I knew that the Vernal Equinox was this Saturday, but because of other events in my personal life that particular specification ending up taking a back seat to some other details. However, I did know that today should be the day I start doing some gardening. Either way, I feel I celebrated appropriately.

I’ve only tried growing directly from seeds sown indoors once and it didn’t go so well. However, I have had some decent luck as a gardener in the past w. seed cells, and I’ve been encouraged by some of the lettuce and flower growth I’ve cultivated from very haphazard means of outdoor sowing. So I am encouraged w. the possibilities, and this time started with reviewing the instructions of each seed type to figure out what I should start with (and then translated the relevant information to a spreadsheet). As of the afternoon of the 20th, I was limited to 12 cells to plant in (I only had a single dozen-egg carton to get things started with). The roomies have a couple 18-egg cartons that I’ll be utilizing shortly, this attempt is really just about trying things out.

In the end, I chose mostly leafy greens, with one plant that is supposed to ward off insects (wormwood). This ended up meaning 2 cells for the Genovese Basil, 2 cells for the Thai Basil, 3 for the cilantro (i can probably harvest that year round and it’s in EVERYTHING), 3 for the Bloomsdale Spinach (another I can probably keep going all year and it should be planted early in regular climates), and then two for the wormwood. I really did get the wormwood b/c it sounded exotic and said it was proven to keep insects away as well as help w. stomach problems – not that absinthe isn’t interesting…. The wormwood seeds were especially small, which will make it all the more fascinating to watch what they might turn into.

In addition to some other weeding in the backyard, this was eventually set up in my egg carton and is stationed in the kitchen. In the past I’ve put the cartons on a plate, but this time I decided to finagle a bendable aluminum folding pan to fit the egg carton. In the long run I’m hoping it was a smart move; I’m guessing the reflective nature of the aluminum will both direct a little more sun on the plants, as well as retain the heat. We shall see…

Yep, I look forward to the sprouting of my babies. I did not germinate any of these seeds in water, partially b.c of time, but also because only one of the packets recommended it and it wasn’t any of the ones I was starting. The good news is that I got this all from Seed Savers Exchange so my seeds were super cheap. I used at most 20 % of the seeds provided (doubling or tripling up in the carton for maximum efficiency), but most of the herbs I planted came at 100 seeds for 3 dollars. Considering the local hardware store sells 20 for 2 bucks, this is a VERY sustainable situation if I can make it work. Honestly, I could probably grow about 5% of the seeds I’ve bought and justify my purchase monetarily. And in the end, this is going to be a learning experience and I really look forward to becoming more proficient in gardening.

Next stop – landscaping! Here’s the most recent picture of my full backyard (from November of last year, after the landlord de-weeded it – it’s way more green now because weeds are CRAZY out here). The Garden is behind the structure in the second level (which we call “The Clubhouse”), and those pics are at the bottom.

My Backyard in November!

The “Big” Garden (currently herbs, kale, parsley, lettuce, oregano, and calendula) In the foreground is some of my supplies, most notably the soils I purchased. I’m going to start things w. the “Black Gold”, as it has natural fertilizer in it, and then mix in a little of the other potting soil as needed.

Here’s the other part of the garden – the back part will probably have some sort of climbing flower in the back, and maybe something else in the front. This is mostly on top of concrete, so I won’t be able to grow veggies in this spot until I clean it out and set it up correctly (there’s currently chunks upon chunks of concrete in the back area). I have some red russian kale, parsley, lettuce, as well as some weeds growing nicely in the two holes that already existed for now though.

March 21st, 2010
Categories: Gardening . Author: Severe

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