I realized with a bit of panic that since I kicked the LG front loader out of the house and bought a top loading washing machine, my old seed starting area was gone! I used to get 4 flats on top of the washer & dryer and hung lights above it, it made for great warmth and vibrations too and was nicely out of the way. I decided to repurpose the kids' computer desk that was on its way out of the house too. It works for the one seed flat and heat mat for now, and I was going to suspend a light for the bottom rack too, but hubby has decided to build me "something".... yet to be determined LOL! I told him I need it in a couple of days because these babies are going to need light as soon as they sprout! Looks like this year will be a trashy setup that will be smack dab in the middle of my bedroom, but oh well, it's not like it's an option to not start seeds!
This is just round one, the "big deal" stuff will be started in a few more weeks.
Sown today:
Purple of Romagna Artichoke
Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli
Piricicaba Broccoli
Olympia Spinach
Val d'Orges Lettuce
Mache'
Tango Lettuce
Greed Salad Bowl Lettuce
Large Leaf Sweet Basil
Sweet Peas (just a few, most will be direct sown soon outdoors)
As I was cleaning out The Garden Binder of last year's plans, I came across these:
On the bottom are my plans, Loch's on the top left, Finn's on the top right. I think I'll save theirs from year to year to look back on someday. One thing's for sure, I didn't grow carrots as big as Finn obviously wanted!
I came across a good buy also - if any of you live near a Borders, all their calendars are now $1.00! Even big planner type calendars. I typically use the computer/phone calendar for my day to day stuff, but I always have a regular size one for the garden to mark up with planting and weather notes, and I need a separate one to keep track of Master Gardener volunteer hours. Normally I don't care what's "on" these calendars, just that they're cheap, but I found some good ones!
Border Collies for the garden, naturally - a "Knitting" box calendar that serves no purpose other than it has over 100 laminated card knitting patterns for $1.00, and the last one was an odd find but perfect for me - it's a Minnesota weather journal/calendar complete with the local-back home Minneapolis/St. Paul news team on the back... wierd here in VA but will be nice for the volunteer hours log!
Found a poem in the kids' room... I'm going to stop cleaning in there, it's getting wierd. Loch has retreated into a world of chess, math & science.... sigh.... where did he get this gene from, certainly not his parents!
Do you even know anybody who has a good, dedicated area to seed starting? I sure don't. Do ya have to have a heated greenhouse for that? It's always such a hassle and seems to last for MONTHS!
ReplyDeleteRegarding Loch's open house tonight, may I suggest you part your hair in the middle, pull it straight back into a pony tail at the nape of your neck and do you have a nice, little sleeveless argyle vest you could wear with long skirt, leotards and Birkenstocks? I want pictures! ;o)
I've been contemplating starting some seeds early but I can't figure out where to do it. We don't have anywhere not even my bedroom or we'd have to climb over the bed to get to the door. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI wear Birkenstocks with socks! Yes I do. They are comfy and in the summer I take off the socks. Does that mean I'm smart? Probably not just old and don't care about fashion anymore. It's all about comfy now.
Erin don't forget your smart phone and iPad. That's what all the geeks have now.
Mama Pea, there are a few bloggers out there who have quite the setup, I'm jealous! I have basement envy! My brother's basement is about as big as a football field, it's wierd - it seems twice the size of his house LOL, and it's EMPTY! You are right, this stage seems endless, but now that I do it I feel like a poser going and buying plants from the nursery LOL!
ReplyDeleteBirkenstocks, check - ponytail, check... but I don't think I can carry it off. They'll all be thinking "oh that poor kid, so smart... just look at his mom though, I wonder what happened there?" eheeheee!
Sparkless, I have the Birks & socks & the iphone, sadly I think smart fashion has changed and we're left in the dust LOL!
ReplyDeleteStart those seeds anywhere! I had some in the kitchen last year, there's no "good place" for them :)
My seed starting area looks a tad trashy, too. After all it's a "beer bench table" like you would see at Oktoberfest. And it's covered in trash bags and newspapers to protect the table... So purdy... but hey, it works... Those calender finds are great, especially the knitting and border collie calender.
ReplyDeleteSparkless - YES! Your socks with Birkenstocks definitely do mean you're smart! Want me to post a picture of my Birks? I still have my very first pair that aren't even wearable anymore but for some reason, I can't seem to throw them away. Just keep remembering to think, "I'm built for comfort, not speed." That's my motto when it comes to dress, too. (As we speak I have elastic waist pants on! Shock!!)
ReplyDeleteI used to start my seeds in my bedroom on top of the radiators. Although I barely have enough room to get around my tables in the basement...I'm not going to complain one bit!!
ReplyDeleteMake sure that you wear a pair of reading glasses tonight :)
Wow, that Minnesota book is a sign. I agree with Mama Pea, we all have weird places for starting seeds. If it works, don't worry about it. It also keeps me from having dinner parties, as the seeds take up the dinning room and some of the kitchen. See, silver lining.
ReplyDeleteYou know, my brother was in the chess club when he was about Loch's age. Now he's a mechanical engineer who works for GE. Just saying. :) I absolutely love his poem. And their garden plans. Do save those, he will enjoy seeing them when he's older, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteI have plants sowed all over our house, on every windowsill because I haven't set up a decent grow light system to date.
BTW, that is a great score on the calendars! And I look forward to seeing how your artichoke plants do. That's something I've been wanting to try, because I hear it's hard to grow.
ReplyDeleteMy bedroom is untidy growing central too! Good luck finding your pocket protector!
ReplyDeleteI am chuckling at your little treasures from the children; seems they always do something wonderfully unexpected. Erin, don't worry about the bedroom... I have them in the kitchen, the office... whatever works, right?
ReplyDeleteMy seed starting overtook the master bathroom and my closet. My husband thought I was nuts! I thought about the laundry room, but I think my cats would have thought any seedlings were there snacks. Good luck with your seedlings!
ReplyDeleteOo. I'm so jealous. But another two weeks and I can start my really early stuff (parsley- maybe some onions...) But we're still in the arctic here.
ReplyDeleteBut since I can't start seeds yet, I will claim to have a pretty awesome seed starting get up. I just need to reclaim the shelves from all the stuff that has accumulated on them over the course of the last 9 months. Ugh.
Judy
I can't stand how much Loch and the boy are alike. His classwork papers come home with math doodles in the margins and he beat his grandfather in chess this weekend. Of course my dad, a fierce winner even against a 6 yr old, wouldn't give up the game and refused to admit he'd been beaten which then made the boy cry, but hey, he did it.
ReplyDeleteI hope all goes well with the seeds and the open house! I might actually start seeds indoors this year. It will be a first! :) I can't wait to see your baby plants come up! :)
ReplyDeleteWay to go with those seeds Erin. Making me look bad...It's still a work in progress here.
ReplyDeleteI love it! I can't wait until Jonathan is old enough to come up with his own garden plan. These will be great to have when they are older.
ReplyDeleteI love the garden plan drawings, how sweet!
ReplyDeleteI came across this great idea while helping my sister look for DIY wedding invitations; Plantable seed paper! I did a google search and found lots of great tutorials. All of this talk of seeds reminded me of your blog and since you have kids who are the perfect size for messy projects, I thought I would share. Here are some links...
http://www.graciousrain.com/2010/04/27/seed-paper-tutorial/
http://homegrown.org/blog/2009/07/diy-week-make-your-own-seed-embedded-paper/