Spring Seedlings 2020 - Finally time to plant them out in the garden.

Last weekend was the last cold snap in Melbourne, so it was finally time to plant these tiny seedlings in the garden. The weather is warm and gentle enough for the seedlings to survive. And they are so eager to be outdoor, the zucchini and pumpkin seedlings are tall and robust.

Red Russian Kale:

Cimmaron Lettuce:

Cos Lettuce:

Perpetual Spinach:

Beefsteak Tomatoes and Black Beauty Eggplant:

Herbs, parsley, coriander, sage, basil, rosemary and oregano:

Kent Pumpkin and Lebanese Cucumber:

Zucchini and Butternut Pumpkin:

Seedlings Prep for Spring 2020

I finally completed the second and last batch of seedlings prep. This pregnancy surely is different from my previous one. I seem to get tired more easily this time around so I had to stop halfway the seedlings prep a few weeks ago. But, everything's finally done now!! Now I just have to give them lots of TLC. 

These are the seedlings from a few weeks ago, they have sprouted and some have shown true leaves.

Cos Lettuce:

Perpetual Spinach:

Cimmaron Lettuce:

Russian Kale:

Kent Pumpkin and Cucumber:

Zucchini:

The day time weather is warming up slightly in Melbourne. Especially near this large window sill. It's a perfect spot for seedlings.

Seedling Preparation for Spring 2019

As the weather warmed up in Melbourne, I started my batch of seedlings for the 4 beds crop rotation this spring. This year, I didn't prepare too many backup seedlings because I finally figured out the right time to start the seedlings and also to transplant them outside.

The usual suspects are tomatoes and pumpkins.

Tomatoes, seeds planted in the first week of Aug. Photo taken in the second week of September.

These 4 trays are pretty much the only seedlings I prepared this year. They are the vegetables and herbs that we regularly consume, such as pumpkin, capsicum, chili, lettuce, spinach, brocoli,  cabbage, cauliflower, parsley and basil. These were planted in the last week of August and photos were taken in the second week of September.

The pumpkin seeds are the usual early sprouters.

And the lettuce, brocolli, cabbage and cauliflower.

I really hope I will get cauliflower this year, I'm going to plant them at the front garden.

2017 Planting - Starting Seedlings Indoor

This spring is going to be my second attempt of Four Beds Crop Rotation. The last year attempt was below my original expectation. There was a significant crop of zucchini, not so much of the tomatoes and beans. However, we got a good result from the 2 lemongrass stalks that I planted on the ground. There are about 10-15 lemongrass stalk stored in the fridge.

In preparation for this year's planting, that is going to start in September, I started a lot of seedlings indoor, since the 1st July.
The initial placement of the seedling tray was not ideal. The seedlings became really leggy because of lack of light.
After that batch became unsuccessful, I immediately moved them to a warmer site next to a really bright window sill. They began improving immediately.

The allocation of garden beds will be shifted this year, with:
- Garden Bed 1, previously occupied by Beans, this year will be occupied by Leafy Vegetables.
- Garden Bed 2, previously occupied by Leafy Vegetables, this year will be occupied by Fruiting Vegetables.
- Garden Bed 3, previously occupied by Fruiting Vegetables, this year will be occupied by Root Vegetables.
- And lastly, Garden Bed 4, previously occupied by the Root Vegetables, this year will be occupied by the Beans.

The plan for this year is to ensure a continuous supply of green vegetables, carrots, and radishes.
That's why I have multiple batches of seedlings started in 1-2 weeks gap.

These 2 trays are the first batch that I planted. There are the green vegetables, such as spinach, pakchoi, choisan; The carrots and radishes; There are the one of plants, for the tomatoes, chilies, capsicum, corn, cucumber, honeydew, pumpkin, and zucchinis.

The zucchinis had to be moved out, because they became too big and covering the other plants.

Corn Seedlings. The plan is to have 16 corn plants growing on Garden Bed 2, where the fruiting vegetables are. I'm starting them 4 at a time every 2 weeks, so we get continuous supply. I'm hoping that will work out.

Choisan, Pakchoi, Spinach, Cauliflower, and Cabbage Seedlings - The frequency of starting the seedlings for the Choisan, Pakchoi, and Spinach are 3-6 seedlings weekly. The Cauliflower and Cabbage seedlings are started 1 seed per 2 weeks.

 Radish Seedlings - The frequency of starting the seedlings are 12 weekly. The photo on the right hand side is the seedlings with true leaves growing.

These are the tomatoes. There are 4 types of tomatoes this year: Black Russian, San Marzano, Tommy Toe, and Magic Mix. All of these were leftover seeds from at least 2 years ago. So, I'm not sure how the crop is going to turn out. Fingers crossed it will be a good result this year.

These are the Butternut Pumpkins, Cucumber, and Honeydew Seedlings. I only planted 4 for each of them, 2 for backup purpose.

These are the Bell Chilies, Jalapeno Chilies, and Serrano Chilies Seedlings. Another Chili type, the Sichuan Chilies, have not germinated yet so far. So, I may start another batch this week.

These are the capsicum seedlings, so far I have Orange and Purple Capsicum seedlings growing.

The Red Capsicum seeds have not germinated yet. Again, I'm going to start another batch this week.