Sowing The Seeds

The Herb/Flower/Squash Beginnings

Despite a weekend of non-stop drizzle and cool temperatures, the time was now to get cracking on the crops I'm growing from seed. I want to give the seeds 4-6 weeks of germination before I transition them to bigger pots outside after the season's last frost. I took out the supplies I bought two weeks ago and first planted the cool season crops in their permanent pots. The finger carrots, rutabagas, Lisbon onions, and lettuce were the first to get put in potting mix. I chose long planter bins in order to simulate rows. I simply added potting mix, spread the seed, and covered the seeds with more potting mix at a desired depth per directions from each of the veggies' seed packets. I positioned the pots in a part of the backyard getting most of the sun. If you notice in the pic below, I still have the strawberry, peppermint, and chives plants from last year. Strawberries are perennial while the chives plant has quickly re-emerged. I was about to throw the peppermint plant away, but I saw green sprouts emerging from the soil. I figured I might as well keep it. As for the salad mix lettuce, I planted it in the round elevated pot I used for last year's cantaloupe. No special reason....it just looks like a salad bowl.

From L-R: Strawberries, Peppermint, Lisbon onions, Rutabagas (2 pots), Finger Carrots, Chives (back left), Salad Mix Lettuce (back right)

Once I finished with the outdoor seeds, I prepped my tray and starters for the herbs and acorn squash. I plan on keeping these cups inside at night and cool days. If the weather is nice and sunny, I'll probably stick them outside during daylight hours. As you can see, I have six seed cups for the inside. A seventh cup, dill, I'm leaving outside. The seed packet noted dill seeds must sit on the surface of the soil in full sunlight in order to start germinating. It does no good to have those seeds inside away from the sunlight. I'm very eager to see how the rosemary and acorn squash seeds develop. Rosemary is my favorite herb and I don't think my plant from last year will recover from the winter cold. As for the acorn squash, I won't be able to move that outside until late April or early May. So I figure I have a good month and a half to get the seeds to germinate before I can safely pot them outside.

Instructions Said to Plant 6-8 Acorn Squash Seeds Per Mound

Aside from the sowing this weekend, I've been mapping my layout for the garden. It will be much bigger and I'll have to put some plants on the other side of the walkway. But one lesson I learned from last year was accessibility to the plants. Once the plants grew to full size, it was very difficult to prune, water, and harvest because they were bunched together. This year, I need to make sure I have paths to walk between the plants. I also need to take into consideration which plants will want to spread out and cling onto things. Those may be better suited for the edges of the yard near the landscaping and fence.