Seed starting adventures
How’s it going? Are you also in the depths of winter where you live but cultivating a little garden in your basement/garage/spare bedroom?
satisfying little soil blocks
Yes, saving money by starting seeds for your garden is great but honestly, maybe the best benefit of seed starting in a northern climate is that you get to see fresh green things at a time when the outside world is mostly white, gray, and brown. Even if none of my seedlings make it into the garden I think it will have been worth it just for the mental health benefits of having my hands in some dirt (well, potting mix) and seeing new growth every day during the doldrums of winter.
the first tray of seeds in my basement garden
I’ve greatly expanded my indoor seed-starting operation this year and am pretty thrilled with it. The back corner of my basement is full of light and green life and I’m excited to wake up every morning to water and inspect progress. I am starting altogether way too many seeds this year (see previous posts for my enthusiasm on that), but who cares? Gardening is a grand experiment and just doing it with intention is enough sometimes.
We returned from a vacation on March 13 and on March 15 I started my indoor seed starting marathon with strawberries, dusty miller, several bee balms, foxglove, lamb’s ear, safflower, snapdragons, verbena bonariensis, and globe thistle. I’m trying soil blocking for the first time this year and, I think once I get the hang of it, I’m going to be one of those soil-blocking evangelists. It saves so much plastic and space. Plus, it’s incredibly satisfying to stamp out those moist little brownie-looking cubes.
safflower cotyledons poking their little heads up
The safflower popped RIGHT up. So quickly, in fact, that I’m thinking I shouldn’t have started it so early. It’s Corrales azafran from Baker Creek seeds in honor of my friend Natalie who grew up in beautiful Corrales, New Mexico (where I had the honor of officiating her wedding in 2018). So, I’m delighted that it’s the first to take off as I get to think of her every time I check on my seedlings. Having moved back to Madison in 2021, with my friends scattered around the country, it’s a pleasure to find little things that make me think of them.
