It's the most sproutiest time, of the year!

It's been a pretty busy week for me, both personally and in my garden. Being busy makes it hard to write a blog every day but the next few days should allow me the time to catch everyone up.

In the last week, my tomatoes have sprouted and grown large quickly. I was quite surprised by how quickly they have grown from seeds. From seed to sprouting took only 4 days, and while they have been sitting on a heating pad, I was quite surprised.  

BRAND NEW SPROUTS!

The one worry that I have about my tomatoes growing so quickly is that they will get too large too quickly. I don't want them to be too long or leggy as when they get bigger they will grow tall and thin, when I want them to be bushier. I feel in general that they have gotten WAY too much heat which is why they are so big. 

8 days from seeds!

As you can see in the picture they look very tall and thin. While it has been suggested that I throw these all away and start over again, I think I am going to try and see how these work out. When I transplant my seeds I try and bury part of the stem in the soil in order to help the root system become stronger, so that might help to offset the height of these seedlings at such a young age. 

Another batch of seeds!

I also planted another tray of peppers and tomatoes that I am not going to put on heat. I want to see how their growth contrasts with the seedlings that have been under constant heat. Over the next few days I am going to get my growing area in my backyard ready and I am looking at purchasing a pre-built raised bed. Exciting times for my plants!

Seedin Ain't Easy - The Remix

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. Whether you celebrate Easter or not, time off from work is when we usually visit family and friends and I hope you all had a great weekend. I had a splendid time visiting my family, having an amazingly delicious dinner and, overall, it was a fantastic weekend. It also helped that Arsenal SMASHED Liverpool on Saturday morning to the tune of 4-1! All four Arsenal goals were picturesque strikes and with four different players getting on the score sheet, Arsenal are getting goals from everyone at the moment. I thought Mesut Ozil was particularly terrific. The German has been ON POINT since he came back from injury and the free kick he scored in this game was tremendous. I feel that he has received a lot of unjustified negative criticism lately. He is a special player and can change an entire game with single touch.

My Man of the Match!

Also this weekend, I decided it was time to plant the tomatoes for my garden. While I had originally planned to grow 26 kinds of tomatoes, my overzealous dogs ate some of my bags of seeds (and yes, as a good dog owner, I realize this is really my fault, as I left the seeds where they could get them). While I was able to salvage pretty much everything, I did lose my packet of Siberian Red Tomatoes and thus they were cut from the growing list this season.

Look at all those seeds!

I started out be refilling my growing tray with peat pods and by reorganizing my pepper sprouts. I knew I was going to need as much room as I could get to get all my tomato seeds planted. 

Pepper Sprouts!

My reorganized pepper sprouts!

After sorting out my pepper sprouts, I poured water over the fresh peat pods and waited for them to puff up. Once they puffed, I sorted my tomato seeds into the sauce tomatoes and eating tomatoes. I have several kinds of sauce tomato this year and I feel it will help me make a tremendous sauce! I planted the sauce tomatoes first, and once they were seeded I started into the eating tomatoes. Except for the major sauce tomatoes, I planted 3 peat pods of every kind of tomato and planted 3 seeds in every pod. For the sauce tomatoes, I planted 6 peat pods of each.

Seeded Tomatoes!

That's A LOT of tomatoes!

After I seeded all my pods with what I needed for my garden, I had a few rows of pods left over. I seeded them with some eggplants and a few varieties of tomatoes I wanted an extra plant of. Once all the pods were seeded, I covered all the seeds with dirt and covered them to make a greenhouse.

All the seeds are covered!

In order to stay organized I made a chart to keep track of where I planted each tomato!

That's a big chart!

Extra room!

While I still have my peppers growing and coming along nicely. In fact, other than 3 peat pods, all of the seedings have come up! I am hoping that my tomatoes will sprout shortly. I know it's going to mean I have a lot of plants around the house, but planting season is just around the corner and I can't wait to get these beauties in the ground! 

A Frolic Through the Hamilton Farmer's Market

Yesterday I had a little adventure at the Hamilton Food Market. I don't usually get a chance to visit as their hours are a little erratic and a lot of the time they close too early for me to get out to do shopping. However my girlfriend won tickets to the Toronto Food and Drink Show this weekend from The Farm Network, one of the vendors at the market, so we headed down to collect our prize.

