Garden happenings: 2-1-12

The seed greenhouse is working out pretty well, as the corn is already sprouting and even after being gone for almost three days the soil was still a little moist.  Today I added a couple of shallow trays of water for added humidity as an insurance policy.  I also seeded Japanese Shishito Sweet Peppers, Purple Ball and Petch Siam Oriental Eggplants, Pickler One Pickling Cucumbers Stickless Wonder Yardlong Beans, all purchased from Evergreen Seeds @ http://www.evergreenseeds.com which is a great source for all kinds of Oriental herb and vegetable seeds.  Rather than just direct sowing sunflowers this year, I decided to start them in trays as I have seven different varieties: wild sunflowers from the side of the road that get 3'-4'; a dwarf sunflower which only gets 8"-10" tall (I don't know the name of this one); Mammoth, which grows 7'-8', one I got from my neighbor which also gets 7'-8' (also don't know the name of this one); Citrus which gets 5'-6'; and Velvet Queen & Florenza, both 4'-5'.  They'll be planted under the birdhouse to provide a ready supply of food.

The Ultra Red Stripe and Picotee petunias I bought several weeks ago have finally decided to bloom and they were well worth the wait, although it's apparent that not all the plants in the Picotee six pack were actually Picotees.

I also harvested my first Snow Peas and a few more Sweet 100 tomatoes and used them in tonight's dinner.