It's been a very long winter in Toronto. I was wearing my skidoo boots from early December right through to Early April. It's sometimes hard to contemplate that gardening weather will ever come when there's two feet of snow in the back yard but I kept busy reading seed catalogues and new ways of sowing seedlings without grow lights.
The tomatoes coming along very well inside under grow lights. (San Marzano, Early Girl, Beefmaster, Delicious and Orange Sunshine).
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| In-door Seedings |
Outdoors I planted beets, bush beans, mustard greens and spinach in whatever containers I could find (i.e. 2 litre vinegar & soya sauce containers). These are essentially mini greenhouses for the seedlings. I put in some soiless mixture and the seeds with a light watering and some drain holes in the containers. The bean and mustard have already sprouted (within 2 weeks). If I was doing a proper experiment, I would have planted two of the same seeds to verify the success with both methods but I'm trying to getting my garden ready, not do a science experiment. I think you can start them very early but I started mine in early April when the night time (and sometimes the day time) temperatures are cold (-7C). The heat and moisture is kept in the greenhouse and they get loads of natural light. Apparently this method produces sturdier seedlings. My inspiration for the greenhouses came from here and there's a very good description of how to make them.
http://www.gardendesign.com/seed-sowing-snow?pnid=122085#gallery-content.
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| Outdoor Seedlings |
Another change this year will be how I plant things at ground level. Usually I put things right in the garden but we have a new puppy who loves to run fast through the garden, pounce on things and dig! So this year, I will plant several things in containers to keep curious a curious puppy at bay. It's a small price to pay to have Salta running around the garden :-).
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| Salta |
