The Craftiest Workshop

We are slowly ramping up our garden plans year by year. Last year we added some garden boxes on the deck and two raised garden beds on the south side of the garage. This year we will have more raised beds. Two larger ones are already built and ready to go with more to come. We also plan to fence in a large area with the raised beds and berry plants. This will allow me to place other pots inside the fencing to save them from hungry deer.

With more space, I decided to start some seeds indoors this year. Usually, I would start my tomato plants the last week in March. This year, with our plans to travel to High River right after Easter, I knew I had to wait another two weeks.

Normally, I would just plant the seeds in yogurt containers and cover them with plastic wrap. This year, to speed up the process, I tried to create a mini greenhouse for them and I soaked the seeds.

I just soaked the seeds overnight in warm water. I will admit that removing a wet seed from your finger to the soil is a tricky business. I ended up taking the wet seed out on my finger, transferring it to the tip of a steak knife and then using the knife to place it in the soil. I just sprinkled a bit of soil over the seed.

We bought three large clear plastic totes from Costco. I put the yogurt containers and small plant pots inside the totes. One tote each for cherry tomato, roma tomato and ground cherry. The other seeds were in smaller single serve type containers so I just used sheets of plastic over them.

The extra warmth with the clear totes must have worked.
The roma tomatoes were up after five days.

I removed the plastic wrap but left them in the tote.

It wasn’t just the tomato seeds. I also started chamomile, forget-me-nots, basil, lemon balm, and sweet peas. The plastic wrap really helped germinate the basil; I have struggled with it in the past.

I still have to add soil to the tomatoes almost daily so they don’t get leggy. The ground cherry is the only thing not up yet. I have read that they need a lot of heat to germinate so I might not get any. I kept half the seeds to try again next year. Maybe an electric heat pad underneath on low overnight would be enough heat?

I still have pumpkin, turnip and kohlrabi to start in pots in a couple weeks. I got a bunch of starting pots at the free dump store and we bought two large bags of potting soil at Costco so I have lots of starting resources.

I am back on track with my plants to get them in the ground the last week in May. The plastic totes will go outside in the afternoons on warm sunny days. I might remove them from the totes the week before to acclimate the plants to our Alberta winds. I have also heard that using an oscillating fan for a few hours a day indoors works as well.

Everything else I plan to plant goes straight into the ground. Seeing how well soaking the seeds worked on the tomatoes, I think I will try soaking some of the other larger seeds the night before planting. Seeds like carrots and lettuce are too hard to distribute wet but I might pour boiling water under them and warm water over them when planting.

Chris started building the base for the greenhouse today using the wood from the shed we tore down last summer. The greenhouse will be used to get plants started earlier and extend the growing season later into the fall.

The more seeds that germinate, the more plants I can get into the garden or give away. It is enjoyable to see plants take root and begin to grow.