Thursday, April 6, 2017

Starting seeds & direct sow - zone 5

It's the first full week in April which means it's time to sow more seeds.  Here in zone 5 our last frost date is May 30th so it's time to get our 8 week seeds in flats.  Yesterday I sowed 10 kinds of tomato, eggplant, bergamot, hyssop and zinnias. This would also be the time to sow pepper seeds but I buy those as transplants every year because my luck with them stinks.  There must be some kind of magic to starting peppers and I haven't got it.  That's ok because it's a good reason to go to one of the local greenhouses and see what's new.

It's been an amazingly productive spring so far. The spring side of the garden is well on the way to being planted.  The key I found was organizing this little basket with all of the seeds that need to out, along with the the labels (made from paint stir sticks).


The little basket sits by the door and every day when the little guy and I go out to play we grab something from it.  Then I rake away the straw mulch, scratch up a small patch of dirt and we plant the garden one packet at a time.  We've been no-till for a couple of years and there are earthworms everywhere - even worms are a crop to be gathered soon as the opening day of trout season is April 15th.  Counting down the days until I'm standing in the river.

In this way he and I have already put in 10 lbs potatoes, orach, spinach, chard, tatsoi, radish & fava beans. AND for the first time it actually looks organized!  Gardening every day with the little guy makes me so happy and I really wish my mother were here to see him helping. Gardening was her main passion and she would have enjoyed this so much.

Hope everyone is enjoying the really wonderful spring we've been having.

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great large garden.

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  2. Lovely to read and you're making such important memories for him. We're growing the same things, I can't wait to see how you get on x

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  3. I'm looking forward to seeing your garden this year - I want a full tour! Mine is just starting to fill up and I love it! Can't wait to eat it all! I'm thinking stir frys right out there in the garden, kids picking what they want to eat for that night tea! I love it so much and having kids keen and interested is just the best thing ever!

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  4. Thanks Kev! I can't wait to show it off providing it all grows and doesn't get eaten by chickens. We did some more planting today and I can't get over how much has gotten done so early.
    It is really exciting with the little one. Must be so much fun when they're a bit older like yours are. Love the idea of dinner outside.

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