It is either the snow storm raging outside my window, or the life-changing cup of coffee I bought a Sven's late this afternoon...but I am inspired to write, I was feeling like nothing new was happening in my gardening life. Today that has changed.
I filled my bird feeders after work and headed into the basement to fold the laundry I hung on the lines to dry this weekend. When all the clothes were off the lines, my plants and the lights that keep them alive lit up the room. Suddenly, it was no longer a dark, dreary afternoon. Spring had come to life in the tending of my babies.
The onions are fully sprouted as well as a few viola seeds that I put in the middle of my two different onions. I have them on a heat mat to keep them warmer. I also boosted them up to within 6" of the light so they get enough to keep from stretching out. I closed off the laundry/plant room entirely from the rest of the basement which has brought the temperature up into the mid 60's rather than low 50's I was reading on the thermometer by my plants. I hope to have my husband hand a simple folding door at the entry which should help keep it nice and toasty during the germination period coming up soon. The sheet is doing a pretty good job so far.
Next on my list of things to do is to sit down with my growing calendar and seed packets. I will count back from mid to late May for germination times and get everything in line for seeding time. Last year I made a separate chart and typed it all out. This year, I am using one of my extra calendars that I got as a premium for ordering "stuff", and just jotting the seeding times right on a regular calendar. I will keep hanging on the refrigerator as a regular reminder of my to-do list in the plant world.
If you decide to organize yourself and do the same, just figure out what your last frost date and first frost date is (predicted) for your area. The seed packets should have days to germinate as well as days to maturity on them, or in some cases, weeks to transplant. If it is days to maturity, count back from your expected date of first frost in the fall. If it is weeks to transplant, count back from date of anticipated last frost for spring. This should be something you can find on the web with your county horticultural web site or zone maps. I am not sure what standards they use in other countries, but the USDA (United States Dept of Agriculture) has zone maps that will answer that question for you.
It is also a good time to sit down with a garden map and think about where you are going to put seeds and plants into the ground this year. In my case, I have shrubs and roots coming in addition to the seeds. I am making a few new garden beds around the new patio which hasn't even been started, so planning will be key for making sure I keep space open as the later items arrive this spring. I also printed out a more complete list of plants tolerant or highly intolerant of black walnut (Juglans). This will be important in plotting out some of the new items I am testing this year. A garden map, even if it is not to scale, will help to keep order to the chaos that is spring. It will also help keep me from over-buying at the garden center and having no place to put in what I have spent good money on.
I have several other things to expend my caffeine high on, so I best move on to the next project. How long does it take to rip an entire cd library to an mp3 player anyway???
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