starting seed starting
We got our seeds in the mail yesterday, which was very gratifying to both me and Harvey. Even better, they came in a box that must be almost three feet tall (and two by two square), which really shows up the immensity of this whole effort. Not they're really big seeds, of course; there was just some other necessary infrastructure included in the package. But the effect was still nice. Harvey worked on getting into the box for a good five minutes, using a butter knife at first and then when that failed a spoon, before I took pity on him and opened it up with great fanfare. Today we sorted the seed packets.
Now the hardest part is waiting another couple weeks before we start planting. We're totally ready to go now! With Harvey's encouragement I actually started a very few sample seeds a couple days ago, to test the status of both last year's seeds and our seed starting medium (they both smell a little musty). Nearly everything I put in has already sprouted, so as long as damp dirt doesn't have any deleterious effect we look like we're in great shape.
First up, once the season properly gets going, will be peppers and eggplant. Last year's peppers were going slow enough as it was before they were the only casualty of our little hurricane, so we want to get them going early, and I have no confidence about my ability to grow so tropical a crop as eggplant. But we got one plant last year as a gift and were completely enamored of its limited bounty, so we will make an attempt. Tomatoes after that.
In recognition of all this excited planning I've started updating the farming site again. Last year we managed to keep track of our progress up until the end of July; will this be the year where we finally manage to track a whole farming season? Stay tuned.