Sprouts

Cucumber

Though a chill wind still howls outside my window, the days are getting longer and the sunshine more intense as thoughts of juicy, vine ripened tomatoes, bare feet and sandy beaches invade my brain. Spring has nearly sprung and with its approach comes grandiose plans for this year's garden. So hungry am I for those freshly picked veggies that I have already begun planting. I was actually on the ball this year and ordered a majority of my seeds with plenty of time to start them inside. I got all heirloom varieties from Baker Creek , a family owned, Missouri based company committed to preserving our agricultural heritage. I may have been a bit over ambitious with my ordering, as I will be trying a number of new crops this year. 
     
You may have noticed that, though the blog is entitled "Pots and Plots", thus far the focus has been entirely on the pots. This is mainly due to the fact that I generally start the growing season very enthusiastic and optimistic, but then grow increasing discouraged by powdery mildew, insects and blight. I have some new strategies that I intend to try this year, and I'm going in with the attitude that whatever yield I do get is better that nothing. I also hope that others can learn from my misadventures and offer up some helpful hints of their own.

Dwarf Sunflowers

So far things are going swimmingly. I planted 2 
varieties of cucumbers (short and long), broccoli rapini, dwarf and giant sunflowers, zucchini and May Queen butterhead lettuce. Everything but the lettuce is planted in egg cartons with organic seed starter soil. The only drawback to the egg cartons, is they seem to dry out rather quickly. I try to spray them religiously twice a day, and before most of the seeds sprouted, I tucked them in at night with a plastic wrap blanket. The zucchini, both cukes, the dwarf sunflowers and lettuce have popped their little heads up, but the giant sunflowers and broccoli rapini have yet to make and appearance. I'm wondering if perhaps I don't have enough sun for the rapini. We'll see. I planted the lettuce in its own little plastic spinach container greenhouse. I'm hoping to have a few heads grow to maturity inside, so I can dine on fresh greens while it's still frosty outside.

Baby Lettuces

I have only one window that's really suitable for incubating plant embryos. To make the most of it and keep the seedlings safe from cats and toddlers, I installed a simple shelf even with the top of the bottom pane. It's just a piece of plywood cut to size set upon two small blocks 

Ghetto Greenhouse

that are screwed into the sides of the window frame. I attached a smaller block just above the shelf to keep it from tipping. I tried to be as minimally invasive as possible as I intend to remove the shelf after it is no longer inhabited. I realize this is not an option for everyone. We own our house and have old, crappy windows. If this is something you can get away with though, it's working out very well!

So happy planting and stay tuned for more greens, outside, with row covers! (try to contain your excitement)