Spring is on the way!

Even with the winter storm on its way, or maybe because I had to take advantage of the beautiful day-warmer than any we've had in the last two weeks, I think, I got three loads of laundry out on the line. In February! I'm sure some of the heavier pieces will have to finish with a few minutes in the dryer, but they smell so good after line-drying!

I was delighted to come home yesterday afternoon and find the seedlings I'd potted up on Thursday doing well. I started the seeds on damp paper towels in snack-sized plastic baggies Thursday, Feb. 1st. There weren't "supposed" to be many ready to plant before my weekend away, but I checked them last Thursday and knew I had a project to complete before I left.
I labeled and made up some 140 little newspaper pots using our new Potmaker, filled them with potting mix amended with a bit of rock dust for minerals, and ended up filling four trays with seedlings. I made sure they were all well-moistened and covered the trays with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. James was home to keep an eye on them, but he has his own projects and this one is pretty much mine.

That said, I thought I was going to be sharing out a good bit of my experiment here, and sprouted the seeds accordingly. James says he'll have plenty of room in the beds he's been building for all of them. Even so, if there's something you want, let me know.

I don't think we really need ten cherry tomato plants (Sweet Baby Girl) and ten Brandywine plants-especially since I still have to start my Roma/paste tomato plants. (I left ordering the tomato seeds to James, since he and Samuel are the ones who devour our fresh tomatoes, and didn't confirm that he had ordered my cooking tomato seeds. Oops!) We have three kinds of basil starting: Genovese (sweet, green-a "standard" basil), Thai, and Red Rubin. I am determined to protect these little ones from the slugs that got the babies I put out to start hardening off last year! Other herbs include: dill, cumin, cilantro, epazote (to flavor black beans), chamomile (wish I had some of this fresh to make a tea for the twins today!), and pennyroyal, with parsley still in the sprouting process. We're also starting quite a few different edible flowers this year: nasturtiums are probably the most noticeable at this point-with their ruffled purple-y leaves standing tallest in the trays, but we also have calendula, marshmallow, bachelor's buttons, an edible chrysanthemum, and borage in pots. The serrano chilis and "hot salsa hybrid" peppers are in pots. Still sprouting are: green tomatillos-so we can make Becky's tomatillo salsa!, Thai eggplant, pineapple ground cherries, a rainbow mix of bell peppers, lavender bergamot, Hungarian blue poppies, and shiso (an oriental herb that flowers-if I remember correctly-but I have to pull my notes together in one place---after my GRE).

My experimental vegetable for the year is artichokes, and I'm sure I have too many of these! They are a biennial/"tender" perennial, but I've heard I may be able to trick them into flowering this year-if it stays cold long enough. (Thanks, groundhog! Weird weather.) I have roughly a dozen pots each of two varieties, and each plant needs elbow-room to the tune of 3-4 square feet each. They are an interestingly shaped plant, and we're thinking to plant a few in the front yard, but even so, I think I got carried away. Anyone else want to try growing one or more???

While I was gone, James finished the trellis frames along one side of the yard. I do so appreciate having him as my partner in life! Thirty+ feet of garden bed ready and waiting for peas and beans!!! Beans were our big success last year, so I'm hoping we can keep that going this year.