seeds

Ready for spring! I bought a few packets of seed to supplement what's already in the fridge. Two kinds of Beets- one good for fresh eating, the other a canning variety. Carrots, and some flowers- happy to have pink and red Cosmos varieties, and I've been wanting to try and grow Coneflowers for some time. They're pretty, grow back every year, and are great for attracting butterflies and other insects!

Mind, I wasn't actually planning on doing anything with seed for a few weeks yet, but the sunny weather and new packages were too tempting so daughter and I spent the afternoon starting seed trays. We planted tons of stuff! Cherry Tomatoes, Heirloom tomatoes, Bell peppers, a Hot pepper mix, Romaine and Simpson lettuce and Broccoli. Flowers: Marigold, Cosmos (both new pink mix and saved seed of the orange variety), Tithonia and the new Echinacea or purple coneflower. Herbs: Cilantro, Basil, Chives, Oregano, Sage, Parsley and Rosemary (those last three of seed from my mother's garden!). And for fun, we've planted some seeds of an orange in a pot, just to see what happens. Oh, and a month ago (forgot to mention) I stuck the Plum seeds into a pot outside on the patio, where it got some weathering in the freeze-and-thaw of late winter.

So now the top of my fridge is crowded with seed trays! I'm very happy about that. Most of the plants I've started about the same time as last year, which worked out well. The Tomatoes a little earlier. Next effort will be the struggle to find enough windowsill space with good light or spread the seedlings out under all the lamps in the house (which annoys my husband somewhat). I'm already planning to shift the two coldframes off the lettuce bed to the porch, as soon as it looks like they can do without protection, so they'll be ready to receive new baby plants...

And I haven't even mapped out my garden yet. Already the plans are quite a bit different from last year. Because of the coming baby, I don't want any plants that take a lot of nitpicky care (picking bugs off every early morning?) or are new-to-me and thus difficult to grow (like the corn). So I'm sticking with what's been simple and hardy in the past: tomatoes, peppers, leafy greens, peas, beets, carrots, etc. Not much bothered by bugs. Basically it means I'm not doing all the cucurbits this time, which is kinda sad- the Cantaloupes were so delicious last year! But I'm hoping that maybe a season with nothing tempting for them in my garden will help get with the cucumber beetle problem, too!