Roma tomatoes and new research sprouts

My four-year old (#4) was out sick from school today with a cough, sniffles, and a low-grade fever.  We decided to plant some more tomatoes together.  I had attempted to ferment some seeds from a couple Roma tomatoes we'd eaten, but I can't figure out if I did it right.  All of the online information indicates that there should be a layer of mold over the top and that it should smell foul.  It's been over a week and no mold on top, but the seeds have separated (seeds on bottom, gunk on top).  When I opened it, there was a foul smell, but not overpowering like I thought it would be.  So, I'm not sure if these seeds will actually grow or not, or if they'd already started to germinate... So #4 and I planted them straight out of the jar (rinsed first of course).  I only had nine little containers, but we had a lot of seeds, so I let her do the planting.  She put probably 20 seeds in each little container.  If they all come up I'll be doing a lot of frantic last-minute replanting, but I'm not sure any will actually come up.  We'll see what happens!

Nine containers and about 200 seeds.

The mango is starting to show green underneath the pink growth.  I have no idea what these parts are properly called, as I've never grown a tree from seed, much less a mango.  It's exciting to see the progress though!  Putting it under the grow light seems to have sped up the progress.

More mango growth, and a cameo by one of the few surviving cucumber seedlings.

The peppers are thriving under the grow light.  Most are growing a third leaf, and some are already budding a fourth leaf!  The challenge seems to be keeping them moist, as being under the light dries the soil out daily.

Healthy bell pepper seedlings, one month after planting.

Two of the five seed varieties I planted from the GRIN research seeds have sprouted today.  I'm impressed, as it's only been 3 days since I planted them.  All five of one lettuce variety (Treibsalat Presto), and both of the beans have sprouted.  Much to my surprise, one of the beans has sent a root all the way to the bottom of the container (7cm) in the amount of time it's taken the top to break the surface.  Check the Research page to keep track of the progress on these plants and to see photos.

In other news, today was the last day of school before spring break.  I now have nine days with the kids and the weather is supposed to be warmer than it has been in a long time.  Yay!  I see all kinds of fun projects in the making...