While I was hoping to do a bit more browsing once we arrived, a lot of the vendors were closed. We found The Farm Network stall with ease and I have to say that I was more than impressed with their service and selection. They have some amazing and unique products created by small independent artisans and they focus on providing Canadian products. Tyler and his wife were amazingly welcoming and gracious and provided tons of samples. Their daughter was a delightful ball of energy. After spending close to an hour chatting and sampling we left with a sweet haul of goods!

Now that looks awesome!

I ended up taking home a jar of pistachio butter, strawberry maple jam and maple herb salad dressing. I also scored some local Hamilton products buying the Cooksville Dill Hot Sauce and the Cooksville Steak Sauce. While I tried some of them at the store, I popped open all my new purchases to try them again. They all taste amazing and I can't wait to try them all when I cook. (I might have made a PB and J sandwich as soon as I got home with my new butter and jam and it was out of this world!)

LOOK AT THOSE SPROUTS!

In terms of my garden, there are more new developments. Quite a few more seeds have sprouted and so far I have grown at least one pepper from every variety I have planted. Even the Vesuvius and Full Moon Thai Chilis are growing! I also did a little bit more transplanting as some of the sprouts have grown too big for their peat pod. I transplanted 7 seedlings into a seedling grower I am experimenting with. While I am keeping most of my seedlings inside the greenhouse, I am putting 7 seeds into an open air seedling grower. 

My new seed grower!

PLANTED! 

I noticed right away when I planted my new peppers that they instantly wilted and drooped. I have popped them under the lights and watered them so I am hopeful they will perk right up like the last batch of peppers I transplanted. Until next time pepper peeps!

Impressive. Most Impressive.

This morning I woke up and instantly went to take a look at my pepper colony. I am still impressed with the quick recovery and growth of my plants after buying the lights. In fact it looks like Pousse might potentially pull a full on zombie. Her stalk has straightened and while her leaves look very wilted, she could pull a magical miracle and pull through.

Pousse, the little pepper that almost could! 

Spicy McPepperson is looking fantastically well if I do say so myself. The Master of the pepper universe has shrugged off the droop and is standing straight and tall, ready to rule his domain. 

Magnificent!

In totally unrelated news I am making the decision to start eating healthy and to be more active. I went and was sized for a bike this weekend and plan to start biking back and forth to work everyday. I want to feel healthier, get into much better shape as I plan on playing soccer all summer and explore and enjoy this wonderful city that I call home. 

I am also happy to announce that a good friend of my has started his own blog! He is also planting a garden this year and knows much more about gardening then I. Please welcome him and give him your support! http://gardenbadger.blogspot.ca/

Finally, I don't know who you are but your license plate is IMPRESSIVE. MOST IMPRESSIVE. I hope you drive around all day and feel like an all powerful Sith Lord, or, at the very least, like a boss! 

Our first catch of the day!

DAYMAN! FIGHTER OF THE NIGHTMAN! CHAMPION OF THE SUN!

After the tragedy of Pousse's death, I was determined to ensure my remaining peppers stayed alive. It was time to get some light! It was time to be DAYMAN!

TIME TO SAVE SOME PLANTS!

I was also spurred on by the fact that while I was examining the corpse of Pousse, the rest of my pepper plants began to droop and fade. Spicy McPepperson was in real trouble. I became seriously concerned that he was going to be the next to go!

DROOPY!

I went over to Home Depot first to pick up some bio-degradable pots and seeding dirt. I was advised to only expect one pepper plant for every peat pod but since several of my pods had two or three sprouts, I decided to try and separate them. 

After a successful trip to Home Depot, I went to Frank's Magic Crop for some lights! I picked up a 4 foot light, a stand for the light and two dome greenhouse lids. In total, I got the whole kit and kaboodle for $105, including tax, which I feel is a pretty sweet deal. Also the lady who helped me was amazing. She gave me some great tips and suggestions about how to get the best out of my lights and in general was awesome!

