But here I sit pining away for the summer days to come and looking at all of the different varieties of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, carrots, etc. Why would I even be thinking this so far in advance? Its because I learned some tips last year from some very wise women. I had gone to a plant sale to see what hierloom varieties there were and to see if there was any other neat thing to add to my stash. I had left with a bit of plant envy. My tomato and pepper plants were 1/3 the size of the plants that they had. How did that happen? I followed the seed directions exactly. I began to pepper one of the ladies with questions and what I learned was that these plants had all been starting lovingly inside these women's homes in February (in case you have been ignoring your calender that is less than 33 days away!) They were not watering them from above but rather from the bottom as the plants would use thier roots to suck up water from trays and become very strong this way.
I don't yet have a greenhouse although I am still drooling over a glass one that I saw at Menards last year. I do hope that maybe by next growing season I will have one of my own. But, what I do have is a laundry room with a nice bright window. I figure maybe this is a good place to start my seed, after all it is sunny and warm when my dryer is running. I will keep you posted on my venture as I begin. Oh, I almost forgot. I also learned that my potting soil may not be as good as using a mix of vermiculite, pearlite and compost (in 1/3 ratios). I did try this on some of my later plantings last year and it worked significantly better than using potting soil which had a tenedency to get hard while in the plugs. So, I am waiting and drooling while drinking my cup of tea.
I can't wait to begin getting my hands dirty.