Amost Seed Starting Time

Backyard Birds - One of the Things I enjoy in Winter

Half a dozen seed catalogs looked at -- check

Seeds ordered -- check

Seeds received -- check

Ready for spring -- check

Looks like I have everything except spring weather, although we have had that the past few days. This week we had a foot of snow and a 70 degree day a few days later, the snow didn't last long.

I will plant my onions and tomatoes around the fifteenth of this month, a week from today. that will give me 12 weeks before planting May 15. A bit early for some but I have found that if I set my young plants out as much as possible that I can have very hardy plants by set out time. I will start flower seed and peppers on March 1.

Nice day again today 60 degrees but too much wind for my taste. We have a secluded, protected deck where it is in the mid 70s, where I am sitting now. Incredible day for February.

Five Days Ago in Backyard

Think Spring

Wow- Seed catalogs from: Gurney's, Burpee, Henry Field's and the Territorial Seed Company all in one great day - yesterday. For a gardening junkie like me it's Christmas all over again.

What should I plant and how much? Something new? Time to sit back watch the fire in the fireplace and dream of green.

Below are three wildflower photos from June in the park - Think Spring!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas with wishes for a wonderful garden next spring and summer.

My All New Wyoming Onion

My northern sweet onion experiment has been a success. Although the Granex Hybrid 33, (from Texas) is considered a southern onion (This is the seed used in Georgia to grow the Vidalia) and not particularly suitable as a northern onion I have had great success with them the past two years. Sweet onions are known to be notoriously bad as storage onions. Maybe it’s the northern climate but these have done pretty well in storage.

I harvested my onions in August and am still enjoying them. Four months is a good bit of storage for these. Sadly I now have only a few left. I gave quite a few away, wish I would have saved more as it looks like they will go another month or two.

Unlike the fall started sweet onions in the south, I planted my seed in February and set the plants out 10 weeks later. My secret? Even water and I give them quite a bit.

The Onion pictured below will be my all new, Wyoming Hybrid Happy Face Onion, on sale in all great vegetable markets near you soon – just kidding, but I thought this was a pretty cool looking onion.

The smile is created by the onion reaching near the end of storage life

Winter Time and Spring Dreams

End of the Green

Winter looks like it has made it to Wyoming. Had a great gardening year and am already looking at seed catalogs for this spring. I will start my first indoor seedbeds in February. Below find a few of my winter photos taken over the last couple of weeks.

River Ice Starting to Form

Wyoming Flowers in late October

It might be October 25th but I still spend some time watering flowers outside each day. We have had some light frost but not enough to kill the flowers or my last cherry tomato. Loving the fall.

No Frost Yet

People often ask me how it is possible to garden in Wyoming with such a short growing season? Depends on where you live. I live in an area of Platte County Wyoming that has a surprisingly long growing season. I started planting outside the first week in May and am still picking green and yellow beans from that planting. How about tomatoes? the photo below is of tomatoes picked Friday and Saturday.

Love gardening in Wyoming. will try to post some flower photos later this week.
Happy gardening.