Finally had some time to get most of the early seeds started over the weekend. Time is at a premium around here, and while I’m a couple weeks late with some things, I was happy to at least get them going as early in March as I did.
Among the things planted were some standards – a bunch of tomatoes (adding a few new varieties this year, for a total of 48 plants), peppers (again, some new varieties; I’m trying some frying-style [longer, skinnier, and usually thinner-walled] peppers vs the normal bells – the bells just never impressed me, and most take a long time to ripen to their ‘true’ color, so by the time frost hits, I have a bunch of small, green peppers to pick; I’m hoping the new ones are more productive), eggplant, onions, broccoli, cabbage – and some newer additions, including kale (planted some last fall, but it didn’t get very big before the days got too short for anything to grow), leeks (also did these last year, but they’re versatile and we’re growing to like them a lot more, so I’m doubling up), kohlrabi (and planted a few of these last year too, but somehow the dogs ate them before we did…) tomatillo, and okra.
The ever-helpful C really wanted to assist with the delicate seed-planting operation, but I convinced him (mmm, sort of) that we’ll plant stuff in the spring when it’s warmer outside and the seeds are bigger. Okay, maybe he wasn’t really convinced, but was content enough to just plant popsicle sticks (that he had written labels on, just like I was doing) in the soil I wasn’t using. Give him another six or seven years, and I can just turn all this over to him. I certainly admire his passion – he’s going to be a great helper when he’s a little taller and stronger. And then he’ll turn thirteen…
Definitely ready for spring around here!
I tell myself all my work for my sons in these early years will pay off when I can extract labor from them in the future. But really what will probably end up happening is they’ll spend all their time hunting and trapping with their father and I’ll still be left to myself with the garden.
Oh well. Presumably by that time I’ll be able to sleep more than four hours at a stretch, so that will help.