Seedlings, Part One

As of an hour ago, I'm finally gardening.  Finally!  I feel like I've been all talk and no action for a long time, spending lots of money on this hobby.  Yesterday, I spent $100 on tomato cages, fish emulsion, bone meal, and a bird feeder and seed.  Yeah, that's happening.

But after running errands this morning, I just got the urge to do it.  The Farmer's Almanac (yeah, I read that now)(online, of course) said I was running behind in planting my peppers and tomatoes, so even though I still have a few more varieties on their way, I thought I'd better get going.

I sorted through all my million packets of seeds according to what needs to be sown inside and what can be directly sown into the ground.  While I'm growing everything in containers, I still won't start everything in the greenhouse; radishes, carrots, things like that will be planted into large pots once it gets a bit warmer.

I'm trying to do this all organically, but thankfully Home Depot sells a lot of organic gardening products.  The seed starting soil is organic, as is the bone meal for bulbs and the fish emulsion fertilizer.  I also decided on little hexagonal trays instead of peat pots.  I don't know why.  It just seemed like the thing to do.

I had three tomato varieties and one pepper variety to plant today: Cherokee Purple tomatoes, Italian Ice tomatoes, San Marzano tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers.  I've been asked to plant extra for my mom, because she and my dad will be moving here in the summer.  I'm more than happy to oblige!

As you can see, the seeds didn't take the entire tray!  But once the other seeds get here, I'll add them to the tray and will get those in the greenhouse too.

No matter how many times I went to Target or Home Depot, I couldn't remember labels or popsicle sticks to mark what I had planted.  Then I remembered I had some Sharpie paint pens.  While this pretty much renders this tray useless for next year, it's better than running to Target again, for the third time this week.

Thanks to the cats, I bought a greenhouse to start the seeds.  I also bought a thermometer in there; while it's 40 degrees or so outside, I didn't know how warm the greenhouse would get.  Turns out, it was around 80 degrees in it this afternoon!

The greenhouse was crazy easy to assemble and it's really light--both a pro and a con.  We came home from Publix to find it laying on its side from the wind, so soil and a hose are weighing it down.  I don't want the seedlings to be thrown around!

As I mentioned, we also bought a bird feeder!  Our cats love watching the birds who have a nest out front, but they aren't there all day.  This is right in view of the dining room windows, so they can sit and watch them all day.  It's a pretty popular place.

I'm really excited to see how these seedlings do.  Gardening has been a dream of mine for a couple years, and I've plunked a decent amount of time and interest into it so far.  Just as a note, I've been reading You Grow Girl--the book and the blog-- and Grow Cook Eat, which is an awesome resource for vegetable gardening.  I've used a few different resources for my seeds: Urban Farmer, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, Baker Creek Seeds, and Bulbs Direct.  I've had zero complaints about all these vendors, but I also am always on the lookout for new places and new seeds.

How was your weekend?  Do you have any gardening tips for me?