Plan B

Which was really Plan A until I decided on another Plan A, but that Plan A isn't working out so well, so I needed a Plan B, so what was A, is now B. Got it?

Since we moved last August, I've been wondering where I was going to set up my seed starting things in this house. There are no shelves or counters in the basement, like I used to have. There's plenty of room, and the laundry room really needs something, but we're in the beginning stages of some major remodeling in the basement, so we aren't in a position to build or install anything.

It was this lack of readily available space that made me very excited about winter sowing. Unfortunately, I'm not having stellar success in that endeavor. I have several broccoli sprouts, one cabbage sprout, but no kale at all. The thyme, however, is doing very well. I'm having a heck of a time keeping any of them damp, so I'm now watering twice a day. I think the other herbs will come along, but I'm not convinced that I should do everything else this way, especially since I made the decision to try tomatoes and peppers from seeds this year.

That was a long way of saying, I figured out where to put an indoor seed-starting station and got some seeds planted last weekend. Instead of using an existing shelf, I made a light rack and converted the spare bedroom to my seed-starting room. Let's face it, the room was really a dog bedroom/storage room anyway, and it will probably be a staging area for pieces of the basement remodel, so why not use it for another, possibly dirty, project. Besides, no one's knocking down the door to come stay with us.

I dreamt up my own design and, with some help from D, turned this:

into this:

With the light and my seed-starting trays, I was in business.

Sunday was such a nice day, I did my planting outside.

Some zinnias and marigolds.

Warm and happy in their heated, damp world.

I later planted a few kale seeds as well, because I really want some kale.

Those little seeds sprouted so fast, that I turned off the heat mats and turned on the lights tonight.

These might be the most spindly seedlings I've ever seen. I put the light really low, so they could stop reaching for the sky.

Plan B is a success so far, and I'm getting really excited for spring. Lots of seeds to get planted in the next week or so.