Spring Starts Update + Planting our First

Thor & I have big plans to revamp the raised beds this year -- so I'm hesitant to plant anything right now because I know it will just get torn up in the next month or two. We love fresh peas though -- so last night I planted the Cascadia variety in our 'flower bed' at the back of the house. Last year we had geraniums & nasturtiums in here -- but this spring it will house about 40 pea plants. Yummy! The first three seeds in the west end of the bed are peas that I saved from last years plants. I am putting them in the ground as an experiment in harvesting my own seed to use from year to year. If these three plants come up successfully AND have tasty peas then this year I will dry more of my 2009 harvest to save for seeding next spring. Hopefully this works!

After only a month of growing time it was already time to re-pot my starts -- so I spent the evening moving about 50 little basil, tomato & pepper plants into larger peat pots so they can continue to grow. I have decided I am not going to keep all the tomato starts myself - it is just too overwhelming - so this week at knitting I will be giving away my extra starts (by 'giving away' I mean forcing them on friends!)

These next shots don't have much to do with planting, but out Red-Flowering Currant blossomed earlier this week. This shot is an example of poor site selection. I bought this plant in bare root form last year and just needed to get it in the ground so it wouldn't dry out. Of course I had big plans to move it last year so it wouldn't be smack against the side of the house ...but... as you can see now it is quite large and cumbersome. I am hoping I can move it this summer without killing the poor thing!