amaranth seedlings are beautiful

this is our first time growing amaranth, and so far it's lookin' great! i just transplanted these above seedlings to a larger pot, to see how it grows differently from others that i'm leaving in the lil' greenhouse-type setup we've got a bit longer. when you've got a sea of little green shoots stickin' up, it's such a treat for these strong little reddish aliens to be in the mix.

here's what the fedco seeds catalog has to say about this variety of amaranth, which we got from them:

008HO Hopi Red Dye Amaranth OG (46 days) Amaranthus cruentus Hopi was the best of the nine amaranths in our trial, displaying the deepest burgundies. Stately plant grows to 6' with a 1-2' inflorescence. Eat the young leaves in salads or slightly steamed, admire them young or old. The tiny black seeds are also edible, used in breakfast cereal to accentuate the taste and fragrance of honey. The Hopis make a scarlet food dye from the flower bract to color their ceremonial piki bread. Yanna Fishman of Union Mills, NC, suggests using Hopi in your floral arrangements. “When added to a flower bouquet it makes an ordinary clear jar look like an elegant purple-tinted vase as it colors the water.”

seeds we've got goin'

historically, i've had a pretty rough time with starting plants from seed - they always are smaller and weaker than their seedling counterparts from nurseries and farmers' markets, and often die young or don't really produce. i'm going to try to take this year to make a few seed experiments, trying out the same seeds with different starting soils, different light conditions, and see what works best.

also, since our season is so short up here in maine, i'm trying to start some that would generally be sown (sowed?) right outdoors a few weeks ahead of time indoors, to give 'em a head start. we'll see what happens.

below is a list of all the seeds we've got started so far. those in italics have shown their faces, those not in bold are still percolatin' in the soil:

• hopi "red dye" amaranth
• arugula
• bicolor corn
• black seeded simpson lettuce
  
• bright lights chard (though all but one of the seedlings has since died...)
• chinese lantern
  
• dahlias
• eggplant
  
• hungarian hot wax pepper
  
• long pie pumpkin
• luffa gourd
• sugar snap peas
• sunflowers (various)
  
• vermont cranberry bean
  
• watercress (tons of lil' sprouts, but they all look so weak!)
  

a video we made!

compost post

neither maggie nor i have lived in one place long enough in our adult lives to really enjoy the fruits of our composting efforts (i.e. the fruits of our old fruit). this year, that's going to change. we've been composting here for about a year, and the bin is almost full to the top.

now that my cup is brimming over with spring, every day i try to look for another sign that things are starting to grow and that we'll have a successful season, so today i lifted up the sliding bottom compartment where you scoop out compost, and EUREKA! - brown, sludgy goodness. get ready plantitos, that's gonna be all yours soon...

rosemary blossoms

we have two rosemary plants growing together in one pot (named rose and mary, gotten as seedlings in greensboro, vt, years ago), and a few weeks ago they started popping out these beautiful, tiny purple blossoms. i finally plucked 'em all yesterday, and put them in with some root veggies we were roasting. yum!

support your local breadmaker

today we went to a great event at frontier cafe, cinema & gallery, a great cafe, cinema and gallery (heh heh) in the old mill building across the river from us, about a 10 minute walk away. a local farmer has an undiagnosed chronic illness that has incapacitated him as a farmer, so the community got together to have a big ol' prix-fixe local foods feast and silent auction in his honor. his name's seth, so we felt extra compelled to help. at the event was barak, who makes the best bread in town out of his home-bakery in freeport, maine. at the end of the event, there were a few of his massive loaves left over, so at his suggestion, we took one home with us. just one of the benefits of supporting your local breadmaker.

spring has sprung

one of the most exciting things in the world is seeing the first seedlings peekin' through the dirt. at least, i think so. these are the sunflowers, the first peekers:

and this was taken a few days later - we've got a ton more sprouts! very exciting...