Starting The Gardening Season

 Every year, I need to reorganize the potting table.  It gerts clutterred...

Before:

Middle:  

Done:

The barrel is filled with sterile potting mix I make.  The stack of trays on the left are filled with potting soil ready for seed-planting.  The buckets below are filled with leftover vermiculite. perlite, peat. 

I have a lot of less-than-usual flower seeds this year (meadow and pollinator flowers), so I will be starting more than usual.  But at least I have lots of planting trays with good soil.

My Seed Tray

The seed tray I made a few years ago works great.  Holds vials of seeds conveniently and is sized to fit in the old basement fridge.  The newest one is on the left, my first on the right.  Having 2 layers makes the vials stay upright better.
 
Well, it broke.  Gluing plywood on the edges is weak, but I thought it was sufficient.   OK, time to re-glue.  I wedged the edge up just a little, and the other side came loose too.  Broke it.

OK, time for screws!  Not that it is easy to put screws into the edges of plywood.  Plywood is made of layers, screws apply outward pressure, layers separate!  So I used the thinnest screws I had (#4 if you know about that), drilled the largest hole I dared, used more glue (worked for several years and it sure can't hurt), clamped it all together and drilled countersunk holes for the screw heads, and screwed them in by hand until they were "barely tight", but flush with the surface.

That may seem like a lot of effort, but it is SO convenient for fitting in the fridge and for finding a vial of seeds (I have 90 seed vials).  My Dad used to just keep packs of seeds in a box in the garage, and I remember him searching through the box in frustration.  And being in the garage, they didn't last long.

But I got it all back together...

The vials fit through the top, and there are holes in the bottom too...

The sides are both glued AND screwed now, so it should hold together better...

And speaking of the basement fridge...  Here is the insides.  The black bottles are Nyger thistle seed I use to feed the finches.  Keeping them chilled helps them last longer.  I have more in the freezer section.  I buy it in a 50lb bag.  Not because I want 50 lbs at once, but because it is really good quality and I can't get it in a smaller size from that source, and finches are fussy about fresh seed.  The Big Box Store stuff is crap.  They let it sit out in the sun and it goes bad.

The seed tray fits perfectly next to them.  Yes that was deliberate.

Below the the thistle seed is beer.  I use it in place of water when baking bread.  Gives it a "deeper" flavor.

Next to the beer are jars of saved seeds.  I have some "self-sowing" seed flowers of types the bees and butterflies, and hummingbirds like.  But they are not as good at "self-sowing" as I would like, so I harvest dried flowerheads and separate the seeds to spread around in the beds in Spring.  And then I use a rlloer to spread compost over them.  I don't mind "helping Mother Nature" a bit.

My sealed-vial refrigerated seeds germinate after 10 years, when at normal temperatures and humidity, they would fail after 3.  And they are easier to find.  The vials are all numbered and I keep a list in 3 places (a 3 ring binder, the seed tray, and my set of index cards arranged by week of planting.  4 actually, it's on the computer.  Well, the complete disaster would be losing track of what seeds were in which vial.

I had to order more seeds (they do get used up when they last longer), but only 8 of the 90 vials.  And some just never never get used up before even being refrigerated they expire.  Celery comes about 1,000 seeds per pack.  My new oregano packet has 2,000.  I'll never use all those.  I plant 4 celery plants per year, and I only want 2 oregano plants, LOL!

Some of my seeds take a few weeks to germinate and grow slowly (especially some flowers), so planting season starts soon.  I used up my trash barrel of mixed potting soil from last year, so I better find the ingredients soon to make a new batch...

I usually do that in the Fall, but I slacked last year.

Indoor Gardening

Some plants grow well indoors under lights.  Lettuce is one of them, and I love my salads!

The specific names don't matter, but from left to right:  A loosehead , a purple romaine, an endive, and a red leaf.  The nice thing is that I can just take scissors and cut off a plant 1" above soil-level and it grows back.  Each 24" tray holds just enough that each plant grows back in time to be harvested again.  They go on for months that way.  And they are completely organic!

