This will be my second gardening season in rural Maine, and I’ve just begun the indoor seed starting ritual. It really feels like a ritual, because although the process will produce plants to grow flowers and vegetables, the process itself is what I enjoy most. I love waking up and checking on my tiny seedlings to see the new growth, especially when they surprise me. They stretch toward the light, they look like they're dancing or bowing. Tiny little plants coming to life.
I also enjoy experimenting, and this year that will focus on the seeds I saved after last year’s garden. I can’t wait to find out if I was successful or not. I kept pretty good notes as far as when I gathered the seeds. Not just the actual date collected, but the state of the plant at time of collection and most importantly, whether it was pre or post frost. If you can actually get viable seeds pre frost, then I’d prefer to collect seed all season rather than make a mad dash to collect them right after the cold hits and they die off.
I’m also experimenting with winter sowing (see previous post) which I’m very curious about. Some people apparently skip the indoor sowing altogether because they have great success with sowing seeds outside in the cold. It’s a lot less work than indoor sowing, but I feel like I would miss it. The only thing to do in March is sow seeds and fill out your bracket to gamble in March Madness.
Last year in my research I discovered soil blocking and I really love this method. You mix up your potting soil and then use a tool to shape it into little square blocks that you place a seed into. They actually hold up really well if there is enough water in the soil at the time you press them. Once the seedling grows big enough you can then pick that little square up and place it into a 4" pot to grow further. I'm not holding my breath but I am hoping for an early spring so I can get growing.
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