Well you know how I believe in small personal gardens to grow healthy food to save us from the overuse of chemicals...well now is the time to get to planning and growing.
Get those starts in and let's get growing
Just a small plastic container and some spinach seeds...anything to get you started. You'll be surprised at how growing something starts to get you motivated as those little sprout heads miraculously start peeking out.
You'll soon find yourself getting motivated to do more and more....it's just infectious...so let's get started!
Early spring gardening means you'll probably have another round of freezing weather. So we need a way to protect those plants either by covering them or by using smaller pots or a cart that can be moved into the garage. Failing to pre-plan will waste a lot of time in frozen plants.
The other consideration is how to warm up that dirt. The ambient temperature or dirt temperature is what helps to trigger the seed to crack and the plant to grow. Soil can be heated with something as simple as a heat lamp the first two to three days. But remember the heat lamp will burn new sprouts so it has to be moved away from the plant as soon as the growth starts. If possible the heat lamp put under the pot to heat from the bottom will protect from that situation.
I always use grow lights because the amount of day light is too short in our area in the spring. So the grow light extends that time to insure the plant will grow.
I also use heated water, not scalding but very warm, to water with. This helps that ambient temperature in the soil and seems to get my starts our earlier.
It takes a lot more baby sitting but it is fun to have frost on the ground and fresh vegetables.
