Plant Seedlings

This page gives information on how to plant seedlings when you get them home from the store. We planted 4,000 seeds for customers in December to buy in spring. By now, we have sold almost all of our seedlings.

Normally, seedlings are started in your house under grow lights or in a greenhouse where they are nice and warm. Once spring comes along, it is time to get those seedlings in the ground. But first, the small plants must be hardened off.

Once the plants have been hardened off and are feeling good being outdoors and the soil is warm enough, about 60° Fahrenheit, it is time to plant.

Lots of seedlings in the greenhouse. Plant seedlings as soon as the ground is warm enough. Most plants need the ground to be 65°.

Plant Seedlings - 4/24-4/30/2023

Monday, April 24, 2023

There are 5 caterpillars in this photo obliterating this parsley plant in the ground.

Happy Monday, everyone! Today has been a busy day. It started out early this morning at 55° and I planted some new tubs of sunflowers and zinnias out near our Farm Store. Caterpillars are all over plants out here, eating our plants. You have to remove the caterpillars or they will wipe your plants out.

Today was also payday so I had to do payroll and pay all of the bills that needed planting. It is now 3pm and the clouds are beginning to move in. It is 68° Fahrenheit now and rain is supposed to happen at 6pm. I sure hope it does since I planted hundreds of seeds this morning.

You can plant seedlings outside if the ground is warm enough. We have been doing that over the past two weeks. We don't have too many more seedlings to plant. I was hoping to plant seedlings over the weekend but we had a lot of rain which is wonderful.

The baby chicks are doing well but they keep knocking over their water or filling it completely with wood shavings so we have to go change the water four or five times a day. It will be good when we get the little chicken coops built and put them in the smaller one, hopefully this week. If it is warm enough, by the end of the week, they can go out in their own coop.

We are ordering more pecan snacks and pecan coffees. We will also pick up more chips and drinks and get the store fully loaded again. In the fall, we are planning a small pumpkin patch. We will be selling fresh herbs that customers can pick as well.

Yesterday, we noticed Lucy's back legs slipping and she kept collapsing down. She started biting herself which she has done in the past. She has arthritis in her back legs and is on medications for it and has been for years. She is almost 12 years old, such a sweet dog. Today, she continues to collapse when walking and now she is bleeding, including ripping her ears open by scratching. She has been such a good girl, it breaks our hearts.

Plant Seedlings - Prepare Beds

This giant raised beds is ready for us to plant seedlings in it. Get the soil ready & mix in compost before you plant seedlings. Then all you have to do is water once they are planted.

Before you plant seedlings, prepare your beds for them. Pull all weeds out by the roots. Make sure compost has been added to the soil and mix it in well. Dig holes in the right places for whatever it is you are planting so the plants are properly spaced. Have a plan for each garden bed.

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

A representative of a seed machine company came out to see us this morning. He demonstrated a computerized seed counter. It is really awesome. If we had the money right now, we would buy it today. Hopefully, we can get one or two as business picks up. It is slow going this season compared to other springs.

Our pretty Lucy girl.

David and Matt left with our Lucy to go to the vet. They are putting her down and it is just awful. I know she has been suffering so it is best for her. Last spring, we had to put Annabelle down and it was $101. This time, it is $251. Same vet. Why has it gone up by $150 in just one year? So many prices have gone up. Our seeds still start at $3.95. Food is up, postage is up, gas is up, supplies are up but our prices are the same and people have the nerve to tell us we charge too much but do they say that to their vet or to USPS or to Walmart? Interesting, huh?

As the seed machine rep was leaving, another man drove up wanting us to sell bulk sunflower seeds to him. We sell small packages to the home gardener so he left. There are lots of seed companies that sell bulk but we don't have enough to do so. That is not our business model.

Nacho and his helper are here doing things today, including putting together our small chicken coops. Later on, we will have to have a large one built but we don't have the money for that right now. I have more chicks coming in less than a month.

Our teen helpers are here doing various projects. We are always happy to see them. The mailman just came and it is not even noon.

It looks like it will rain again but you never know. At 6:15am, it poured for about 60 seconds and that was that. Alexa says there is a 51% chance of rain at 2pm but she is wrong a lot!

I just checked on the baby chicks and they, of course, had their water all clogged up with wood shavings again. Nacho got the smaller chicken coop put together. It looks like a little dollhouse.

This is the smallest of the two chicken coops we bought this past weekend. Soon our current babies will be able to go in it for a while.

