Dreaming in Green...
All the talk of people starting their gardens has got me looking forward to the growing season here in NS Canada. It's a chilly -7c this morning, and we have a few more months of cold, snow storm filled winter ahead of us, but that's not stopping me.
I'm starting some seeds today.
I still don't have my garden plans finalized for this year. A few general ideas of what I'm going to grow and what's going to go where but I need to look over my crop rotation info and determine the best spot for each crop. That'll come another day.
Today I'm going to share the starting of some pepper varieties and some herbs and flowers too. These are plants that will do fine in pots as they grow, and in the case of the peppers they take so long to bear fruit that a big head start is great for them.
So, I've got seeds of Cayenne, Hungarian Hot Wax, Chamomile, Calendula, Rosemary, Echinacea, Lavender, and Catnip to start today. These will go out into the greenhouse when it gets warmer, and some will end up in the ground too. I'm kind of a go-with-the-flow gardener, and while I do lots of reading and receive lots of advice, I end up doing what feels right in the moment, and ultimately learn from it. Doesn't always lead to great things, but this is just my personal process and how I learn.
First I would like to share a few photos from the greenhouse last year, just to marvel in the beauty
tomato jungle
little sweet peppers
amethyst basil in flower
sweet 100 tomatoes up high
plentiful jalapenos
stripey og zebra tomato
cute unripe yellow pear tomatoes
my little green house built from scrap windows and wood that grows all these beautiful plants <3
Now, lets get to sowing!
Seed line up!
I picked up this seed starting tray at the dollar store the other day, just for fun. I do have many reusable cell pack trays for when I get into more veggie crops, but that's another day.
Some seed starting mix goes into a bucket to get pre-moistened. I'm adding some vermicompost from my indoor worm bin as well. This stuff is great for plants, full of microbes and minerals that give the seedlings a little boost, not to mention worm eggs!
In go the seeds... My heart is aflutter...
Gotta get some label action going on. THIS is a step I'm going to make an effort towards this year, especially for things like squash, pumpkins, and cukes. I didn't last year and had a mish mash of cucurbits planted together... not good.
I put on the little lid to create a mini greenhouse and set the tray on top of the fridge to germinate. I will transfer it to near the woodstove under a grow light when the little sprouts emerge!
That's it for this day, I think I'll start using the tag #growwithme as a play on
This is going to be an amazing growing season with knowledge shared here on steemit and discord, I am SO LOOKING FORWARD to seeing all the posts of other gardeners methods. I feel such an amazing thing about gardening is that the earth will teach you all you need to know in time, and that we can all have gardens that feed our families and communities if we just try to listen and learn.
I started gardening on a whim in the city about 3 years ago and since then have had many disappointments, but also so much joy. Now just thinking about sowing a seed, nestling a seedling into its spot in the garden, tucking it in with mulch and watering it deeply, observing it daily and watching it grow, all of these things make my heart sing.
Much love,