Spring Fever

More snow is on the way here in DC, keeping with the spirit of never ending winter that we’ve been tortured with this year. This winter has brought back a new disease, one that plagued my childhood, that I’ve long since forgotten: Spring Fever. For the last two years, February found us puttering in the garden already: setting up cold frames, snacking on kohlrabi, transplanting, pruning and building new beds (which should really be done in fall, actually)… *sigh*.  This year, I’m making up for the never ending winter by shopping for think-spring items online. gotta Love Etsy! Check out these great garden inspired finds. 

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How-To: Egg Carton Greenhouse

In years past, we found that our seedlings covered with some plastic wrap or bags really grew faster, stronger, and dried out less. But they were a pain to deal with. This year, I decided to buy some jiffy trays, but also decided to make our cheep-o egg carton starters easier to deal with. Mr. Bottled swooned over this idea, so here you go:

What you need:
an egg carton, tape, scissors and plastic wrap.

What you do:
1. Cut out a window in the top of the egg carton. I left the middle part on for support. I cut our sections on the front and sides for some extra light, but be sure you leave a little cardboard in the corners to support the plastic wrap.
2. Tape plastic wrap to the top.
3. Voila! greenhouse-like seed starting tray without spending money or having plastic all over the place every time you mist your seeds!

Sprout watch 2010

Holy Arugula!

In a record setting sprouting, our arugula started poking up out of the soil after less than 48 hours. This probably won't make it out of the house before being eaten, but I am dreaming of rocket salads, rocket pizza and adding the peppery greens to some fantastic, spicy salads. Why haven't I been growing you all winter?!  I will probably move these into the kitchen, where we have another grow light, in a week or so, giving new meaning to the term "Kitchen Garden".

6 More Weeks of Winter

As 2" of snow falls on DC tonight, and we Washingtonians have dreams of snow days, I'm really regretting our recent planting. It wouldn't be so bad if Punxsutawney Phil hadn't decided we'd be in for 6 more weeks of this. Even so, I'm hoping that by week 6 we'll be able to start moving our seedlings into the cold frames. If it's too cold, we'll need to intensify our lights at the least, and also examine the possibility of building a hot bed or some kind of greenhouse that could be heated.