There is a skunk under or around Production and Fulfillment because it sprayed something this morning. It does not smell good in either building.

Also, there are hundreds of winged ants, some dead, some alive all over the parking lot and on the porches.

I don't remember seeing these before but they are all over the place. Some are dead, others are alive. Not sure what is going on.

Flying ants are everywhere, mostly on the ground dead. Not sure what happened overnight. These are on the Farm Store porch.

It is now almost 1pm. Lucy has been buried at the top of the property, along with Molly and Annabelle. We are sad.

Nacho is working on the larger chicken coop now. Eventually, we will have another big chicken coop built or add on to our big one, but for now, this is what we are going with.

Lucy got blood on the carpets all over the house (her liver disorder made her chew herself a lot) and Matt is in there right now cleaning the carpet for me. David still has some blood on his shirt from going to the vet so I will have to wash that tonight.

Our new signs have been delivered this afternoon. They will let passersby know that we are a seed store and that we have eggs, coffee, snacks, and seeds. There are also some signs telling people not to throw anything in my pond. Unfortunately, we have to tell people because they feel like they are doing us a favor by letting their kids throw stones, sticks, papers, flowers, leaves, pollen, and weeds in our lined pond.

This is the bigger coop with a little run for the chickens.

A different view of the bigger coop. Both of these are close by are big chicken coop.

Both new little chicken coops are put together. They are different. We are going to need another one. It is supposed to get cold again on Friday night so I think they will still need their brooder. They are not fully feathered out yet.

Lucy in the truck for her last ride to the vet today.

It is now 7:35pm and I just paid Nacho for the day so they are leaving.

It is strange to be in the house and not have Lucy here. I feel so bad that she is gone. The house feels empty. In her mind, she was the only dog in the world and hated when I would get near the other dogs. She would always work her way in between me and the other dogs so I would focus on her. I miss her. She was with us for almost 12 years.

Plant Seedlings - Count The Leaves

Tycoon tomato seedlings.

With new plants, it is not how tall the plant is. You need to count the leaves. When a seed first germinates or comes up, there are two little leaves that emerge. These are not true leaves. Those will start to come soon. After a bit of growth, you will notice the new plant has three, four, even five leaves. At this point, it is time to plant seedlings in the ground, provided that the ground has warmed up enough and the seedlings have been hardened off (as mentioned above).

This new peanut plant started out as two leaves and now it is spreading.

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Compost pile, guinea coop, and hoop house 5, where my peanuts are planted.

Good Wednesday morning! It is pretty warm outside at 6:30am. I took Ethel out as everyone else is still sleeping. We had a bit of a tough night, missing Lucy and that sort of thing. I woke up extra early and have been doing computer work. I have enjoyed my first cup of coffee along with a breakfast bar so as not to awaken the puppies. They tend to bark if I make much noise in the kitchen and then the magic of a peaceful morning to myself is gone...

I don't think we are having any visitors or extra workers here today which is a good thing because we had way too much going on here, especially on the same day we lost Lucy.

I have, I think, seven dozen eggs in the Farm Store refrigerator. I took more over last night. I have to plant seedlings this morning as well as some seeds.

I had to clean up some more in the house this morning and then I went out to clean up after our chicks. They are at that messy stage now. I am hoping to put them out in their new digs this weekend. Then I will have to prepare the brooder area again for the new chicks who will be here in less than four weeks. So exciting!

I finished watering the new beds of sunflowers and zinnias that I planted on Monday. Someone took the nozzle off of the hose once again and it is not out there.

I returned an Amazon package to UPS on Monday afternoon and I received it back yesterday. This time, I have cut off all of the UPC and barcode places and taped the QR code onto the stuff I am returning. Matt will be going with FBA stuff for our Amazon store in a little while. I canceled the order the same day I placed it on Saturday as it had not shipped yet but they shipped it anyway. Here is hoping I don't get it back for a third time.

Plant Seedlings - Tomatoes

If you have tomato seedlings, they will grow tall quickly. Notice on the main stem that there are either nubs or soft hairlike projections. You will want to plant your tomato seedlings all the way up to the first leaves. When you do this, all of the nubs or hairlike projections will turn into roots which will stabilize the plant.

You may want to add a tomato cage or a stake so the tomato can grow tall and straight.

We planted 4,000 tomato seedlings the last week of December 2023. We have just a few left but they are full grown plants now.

Our leftover tomato seedlings are now grown tomato plants so we are potting them up. Plant tomato seedlings in the ground, in a garden bed, or in a large pot.

