Backyard Bounty

I cleaned off the top of the refrigerator last week. While most people think that’s a logical thing to do on a regular basis it only means one thing around here: it’s time to start seeding. I like to set my trays of newly sown seeds on the top since it’s a warm and perfect for optimum germination.

 This year I’m working on following the Farmers’ Almanac’s planting guide according to the moon schedule. A couple of years ago I wrote an article, Mother Nature’s Planting Guide, for Hobby Farms magazine, about my and my father’s experiences following the “best days” planting guide. My father, who was a very traditional individual, swore by it, and tried to follow it as closely as possible. Of course, this doesn’t always work out well depending on your schedule, but it’s not going to hurt a thing to follow it.

I seeded a couple of small containers of ‘Copra’ onions last week, and they germinated in 3 days. Today was a big push to seed a lot more. Sam helped by soaking the containers with water before seeding, and of course, cleaning the sink afterwards. We planted eleuthero, which was fresh seed from Horizon Herbs, and set the pot outside to go through the rest of the winter. It’ll be interesting to see how well it germinates (or doesn’t). We also did: licorice, agastache, thyme, Brandywine tomatoes, Maxifort tomatoes (rootstock for grafting), Indigo Rose tomatoes, mini bell peppers, King of the North peppers,  medium hot block peppers, Carmen sweet peppers, Deadon savoy cabbage, Flowering Sprouts Brussels’ sprouts and Italian Trio eggplant. It’ll be interesting to see how well everything germinates this year… and how well I’m going to be able to keep up with moving them to sunny windows during the day.

Once the weather warms up a tad, or the sun is out, I’ll set the flats in the greenhouse during the day, and bring them all back in at night. Typically, after I hit about 20 flats that need shuffled daily, I’ll call it good, and break out the propane heater. I try to hold off as long as possible because I’m cheap, but it’s good to have it available once the spring is rolling along and things are busier the entire way around. Anyway, it’s very good to be started.

Tags: grafting tomatoes, greenhouse, heirlooms, starting seeds