First spring plantings in the plot today. First, I fertilized the soil everywhere with Espoma Garden-Tone. I will repeat it in a few week. My soil really needed some love. I then planted peas, spinach (in between the two rows of peas) and radishes. Rain in the forecast tomorrow. Happy spring!
Today, I did my first outdoor sowing of the year. I sowed radishes in a big container on my porch. I also started lettuce indoors, four each of Black Seeded Simpson, May Queen and Merlot. All head lettuces. I was going to sow peas and spinach in the plot today, but I will wait until a bit later in the week as there is rain in the forecast in a few days. I also bought organic fertilizer, as I have to amend the soil in my plot, which I will do before my first sowing.
Today, I started my tomato seedlings. Somewhat earlier than in previous years as I typically starte them around March 20. I started two each of the following six varieties: Ailsa Craig (early), Black Prince (mid), Striped German (mid), Green Zebra (mid/late), Dr. Wyche Yellow (mid/late), Ananas Noire (late). Some of the seeds are quite old, so fingers crossed they will sprout. The Ailsa Craig seeds were a gift from Sand Hill Preservation Center. I read that they are an English Heirloom variety, which originates from the Scottish island with the same name. I am excited. I also started eggplant seeds I got as a gift in my seed order. Udmalbet is an early variety from India. And I started Swiss Chard.
Today I sowed kale, Nufar basil (a Fusarium resistant sweet basil variety) and Thai basil. Like the peppers and eggplants, I started them in egg cartons to save space for now. I will transplant them into bigger cells once they have sprouted. I do not expect all eggplant and pepper seeds to sprout because some of the seeds are quite old. Sowing them in smaller egg carton cells allows me to select only the viable seedlings for transplanting.
