We're Back In The Greenhouse!

It has finally warmed up and we are back in the greenhouse starting seeds for the 2011 growing season. Yesterday we started our cold weather crops, some herbs and flowers.

Leeks and onions were the first to be sown. We put the newly planted flats on a warming bed. In a few weeks we will have hundreds of threadlike sprouts that we will eventually have to transplant. Not my favorite job. I am always afraid I will damage them. They seem to survive my transplanting and by mid-summer they are growing strong. It always amazes me how such sturdy plants can come from such tiny seeds.

Cabbages were next. We grow a lot of cabbage. We grow about 7 different kinds of cabbage for our Norwegian, German, Scottish and Yankee gardens. We plant alot of cabbage since we have to replant what the groundhogs eat. They insist that we share!

Spinach and greens were also started plus we direct sow in the gardens.

We started some herbs and flowers that we will be selling at our plant sale. We are going to have a good variety of heirloom annuals. Morning Glories, Holly hocks, Sweat Peas, Nasturtiums, Love in a Mist, Sweet William and Johnny Jump Ups are a few of my favorites. We do not have an exact date for the sale yet but it will be sometime in May.

Next week we are hoping to get into the gardens to till. This week the ground is saturated from all the snow and rain we had. We also have to replace one of our hops poles. It broke right at the base and we will have to dig a new deep hole and replant it. The hops poles have been in the German Garden for 10 years.

After a long winter it is always a good feeling to get your hands dirty and start planting.