Planning for a Garden

 I was oh so excited to receive the packets of seeds I had ordered in the mail last weekend.  I sat outside to do my preliminary planning last Saturday and all week I've been looking forward to getting my seeds started. 

This year I'm planting an all heirloom garden.  And I'm holding my breath while writing this post for two reasons... one, I've never planted with heirloom seeds and two, I've never started seeds.  Basically that means I had (have) no idea what I was doing and could only follow some written instructions and hope for the best.  But planting with heirloom seeds this year was important to me and something I really wanted to try.  Heirloom seeds are pure, natural, have good flavor and are not genetically modified (GMO-free). 

 I ordered all my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (rareseeds.com).  They have the largest selection of heirloom seeds in the US and are a great source of information.  I could spend hours just reading their seed catalog alone. 

And although totally unrelated, aren't their seed packets so pretty?

I used a numbered system last year for keeping track of what was planted where and it worked so well I'm doing it again this year.  I spent some time writing a few planting tips down as well on my master list and drew up a garden plan too.   This year I'm planting a vegetable garden twice the size as last year, which means I'm in for a busy summer!  

 I purchased organic seed-starting soil and organic biodegradable fiber pots and trays for starting my seeds (tomatoes, onions, and peppers).  I used my numbered system on the pots as well so I remember what I planted (smile).  

These days I am so forgetful! 

 I used the planting guide provided at rareseeds.com (here) and also followed the instructions for sowing on the back of each seed packet.  The first step was moistening the soil mix so that a firm bed is created for the seeds.  Yes, I poured my soil mixture into a mixing bowl and put it my kitchen sink.  What better to stir with than a kitchen spoon?  I found that the faucet sprayer worked well so that I wasn't over-watering. 

It looks like I'm cooking something up with my spoon in the soil... a kitchen garden, anyone? 

 The supplies I ended up using were simple household items: a mixing bowl, spoon, and tweezers.  And they worked great!

 The soil is packed into pots and I used my thumb to press down as I went.  This prevents the seeds from falling down to the bottom of the pot. 

 The tweezers worked so well for picking up the tiny little seeds and placing them in the pots. 

After I was finished, I misted the pots and covered the trays with plastic wrap until they (hopefully, hopefully, hopefully) germinate.  

Really, since I've never done this before, I probably should have waited to publish this post until I had seedlings.  But as usual, my blog posts tend to come unplanned.

 Even though I have no idea if I'll have success, it really did feel wonderful to do a little gardening today.  Isn't it amazing to think of a tiny little seed and what it can produce?

P.S.  This mama planted seeds while the girls were napping but forgot to move the mixing bowl with the soil somewhere high.  The girls woke up and before I knew it, I heard Jillian, "Mommmmy!  Rosetta's climbing on the table!"  Then I ran because I had a bad feeling somebody was about to sample whatever was being mixed in the bowl.  I  snapped this picture then and look who was being silly for the camera! 

Have a great weekend!