March Forward

Pretty soon there's gonna be a lot to do, so I'm tryin to get a jump on it--time to plant inside and outside. It's still winter, but I know spring is just around the corner.

Earth Box Spinach 1 week later above.

Here's my 'control' pot of spinach to compare. They're both fine, but it's freezing cold out there and windy, not nice for gardening. Might as well work in the nursery inside.

My baby Copra onions, the best keeper onion of all time, and melt in your mouth saute scrumptious. Onions are photoperiodic, so they need to go in as early as possible, and keepers take the longest to mature, over 3 months. They start to bulb after summer solstice, so go for the most growth before then for the biggest onions. Plant early, easy to raise from seed. Put about 100 seeds in a 4" pot, plant out before they reach 5" into a nice friable loam. This is the first round, using up some old seed first. Lookin good.
$$ Tip: If you have the space, you might increase your number of seed starts. You could have some to give, barter with, and sell; a pack usually has plenty of extras. They need a lot of light, natural or grow lighting, and space for potting up once or twice.

First round of peas, I like to start some and direct sow some. Too cold out there yet. These are Cascadia and Sugar Snap sprouts under there.

Visualize juicy red tomatoes. This setup is pretty cheap, or you can use what you have. I use 6" pots and takeout trays with lids (wow, greenhouses!) I fill these cells w/a soil-less mix for germination, tamp a little, then pour water into the bottom tray and let it soak in gradually. This takes time but it's worth it. The dirt stays nice and fluffy for the seed, and the water doesn't run off and disturb the seed.

I made a list of what I want to eat/grow, and a little map of the porch. I put the date of when to sow by each; I'll use these cells to start the tomatoes and peppers as soon as I get my labels together. You can use popsicle sticks, even cut up window blinds work really well. Use a waterproof Sharpie, 'cause seriously, you won't remember what they are. So it's worth waiting to do that first. Plus there are some good planting dates by the moon comin up: March 1 & 2 in Taurus (earth), and 5 & 6 in Cancer (water), and the moon's on the rise, which makes for above ground growth. If we get some seed in the soil on the first 2, it could emerge on those second two dates, a nice experiment.