Seed Starting 2022

Seed Starting Plan

Last Frost: May 15

Plant	Start Seeds	Harden Off	Plant Outdoors	Harvest	Notes
Broccoli	March 19	May 1	May 7	June 25
Marigold	April 3
Tomato	April 3	May 14	May 28		nighttime temps not below 50ºF
Zuchinni	April 17	May 14	May 28		air and soil are at least 60ºF, start seeds in peat pots
Basil	May 1	May 14	May 28		nighttime temps not below 50ºF
Broccoli	July 1

10 Weeks: March 6	8 Weeks: March 20	6 Weeks:  April 3	4 Weeks:  April 17
* Lavender (3-6)	**** Broccoli (4-6)	Marigold (12)	** Zucchini (4-6)
Veronica (5-8)	Dianthus (8-10)	Tomato (8-12)	** Borage (8-12)
Salvia (3-6)	W. Yarrow (8-10)	** Nasturtium (8-12)
	Cornflower (8-10)	Zinnia (8-10)
		Basil (4-8)
20	(36)  56	(54) 110	(18)  128

* cold stratify for 3 weeks         

** sow in peat pots, not to disturb roots                      

*** Direct sow: Echinacea, Bee Balm, White Sage- in pots, may be invasive

****  soaking broccoli seeds in warm water for 12-24 hours will give them a good head start, and can even speed up germination.

For the butterflies- Milkweed Asclepias Syriaca Hudson Valley Seeds

Direct Sowing

Early Sowing Flowers

Cornflower-  Direct sow in average soil in full sun after danger of heavy frost.
White Yarrow- Temperature: 60 - 65F 
Coreopsis- Temperature: 65 - 70F

Late Sowing Flowers

Echinacea- daytime temperature consistently reaches 70F.

Bee Balm-  immediately after the last frost

Dianthus- all danger of frost has passed

Zinnia- after all danger of frost

Seed Starting Shelves

16 cups per bin, 2 bins per shelf, four shelves= 128 seedlings

Next Year- I like having the shelves in the kitchen and the three foot shelves on wheels fit well in the space while I can still move them to get to the washer and dryer. But the purple grow lights are very bright and hurt my eyes to look at them while in the kitchen. For next year, buy new shorter three foot grow lights.  Also the idea to cover all four sides with cheap car sunshades to keep the light in and reduce the glare in the kitchen is not a bad idea. Maybe sell the purple lights or use them to keep over wintered plants alive in the basement?

Direct Sow extra seeds in beds in front of porch and in the "front yard" by River Road (sow in area with stumps that need to mowed around) - Mintleaf Bee Balm, Coreopsis, Echinecae- Purple Coneflower, use up the rest of marigold seeds, For the butterflies- Milkweed Asclepias Syriaca Hudson Valley Seeds

Cold Stratification

My frugal grandfather, the one of the hundred coffee cans and panty hose hanging in his garage, would be proud of this re-use. I am cold stratifying some lavender and echinacea seeds in plastic sandwich bags. But they were slipping all over the refrigerator, so I popped them in an old blueberry container. Works great!

Blanket of Snow, Makes Me Want to Plant!

 Expansion Plans for this Spring!

January 2022

• Move Lemon Balm to back of Zucchini bed

• Find a location for Rhubarb
• make a bed on the sunny side of shed
• trim that tree back ( or take it down? it's a crummy thing...) to give it more sun, good for the garden early morning sun too

• Expand raised beds for tomato and strawberry
• add one cinder block to the back of each, re-use cinder blocks from front porch

• Grape Tomatoes- plant eight tomato plants in the back of the bed with two (2) obelisks
• Build second tomato obelisk
  
• Paint both tomato obelisk- turquoise/ jade green
• Plant basil (four plants) in front of tomatoes

• Strawberry and Asparagus
• Increase height of netting- use two arched trellis to raise netting 6'
• Place stepping stones to easily access front of bed.
• Plant more strawberries (June bearing) behind asparagus
• June bearing will give more yield to make recipes than ever bearing

• Finish clearing Broccoli and Zucchini beds
• Add drip irrigation to new beds
• Curved edging to create path around circular birdbath
• The main path should be at least 30 inch wide for easy circulation. 
• Put down cardboard to kill grass, top with mulch or wood chips (Chip Drop) or chips from taking down tree in back yard?

• Fence the entire garden
  
  
  
• Use existing hardware cloth and dig 1' down and angle out 1' 
• Use 4' metal posts pounded in 1', then use 4 foot hardware cloth, leave top foot of wire flopping out so groundhogs can't climb over, use cheap hanging plant brackets to overhang fence
• Cover the 1' cleared area with mulch to keep grass from growing back into the garden beds and a neat look.
• Add nice metal gate
• Remove as much grass from paths as possible, lay down cardboard or newspaper to kill remaining grass, cover with a few bags of mulch and available rocks

• Clear Herb bed in the front of garden
• Also clear area in front of fence for decorative planting, or herbs that critters won't touch
• Amend soil for good drainage, add Perlite, compost
• Plant Sage- Western Mugwort- Atremisia ludoviciana- with lavender, may be invasive, plant in pots buried in the ground
• Plant any lavender that makes it through the winter

• Clear junk from far side of shed
• move extra siding under front porch
• throw away scraps of wood 
• clear brush and overhanging branches
• throw away red car behind shed
• store straw bale here, on pallet (cut down and re-built), wrapped in tarp and bungee cord (Dollar Store) to hold shape
• Hanging for wheelbarrow, simple hooks on side of shed with support inside

• Clear slope for flower bed
• dig one swale to plant in across the middle
• add rocks and supports for dirt, use black landscape fabric from circle if necessary
• add compost and garden soil
• large course bark for mulch
• place pressure treated board vertically along the bottom to catch mulch and separate from grass- mowing strip
• move iris from peony bed to slope after flowering

• Decorate the Garden
  
• Use rusted shovel with stencil at the corner of the first bed- "Keep Calm and Garden On"
• Use blue bottles in front corner of the herb bed (inside fence) at varying heights

• Front Porch
• Demo front steps and re-use the cinderblocks
• buy new pavers to sit stringers on
• Lift out blue stone and use next to driveway
• Add new wooden steps, pre-cut stringers, add handrail
• Add hardware cloth to seal up hole groundhogs have made, use cinder blocks from demolished front steps to block the existing hole in the corner, leave the front open in case they are in there hibernating
• Dig front of porch for two beds, amend soil a little, add some seeds (whatever is left from wildflower bed- bee balm, echinacea, marigold) 
• Do not start morning glories inside this year, direct sow and add string early
• Replace rotting boards a front, esp. corner
• add plastic edging around Hostas, replace landscape cloth, add smooth river rock mulch to keep it down