i'm really not a winter person. the lack of light and the cold both negatively affect my depression. but the one great thing about january is the arrival of the seed catalogs. a little bit of spring in the mail! in previous years i've poured over these and imagined what my garden would look like. but i never actually bought the seeds. what would i do with 100 tomato seeds when i only need about 6 plants?
last year john and i were smart enough to save the flats from all the annuals we bought. the seed catalogs came again and we decided to take the leap. we ordered several tomatoes, basil, radish, daikon radish, foxglove, belladonna, coleus, cosmos....and more! a few weekends ago we planted everything. we had a great time thinking about how everything was going to look. full of possibilities! here's the flats after we planted.
by the next week we already had shoots for most of the plants!
i took this picture yesterday. things are really popping! it may be time to repot some of them into larger pots, which we also saved from last year's flower buying.
i absolutely love the garden. we have a double lot, so there's plenty of room. all the space, a premium in the city, is part of why we bought this house in the first place. i love to see the plants return from last year, and i love all the color. we try to buy mostly perennials. but we still get impatiens for the flower boxes and shady areas.
when we moved in, the previous, previous owner (doris) had left a map of where and what all the flowers were. what a gift! unfortunately, the people who owned the house before us didn't really pay attention to the garden. but i think we've brought it back almost to the level of doris' garden. i met a neighbor this week who told me the garden was her pride and joy. and it makes us happy as well.
now that the sun is coming back more, the time has changed, and we have these wee seedlings, everything seems so much better in the world.
I'm so with you on the seasonal moods. Winter brings me down.
I want to grow vegetables this year, although I've never done it before, and I don't have a whole lot of confidence. Not even sure where to start!
Looks like you've definitely got a handle on it :-)
Posted by: Lisa Clarke | April 10, 2010 at 07:58 AM
Hi Gerry, you mention the lack of light in winter: I´ve been to an eye-training lately where I also learnt about fullspectrum light bulbs. They also are made as energy saving light bulbs and they provide full daylight. I´m absolutley determined to install one of those about the table where we have our meals.
They´re meanwhile less than 10 euros here and that seems affordable to me. The manufacturer is ANDROV
but I don´t know where they are originally located. hugs -Saabine
Posted by: sabine | April 10, 2010 at 08:01 AM
it's really not that hard to grow veggies. we started with plants until
this year. you just need a really sunny spot. and then water almost
every day when it's really hot. give it a try! there's nothing better
than fresh, fresh veggies.
Posted by: newfry | April 10, 2010 at 08:11 AM
Wow Gerri! You've got everything here! Good for you--I just discovered the economical beauty of seeds myself!
Posted by: Lee | May 11, 2010 at 12:11 PM