The time to start your vegetable sprouts is here. Or for the crazy lady who started hers in January, the time to up pot the vegetables is here. I’ve started my plants indoors now for two years. It’s a lot of work, it takes up a lot of room, but it also gives a lot of reward. Plus, Ranger loves that he can be inside and warm while still sniffing the plants; tomato plants in particular. I started out with one tray of seeds, that one tray had 72 cells but that’s beside the point. I drew out a grid on paper and labeled each square with what seeds I was going to put in them. Asking Ranger what seeds I should plant only led to tomatoes. He picked out several varieties of them, and we made a compromise of half a tray of tomatoes instead of a whole one.
Normal people will read the germination tips and growing speed on the back of the packets. I’m not that
See GARDENING page x kind of person, I tend to lean towards the “if it grows, it grows” method. Eighteen different species of veggies got a chance to start in my sunroom; four short days later I had my first sprouts. Two days after that, more sprouts, 16 days later I had to up pot to solo cups.
I don’t know how it all went right, but it apparently did. Ranger was pleased. He would come in to survey the sprouts and give them all a sniff. Almost all of the seeds we planted sprouted, almost all. The lavender seeds stayed dormant and unwilling to do anything. Doing a little research finally I did learn that lavender is very hard to grow from seed and needs a particular germination process. A process of which I have not perfected yet.
When growing tomatoes from seed they do need to go through some strength training. In order to be and to handle Oklahoma wind and sun, they need to grow up to be big and strong. A fan will help with that. For several hours a day I would turn on a high-power fan to beat the crap out of the tomato sprouts. Then Ranger’s nose would come and nudge them around for good measure. As for the sun part, you’re supposed to stick them outside for a bit to become accustomed to the sunlight, but it’s been cold and I don’t want them to die.
The bean and cucumber sprouts grew enough they started latching onto the grow light, the pepper plants have already started putting on flowers, and all my herbs are already very aromatic. Having fresh dill in the house is one of my favorite things ever. I love the smell of dill. I held it out to Ranger for inspection… he ate it before he had a chance to smell it. So, I assume it passed the test I have had to up pot one more time to half gallon containers. I don’t use anything special for my soil mix, no additives like perlite or bone meal. I just use the cheapest potting soil mix I can find, I don’t add any fertilizers or stimulants. I water from the bottom up so they are always sitting in a tray of water. I try really hard to not let them go dry. Which proves slightly difficult when Ranger comes in to see his crop and feels a little thirsty at the same time.
I plan on planting everything in the garden soon, and am hoping we’ve had the last of our really bad freezes. The only thing I haven’t sprouted in dirt are my potatoes, those I’ve grabbed out of my pantry (and Ranger’s sneaky mouth) and allowed their “eyes” to grow. I’ll cut them up into chunks and plant those in a soil/straw mix that will be in a container for easy potato picking.
More than likely I’ll add vegetables from local greenhouses with what I’ve sprouted. Janie’s Garden always has amazing tomato plants to which I can never say no to. I’m hoping to get a good yield of veg this year, enough that I can share with my friends and family. But not so much that I’m throwing a squash at every passer by just to be rid of it.
I’m not a professional grower by any sorts, and as much as Ranger thinks he is, he is not. He is a professional tomato taste tester though. I will say that if you want to try your hand at growing your own garden from seed try it! It can’t hurt to try. Grow them inside way too early, or try directly in the soil of your garden after the last freeze. Ranger and I will be here to believe in you!
