping, and after-dinner gardening. - Stacks of restaurant-size ice cream pails rescued for self-watering planters. - Pots of outdoor plants brought indoors for the harrowing race between the arrival of spring and the annual infestation of white flies and aphids. - Jars of lovingly rinsed, dried, and ground eggshells awaiting warm soil. - Thirty-some rejected water cooler jugs saved for any number of projects from classroom music to plastic domes for garden plants. - The energy monitor that requires some tech support to become truly functional in the way I'd like it be. - The rain barrel that broke its homemade stand last summer and has since languised at ground level, where its water is virtually inaccessible. - Stashes of unwashed bags that have become too dauntingly numerous to attack until a warm and sunny clothesline is available. This time of year is difficult on its own, but layer on house renovations, and getting to any of the worthwhile projects I have sharing my physical and mental space feels impossible. I'm hoping this acknowledgement of all that there is to say will obligate me to return here to comment at length when the "home staging" is accomplished and I make time to look toward the spring and its unending possibilities. - James

Climate Idol families in Thunder Bay and Duluth

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/video/21124/Climate-Idol

Families are getting involved in a similar project in Ontario! To check their progress, see www.climateidols.org/

Biomimicry

Here are the TED Talks

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pawlyn_using_nature_s_genius_in_architecture.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2011-02-16

http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_biomimicry_in_action.html

Biomimicry

Here are a couple of interesting TED Talks on biomimicry - using natural models for the most efficient and sustainable designs. Fascinating follow up links
http://www.asknature.org/
http://www.biomimicryguild.com/

Wind Energy in Ontario

Here is some information on the growing adoption of wind energy in Ontario.

http://www.canwea.ca/media/release/release_e.php?newsId=109

Sprouting Day 6

Alfalfa=done -- Quinoa=just begun

Just a quick note to finish things off. This morning is 5 full days of sprouting (for the alfalfa), or the beginning of day 6 in the lives of these little green guys. Yesterday I gave them their final rinse and left them near a window (and under the light we use to keep our spices living). They greened up nicely. They went into the fridge yesterday evening and this is what we had for breakfast this morning. Whole wheat tortilla, light dill cream cheese, 1 Tbsp cheddar, eggs (with extra whites) and our sprouts.

The grow table is also doing well. I think we will have to put the fan on soon. It will keep the air circulating and keep the new plants from being prone to falling over.

Broccoli    --    Basil    --    Lettuce

Pea shoots