Welcome Spring!

 At 11:33am today, Spring begins. I noticed the daffodils are beginning to push through the mulch in front of the house, but no daffodils in the cooler backyard yet. Unfortunately, the 100 Crocus bulbs I planted last Fall have become snacks for the rabbits so far. 

The seeds started in the last few weeks have been growing well. Peppers and eggplants are slow to germinate, and are just sprouting. Tomatoes won't be started until around tax day, at that point the cooler crops like kale and some lettuce can go outdoors and make room for the larger tomato starts. 

I plan to start more basil and hot peppers today- two plants rabbits pay no attention to. I'm guessing the plants strong flavors are repulsive to the little guys. 

Cruciferous veggie cotyledons (first leaves) look like shamrocks, or little hearts... they are my favorite.

Eggplants- Asian Express

Misty Morning- Happy Spring and Happy Sunday

                                       

Here comes Spring, time for Seed Starting

 

On Tuesday, I kicked off seed starting by bringing up the wire racks and lights from storage in the basement, and sanitizing 1020 trays and the used 6 packs from last year. The seed starting set-up tends to clutter the dining area, but it's a welcome mess. 

Last Fall, I found a seed 'grab bag' for $15 containing 30 packets of seed. The company is a small Michigan based seed distributor I learned of through YouTube. I enjoy their videos, so it was nice to support someone with a small business, and a funky garden like ours. 

I know I didn't need 30 different packets of seed, but why not for 50 cents each and I was curious to see what sort of variety they would send. I'm planning on trying to grow everything but the melons, as I don't have the room to grow such big plants. But, maybe I'll try it just to see...

Despite having 30 packets of new seed, I started the 2021 planting season using seeds from Johnny's and Baker Creek. The grab bag didn't include any peppers or eggplants, and they need to be started early, so I used some seeds from past seasons. The Spicy Globe basil is a small leaf basil that grows well in pots according to the packet. I'm looking forward to tasting this new to our garden variety. 

After a diluted bleach bath... we are ready to go!

Junky old blinds the cats destroyed make for good plant labels. Use pencil or a grease marker as Sharpies fade quickly. 

Fun colored silicone 6 packs I received for Christmas. They will be more durable than black 6 packs that tend to crack after about 2 seasons of use. It will be interesting to see how they hold up. 

I've used these wire racks for at least 7 years now. The LED lights are hung on chains, and the height is easily adjusted as the plants grow. They hold cans of paint in the offseason. A heated grow mat is placed under the trays to help with germination. I only used the mats for the plants that need it warm to germinate, like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. 

Propagating elderberry, mulberry, thimbleberry, and honeyberry. I read all of these bushes can grow from dormant cuttings stuck in moist potting soil... we shall see! Berry plants can easily go for $15 plus, so I'm hopeful this will be a cost effective way to grow more berry plants. As I wrote earlier, things get a little cluttered in the Spring with my gardening experiments. Lucky to have a sunny room to grow in.

 

The mulberry a few days ago after a fluffy snow storm... all of the snow was gone by the evening.

Welcome to Root Notes!

 

I'm hopping on the blogging train for this growing season. I plan to document the steps from seed starts to harvest and preservation for Spring through Fall 2022. The blog name 'Root Notes' is a play on words as I'm also learning to play the ukulele, and found it very relaxing to strum in the backyard while enjoying the sun and flowers last year.  

The definition of root note in music theory is the pitch that establishes the tonality of a musical key, chord, or scale. That's far beyond what my musical understanding is when playing the uke, but with this initial post, I hope to set the 'tone' for future posts. 

The next post will review my plans for the seed 'grab bag' I purchased at the end of the season from MI Gardener last year.