I got the planter trays from WalMart, I mix the soil myself (peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, and slow-release 12-6-6 fertilizer) but any houseplant potting soil will do.  I grow them under fluorescent lights on a rack.








I use standard lights (I used to use those Gro-Lux lights, but they are expensive).  But I learned that the white lights work fine IF the color index is right.  Plants like the red and blue ends of the spectrum so make sure the "temperature" listed on the box or label is at least 5,000K if you try this yourself.  BTW (possibly over-explaining) green leaves look green because the plants DON'T absorb that color.  But purple leaves do, so the 5,000K that produces all colors works for them too.

I also grow basil and celery, but I just replanted those trays, so no pics at the moment.

Since I'm discussing lettuce, here is my typical tossed salad:  Several lettuces, grape tomatoes, onion, mini-cucumbers (because they are seedless), chick peas, black olives, green olives, bell pepper, and sometimes a chopped mushroom or carrot or cubed ham.  Some people like cheese or croutons; I don't.  Otherwise, if you can eat it raw, I add it.  Except cabbage type stuff (I love them as sides, go figure).  They don't go well with tomatoes...

Well, since I'm discussing food, here's my typical meal:  3-4 oz non-fish meat (I hate fish), a large salad, and 2 side veggies (a green and a red/purple/orange/yellow).  With a couple glasses of Zinfandel (goes with everything I eat).  Dessert is nuts and fresh fruits. 

Sometimes some vanilla ice cream and Lindor/Lindt truffles...  Extra Dark, White, and Hazelnut.  I buy a 120 piece box of each about once a year.  360 pieces, 365 days. 


Tomorrow, I sit down with the seed catalogs and my seed tray and see what I need to order for next year.


The current model is on the left.  But the old one is good for carrying seed vials out to the garden.  All the vials (specimen containers I found on sale once) are numbered top and sides and I keep a descriptive list on a spreadsheet and the tray stays in the basement refrigerator (which I use as a root cellar for bulk stuff.

There is a fine line between "organized" and "obsessive", and I'm not sure which side I'm on.  LOL!  Probably, since I wonder about it, I am (barely, I hope) just under it. 

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year To All.

Seed Starting

I've mentioned before that I have a box of index cards I created that reminds me when to start seeds indoors, outdoors, and transplant dates.  Some years I get behind, but this year I've been staying on schedule.  Or so I thought.

Oh NO!  I completely forgot about the flowers!  Those aren't in the index cards because I change flowers too often and even varieties of the same kind can have different indoor or oudoor planting dates. 

But I have that information for the flowers on my seed list.  Sure enough, I should have planted some of them a MONTH AGO!  So I stayed up late Saturday to set up 6 flats of my starter soil mix in my 36 cels per flat and poured warm water into them to soak the soil.  I have been expanding my selection of flowers the past couple years.  They all want different conditions.

Sunday, after changing all the clocks (and I sure have a lot of them) I planted!  And it isn't just pushing seeds into the soil.  Some want 1/8", some want 1/4" and some want NO cover at all (needing light to germinate. 

And some want cool temperatures (50-60), some want 70-80, and some want in between that.  And since some want cool temps and light, and some want warmer temperatures and don't need light until the emerge, it got really tricky.  I spent an hour just sorting out seed packets by requirements, LOL!

But when I had that all done, it was easier.  Some were super-easy.  A whole flat of one kind, like marigolds or balsams or salvia required no combinations with other seeds.  Others did though, and as a result, I will have some more of some flowers than others I am used to. 

And, BTW, when I say a 36 cel flat, I really mean 35, because I always leave one cel cut out for easy watering.  I used to lift a corner of one cel to water under, but I noticed that one one seldom grew (because I was bending and thereby ripping the roots I think).  You learn stuff...

But I got most of them sorted out by temperature and germination requirements, and here is what I have growing!

I planted 6 flats.   Some can be under lights in the 64 degree basement.

 Some can be upstairs at 72 degrees and need light but are sitting on a countertop  (covered to prevent cat-exploration).

Some are in the cool basement and not needing light yet...  And, BTW, that light-color stuff is vermiculite which doesn't crust over like soil and makes it easier for the seedlings to emerge.

