Sowing the Seeds of 2009

Some of you may recall my attempt to garden last year. Don't be fooled by the photos. I think I got about four ripe cherry tomatoes off that plant, total. I started the plants from seed...in July. That was the problem.

Vowing not to make that mistake, I put down my first set of seeds about a month ago. Last summer, I found a cool tip for starting new seeds. Get an old egg carton, fill the cups with dirt and plant a seed in each. The problem is that the dirt dries out so quickly. It needs almost daily watering, and any mishap casts genocide de sécheresse upon the fragile little things.

This year, I enhanced the growing environment by picking up a cheap plastic container at the hardware store. By closing the lid, I can pretty much lock in the moisture and keep the plants from drying out. It's a balancing act, though, since you also don't want them to be perpetually soggy and rot.

So back to the story. About a month ago I was chopping up a red bell pepper and decided to keep the seeds, which I planted in two egg cartons:


About a week later, I could see the little heads coming up, and another week later, the seeds were looking pretty good:



Today I gently peeled each sprout out of its shell and put most of them down in a more permanent home in a planter tray. The dirt will give them more nutrients than the seed starter in the egg cartons.



So this year will be different. I expect to have the bell peppers in full swing just in time for a surprise May snowstorm to take them all out. Now that these seeds have left the egg carton phase, I've got the next round already underway.

Orange tree

Rosemary