My parsley seedlings are still so little, but I think they probably need more room to grow in a less cramped space. So I took three of the best looking seedlings and put them in a jiffy pot with potting soil. I figure at least ONE of these should be good enough to transplant outside soon. And once they look bigger and more established I will just pull out the two smaller ones and leave just one good plant.
So I am a few plants short on 3 different varieties of veggies. So I’m trying an experiment in vermiculite. I put in red onion, cabbage, and lettuce seeds all in the same little pot of vermiculite. I can recognize the seedlings by their leaves and they all look different enough that I’m not worried about telling the difference. I’m hoping I can get a few good plants out of each variety. I am short in vermiculite and these didn’t do well even in my second batch of planting in jiffy pellets. So that is why I am attempting this. Cross your fingers for me 
This is my first year trying to grow cabbage so it’s going to be quite interesting. Here is my plan:
Garden Space
I’ve read that the flavor of cabbage is enhanced by being planted near garlic and onions. So I’m planning two squares of cabbage (one head per square) to surround my garlic and be close to my onions. Cabbage is a very hard cold season vegetable so I’m hoping to get a second crop of cabbage started once I’ve harvested some of the summer plants.
Planting
My seed packet says to thin to 2 feet apart. I don’t really think my cabbage heads will get that huge so I’m going to stick with one per square. Also, it says to avoid planting in the garden where cabbage has grown the year before. Since thsi is my first year I don’t need to worry about that for now.
Companions
As I already mentioned, cabbage does well near aromatic plants such as garlic and onions that help deter cabbage worms. Other possible companions are celery and tomatoes. Mine will be fairly close to a cherry tomato plant so we’ll give that a try.
Harvest
Cabbages are best harvested with a sharp knife at ground level. With Spring and Summer varieties, cut a small X into the stump; a second crop of small cabbages will grow from these cuts.
Storage
I don’t think cabbage will store very well in any form. So I’m planning to eat the heads as they ripen. I have a GREAT salad recipe that calls for cabbage so i will probably make a few batches of that. It’s called Stinky Salad and I’ll post the recipe sometime.
Cabbage Resources
http://www.gardenersnet.com/vegetable/cabbage.htm
http://www.seedfest.co.uk/tips/how-to-grow-cabbage.html
I had a few strawberry plants that my mother-in-law had given me from her garden last year. We actually got a bit of fruit out of them but I had them in a sort of obscure side garden area that didn’t get watered very well. This spring, I noticed that that garden got overrun with weeds over the winter and i was too frustrated to weed it when it’s in a weird place anyway. So I pulled up the strawberries (which had multiplied a bit) and replanted them into my nice new garden beds that my husband made for me. We ripped out a TON of iris plants along our back fence and filled in the space with compost. I’m going to let my sprawling plants enjoy that wide open space so they don’t clog up my garden beds. And the strawberries are going to have free reign to grow and multiply at one end of the garden. They look pretty healthy so I have high hopes for them!
Started them all in jiffy pots filled with vermiculite. Some of these are very old herbs so I planted a lot of seeds.
I pulled out the best seedling from each of the vermiculite pots and put them in potting soil-filled jiffy pots. I had neglected to water very well for a few days so the tomato leaves are all a little sad looking. They are curling up at the edges. Hopefully they will recover and grow some nice true leaves soon now that they are in some good soil.
Both the green peppers and jalapeno peppers were looking strong enough to move into their own little pots. I’ve got two of each variety moved into potting soil in a small jiffy pot. So far they are looking good. Looks like the first true leaves of the jalapeno peppers are about to come out.
Got my first sprouts around March 10th. However only one pellet sprouted and I want 4 plants! So on March 15th I sprinkled more seeds into the remaining three pellets. So far one of them has a few little seedlings poking out. I might have to just give up and move seedlings into the remaining pellets. I’ll keep you posted.
Red Onions
Yellow Onions
The cherry tomatoes poked their heads up first. Followed shortly by the roma and early girl. Within about 2 days i had tons of sprouts from all three varieties. Waiting til they get a bit bigger before moving to individual pots.