tiny green spears

The first leeks are coming up!

Also swiss chard 

and the leaf beet chard showing bunches- soon I will thin them 

Nice to see bright green of the lettuces on deck table, on a cool morning (it was above forty all night, so I left them out in fresh air).

That's only half my usual first start for the year, but I am waiting now for a delivery of sterile seed-starting potting mix. The local nursery guy says they start all their seeds in Pro Mix (which is my usual go-to for the young garden plants and houseplants now) but in the past I have not had success with that- I still loose too many seedlings to damping off if I don't start them with a sterile mix. 

But last year at the end of spring I started running low on seed-starting mix so layered my seedling trays with Pro Mix on the bottom. Did the same this time too- an inch of Pro Mix on the bottom of the tray, then a handful of sterile seed-starting mix, blend it gently with a finger, then another inch of just seed-starting mix on top. I hoped the seeds being in contact just with the starter mix on top at first would avoid damping off, while having the Pro Mix layer on bottom would hold more moisture and give them nutrients in the last weeks before pricking out. Although that doesn't exactly make sense as the roots strike down first. Well, they did okay and at least it will stretch my seed-starting mix out until I get more.

Note for this season: I'm doing something different this year. Felt dubious about keeping the blog going except I realized need a record and pictures to compare, if this actually makes a difference. For over ten years now I have been mulching lightly with used coffee grounds, in the hopes that it deters slugs, squirrels and cats. It seems to keep the cat and squirrels off the garden beds as long as I refresh it regularly, but not much use against slugs- the beer or yeast traps work better for that. However, I read recently there is some evidence that coffee grounds retard plant growth, because of the caffeine. If put in the compost pile, that effect is neutralized by the time the compost is done. 

I have thought for many years that my plants are sub-par because the soil lacks nutrients, or I used some poor-quality additives, or there's been too many insects, disease and/or trees creating shade. Maybe it's that coffee grounds are hindering their growth. So this year I am going to quit doing that. Hot pepper and garlic powder also seems to deter the squirrels and cat, I just have to apply it more regularly (at least until the plants are grown enough to cover most of the ground). We'll see if the plants do better.