I really am going to have a garden this year

I'm a bit behind schedule, but I think I'm finally headed the right direction with this year's garden. Between traveling for work, weird weather, and not having a solid plan, I've missed some seeding dates already, but seeds are now in pots and on the heat mats.

In the dead of winter, I had myself convinced that I was going to try winter sowing everything this year. I did put out cabbage and broccoli in early February and added some marigolds, calendula and zinnias a couple weeks later.

After freak hot days and not enough moisture killed some of the broccoli and cabbage sprouts, I started to re-think the plan. Not having cabbage in the garden is one thing; not having tomatoes would be a whole other kind of tragedy.

Once I'd decided I was going to start seeds indoors again, I then had two work trips intervene. I don't mind leaving D to do some watering, but the timing was such that seedlings would've just been sprouting and having various heat and light needs, and I didn't want to put that on him.

Yesterday, I finally got around to seeding. This year, my seed starting area is in the basement, instead of the spare bedroom. We finished the remodel and added some cabinets to the laundry room last summer, so I have a decent work area now.

I don't plant very many of each variety, so I label the individual pots, rather than having an entire tray of one thing. These are all of the tomatoes and peppers.

I mix potting soil and water in small batches as I go.

One of the pluses to having several dogs over the years is the awesome stainless steel dog dishes.

We've got several extras around the house, and they're perfect for things like this.

All set up and ready to grow. Tomatoes and peppers on the left. Eggplant, rosemary and zinnias on the right.

Last night it looked like one of the heat mats might not be working. Not surprising, given that they're several years old and spent the winter in the shed. I'll probably just rotate the pots, unless things don't start growing.

I shouldn't forget to mention that I (with D's help) did get another project done a few weeks ago. I needed to fence the other two raised beds, so I don't have to contemplate employing a bunny sniper. The hardware cloth is very hard to work with, so I bought it early and laid it out for a couple weeks to straighten a bit.

The gravel pit and the miscellaneous pieces of old wood lying around came in handy.

Before

After

It feels so good to be making progress. It's almost time for peas and onions!