March 23

Planting Day!
Test seeds arrived while I was in San Francisco and today is planting day!  I am using Rootrainers (www.rootrainers.org) seed trays that I picked up at the Chelsea Flower Show last year. They are modular trays of corrugated plastic that lie flat when not in use. Each tray is creased along the bottom, so they fold up and hook together to form cells about 1.5 inches across, some 4 inches deep, others 6 inches deep. I fill each one with seed starting mix and set in the seeds. The beauty is, when the seedlings are ready for planting out, I just unhook the trays to lift out each seedling with its associated soil intact. No pulling seedlings apart, no digging them out of their six packs or cutting them out of trays. And, no apparent transplant shock.  It is a great system for small seeds. 
Here’s what I have to plant:
2 kinds of cucumbers
4 kinds of melons
4 kinds of eggplant
6 kinds of tomatoes
5 kinds of peppers
2 kinds of cabbage
2 kinds of squash
1 kind of potato
Lots of flowers
Wish I could tell you which varieties I am testing, but I am sworn to secrecy! You’ll read about the results in the January ‘09 issue of Organic Gardening Magazine.

Comments

[debra]

Hi Nan, just stopped by to read your news. I am dying to sample your veggies!!!
xoxo Debra

[cc]

mom says that i have to pick only one of the watermelons cantalope or cucumbers that they will mix i have a garden about 75foot by 100 ft rows how far do different stuff have to be apart