Spring is Springing, Seeds are Seeding

Last Saturday I planted the first seeds for my garden. I bought 3 divided flats and some soil from the Soelj store at 13th district. I've planted everything from radishes to carrot, peppers to pine berries. All the things that I could want! (Full list below)

 I guess I got a  little over confident with the weather last week, though. The sunshine and the afternoons in the 50/60's F was glorious.... then because this is Mongolia, it snowed on Wednesday.

So I've been sure to check the forecast and keep my flats inside by a window for several days. This morning I decided to take them out to bask in the sun again and you know what I saw!!!? SPROUTS!! Already seeing sprouts just makes me happy in my heart place! SO excited to watch them grow. My fast sprouting plants seem to be my radishes (of course) and my marigolds! Can't wait to see what will pop up next!

My List of Seedlings:
Radishes
Marigolds
Squash
Eggplant
Pine Berries
Carrots
Watermelon
Popcorn
Tomatoes
Peppers
Red Onions
Spearmint
Cilantro

UPDATE 4/12 - Add to my list of sprouts tomatoes carrots and popcorn!!!

The Apple Seed that Wasn't

Well, guess that suspicious looking sprout wasn't a baby apple tree at all. Because more started popping up in the garlic/ginger pot. The soil I bought from the store is growing lots of little random plants, and nothing I've planted has grow, including all of the seeds I babyed along. Must have had bad or non reproducing seeds.

I doubt anything will grow now. The weather in Ulaanbaatar has been hovering around -30C/-20F. Yesterday morning we got all the way down to -40. For that temp, you don't need F or C because that is where the scales meet. Guess I'll have to concede my lose until winter has ended. I'm hoping to find some excellent seeds over the winter to start a real garden next year!

The Little Seed That Could

It's ironic to me that my interest in gardening started blooming just as winter came on. Wanting to get my hands dirty wasn't much of an option since our growing season is almost over. So I'm working on  indoor seeding projects and I have a tub trying to grow some garlic and ginger. Even though our home is a little cool, I figured at least the garlic will survive. The ginger is just a wild card. So about a week and a half ago I took a 3-ft-long pot and planted 4 bulbs of garlic, and a bit of ginger.

More on this bit later...

As I was planting them, I saw an apple seed that had been left on the table from my apple seed sprouting adventures. (I love fruit, so I'm trying to get at least one seed to germinate through a variety of methods. No luck so far). On a whim, I decided to pop the seed in with the ginger and garlic. 

Fast forward 1.5 weeks and very little is happening in my Garlic/ginger pot. Except for one tiny little sprout. You can easily miss it if you're not looking for it. 

Now since this is my first time gardening, what I'm assuming is an apple seedling may just be a weed. But I'm pretty excited about it. It's exciting to make things grow. And from what I can tell, it looks an awful lot like an apple seedling to me! Go little seed go!