Sunday morning on the east coast finds most of us dealing with another round of severe weather. Where I live in the Hartford area, we escaped the worst of the snow, but now a harsh wind is blowing it around, like a well-shaken snow globe.
Despite the challenging weather over the last few weeks my conversations with people are slowly shifting: We talk about March being just two weeks away and about how daylight is increasing. There's a third sign - pitchers and catchers begin reporting to spring training this week.
Today I'm going to start planning my garden. Each year my goal is to be a little better whether that is in planning, executing, or buttoning it up. Believe me, all of it can be improved. This year I want to be better prepared at the start of the season by putting together a workable calendar and have some of those early season plants well started once the soil is ready. I also want to have a better record of the process, which has led me back to the blog.
My usual planting method is once the soil is ready, I turn it over and start broadcasting lettuce seeds, peas, beets, kale, chard etc. Your standard array of cool weather crops. The last few years I tried broccoli from seed. I'm not sure what exactly happened, whether the tender starts were picked by birds, succumbed due to weather, or, um, human neglect. Either way, I want to have plants that are hardier and transplantable, even if it requires some covering at night once they're in the ground.
I have the necessary tools to get started. A few years ago I bought grow lights and used them to start zucchini and tomato plants. I had a modicum of success, and I kept the project in the dining room. It was a great source of interest to guests. This year it will be moved to the garage. The florescent lights constant glow from a garage window gives me hope that my neighbors think I'm up to no good. How disappointed they'd be to learn that it's just kale, broccoli, and cauliflower seeds getting started.
While the wind whips I'll page through seed catalogs and sip something warm. High Mowing Seeds, Johnny's and Baker Creek will be this year's seed sources, and I'll start my selection. I've had good luck with all three, both in seed performance and service. Plus on every page the weather is gentle and the garden perfect.