Plant seedlings into large pots for tomatoes like we have done. We have them up on the Farm Store porch.

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Good Thursday morning. The housekeeper is not feeling well so she will not be coming out today. I was cleaning up a bit. I need to thoroughly vacuum a loveseat and matching chair with ottoman as we are selling them to make room for our new den sectional. It should be coming in one week. If you are interested, the furniture is gray, does not recline, but is comfortable and three years old from Furniture Row. The ottoman opens to store blankets.

I have been adding our egg listings to the website as well as our plant listings. It is taking a lot of time but I need to get it all done today.

We have potted up the rest of the good looking tomato plants that were our seedlings. They are now full grown and are putting on flowers and tomatoes. We are selling them for $9.95 if you are interested in having tomatoes this spring.

The zinnia seedlings are popping up in all of the galvanized tubs.

The new zinnias that were planted on Monday in the galvanized tubs are beginning to come up! Yay! The sunflowers are not yet coming up. I watered them good yesterday morning. Then this morning, around 3:30am, it poured for a bit.

It is now 11:30am and 73°. It should get up to 88° today and will be hot and sunny. The new chicks are growing. They will be coming out into their own little coop soon but it is going to be cold tomorrow night so I want to wait. It should never be cold at the end of April but this is a nice April, instead of a hot April.

The chicks have been feathering out. They were on top of the shade cloth. Others are behind the galvanized tub hiding.

At 1:30pm, I went out to check on my baby chicks. I found the shed door ajar and four of the babies out and about in the shed. I fixed everything up and caught one chick. Then I called for back up. Matt came and caught the other three chicks. They are really flying around at just three weeks old. They need to be moved out to their new coop but it has not been fastened down yet and I think we need some rocks. We have to wait for Nacho to bring stuff out. I have new feeders and waterers coming that will work better for them. They keep plugging all of the water up with wood shavings and now they are pooping in their water and food. Fun times.

Plant Seedlings - Everything Else

My first Greenstalk before anything came up. This is a great place to plant seedlings, if the plants will be fairly small.

Plant seedlings in the warm ground. Make sure they are getting enough sun according to each type of plant's needs. Some plants do better in sun and some like partial shade. If you have no shade, consider using shade cloth to help protect your plants from strong sun like we get in Texas.

Maybe you want to plant seedlings that are herbs in a planter like a GreenStalk. I got one this year and I am loving it. I have a lot of herbs and mini tomato and sugar snap peas in it. I bought one for Matt and he is having his first successful garden at his house in it. I just ordered two more to plant in out front by the Farm Store so customers can pick fresh herbs and greens.

On some of your plants like pole beans, peas, melons, cucumbers, squashes, and gourds, you may want to add trellises for them to grow on.

I got the email from Greenstalk that our two new greenstalks are on their way today to plant seedlings and seeds out in front of the Farm Store.

Friday, April 28, 2023

The chicks have now lost their yellow fuzz and have beautiful white feathers.

Good Friday morning. It is foggy out there! I did not expect that. The cat woke me up around 5:45am wanting food. She was yelling. I gave her some food and tried to go back to sleep but it turns out I was starving. Then I got up and ate something. I turned on my computer and started logging in to things. All of a sudden, it went black. Turns out, David discovered the charger was not in all the way but it seems to be doing okay right now.

We have some things to do in San Antonio for a while today so some of our team members will be here taking care of things, if they can find their way here in the fog. What is up with that? It is currently 7am and 64° Fahrenheit.

Last night is the first night that I did not have the radiant heater turned on with the baby chicks. They are now pretty much feathered out. I hope they are fine. I am hoping to put them in their new coop today so this nonsense of dumping the water all over the wood shavings stops. I actually ordered them new feeders and waterers that should arrive today. The feeders have openings up a little higher for the food. The waterers are on some sort of base with little cups that fill so, hopefully, they are not plugging it up with wood shavings. Hopefully, Amazon can really get those delivered to me early enough in the day so I can set the chicks up. Nacho is coming out to secure the two little coops with some tie downs and rocks.

Nacho and his folks fixed up and secured the little chicken coops. David, Matt, and I left for the big city on Battle of the Flowers day, a day during Fiesta where you do not want to go into San Antonio but we had to see the attorney. Yes, all three of us. We did that and then drove down past I-10 to where the endodontist for Matt's appointment was. None of us had ever even been to this part of San Antonio. We found it and then went to a Jim's for a good lunch. After lunch, we headed back to the endodontist.

