Sprouts

All my little brassicas are doing lovely. When I checked on them earlier in the week I noticed tiny tendrils of roots poking out the bottom of the pots. Time to up-pot already?! Okay... done! As soon as they get their first true leaves I'll be sure to give them a little food - liquid seaweed.

Broccoli, Cabbage and Cauliflower.
Lettuce on the other hand isn't doing so hot. Hum. That's never happened before. I only had two sprout. I think it's likely due to the age of the seeds though, they're pushing 4 years old. I really need to buy some more but for now I'll just plunk in a few more old seeds and see if I can't get them to go. It was also pretty wet in that tray as well. I removed the lid a few days ago to let the whole thing dry out a bit. That should help as well.

Happily I'd started a few lettuce seeds in the garden last fall (though ignored them throughly due to health so they're a bit paltry) and still, nature finds a way. They're little now but I think they'll pull though the rest of the winter and be fine in the spring so happily I'll have some garden noshes early.

My poor garden beds were, as I've mentioned, sorely neglected last summer/fall. So here's the state they're in. Ugly! I've got a bunch of old onions that weren't harvested. I'm afraid to get down there and take a closer look. I figure my big ol pregnancy belly will really be in the way soon enough then I won't have to deal with it. lol Well, maybe the leeks will be okay? The weeds look good though don't they?! Nice and healthy. Bah!
Lots of onions and a few leeks

At least the collard greens look perky.
The last thing I did (besides pull a few weeds while I was out there) was take a small root nodule with a bit of greenery on it from my chocolate peppermint plant. I've got the thing contained in a nice pot but the best mint always comes from the outside edges once it warms up and really gets busy with the growing. Ideally I'd start a new plant from cuttings every year and repot the whole thing but it's been a couple of years and last years mint harvest was awful. So! I had to be sure to get on this early. Since this bit had a bit of root I just took it and put it in a pot with starting medium and stuck it under the lights with the rest of the seed starts. Once it establishes and I can plant it outside I'll be sure to rip all the other mint out the pot and plant just this one. It'll give me a nice bright green harvestable mint plant all season long. Looking forward to a mojito or two this summer. ;^) (It's also excellent chopped up and tossed with cubed watermelon)
Chocolate peppermint "cutting".