Valentine's Day in the rear view mirror, St. Pat's ahead! Who said winter is boring?
With these warm (50-ish temp) days, the plants are beginning to get on board for Spring. I wish I could start putting new plants in where I'm pulling out the perennial weeds, but it really isn't time yet. Once I finish the cleanup I neglected last fall, I'm going seed (not plant) shopping. Spending the next few weeks ordering seeds online, mixing up some potting soil in my greenhouse and setting up my grow lights in the unused shower should keep me from jump starting the season and killing off baby plants in a March frost.
My favorite online seed sources:
Johnny's Seeds (www.johnnyseeds.com) - they cater to the professional nurseryman
Territorial Seeds (www.territorialseed.com) - they have lots of great NW plants
Renee's Garden (www.reneesgarden.com) - they contribute part of every sale to the Master Gardeners
They all have such great information to make seed starting successful and their products differ so much that I often buy from all of them in one year.
My potting soil recipe came from a Penn State publication and is really easy. I get my big plastic garden trug (about 7 or 8 gallons) and mix in equal parts peat moss, perlite and packaged compost. If I can get aged manure, I use that instead of the compost. The tough part is getting the mixture wet enough to incorporate the peat moss and keep it wet - mixing it up and adding water several days ahead of planting is usually the best method. I've mixed up enough to fill one or two trugs and it lasts through the growing season.This year I'm going to water the seedlings with a diluted fish fertilizer. I've read recently that mixing some alfalfa meal into the mixture will boost the nitrogen available - I'll try that this year, too.
My grow lights are pvc pipes arranged to suspend one blue and one pink light on chains above my seedling trays. I had a photo of someone's homemade frame to start but it's really simple and can be built to fit the area you're using. I put mine in the shower since the bathroom floor is heated and we all know that bottom heating is the best (sounds a little naughty, doesn't it?). Here's the basic design: http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/10376/diy-pvc-grow-light-stand
I guess I should start looking for some seed potatoes, too - to celebrate my Irish heritage!
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