Germination Tray

Just dropping a quick line to show our makeshift germination "heating pad".  It's nothing fancy, but I wanted to show what a little creativity will do to get plants sprouting for Spring.  For now, this will do, but ideally we would have a couple of these Germination Stations with Heating Mat:

Seed Starting Soil

Zac made soil this weekend to start the Lavender and Rosemary seeds. While we could just purchase a bag of seed starting mix, we have found that it is much less expensive and we have much more control over our soil if we mix it ourselves.  Zac combined Vermiculite, Topsoil/Compost Mix, and Peat Moss.  All of these were available locally at Lowes.

The end result should be a rich, pliable mix that won't clump together.

From here, you can test the PH and NPK (N-itrogen / P-hosphorous / Potassium =K).  Potassium gets a 'k' because that's its symbol on the periodic table.  You will need to look and see what kind of food and PH level your plants like the best.  Once you know your plant's preference, you can use this basic mix to build a specific "dirt cocktail."  We use this simple soil test kit to test our soil.

Spring 2010 Planting Schedule

This weekend is one we have been looking forward to all winter. Why?

This weekend, Febuary 6 & 7, is roughly 10 weeks from the average last frost in our part of Oklahoma, which means, it's the perfect time to begin planting our garden seeds indoors!

For Zac and I, this means we will plant:

February 6 (10 weeks out)
Rosemary
Lavender (maybe I can get it to take this year crossing fingers)

February 20 (8 weeks out)
Hot Peppers
Tomatoes
Rosemary - succession planting (keep sewing a few seeds each week in case first batch doesn't make it)
Lavender - succession planting

March 6 (6 weeks out)
Thyme
Spinach OUTSIDE
Hot Peppers - succession planting
Tomatoes - succession planting

March 20 (4 weeks out)
Thyme - succession planting
Spinach OUTSIDE - succession planting

March 27 (3 weeks out)
Sweet Peas OUTSIDE
Romaine OUTSIDE

April 10 (1 week from average last frost)
Sweet Peas OUTSIDE - succession planting
Romaine OUTSIDE - succession planting

April 17 (assuming we are frost free and the forecast looks good)
Basil OUTSIDE
Chives OUTSIDE
Cucumbers OUTSIDE
Green Onions OUTSIDE
Parsley OUTSIDE
Marigolds OUTSIDE (good to plant in a garden for plant pollination)
Sunflowers OUTSIDE
***These will be succession planted too

We are pretty excited about it!