Gardening ready for spring!

I am more ready for spring than ever before. The hope that a garden brings is always a magical feeling, but this year I am even more appreciative than usual. Knowing that I will be able to have family and a few friends come and hang out and enjoy flowers and eat fresh veggies is what is keeping me going.

For those of you who are home gardeners, I keep promising to share my early season set up, so here it is, FINALLY!

I start my seeds, all 2000-3000 of them, in my basement. I use 72 cell plastic trays (I bought a box of 100 years ago, and just keep re-using them. Once they are all recycled, I will find a non-plastic way to do this).

This year we built seed tray shelves in the basement, and hung grow lights on the shelves, which are situated right next to the utility sink—easy watering! I pull each tray out and water it at the sink so I don’t get the lights wet.

I usually start my first seeds in March, and continue sowing until May or June. Some things get sown directly outside, including peas, which I put in last weekend (this is me being very on top of it, as I usually start them too late).

My big challenge in my new (third year) garden, is my soil. I continue to add compost, but need to up my game there. I am hoping to bring in a big load of compost and top off all the beds, veggies and flowers. I also finished building my herb bed this year, but I won’t worry as much about the soil there, as many herbs are more forgiving and will grow almost anywhere. Until next time, happy gardening!