On March 16, 2011, I planted my seeds!
In three trays, I used 6-cell packs collected over the past several years. In the fourth tray, I used 3 inch pots collected from fuscia starts over recent years. I also used my Jiffy warmer pad in the fourth tray (although two months later I can say it really didn't make a difference--in fact, my zinnias and impatients did better without the heat). Also, for the first time, I used seed starting mix instead of soil and I actually washed every little pot out with soap and water. I must admit, it was a pain trying to remember to water the seedlings with fertilizer and after all the fuss, I didn't notice any difference using freshly cleaned pots and seed starting mix.
Here's what I seeded (all seeds are Humes):
- Early jalapeño
- Delicious 51 cantaloupe
- Sugar Baby watermelon
- Lemon cucumbers
- Green Marketmore 76 slicing cucumbers
- Blue Lake Pole green beans
- Jackpot Bush zucchini
- Summerpac squash
- Jack O'Lantern pumpkins
- New England Pie pumpkins
- Sweet 100 tomatoes
- Beefsteak tomatoes
- Evergreen White Bunching onions
By March 29, most of the seeds had sprouted!
In addition to the indoor seeds, on April 7, 2011, I also seeded (or is "sowed" the proper term here?) some bunching onions, Danvers Half Long carrots and Olympia Spinach in the cold-season bed. Here's how they look now:
On that same day, I seeded my salad table with Perpetual Spinach-Green Leaf Chard, Little Finger baby carrots, Red Globe onions, Walla Walla onions, Salad Bowl lettuce, Great Lakes lettuce and green and red Romaine lettuce. Here they are now:
The nice thing about this salad table is that I can move it around (with help-it's heavy!) when the weather starts getting too warm. I can keep it in morning sun and then move it into shade if needed. Also, I practically have no bugs to contend with. Or weeds. Plus, no bending! I am considering constructing a few more of these for those reasons. Next time though, I'd use a lighter soil mix--maybe put the true square foot gardening mix (1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss or coconut coir and 1/3 compost) because it would be much lighter and easier to maneuver.
