Starting Seeds indoors (The Grumpy Gardener)

source

I'm grumpy.  My family knows it.  And I suspect many other gardeners in the Northeast are grumpy this weekend too.  We've set the clocks forward, the seeds are purchased, the crocuses are in bloom, but instead of getting to work in the garden, it's snowing.  Yup, my annual St. Patty's Day planting will have to wait.  It snowed yesterday, it's cold today, and there's a "bigger storm" coming tomorrow.  That's all the weatherman promises in the forcast.  Yippie, more winter.  Not what a gardener wants to hear.  So how does a frustrated gardener get to work anyway?  We start planting indoors.

If you've been following my gardening blog, you know from my post last Spring, I'm not an "innie".  I have no green thumb when it comes to growing plants indoors.  Previous attempts at houseplants have ended in their brown/withered death.  I have grown seeds indoors, but I hurry to get them outside before the mold begins to grow.  So this year, I'm setting myself up with the proper tools.  My husband is building me a grow light stand and I used my Christmas giftcard for a grow kit!  What better idea for a non-indoor grower than a "self-watering deep root system grow kit"!  Sign me up, send the UPS guy, my answer is here.

 

Purchased from Gardeners Supply, the reviews say it should be able to erase all my indoor growing deficits by doing what I haven't been able to do....properly water indoor seeds.  So after carving out a quiet piece of time in the day (ok, maybe the kids were still loud in the background), I got to work.  Oh, the smell of the dirt!  It may have been my kitchen, but I was transported to sunnier days outside in the garden.  And it might just be a seed, but it's the promise of things to come.  Nothing lifts a gardener's spirit than actually gardening. 

What I'm growing so far indoors are three cells each of three different types of non-GMO tomatoes (Moneymaker, Cherry, and Thessaloniki), and 6 cells of Romaine that I'll tranplant outdoors in a few weeks.  So it now sits on the floor with the lid on until the sprouts appear.  Once they do, we'll lift the lid and add the grow light.  Meanwhile, you'll find me outdoors on the first semi-warm day putting the rest of the spring crops in the garden:  lettuce, radishes, carrots, etc. Stay tuned.