While I usually take pictures of everything, I was so excited about the life giving light I had just bought that I totally forgot to take pictures of everything before I ripped it out of the packages and put it all together. I found the assembly was rather simple however snapping the lights into the light holder was a bit difficult. Fortunately, my girlfriend is much handier than I am and she figured it out. In the end, my light was set up and I was ready start transplanting. 

My seedlings under their new light!

The new light! Where no McPepperson has gone before!

I found a pretty cool looking bag of seedling mix when I was at Home Depot. I bought Pro-Mix Seed Starting Mix. While I talked to a Pro-Mix rep when I was there, I legitimately bought a bag because it seemed like a good soil to plant in, and has enough natural fertilizer to feed the seedlings for 90 days. When I opened the bag I looked over the mix and I like the look and texture of the soil. I guess only time will tell if it works or not.

The bag was shiny and pretty!

I separated the bio-degradable pots I had bought and filled them with the potting soil.

Ready for plants!

Looking over the sprouts there were several that had three seedlings in each and deserved to be moved into a new home. After picking out the lucky sprouts that were going to be transplanted I labelled the new plant homes and began separating the sprouts. 

Three peppers!

Only one left now!

In total I transplanted 12 pepper plants, including Spicy McPepperson, into their new pepper mansions. I actually felt this was a pretty risky maneuver on my part as the plants were already looking wilted and disturbing their roots when they're already down is probably not a good idea.

A few of the McPeppersons find a new home! 

I watered them, covered them with the new dome greenhouse lid and put them under the bright lights. The lady at Frank's told me that they should perk up with some light and water. I was a little worried that all these plants would just die, but they have all recovered wonderfully.

Starting to perk up!

After a few hours you can see the sprouts are straighter and they have already gotten a lot of colour back. 

This is a picture of what they looked lat 11:55 pm last night. I was pretty ecstatic about their turnaround.

LOOKING GOOD!

This morning they looked even better. I left the light on all night to give them a nice dose of light. Every plant stopped sagging and straightened up! While my girlfriend thinks I am full of hooey, I think they all look a lot more green. The nodes on them have perked up and I feel that the light is a game changing purchase for my little garden.

Poppy Stands on Guard for thee McPeppersons!
(Don't they look so green!)

They look so healthy!

Overall it was a tough few days for the McPeppersons. We suffered loss and heartbreak over the passing of Pousse, but emerged a stronger healthier pepper clan basking under the glow of a brand new sun. 

Trouble at the Pepper Corral!

The last time I updated everyone about my seedlings was on Wednesday night. From Thursday until today quite a few changes have taken place at the ole pepper homestead, not all of them positive.

Thursday dawned and it seemed like things were going pretty well. The sprouts were sprouting and things seemed to be progressing on schedule.

Not too shabby! 

Looking good McPeppersons!

When I got home from work on Thursday, I began to have a doubts about how well the peppers were growing. It seemed like they had stagnated, and they looked a little pale and white. I checked to see if they had dried out but everything was moist.

My plants look like Casper the Ghost!

I noticed that while my plants were on the window sill, they did not seem to be getting any significant amount of sunlight. In fact, all the sprouts were starting to grow sideways as they were trying to get as much sunlight as possible. I didn't seem to recall having the same problem last year, however, in the state my seedlings were in, I was beginning to get worried. A good friend of mine had told me about a hydroponics store in Burlington called Frank's Magic Crops, located on Guelph Line. I gave them a call and unfortunately they closed at 6:00 pm and I didn't have enough time to get to the store and still make my bee nest box building class. However, they did have lamps in stock that would give my plants enough light, I planned to go and buy one as soon as possible. 

Friday dawned and it seemed like things were ok, but not great. No new sprouts had really come up, but things were not looking that healthy either. The colour of the plants was still very pale and I cracked open the window as much as I could to let the sunlight hit my plants.

This makes me very worried. 

When I got home on Friday afternoon, I checked my plants as soon as I got home and they still looked the same, pasty white. I checked the moisture again and everything was nice and damp. By this time I knew it had to be the sunlight. It was clear that they were not getting enough from the window they were sitting on and I would need to get them an alternate reliable source of light. However, my beloved girlfriend was as sick as a proverbial dog, and, unfortunately for my peppers, her health comes before theirs. The light was pushed off for another day so I could care for her ailing body.

