My first tomato babies are sprouting! There are only a couple of them breaching the soil right now, but this means that within a week I should have hundreds to care for… and also means I need to get the rack for my new grow light built. I also need to get the hydroponic tower built – I promised my wife fresh romaine for Caesar salads this year. I did get all the other seeds in their respective peat pods yesterday (well except for one variety that needed to be soaked overnight, but those are in now) and look forward to a prosperous season.
I planted a couple “oddball” plants this year in addition to my usual vegetables and herbs – this year I also planted some luffa gourd and bottle gourd seed. I thought it would be interesting to see about growing our own luffas and can use the bottle gourds to make birdhouses as well as some “traditional” looking bottles for sake. Those all will go in with the other stuff – cucumbers, daikon radish, peppers (both spicy and sweet), and melon. The only herbs I’m doing this year are basil and cilantro, but will grow others regularly once the greenhouse is built. I do have a few others to plant, but those will be later, as they don’t transplant well.
I’m looking forward to some of the plant experiments I have in mind this season – mainly hydroponic ones. I have the parts to set up the grow tower (which will be mostly for lettuce and light greens) and a Kratky-style hydroponic bucket setup that was constantly attacked by deer last year. This season, with the larger deck, I’ll have more space to place a few grow buckets up there where the deer won’t venture.
Anyhow, things to do…
Song of the day: And You And I by Yes
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