The seeds

Once we prepared the beds, it was time to get the seeds in the ground. We spent a good while planning where everything will go, and then plotted it all on a large poster board lest we forgot where we planted everything. It was actually quite fun to sit and color tiny carrots and tomatoes on the plan!

 

The master plan

 

As I mentioned, this is our first year at square foot gardening. As a previous row gardener, I find it nerve-wracking and a little daunting to plant so many plants this close together. The growing season will be interesting, to say the least. For now, we'll keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

 

This is also our first year at planting early crops and seed starting. Until this point, we've waited for the normal planting time in our area --- the day after Derby Day (the Kentucky Derby, for you non-locals). This is traditionally the time when people get warm weather plants in the ground. It's well past the frost date and safe to plant. Because we're novice spring planters, we purchased a very handy slide tool from Fresh Start that tells us everything we need to know, including when to start seeds inside, when to transplant, and when to sow directly outdoors. It cost less than $4, and has proven invaluable to our journey. Along with the slide tool, we also purchased our seeds from our friends at Fresh Start. We bought High Mowing Organic Seeds. There's no room for Monsanto in our yard!

 

 

Look at all those veggies!

 



On Sunday, it was nice enough to get into the garden and plant the direct-sow seeds. These included onions, peas, turnips, leaf lettuce, mustard greens, carrots, and radishes. When we had the unfortunate accident with the seedlings, we lost broccoli, cauliflower, kale, swiss chard, lettuce, and spinach. We plan to replace those seeds by the weekend.

 

Inside, we started the following seeds: squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, kohlrabi, and various herbs. They should be ready for the ground just in time for Derby Day! For now, they're happily sitting under grow lights.

--Autumn