[Black Agnes]

I’ve got to weed one of my raised beds so I can plant baby carrots there. That’s this afternoon’s project just as soon as hubby gets done with his outside projects in a little while. I’m sorting through all my direct seed stuff for summer to make a final decision on what exactly I’m going to be planting out and hopefully saving seed from.

Let’s cross our fingers this all works out.

[Marcella]

Agnes, I could stop thinking about those baby carrot seeds that need to be in that 10 gal. grow bag in the net room - so, I went out there with a 2014 envelope of baby carrots and a 2013 envelope of them and a bag of Jobe’s spikes for containers. Put 7 spikes around the edges of the 10 gal. grow bag, pushed some soil to the sides all around, and spread 2013 and 2014 carrot seed all over it, then put thin soil I had on the sides over the seed.

THEN, I THOUGHT, WHY STOP HERE? There were three grow bags each with 5 gallons of potting soil mix in them and nothing in them yet - so again with the Jobe’s spikes and mixture of both years’ seeds in those and cover with thin layer of soil. If I get gobs of baby carrots, I'll can them (as soon as I get canning jars and lids and more vinegar).

When I got the envelopes out, I read the instructions again, and low and behold, it said not to transplant carrots as that might cause the carrots to be lopsided, the roots need to stay straight. Now, why didn't I see that before as I always read instructions as to depth before I plant seeds. Well, I missed that sentence so trying to transplant was a mistake.

In the net room now is onions and carrots. I just counted 30 onions growing like mad in those grow bags. I'm so glad I learned from Black Agnes, if you want large onions from bulbs, have to plant them almost out of the ground - the tops must be showing. The way they are growing, I'll be covered in big onions in the not distant future. Another thing to can after I buy the jars/lids/vinegar.

A net room full of carrots and onions is a good thing.

I had to walk by the dwarf orange tree several times and the smell of orange is radiating out from that tree - it is major orange smell, you can't miss it when you walk by and it wasn't strong like that yesterday. I think the garden gnomes in my garden are staying up all night talking to the plants to make them grow faster. That is the only possible answer to this fast growth. :o)

It sounds like I am going to actually grow food for the first time in my life. I couldn't do this in ground dirt - need potting soil mix and containers.

Agnes/Ellendra, will let you know when I see the first sign of a green carrot top come out of that soil.