Matt had some dental work done for a broken tooth. He is doing fine. As we headed back to the farm, the traffic was just horrible. We were very happy to get out of the city. Now Matt has loaded up the truck and headed to Pleasanton for company business with another team member. I am at the store.

But first, I went out to check on the baby chicks who are now three weeks old. They jammed up their water again so I fixed that. Then I went out and prepared their new little coop. The new waterers and feeders came in but they say the chicks have to be 12 weeks old so that is another nine weeks. I found some old ones that will do and got them all cleaned up. I put wood shavings in their new coop and got it all ready. When Matt gets back, hopefully, he will help me gather up all of the babies and get them in their new home.

It is 88° out there now and bright and sunny so I was sopping wet and had to change before coming over here. I don't think we will have any new customers today as we close in just a few minutes.

So everything is ready for the new babies. We are supposed to have big thunderstorms tonight but I hope not so the babies can get used to their new digs. In nine weeks, we can introduce them to the new feeder and waterer that I got. I think it will keep their food and water cleaner than these others do. Chickens are messy creatures and are always throwing dirt, stones, hay, and wood shavings into their food and water. They just enjoy it. I am excited for the babies to see their new home.

When Matt got back at 5pm, we went out back and moved the babies over to their new little chicken coop. We put them up in the house portion of the coop. They did not try to go downstairs. They all huddled up in one nesting box. They were so cute. Then we had a very windy, thunderstorm. I bet they were so scared. I was a bit worried all night about them.

Side view. So far, none of the chicks has come downstairs. Of course, I closed the door last night to keep the chicks safe.

All 9 chicks piled up into the farthest nesting box when we put them into the coop.

Plant Seedlings - Watering And Fertilizing

Here is a variety of seedlings. Plant seedlings as soon as the ground is warm enough for them. Most plants like it to be 65°.

Once your seedlings have been put in the ground, they must be watered that same day. If they are not, they will be close to dead by the next day in dry soil. Rule of thumb, any time you plant seedlings or seeds, always water them. Do not fertilize them at this point. Usually fertilizer put on seeds and seedlings right after planting will result in dead plants. Wait at least a month. We use a liquid fish emulsion about once a month on our plants. We find ours on Amazon.

Saturday, April 29, 2023

Last fall we planted some gorgeous flowers in a variety of colors. They are now blooming.

So we barely got any rain all night. It was chilly this morning at 55°. When it was daylight, I went out there and they were all having a good old time up in there, moving around. I opened their door so they could go out but, so far, they have not figured out how to walk down the walkway. They were up on the perch and everywhere, so cute. Some of them are already getting their combs in. One has a very prominent comb so I wonder if that is a rooster. They are all supposed to be girls, but every once in a while, you get a rooster. Time will tell.

The baby chicks now reside in this adorable little coop. I have the door open for them to go down into the yard, but they have not yet tried it. They will soon enough.

The little chicks are exploring. Their favorite place right now is in the nesting boxes, all together.

This morning, I took care of all of the animals, indoors and out. I have to clean out the brooder area and get all of that ready again because in about 24 days, we will have 30 new baby chicks coming to us from Ideal Poultry in Texas. I have not ordered chickens before. I ordered these back in February and May 22 is the first time they had available back then to ship chicks out to us.

There were a lot of ripe mulberries but many were up too high for me. These have all been eaten by me. They are so sweet.

I picked all of these peaches today. This is our first peach harvest since we have been on the farm.

I watered all of the Farm Store area plants this morning. I still have to water my plant area in the back. I also went out into the orchard and picked mulberries and peaches. Yes, we have some ripe peaches. We also have a bunch of peaches that are not ripe yet and apples.

We are having a potluck at church tomorrow so I have to make something for that. Man, the wind is just blowing hard but it is bright and sunny outside. It is 67°. David found a skunk under one of the sheds. Just like last spring, I bet she has babies under there again. Last year, Sue Ellen found them and demolished all of the babies, bringing us one up on our side deck. I was so freaked out. Apparently, when they were skirting the building, they left a gap. So now we have nasty smells around the place.

Today and tomorrow are the last days of Fiesta, the biggest party of the year in San Antonio so we have had just one customer, a man from Houston who was driving by. Like last Saturday, I figured today would be very slow and it is.

I am thinking I will make some lemon bars for tomorrow. Someone said they want slider buns and barbecue sauce so I will bring those items. Someone else is making pulled pork. Last time, I made two pans of delicious enchiladas.

