Let the Growing Begin

     Growing season has begun and my dining room corner has become our temporary greenhouse.  Trying to start seeds in the rain with the kiddos running around can be somewhat challenging and not very productive.  At times I found myself getting frustrated when every 2 minutes or so I hear "mom watch this, mom watch this", but then I would turn around and see lil man sliding down a muddy hillside with an enormous smile and it made me realize I have to go with the flow.  Sometimes we are constantly trying to check things off our chore list that we forget we need to be flexible and goof off.  On my own I was able to get half a tray of seeds started so I waited for our weekend with Papa to get the rest done.

Of course before I could get started I had to
clean up chicken poop, thanks ladies.

    

Planting goes so much faster when there's two people.

     Since we don't have a long growing season I try to get our tomatoes started early so they have plenty of time to get big before they're transplanted into the garden.  Last year I found some early tomatoes to try to combat the short season which was successful we had red tomatoes.  This year I did more research into it and found out about determinate and indeterminate tomatoes, with our short season I picked determinate seeds.  Determinate seeds have a determined height which is about 2-3 feet once they reach that height they start to produce fruit and ripen quicker, this also makes them more bushy so less staking.

     Here are a few more tips on starting seeds:

1.  I cut my plastic labels in half, doing this gives you twice as many labels and with such small pots they don't need to be so big.  I also use popsicle sticks if need be, just be aware that if they get too wet they will make your writing run and leave you confused on what you planted.

Labeling is an important step not to skip.

2.  Use plastic wrap once you've watered your seeds for the first time.  When seeds are first planted they don't need light they only need moisture to sprout, so putting plastic wrap over them keeps the moisture in.  Once they sprout you take the wrap off and regularly water them.

Buying plastic wrap at Costco comes in handy for planting too.

3.  So after they do sprout the seedlings need light, the light source needs to be close to the seedlings about 2 inches above them.  Having the light close prevents your seedlings from being weak and spindly.  So when you are setting your little green babies up make sure your light can be adjusted.  It's quite fascinating to see these itty bitty plants reach for the light.

See those little guys leaning over towards the light.

     Both batches of seeds have sprouted and before too long I'll be moving them into bigger pots.  We are planning on building a new greenhouse in the next month or so as long as things go according to schedule.  I sure hope they do or we won't have a dining room table to eat at, once the plants go into their next pot they take up a lot of room.  Plus we don't just eat tomatoes, we've got a slew of other seeds to get planted in the next few weeks.  Alright now back to the homestead.