Potage Palaver (sowing timelines)

All things are pointing towards a rainy, gloomy week ahead. This bursts my bubble a wee bit, I must say, as this is the week that I was planning to prune the rest of the roses and then weed, feed, and mulch around them at the same time. 

Today started with rain but then turned into a gorgeous, warm, sunny day. If this is how the week goes, these plum blossoms will soon be  out in full glory. They are impressive each spring, buzzing with bees and smelling sweet, almost candy-like. 

In the greenhouse, the companion plants are coming along nicely. I have lots of tidying, moving, and organizing to do before next weekend's Tomato Sow & Grow workshops so not yet sharing how it looks inside. Eek!  

I have delayed tomato seeding by a week this year. Last year, I was right on track for selling on Mother's Day weekend, everything looking great really great... and then boom! We had a hot spell at the end of April, beginning of May. The seedlings got lanky despite my best efforts with the shade cloth. Ah, Mother Nature, you are so cruel. So, this year will start later so that even if that were to happen again, you will have good sized, perfect seedlings.   

If you are sowing your tomatoes on the west coast, mid to late March is a great time to start them for planting out in May. 

Here in the house, we are still working on the en suite bathroom renovation. It is starting to come together now, cannot wait to show you all the final product.... I know, has zero to do with gardening but is super exciting. Looking forward to an end to all the renovation dust!

This was a lawn last spring, is now just clumps of grass and weeds. 

Hubby and I are also looking at what we can do about our front lawn this spring. We hired a lawn company last year in the hopes that we would have a lush, thick lawn this spring but instead they pretty much killed it all off. The grass is pretty much all gone, is now a patch of weeds and grass clumps; we have a huge task on hand. 

Our current plan is to rake some turf soil over it and over-seed with Beeturf (from WCS) or one of the other flower/fescue lawn blends. Will let you know if that is the route we take or what we end up doing. Insert deep sad sigh here.    

Anyway, all will be well. Is just another one of those things. That is the catch up of stuff that is rolling around in my brain at this time... Here are this week's fun links to check out. 

Looking to grow some cutting flowers this year but not sure what to sow and when to do it? Check out this really good article from Ben at Higgledy Garden. 

... and here is the link to his blog, lots of tips on growing and sowing flowers from seeds. 

Here is info about when to start your cool weather veggies... Is It Too Early to Start Planting? How to Know When to Plant Your Cool Weather Crops - Gardenista

And one more link about sowing seeds or planting seedlings. Seeds or Seedlings? How to Get Your Garden Started (houzz.com)

Oh, and this chili pepper information. What makes them hot? All About Chile Peppers | Good to Know & How to Grow | joegardener®

Garlic is coming along fine.
Check out the funny growth pattern on the Tibetan garlic in the middle, eh? 

Wishing you all a really wonderful week ahead ~ Tanja