Lemon squares before they are cut. They were delicious!

The bread sticks or pretzel sticks came out delicious.

So I closed the store at 2pm and began cooking and baking. I made a double recipe for yeast pretzels. Then I chopped vegetables to roast in the oven. Once those were chopped, I pulled out all of the pans I would need for everything as well as measuring cups and ingredients. First, I made lemon squares. Then while they were baking, I made brownies. Once they were done, it was time to shape the pretzels. I made them into sticks and placed them on a cookie sheet to rise again. Then I put the pan of vegetables into the oven and went out and fed all of the animals and collected eggs. I came in and got changed. Then I got the pork chops ready. I pulled the vegetables out, baked the pork chops, and eggwashed and salted the pretzels. The pork chops were done in 20 minutes. They were so good. I put the pretzels in the oven and they came out at 7pm.

We turned on Svengoolie and fixed our plates but some hockey playoffs were on. David had a movie so we watched it. It was funny and gross at the same time. The food was so good. The soft pretzels were really tasty. We sampled the lemon squares for dessert. They were delicious as always.

Then I cleaned up the kitchen. By this time, my feet and back were hurting. I sat back down in the chair. I think I woke up around 11:30pm.

Plant Seedlings

Green bean seedlings in the greenhouse.

When you plant seedlings, unless you have used peat pots or CowPots, you will be removing the seedlings from the pot. Tip it sideways and gently grasp the base of the plant. Give it a gentle tug. Most of the time, the seedling and the soil will pop right out easily. If not, you may need to pry the soil loose with a small garden shovel or a small spoon. Once it is out, it is easy to place it in your pre-dug hole. Cover the roots and bottom of the plant with dirt from your raised bed or ground and it should stand on its own.

This is a square Cowpot, made from cow manure, perfect for planting in and then you plant the whole thing when you plant seedlings.

Sunday, April 30, 2023

Good Sunday morning! It got down to 51° early this morning. It was chilly and wet from dew. No rain at all. Can you believe today is the last day of April? The month flew by.

I went out there to check on the chicks and they are fine. I took care of them and then went to the rest of the animals and fed them. As I was walking back, four of my chicks had finally ventured out of the coop into their tiny run. As they heard me, they ran back up the ramp. One actually flew up. So at least four have been adventurous. I am hoping the rest follow suit so I can take the food, water, and grit out of their living quarters because they keep pooping in it.

My Tennessee Red peanuts are still coming up but there is not one Virginia Jumbo plant that germinated. David said it may still be too chilly at night for them. So we will wait a bit longer. From now on, I will go with the Tennessee Reds as they are a bit more compatible with our area than Virginia.

When I was feeding the fish, I checked on our new garden beds. The two beds where I planted sunflowers are behind the electric works. The sunflowers are finally coming up in both beds. The zinnias are thriving everywhere they are planted.

We are having a potluck at church so we will eat good today. I have the list of things to eat on my phone and I am going to enjoy it!

I need to get ready for church. I just finished the dishes. There was a sink full of them from last night because the dishwasher was going at 9pm last night from all of the baking I did yesterday afternoon.

The church potluck was delicious and a lot of fun. I got so many compliments on my lemon bars. They want me to make them again next time.

This afternoon, when I opened the door to check on the chicks, one flew out and landed in the chicken pail I had for the big chickens. I quickly grabbed her and put her back in the coop.

I went out again at 7:30pm to shut them up inside to protect them and I found eight of them out in the little yard. The ninth one was not brave enough yet. So I had to talk to them and they all flew up into the coop. I closed the door. It is much cooler and breezy outside now and I left their vents open.

Plant Seedlings

Here we have used hay as a mulch for our garlic plants. We normally use wood chips for mulch.

Once you plant seedlings, water the area. Then make sure you mulch the area to keep water in and around the plants. Do not cover the seedlings. You want to place the mulch under and around the seedlings.

We planted seeds for sunflowers on Monday of this week. This morning, I noticed they are finally coming up. The zinnias came up this past Thursday.

We do have some plant seedlings left for sale as well as full grown plants. We have basil, common sage, white sage, and more but it is all going fast. Tomorrow is May 1 so everything should be planted already. We have to plant seedlings of our own in our garden. Time gets away from us running David's Garden Seeds®.

The sunflower seedlings are coming up!

Return from Plant Seedlings to Our Fourth Year

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