looking down
I finally resolved to plant some of the seeds I had collected and held on to over the years. They don’t take up much space, and you always get so many more seeds than can used in a year, so I kept them. And kept them. And kept them. This is the end of the line: I’m going to use up or compost my tiny stash this season and get all new seeds in 2011. Following good gardener practice, here’s my diary:
21 March: large indoor pot by south-side window: rouge d’hiver lettuce (packed for 1992!) and mesclun salad mix (circa 1999), both from Seeds of Change. My expectations are suitably low; after 6 days, one has sprouted. Tomorrow I’m going to scatter all the remaining seeds from these packs, add some more soil, and give them one more week before declaring failure.
26 March: DIY seed starter kit from egg cartons & plastic clamshell boxes. One dozen ornamental mix sunflowers brand new for 2010 (from VT-based High Mowing Seeds); 6 seeds each of Burbank slicing tomato (Seeds of Change 1992) and seeds I saved from some heirloom tomatoes I got at the food coop in 2007: yellow pear, orange, and red-green (no idea what the official names of the last two varieties were). Twenty-four tomato seeds planted in all, and I’m hoping for one or two surviving plants given the circumstances.
This weekend I also want to start some basil and marigolds, using up seeds ranging in years from toddler to voting-age. Not sure where I’ll put them, though, as I’ve got limited space for indoor cultivation. I’ve also got some geriatric peas to plant outside, but I think I’ll hold out one more week.
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