Sounds like we could have a real old home week if we got going. Do you also know Mala, who put me in touch with Catharine? With Thomas being an artist, I imagine we have some friends in common in that world, too.

Very best~ Brett

Brett

I hear you about coddling the plants, but I was really concerned that if I didn’t use the heat mats indoors, the seeds would take forever to start. My wood stove has been under-performing (maybe needs new gaskets… trying to troubleshoot it) and we have not been burning it to avoid wasting the wood, so the house has been getting down to maybe 50 degrees in the morning. I’ve learned that onions will germinate at that temperature, but the whole reason I’m starting them now is to get a jump on the spring, and at that low temp, I fear they’d take so long to germinate that I’d lose a lot of that lead time.

Of course, the makers of the heat mats claim that they promote stronger root systems, not weaker plants. The proof of the pudding is in the tasting. We’ll see how the babies do when they get set outside in the spring.

Thanks for the comments on my herbs. I’ll be glad if the oregano comes back in the spring. These plants have produced some delicious meals for me. I have a bit of a sentimental attachment to them, even if I could go down to the nursery and just buy some more if they died. I have a friend who says she cuts her perennial herbs back to the ground every winter and they grow back every spring. Right now, the oregano just has a bunch of bare branches. What do you think? Leave it as-is or cut it back? Not sure whether the cut-back would do the plant a favor, kind of like pruning, or whether it would just set it back even further.

Joshua, here’s my theory on heat pads for your seeds: once they have to go outdoors and live, their lives won’t be quite so cushy! I guess I am advocating a tough-love approach here. Sure heat pads get the seeds to sprout, quickly, but…they’ll be weaker once they have to go outside. Acclimating only does so much. And don’t worry about your oregano; they die back to the ground every winter. The garlic is probably just fine too. Rosemary is a bit more of a wimp though. But yeah, greenhouse! I’m pretty much gonna always sell you on one, I don’t care where you live.

MC, what I do is I wrap my seed area (bottom, sides, over the top of the lights and down) in one of those thermal blankets (those shiny mylar sheets you find in the camping sections of places like Target: they’re folded up super tiny). Our basement is a perennially chilly 50-55 so the tomatoes hate it. Wrapping them up does two things: it multiplies the efficiency of the light, and it keeps them warmer. But yeah, that sounds like a cold basement!!! Anywhere else you can seed-start?

Mom, well, that’d be my goal too but those tomatoes are so fussy. Good luck to your new year of gardening!! I confess I do love the smell of damp seed-start dirt…

Mike, someone last year mentioned that she transplanted her leeks out and “it was like planting eyelashes,” and I had to howl: it’s pretty damned fussy work. Give it a go: if you have plenty of seeds, it can’t hurt, right?

Wendy, jealous, that’s one full-service CSA, especially because they’re cutting into their potential customers by selling seedlings! But yeah, sometimes subcontracting is the way to go.

Stef, indeed. You’re welcome for the reminder. Are you doing indoors or out? Isn’t it a bit wet out right now?

Aimee, rub it in, why don’t you? Good luck on trying out the container garden, keep us updated. We’ve got some bad-ass grass here too but it does get cold enough here for it to stop growing for at least part of the year

ThyHand: welcome back, then! Hope I can nudge you to try something new…like that greenhouse. It sounds like it could be a really fun project, especially for your oldest. And yeah, happy swoosh to you too!

Brett, where were you when I lived there??? You and Mary sound like kindred spirits, especially with the bread thing. I hope I can inspire you to build a small masonry oven: it would be just the thing for your bread bidniz. And to prove to you how long it’s been since we were there, there was no E. Lake St market back then! Indeed, I have you bookmarked too so do check back often.

Sara, no, indeed, you’re not in the minority. I just feel like I should lay it all out there for folks who’re hesitating with even beginning to start a garden: the path to failure is littered with tons of unharvested produce in some weedy-assed gardens. So on paper I may appear terribly successful but hey: even some parts of gardening give me the blues, truly! BUT: good luck with the onion seeds. They take a while so be kinda patient.

Liz, that’s a wonderful story on the peppers, how funny. But yes, unless you get a lot of sunny days at this time of the year, I think indoor gardening can really get you excited, don’t you? Good luck with the start of the season!

Actually my shortcut for onions has been to buy plants/sets–but this year I’m doing seeds for the first time

Best~ Brett

We are toying with the idea of building a small greenhouse out of a bunch of large plexi-glass panes a friend gave us (they were going to be thrown away). Your post here (assuming your greenhouse onions do well) is another kick in my pants to get us thinking about doing it.

Thanks for the link to your chart. I haven’t been here in a bit, but ’tis the season to start reading you again. I here the “swoosh” as well:-).