Laugh if You Must (Part 2)

So it might not be the smartest idea to tip off our readers to our inexperience (or insanity as some might view it) this early in our blogging career.  I choose to believe that it makes us appear more human and perhaps you can see a little of yourself in our adventures.  Then again, perhaps you are just here for the laughs.


Now that we have established that we have bitten off more than we can probably chew (perhaps literally AND figuratively) in our garden planning, it is time to share the rest of the story.  


This weekend we started some of our seeds - in those tiny peat pots and trays.  The kids of course insisted on helping and since I want this to be a fun learning experience, I let them join in.   Step one was to pour warm water into the tray for the planting medium to absorb.  Of course after I meticulously measured the correct amount of water into a bowl for child #1, I told them to gently pour it over the pots.  She splashed it all over the counter instead.  Repeating this process with a few extra warnings, I handed over the water for the second tray to child #2.  So concerned to show his older sister how it was done that he moved at turtle speed....which of course meant that the soil was knocked loose from the top of the pots because it was moistened before even half of the water was in.  Sigh.  


With all four trays ready to plant I suddenly had a garden panic attack.  How was I going to get all these seeds in so few pots!  You can not leave a seed unused after all.  I mean, we paid nearly a dollar for those 5,000 celery seeds!  I had already been concerned over the need to buy another set of florescent bulbs and a light fixture because I had doubled the planned number of flats.  Taking another deep breath I decided it might actually be okay if we did not plant more than 78 celery stalks since it isn't one of our most beloved vegetables.  And the remaining other seeds we'll try to throw into the garden and see if they will germinate as successfully there as under a grow light in the comfy warmth of our dining room.

PVC Planting Shelves

Which brings me to the next subject - where were we going to put the seed trays?  My first idea was to rig our downstairs bathtub (we do not use the bathtub in there).  My dad suggested an A-frame contraption that sounded difficult to move around.  Then my husband did a little internet searching and came upon a PVC creation that seemed to be a great solution as we could place it in the dining room where I am more likely to keep an eye on the water needs.  A quick trip to the hardware store and a little time and we had a pretty slick system.  We made ours to hold four large trays and two 48" light fixtures per "shelf".  There are three shelves - although we're only using one this year.  The entire system can be taken down and stored easily and although it looks a little wonky because of the uneven floors in our 100 year old farmhouse, it's going to work great.  We did decide it could use a little reinforcing in the center so we'll do that in a week or so.


Note to self (and others who may not already know this):  When putting in florescent bulbs, be sure your power is off.  I turned ours on and one of the two bulbs was not coming on so I tried to adjust it...at which point it slipped out and zapped the bulb.  Now we are already down one bulb and we have not even had the seeds planted for an hour!


My sister is passing on to us her greenhouse so I'm excited about using that too.  We will pick that up soon but here's a picture of the one we are getting.

The greenhouse we will be getting soon.

Okay, that about wraps up our garden plans for the remainder of the winter.  Another few weeks and we'll be able to start thinking about tilling up the great expanse of land all these seeds will need.  We have a great spot for our main garden but we have to select another site for the corn and pumpkins that isn't overshadowed by our enormous barn or too far from a water source.  Plus I want one elevated bed that I can plant the asparagus in so it doesn't get tilled up each spring.


Be sure to stop back in the early Spring to see the garden planting in progress!