Planting a bit of everything!

I spent a few days last week prepping and planting various seeds in 8 additional trays - and I've hit that point where I say to myself "Wow, this is a lot of stuff, but I still need more!". Ideally I don't like to run out to the garden centre for your basic edibles, so starting them on time and making the most of early planting is important. If you plan on actually producing enough vegetables to supplement your grocery bill, you have to do some plant math - How much do I think I need, and then add extras.

Re-organized my seed bin, yet again, I found that my other systems
didn't really help me find what I needed fast enough. Now I sort
by family group or even species depending on how many I have of each.

Much of this math is something you will learn after each season, compounding facts and experiences to get an idea of your needs and also your ability to maintain the size of garden you attempted.

Zucchini for example; How much do you really need? Most families only need one or two plants depending on your actual zucchini preference and willingness to cook it regularly during it's peak production. Then you'll see people giving zucchini away by the bushel! Without growing zucchini before, you might not know that they are heavy producers and each variety has an optimal harvest period. You can eat and deep fry blossoms à la gourmond to slow the production of more fruit. Last year I didn't grow enough - which is bizarre for me, because I almost always go overboard. Zucchini is so versatile, used in so many dishes, I would often run out during the week and have nothing left over for freezing. Any and all zucchini unused for meals during the summer - would be shredded, bagged and frozen. I used my frozen zucchini in loafs, muffins, soups, stews, pasta sauces and lasagna. By the time November came around I was basically out of my zucchini reserves - not a good prepper if you ask me. I'm not making this mistake this year - 7 varieties later and a plant of each started!

 I buy my supplies as I need them or when I find them cheap in stores - I know the ethics of the dollar-store are questionable, but when I find exactly what I need for less then in garden centres, I have to jump on it. For example; I wrote last year about those mini-jiffy pellet trays and they work wonders, I even use them in my classroom! This year I found cell packs for 3/$1.00 and half width "windowsill" trays with 16 sections that fit perfectly beside my regular sized trays on my planting rack. I spent probably 6$-7$ on trays and cell packs. Additionally maybe 5$ on seed starting soil from Canadian Tire. The most amazing part is that I know people spend less on these supplies - but for under $15.00 I can't complain! Especially considering I always recycle most of my new material for the next year and just replace what needs to be replaced and expand as I need to. Buying even a few started seedling can really add up.

6 - 12 cell packs from the Dollar-store fit easily in your basic $1.00 tray from Canadian Tire

One thing I wanted to make sure I did was start at least two or more entire trays of beneficial flowers - nasturtiums, caldendula and marigolds - all of which are edible. Stay tuned for more on these flowers in an upcoming post. I started almost all of my brassicas, including; kales, cabbages, brussels sprouts, broccoli and collards. I also planted a few herbs and my summer squash and a few more flowers.

Peppers coming along nicely - at this stage I can definitely see a difference in the varieties growth rate - Yellow Monster taking the lead with height and leaf size - Cuban hot peppers coming in last with a shorter more compact growth.

First taste of sunlight when the temperature hit +22C outside last week.
Unfortunately they got a bit cold damages when I put them out to early in
the morning and it was still only +3C. 

Freshly started herbs and Amaranth!

Calendula seeds - I bought a mix from Wild Garden Seeds "Flashback Mix"

The tomato grafting project is still a go and I'm excited to see what happens - more seeds starting this week and some infrastructure building expected - as the temperature is dropping back down this week and I don't want to risk killing off direct-sow seedlings. Ah, Canada in the spring.