Seeds and Seedlings

We took the pilgrimage to Rohrer Seeds in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. I picked up all the seeds I wanted. Ann and I will share her packet of zucchini seeds and my packet of Italian tomato seeds.

That morning, I decided to add pole beans to the roster. I'll split a row between herbs and pole beans after the peas and spinach clear out.

I also decided to grow Melody Hybrid Spinach instead of Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach because I prefer the kind that is more smooth and less ruffled. The pictures on the packets made this clearer than the descriptions did.

Instead of Amish Paste tomatoes, I decided to go with San Marzano tomatoes, described as the original Italian paste variety. The authenticity appeals to me for making spaghetti sauce. I've been really enjoying the homemade spaghetti sauce I canned last year. Inconveniently most of my batches of spaghetti seem to take 1.5 quarts instead of an even 1 or 2. I'm considering making batches of pints this year instead so it'll take an even 3 jars.

On the trip, I also bought 2 dozen purple pansies to line the front walkway. I'm gradually hardening them off between the garage at night and outdoors in the sunlight during parts of the day.

This afternoon, during Matthew's naptime, I started some seedlings: 27 tomatoes, 9 eggplant, and 9 parsley. Some of the tomatoes I'll share with Ann, and some are extras in case they don't all sprout. I'm using a plastic Jiffy Greenhouse that has 72 tiny cells, probably an inch across each. Because they're so small, I'll need to transplant the plants to other pots later, probably peat pots. But in the case of the tomatoes at least, that'll make for stronger plants, because I can bury some of the stem each time they get transplanted and produce more roots.

It should be time to plant peas and spinach in a few weeks, but I heard today the Farmer's Almanac is calling for a worse March than January and February. That would be impressive considering the blizzards we've had already this year. We shall see.

All in all, a good week for the garden so far. Total seed price: $43.95