I received the seeds for my early tomatoes yesterday and will get them planted tomorrow. Our greenhouse has several windows that we open during the day and close at night so it doesn't get much over 80 during the day. There's no heat yet, so it has frozen in there a few times, most recently Tues morn when there was about 1/8" ice in the bucket near the front wall. But the winter hardy salad veggies recovered without wilting. So here's to the start of the 2012 season!! Dorothy

Jay, You and Dorothy sure are giving me the itch for a greenhouse, cold frame, or something I can play in also.

Good luck on your planting.

Larry

I'd love to hear more on your onion-starting adventures! That's was something I wanted to play with this year -- starting onion from seed. I don't know if I'll get it done or not still but I'm going to try.

Just yesterday, I re-nagged hubby to get my front beds built (from on-grade to slightly raised bed) because I wanted to do some wintersowing in there as well as build a coldframe over a portion of it. Gotta throw the nag into high gear!

Diane

Jay,

I think you win the prize for earliest planting.

I'll be starting some cool-season veggies soon, but not quite yet.

Despite the lovely weather here this week, I feel like cooler or even cold weather is coming along soon. It'd be alright if it didn't though. I wouldn't mind having a "hot" winter, although I hope that if we do, it isn't also a very dry one.

Dawn

I planted some Evergreen winter onions in the fall that did fair. This is a first for starting onions in the ground. They are not in great shape now because of a guest picking produce at Thanksgiving and stepping on them when it was very muddy, but it was a very small area of about 2 sq. ft. with no more than 12 to 18 plants. They were planted in the edge of the rye and the guest just thought they were grass.

George sent me some walking onion plants which I have planted in the ornamental sweet potato bed.

I hope to learn more about starting plants by seed. I would also like to come up with some kind of cold frame.

Larry

Dawn, spoken like a true gardener with all the associated paranoias! When we have warm weather, we are always on the lookout for cold weather on the horizon. In winter, it does have its basis in truth. A Cold weather bout usually does follow a warm spell. I keep waiting for the bottom to fall out....

Jay, you have just confirmed that wintersowing is not a invention! Altho some would like us to believe that, ya know?

Susan

Susan, If gardening here doesn't make a person paranoid, then nothing will.

This morning I awakened to 22 degrees (much colder than forecast, naturally) and an extremely thick layer of frost. My poor little volunteer larkspur, chamomile and Laura Bush seedlings were shivering. Even with decent daytime highs, the nights here still are too chilly to make me think about seed-starting yet. Give me a week with warmer nights, though, and I'll be dragging out the seed flats and sowing the seeds.

I'm waiting to see what the Fort Worth Stock Show weather does, since traditional stock show weather is cold and either rainy, snowy or sleety. If this year's stock show weather is nice, I'll likely throw caution to the wind and declare (hee hee) that spring has arrived.

Dawn

If I get the chance tomorrow I will be building a cold frame! I am very excited, today was 72 degrees! Too bad next week is supposed to be single digits. I am positive I will not be able to hold out on seed starting when it is done!

The single digits? My oh my. Now that is the kind of weather I don't want. It was 65 degrees here yesterday and is supposed to be about 70 degrees today. We're turning cooler too after today, but not cold like y'all are going to be. I think our lowest high temps next week still will be in the upper 40s.

At least a chance of rain (or snow, depending on where you live) is possible with the changing weather.

On a pretty day, it is so easy to think spring is much closer than it really is, but then a blast of cold weather comes barreling into the area to remind us that it still is mid-winter.

I am really trying to hold back and not start any seeds yet, but I might plant dandelions today.

i saw on NBC last night that 98% of america was above freezing for yesterday and there were 115 record setting highs. I still dont believe that global warming is man made but I cant complain about the warmth. I know we will get a blast of artic air soon, probably in February like last year. My mom still has several herbs and lettuces going strong from last years garden.

Dawn you plant dandelions on purpose?

mike

I looked for potting soil last night at the store and all they had were those tiny bags. Jay's post had me jealous and determined to plant... something! But, no, no potting soil yet available up here on the tundra.

*sniff*

Diane