Friday afternoon is looking gloomy.

Had I been awake to see the sunrise on Saturday morning, it would have been a red dawn. Red to signify the spilt McPepperson blood. I checked on my peppers before heading out to grab some lights and transplanting pots to find the first pepper plant fatality of the season.

R.I.P Pousse McPepperson. At the age of 4 days, you passed before your time.

R.I.P. Pousse.

Stayed tuned tomorrow for the coming of light. If only Pousse could have held on for a few more hours, he wouldn't have had to go into the other light.

All's Quiet on The Pepper Front!

I woke up this morning and, I can't lie, there wasn't too much to report. There were no new sprouts and the plants stayed pretty much the same size. All is quiet on the pepper front.

Hello world! Nothing new in the greenhouse! With Love. The McPepperson Family!

I figured that today might be a slow day for growing, especially as it was raining all day and not too much sun was peeking out from around the clouds. Thus, when I got home and found the peppers pretty much in the same state as I had left them at 6:30 am, I wasn't too shocked or surprised. 

Same old, Same old!

I am still debating as to when to crack open the greenhouse and let more air in during the day. I think that I am going to wait at least a few more days and hope for more of my seeds to sprout before I crack it open during the day time. 

If anything, I am more worried about the amount of sunlight getting through to my plants throughout the day. It makes me feel I should be investing in some lights to help promote growth. Unfortunately the hydroponics store I was going to stop at in Burlington closed at 6:00 pm today. I guess I will have to wait until the weekend. 

Now, take a look at some of these closeup pepper selfies! 

OOOOOH!!!

AHHHHHHH!!!

The HEIGHT of Pepper Fashion!

What did you say to me???

Alright folks, it's happening. It's a grow off! Old School Rules!

Till tomorrow, may the peppers be with you!

Meet the McPeppersons! The biggest pepper clan in the Hamilton Area!

Naming peppers gives me great joy for some reason. It makes me feel like I am conducting my own Harry Potter sorting hat ceremony, yet with my peppers. I am highly amused and entertained by this. Now on to the naming.

LET US BEGIN THE PEPPER SORTING CEREMONY!

Yesterday we heralded Spicy McPepperson into the world as the reigning pepper overlord. Today we had to name his little brothers and sisters. Since I had a hard time deciding what to name the first born pepper, as the names were so good, I used the hopeful pepper king nominee names to name the rest of the sprouted pepper plants.

The McPepperson Dynasty!

It is with great honour I give to you, the McPepperson Pepper famliy, as of today.

Heppertitis is an Early Jalapeno. Flavourful with a robust medium burn she is wanted at all the hottest parties. No one can say no to Heppertitis!

Purdy Peppa and Groot are both spicy Long Thing Cayenne! Sweet with heat, this spicy little pepper will but some pep in your step! But always remember when you eat this pepper that IT IS GROOT!

Spencer the Sprout is the most direct descendant of Spicy McPepperson as he is an Aleppo Pepper. Fruity yet tangy, he is a delicious taste sensation!

Johnny Peppercorn is a Chinese Five Colour! Perhaps the most colourful pepper grown this year, and I do mean colourful!

Pousse is a Jimmy Nardello Sweet Pepper! A complex sweet yet apple flavour is what we have to look forward to and to be honest, I can't wait. 

Last but not least we have CTB! rounding out the family as a Matchbox Pepper! Fire and fruit all in one! The Matchbox Pepper is a match (heh) for any pepper she faces on the field of pepper battle!

In general I think that the sprouting has gone very well so far and I have had quite a few plants sprout up. While I am still hopeful for many of my seeds, I am happy with what I have as a start so far and I feel that more will come up. I can see a huge difference in the plants from the morning at 6:30 am to when I get back home around 3:00 pm.

They all look a little sleepy still\at 9:30 am!

A little more awake at 3:00 pm!

You can see how the plants have grown in just a short amount of time. I am impressed by how quickly they have been able to grow with just light and water.

A little closeup action!

Till tomorrow, when we may encounter more pepper surprises!