tiny seedlings

As you can probably guess, since I love to garden and it is spring, I have begun sprouting seeds indoors getting ready for summer.  My first planting was on March 17th and I began to see sprouts from some seeds on Thursday the 19th... yay!  Sometimes I feel like I pot seeds with my shoulders down having done my part and leaving it to nature now, wondering if any of them will come up.  I always feel such a relief to see little curls appear from the soil.

Shaun and I are doing a repeat of last year and not planting our big garden until the first week of June when the ground is good and hot and seeds sprout up overnight it seemed.  Plus there was less tilling to do because the plants grew so fast.  Needless to say, I have not started any seeds that will go in our garden yet because the first week of June is much more than six weeks away and plants would be too leggy and hard to take care of.  And I am practicing patience.  So, the seeds that I have already begun are for flowers and herbs that will live through the summer in pots and such.  I did actually start some tomato seeds on Monday for Mom, Mary Evelyn and my friend Melia who all want them to grow in pots.

When planting seeds it can be very hard to keep up with what's what until there are leaves to identify.  Some of the seedlings I know from their first leaves but most have to be their second set or real leaves before I can tell good.  In the past I have labeled pots and made little markers to go on tooth picks to stick in the soil.  This year I gave in and simply drew a diagram of my starting tray and that will do until I start moving things around... then I will lose track of what they are!

My greenhouse is simple and portable.  I have a heater with a thermostat that cuts on and off by itself so as to keep a certain temperature for the seedlings and create a humid environment.  I also have a thermometer hanging inside the greenhouse to make sure it doesn't get too hot or too cold for them.  Later on, when plants are bigger and ready to harden off I can move the entire greenhouse outside, most of the time with the front flap zipped open.  Although I do have to seriously tie the little greenhouse down tight or a swift wind will knock it over.

So back to the seeds, so far I have planted basil, oregano, caraway, rosemary, petunia, snapdragon, dichondra, craspedia, lettuce mixes and tomatoes (for friends).  And here is my diagram in my journal.

basil

snapdragon... so fragile looking aren't they?

I may have over done it a bit with the oregano!  Look at all those seedlings!  I haven't had much success starting oregano in the past so I over compensated.  I hate having to pluck out the weak when it comes time to separate.

Grow Baby Grow

 

I feel like we are in the down hill stretch of seed starting and really we are.  This year I started a lot of seeds indoors, especially in the tomato department.  I currently have 96 plants if they all make it.  I know that sounds like a lot but to me it is just about right.  We will plant our normal batch in our garden which is usually around eighty of the same variety, a handful at the day care and the rest are late tomatoes that won't get planted until later.  This time I have about half Bradley, half Roma for the first batch planted.  I will can the Bradley's and make pasta sauce and make salsa from the Roma's.  The store on Etsy that I ordered my Bradley seeds from also sent a free packet of variety tomatoes, of which I planted them all like a good girl.  So really, my late tomatoes are a grab bag assortment and who knows what we will get.  The good part about that is that if we get something we like we can save our seeds for next year.

 

I also have cabbage and eggplant planted which is the first time I have begun both from seed.  They are doing great.  My green peppers did not come up so I will have to buy those plants. 

I have two dill plants which need a few more weeks, zinnias in two varieties who are ready for the ground, and a new flower that I've never grown before called Cleome. 

 

I have been caring for these little seeds, seedlings and plants for weeks upon weeks now, watering putting in sunny windows and moving them outside on sunny days and back in at night.  I actually get nervous when they are first planted in the ground like a little mother hen thinking a rain drop will drown them.  Our planting time seemed like it was taking it's sweet time getting here since we plant on May 10th or there-a-bouts.  This year we are already planning to wait another week or two.  The ground temperature is not warm enough nor dry enough to plant for our taste.  It takes warm ground to make these babies grow and I am not convinced that we won't have another frost.  I have to say it is ok with me right now that my plants have a couple of more weeks to mature.  If not, I would be stressing about not having them in the ground and might be tempted to plant them when I shouldn't.   Patience and gardening grow hand in hand.

 

Late tomatoes.

 

They look like they need water but really they don't.  I watered then decided that some needed a little more soil for support.