 Some are in the cool basement uncovered and exposed to light...

And aside from all that, my veggie seedlings are all up and growing well.  

Most of these seeds are several years old.  But because I keep them in sealed vials in the basement refrigerator, they last 3 times as long as the packets suggest.  I got almost 100% germination this year.

Next week, I have more flower and veggie seeds to plant indoors (and some outside).  I think I need another light stand!

But with any luck, this should be a fabulous year gardening year.  Most of the new flowers are self-sowing "cottage garden" types and will not need annual replanting (well, maybe some every few years) but it is a start at a "self-maintaining flower bed" in some parts.  Some parts of the flowerbeds have dependable perennials, and I love those. 

But I'm exploring self-sowing annuals lately.  We'll see how well that works in a couple years.  I'm patient. 

Seed Vial Tray

Some years ago, I built a quick little tray to hold vials of seeds in the basement refrigerator.  The seeds last a lot longer in the fridge, and the vials keep them from getting dried out or damp. Te vials are specimen containers I once found real cheap online!  I'm good at looking at things functionally, rather than just by intended purpose, LOL!

But the original had holes that were both tight and a bit too close together.  So I decided to make a new one.

I made the new one with holes 1/4" farther apart.  That may not seem like much, but it made a lot of difference.  And I knew because I drilled a couple of holes in scrap wood to check. 

I decided this one should have looser holes.  But since the vials wouldn't stand upright in loose holes, I made both a top and bottom.  To make sure the holes on each matched, and to save time, I screwed the top and bottom together, drew a grid on the top, and drilled right through both pieces at once.

I LOVE my drill-press!

The pencil line on the board in back allowed me to line that up the grid lines on the pieces without having to "eyeball them each time.  The drill bit you see there is called a "forstner bit".  They drill large holes with flat bottoms.   My set goes from 1/4" to 2 1/2".  The thing you see stuck in the drill where the bit goes is the  "chuck key" that tightens the bit .  I keep it clamped lightly in there so I can't lose it.

Here is the fully drilled top and bottom.  The solid piece of plywood behind them is the real bottom.  That piece is so the vials don't fall through the drilled holes.

I spread wood glue between the holes of the drilled bottom and the solid piece.  You can never have too many clamps.  If you need a gift for a woodworker, clamps are usually a safe bet!  

All those drilled holes created a lot of sawdust shavings.  I dump that stuff in the woods.  I don't compost it because of all the chemicals in plywood.  The trees don't mind a bit...

Then I needed to support the top 1 1/2" over the bottom.  I had cut sides from leftover plywood.  But I was going crazy because the kept coming out slightly tapered!  I kept checking the fence and the blade and they were perfectly square.  But I had actually cut them first, and didn't remember that, before that, I had changed the miter gauge a degree off "0" for another project and neglected to set it back to ).  Argh!  But I fixed that and the sides came out perfect. 

I glued the sides to the bottom upside down deliberately so that the glue squeeze-out didn't attach the pieces to the assembly stand.  Don't laugh.  Better woodworkers than me have done that...

I used scrap wood and shims to raise the bottom to even with the sides, then glued and clamped it.

Then I turned the whole thing over and repeated that to attach the top.  There was a slight difference in height in the center of the sides.  It made no functional difference, and no one would ever see it but me.  But I would, so I used a block plane to shave it down and a finishing sander to smooth it.  Putting it on my utterly flat table saw showed not the slightest wobbly in any direction.

Here is the finished try next to the old one.  A nice difference.

You can't really see it, but all of the vials are numbered.  I keep a list of the vial numbers and contents.  In fact, for safety, I keep 3.  One is with the seed tray, one is with the box of index cards listing the planting dates, planting depths, and growing notes, and one is in a permanent notebook.  Losing track of which seeds are in which vials would be a DISASTER!!!

And I got it done just in time.  Planting indoors starts next week...

So now I'm ready to build wood frames for the 2 bathroom mirrors. 

And I need to buy a trailer-load of compost for the garden beds.  My trash barrel of starter soil from last year is all used up.  Fortunately, the weather is going to be decent Saturday.