Everything seems to be going along in high gear these days. The greenhouse and indoor light gardens are stuffed with seedlings. I counted 30 full flats yesterday, and with an average of 50 plants per flat that comes up to 1500 little babies that need tending every day!
pepper seedlings (click on any photo to enlarge)
That sounds like a lot, but it’s actually a little less than I’ve grown in previous years. In addition to plants for our own garden, I’m growing things for the church food pantry garden and the Impact garden project.
even the benches are full in the greenhouse
Speaking of the church garden, Wifey and I planted 300 hills of potatoes there yesterday. I’m guessing she never thought she would wind up working like a farmer’s wife when she married me, but that’s the way it seems sometimes. I’m just thankful she’s happy doing it, though perhaps ‘happy’ might be too strong a word to use after planting all those taters!
containers of greens
Next week is the first planting session at the Impact garden. I think we’ve got six families that are participating in this pilot program. We’ve got a spot about 30 ft by 60 ft there that should grow a bunch of veggies. The folks who work in the garden will all share in the proceeds. I’m going to be the garden guru, so to speak. Should be a load of fun! I can’t think of anything more fun than helping folks learn to grow their own food.
mini salad box with lettuce and arugula
And next Saturday 11am I’m giving a talk about growing veggies at the MG Display Gardens in Evansville. It’s part of our Spring Demo Days program there. Other speakers will be talking about container gardening, growing gourds, and lasagna gardens. That should be a lot of fun as well! I’m going to take some of the containers and a mini salad box along for a show-and-tell so folks can see how easy it is to grow greens that way.
blackberry soda
So the next week or so will be real busy for me, to say the least. It always is this time of year! Right now I think it’s time to put my feet up and relax a bit. I’m tarred, as we say around here, and I think there’s a glass of Blackberry Soda with my name on it.
My goodness Villager…and I thought that I had a lot of seedlings to tend to!!! It definitely takes a lot of time in the morning to water and such…doesn’t it??
Well, everything is looking very happy and healthy…keep up the good work!!
Wow, you have quite a lot to watch over and take care of! I work with a non-profit that provides raised bed vegetables gardens and it is a joy to watch people grow their own food and see the pride they have and such a feeling of success. Keep up the good work!
Goodness. I’m trying to keep my number of flats down to no more than eight at a time with 72 plants in each flat. And with never more than six inside under the lights. So far so good.
How many of them are for your own garden? And just how big is your garden?
I would guess maybe half of the seedlings are for us, the rest for other gardens. Plus I do give a number of seedlings away, tomatoes mainly. Throw in some flowers and herbs and it all adds up!
You are definitely putting my preparation to shame. We have some pumpkin and squash seeds in a few flats, but most of our planting this year will be sown directly in the garden in the next week or so.