seed chart

i’ve been trying really hard to stay up on projects personally and professionally lately. that includes but is not limited to house, kitchen, laundry, shop, work, emails, voicemails etc. i’ve also made more of an effort to be home at night and actually make dinner (less take out). that kind of backfired on me last night as i was boiling potatoes…the lid of the pot EXPLODED out and glass chards were everywhere! unfortunately all components of said dinner were on the stove top. unless you want some pork and potatoes with a side of glass….we needed an alternate solution. i called up the dream killer and told how i almost died but i’m fine… get pizza. so that is what we did. the only fortunate part of said explosion was that i was able to complete my seed chart.

ok so let me continue by saying two things. 1.) i’m also trying really really hard to monitor the amount of seeds and plants that i commit to. last year went OVERBOARD. 2.) what i wouldn’t give to have the skill of calligraphy. seriously.

i am a seed catalog junkie. last year thrilled with the possibility of filling the land with produce. walking barefoot with the dogs through my expansive heirloom garden… i ordered over 200 seed packets. yea no joke. and i got about half of them planted (which in my opinion is still pretty good!) i did find however less tomatoes and more flowers was probably a good option. i am cutting back on things that cannot be frozen or canned and leaving that up to the farmers market (for crying out loud i go to like four a week). this includes but is not limited to eggplants, okra and pumpkins. which the deer ate anyway.

i focused on flowers this year more than veggies. they yield more, they are easier to take care of and they are great accompanist for when you bring your friends more zucchini. i ordered from two/three seed sources this year pending on what you classify as a “seed source”. i ordered all of my veggies and some flowers from rareseeds.com and the rest of my flowers from floret.com which i know about in advance now so next year i will get bulbs from there too. i ordered a handful of dahlia bulbs from shopterrain.com.

the problem with all the seeds is 1.) still no greenhouse so i’m going to have to figure out an alternative. 2.) seeds start at different times 3.) keeping them all straight.

i was wandering the aisles of target (before my financial reform) and i found this kraft paper wrapping rolls on clearance for two bucks. i thought it would make a nice long roll of a seed chart? i organized all my seeds based on variety (herb vegetable flower) and figured out my last frost date (and the before and after week) and based my seed starting  dates on the chart.

i have purchased the seed starting plugs before but i found that they made my plants a little too leggy and they lacked long term growth ability (that is a technical term for they died). i have found good success with either the peat pots or the larger transplant seed trays you have to fill with dirt. you buy the trays and then what size inserts you want (i found this size to work best for me)  and then grow under a light. (i just bought florescent lights from home depot). i have been reading a lot about warming mats and I think i might invest in a few this year. stay tuned.

what are your seed starting tips and tricks!? I’m as anxious to hear as i am anxious to plant!