After a stupidly busy April, we finally found a free weekend & got our hands dirty, potting up seedlings & prepping the veg plot for another growing season.
While we do buy some vegetable plants from our local independent nursery, I’ve been trying to do more of our own from seed. For one, it’s ridiculously cost effective. But more importantly, starting from seed gets my hands in the soil for the full life cycle of our plants. The primeval magic of putting a tiny blackish brown speck in some dirt & having a huge yellow squash to show for it a few month later never ceases to amaze me. It helps me practice letting go of the blistering pace of modern life & brings a much deeper appreciation of the sweat, sun & rain that goes into what we consume.
To start our seeds, I’ve dinked around with peat pucks & grow-a-toriums & whatnot, but this year I went the seriously cheap & easy route. On occasion, we buy organic salad greens at the grocery store – they come in a rather stupid amount of plastic wrapping for something touted as “green”, including a large hinged clamshell container. I’ve been hoarding them in a pile in the kitchen all winter, & back in late March put them into service as mini greenhouses.
I used a special seed-starting mix this year, & while I don’t normally promote specialized/overpriced nonsense, I will say that in this case, the extra step was worth it. In previous years when I’ve used regular potting soil, I’ve had problems with the soil getting waterlogged & seedlings damping off. The seed starting mix is decidedly lighter & drains far better, making it much easier to keep delicately moist. It’s also a lovely fine texture, very easy for sprouting seedlings to push through.
My clamshell containers are about 4 inches deep, so after poking a few drainage holes in the bottom & corners with a steak knife (all class over here), I filled them with about 1.5 inches of starting mix, adding a bit of water at a time & mixing by hand to make sure it was evenly damp. C helped me position the seeds, a fun job for tiny fingers. Once the seeds were in, I dusted a thin layer of extra starting mix over the top, just to make sure everyone was covered nicely.
We had a ridiculously warm winter & a very temperate spring, so I was able to put our greenhouse boxes outside very early this year. I kept them inside at night for the first few weeks, but they were out on a table in the back yard during the day almost from the time we planted them. I monitored the exposure & vented the lids on sunny days to keep the heat from building up too much. I left the lids open completely when it rained, & the drainage holes performed admirably. Keeping the lids closed or only partially open really helped to retain the moisture & hold in the heat, & we saw our first sprouts within a week of planting.
Nearly 2 months later, our babies were big enough to transplant into their own pots. By this time, all the local shops were out of my preferred peat pots, so I used paper coffee cups instead. (Again, with the application of a steak knife for drainage holes.) I used a mix of organic garden soil & potting soil, for a blend that drains easily but has lots of organic matter for the young plants to feast on.
It was a pretty nice way to spend a hot afternoon, parked under our cherry tree putting tiny plants into cups.
As usual, we overplanted with the tomatoes. It’s an affliction born of our love of heirlooms & tomato-bread salad. This year is particularly exciting, as we’ve managed to revive seed that we collected from our community garden in Chicago. That’s right, folks, we got 6-year old seed to sprout, & sprout happily. Specifically, we are trying to resurrect two varieties that we fell in love with but have been unable to replicate using stock from local nurseries – Old German & Black of Turin (a variety that I can’t find info on anywhere). Both are huge sprawling heirlooms that yielded big lumpy, luscious fruit well into the mid western fall, so we have high hopes for an even longer season here in PA.
I put in a packet of Black Krim seeds as well, as what has turned out to be an unnecessary safety measure. We’ve also got a few yellow squash seedlings going, & Rainbow Sherbet & Sugar Baby watermelons, both of which will go in the ground once we’re a bit further past the last frost date of May 4th.
And what are we going to do with all these tomato seedlings? Assuming they all survive the transplanting & mature quickly, we’ll be looking for homes for them. Post a comment or find me on Facebook if you’re local & would like to add to your tomato garden.
It’s a lovely rainy day today, but I’ll try to get over to the main garden & take some photos once we’ve got the paper & straw down. Training green beans & peas up the wrought iron fence & experimenting with a trellis for the unruly yellow pear tomatoes this year… What’s in your garden?
I lack a garden…and a green thumb. However, this year in the wake of some personal disasters I’m turning my roof deck into a tiny oasis. I spent yesterday at the nursery & then on my deck. I have lavender, catnip, dahlias, alyssum, heliotrope, strawberries (!! This will be my first ever edible growing thing!) & a few other flowers whose names I cannot recall.
That’s awesome, Kate – never underestimate the restorative powers of one small, green growing thing 🙂
We have FINALLY started the process of clearing a spot for our vegetable garden, only took two and a half years! This post has got me super excited. What a brilliant use for the plastic lettuce containers! This year we will be sticking to plants from the nursery, but next year I just might try the seeds! As always, you are an inspiration!
Hiya Hayley! I would LOVE to get some tomato plants from you, if you have extra! It would be a nice excuse to visit you…..we could meet for coffee!
Sounds like a plan 🙂 I’ll FB you!