Gardening
Grow a Few Vegetables Indoors this Winter
Dwarf sugar snap peas sprouting under artificial lights.
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of MelindaMyers.com
Limited outdoor growing space or cold winters may have you missing fresh homegrown vegetables. Make this the winter you try growing a few vegetables in a sunny window or under artificial lights.
Greens are one of the easiest to grow indoors. Most leafy vegetables tolerate the lower light indoors, require minimal space, and prefer cool temperatures.
Select a container with drainage holes that will fit near a sunny window or under an artificial light set up. Keep the artificial lights about six inches above the top of these and other plants. Fill the container with a well-drained potting mix and sprinkle seeds of your favorite leafy greens over the soil surface. Lightly cover the seeds and moisten the soil.
Remove overcrowded plants, called thinning, to provide sufficient space for the remaining plants to reach full size. Begin harvesting the outer leaves when four to six inches tall.
Extend the time between watering and increase success when growing these and other vegetables by amending the soil with a moisture-retaining product, like Wild Valley Farms' wool pellets (wildvalleyfarms.com). This organic and sustainable product holds 20% of its weight in water and slowly releases moisture into the soil when needed.
Add some crunch to your salads with quick maturing salad radishes. Plant seeds 1/4" deep and thin to one to two inches apart. Use scissors to the thin the plantings at ground level and use the greens to add a bit of zip to salads and sandwiches.
Expand your indoor edible garden by growing dwarf sugar snap peas. These and other vegetables that you eat the fruit or flowers need more light. Supplementing natural sunlight with artificial lights will help increase success.
Select shorter varieties that will be easier to train. Patio Pride grows only nine to 16" tall while Sugar Ann and Little Marvel grow up to 18" tall.
Plant two seeds in each three-inch pot or several seeds two inches apart in a long rectangular container. Once the seedlings reach two inches tall, thin the plantings. Leave one plant in each individual pot and seedlings spaced four inches apart in larger containers. Cut the extra sprouts at ground level and use them in salads, sandwiches and stir fries.
Peas are self-fertile, so no bees are needed. Harvest pods when they reach the size you prefer.
Don't forget the tomatoes. These take longer and are a bit more challenging but that is the joy of gardening. Start your plants from seeds if transplants are not available.
Consider growing one of the many small-scale tomato varieties that require less space and increase your chance of success. All-America Selections winners Patio Choice Yellow, Lizzano, Torenzo as well as Tiny Tim and Micro tomatoes are some varieties you may want to try.
Grow small plants in one- to two-gallon pots and larger varieties in three- to five-gallon size containers. Water thoroughly when the top few inches of soil begin to dry. Once flowers form, lightly shake the stem to aid in pollination.
Growing vegetables indoors is a fun way to enjoy edible gardening year-round. With every planting you'll increase your overall gardening experience and success.
Melinda Myers is the author of more than 20 gardening books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses "How to Grow Anything" DVD series and the Melinda's Garden Moment TV & radio segments. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Summit for her expertise to write this article. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.
Antiques
Our Top 2021 Auction Items
In today's column, I'm taking a look back at our 2021 auction results and the items that drew top prices throughout the year. Our top selling pieces were consistent with the trends I've seen in the industry recently and have written about in previous columns.
Estate jewelry, gold and watches continued to sell well last year. An 18-karat gold and jeweled dagger with sheath brought over $8,000. A Rolex Oyster Perpetual wristwatch sold for over $3,500 and a turquoise, sapphire and diamond bracelet topped $2,000.
Similar to gold, silver also commanded strong prices at our 2021 auctions. A sterling three-piece coffee and tea set by Ball, Black and Company of New York brought over $1,500. A sterling silver Gorham King George pattern 106-piece set reached over $3,500. A heavy Gorham footed sterling gravy boat sold for over $2,000.
As you might expect, silver and gold coins were also popular with our bidders. At various peaks throughout the year, the price of silver reached over $27 per ounce and the numismatic (collector) value drove many coin prices well above the silver value at auction. A group of nine silver dollars netted nearly $650. Gold coins brought even higher prices. A scarce 1841-C coin (from the Charlotte, NC Mint) brought close to $1,300. A 1907 Liberty Head 20-dollar gold coin sold for over $2,100.
Antique and vintage paintings by listed artists (those listed in standard art reference guides) also continued to sell well in our auctions, with many bringing hundreds and some even into the thousands. An acrylic painting on canvas by pop artist Peter Max went for over $2,500. An 1879 painting by Edward Hill with the Old Man of the Mountain visible in the background reached nearly $12,000.
Sports cards and memorabilia have seen a sharp increase in prices since the beginning of the pandemic, and that trend continued throughout 2021. A Ty Cobb baseball card made between 1909 and 1911 brought nearly $4,000. Despite being graded only a PSA 3 (on a scale of 10), a 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle rookie card fetched over $11,000. A football card featuring a quarterback many consider to be the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) also drew a lot of interest. The 2000 Playoff Contenders Tom Brady rookie autographed card went for close to $20,000. A complete set of graded 1961 Topps baseball cards topped the list of our 2021 sports memorabilia sales, reaching well over $25,000.
Our Webster, MA estate auction with classic cars and car parts in October produced some of our best results last year. Many cars needed a considerable amount of restoration, but that didn't deter bidders. A 1959 Corvette project car went for $12,600. Another Corvette project car from 1954 sold for over $23,000 to a Pennsylvania bidder. The best-selling car was a 1962 Corvette that brought over $30,000. It sold to a buyer in the Lone Star state proving that even bidding is bigger in Texas.
We're still accepting consignments for our spring auction. We currently have a collection of estate jewelry, coins from multiple estates, a large sports card collection and more. Session 5 of the model railroad, diecast cars and vintage toys auction is now running and will end on February 9th. Registration is currently underway for my "Evaluating your antiques" class at Bay Path's adult evening school on Wednesday, March 23rd. Please see our website www.centralmassauctions.com to join our email list to keep up to date on auctions and other events.
Contact us at: Wayne Tuiskula Auctioneer/Appraiser Central Mass Auctions for Antique Auctions, Estate Sales and Appraisal Services www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111) info@centralmassauctions.com