Weedwhacker said: Sally, I never "pull dirt away" from the onion bulbs (and I don't remember ever seeing that recommended). Maybe @farmerdill knows more about it

Pulling dirt away helps the bulb to get larger as it is not does fight soil pushed agaist it.
I do it but I generally plant my onions as shallow as I can get away with and with them being on a berm, dirt naturally washes away to a degree.

As you are in what is not solid dirt after sitting all winter, if you wish, pull it away half-way down the forming bulb.
I pull dirt away from sets more often than plants.

Weedwhacker said: Sally, I never "pull dirt away" from the onion bulbs (and I don't remember ever seeing that recommended). Maybe @farmerdill knows more about it

I don't pull dirt away either, but I am careful to never pull dirt to them during cultivation. I get best yields and appearance with bulbs half above the soil line.

Thanks for the onion info, Sandy, Dr. D, and Dillard

Sorry for dropping in so late - just catching up on what I missed.

Weedwhacker said: I've never cooked them, either; I wonder how they would be "pickled" ? I'm especially wondering if I could finely shred and pickle them and having something akin to horseradish? (or maybe I should just grow some horseradish LOL)

I've had boiled radishes only once - at a fairly expensive hotel, back when they had no frickin' idea what to serve vegetarians. It was blah.
Pickled would probably work, but I think I would quarter them for a mixed pickle or slice them for winter salad, rather than shred.
(Sez the woman who can't grow a decent radish to save her life....)
I do buy Chinese radish - big mild white things - for salads (very thinly sliced) and stir-fry (cut into 2x0.5" strips; go in just before the sweet potato.)

My peppers are finally coming up. They took their sweet time! After a couple of very nice spring-like weeks, the weather grew cold again; we had more snow and sub-zero nights. I figure the greenhouse wasn't warm enough and I was slow turning on the heat mats. Anyway, they're all coming along nicely now - probably too many, but I can always pickle the excess.
Set up the trays and little pots for tomatoes; will probably get the seeds in tomorrow. Maybe this year they won't outgrow the nursery tent before the bins are ready.

I started my tomatoes that will be grown in the high tunnel, and all of the peppers, on March 15th; the tomatoes are all up, no sign yet of the peppers (which, of course, is not unusual - they are always pokey!).

My peppers are being coy. Some very nice seedlings, lots of no-shows.
I put in all the tomato seeds today. One tray of commercial seed; one tray of seeds I saved last year. Let's see how the germination rates compare.

In my experience, "fresh" saved seed always outpaces anything else! But otherwise I hope all your seeds do well, Vera .

Am I imagining things or is that a tomato???

The plant is not big enough to have tomatoes yet - is it?

I've had plants push out tomatoes when small like that many times. I just pick them off and make the plant grow more.

pepper23 said: I've had plants push out tomatoes when small like that many times. I just pick them off and make the plant grow more.

Woops wrong forum! @dave Should I delete this?

Right forum, and it's fine to post a 'mater pic in the veggie gardening thread.

I think there's likely to be some cross-talk between the threads in this forum, just goes with the territory.

ZenMaster, it's the vegetable gardening forum, you're fine

I got four broccoli plants, wish me luck! This time I'm going to fertilize, and I bought early instead of off the stunted 'pity shelf' late in season.

How did the pity plants turn out? Did you get a harvest from them?

I did not get anything from those sad leftover plants. Only one try though, probably. And before I learned a respect for using fertilizer.

In the greenhouse, one pepper plant from last year survived. Never watered it, never turned on the lights, used floor heating only enough to keep the water from freezing - and yet, the damn thing's still standing, still green. So I gave it some water and light and I'll give it some fertilizer and see what happens.
New baby peppers coming up but still very small.
Got some herb seeds into the ground.

I have pepper and eggplant seedlings popped up and starting to grow. They do always take slightly longer to germinate than the tomato seeds which were planted at the same time.

Newyorkrita said: I have pepper and eggplant seedlings popped up and starting to grow. They do always take slightly longer to germinate than the tomato seeds which were planted at the same time.

Oops, that reminds me - I got a free packet of eggplant seeds from SSE and want to grow a couple for my sister-in-law... better get them started!

Weedwhacker said: Oops, that reminds me - I got a free packet of eggplant seeds from SSE that and want to grow a couple for my sister-in-law... better get them started!

Yes, start them now.

Whatever you do, don't start eggplant and ornamental Datura and forget to label. Those seedlings were identical!