Garden Journal: February 21, 2020

We started Planting Today! 

So Today is February 21 and it is so cold that it feels like spring will never come, although I did notice while I was serving dinner at work last night that the sun was still up so I know that no matter how cold I am right now, spring is on its way! I admit, I'm losing patience with Old Man Winter. 

Celery Seeds

Broccoli Seeds

Pepper Seeds

Today we planted (6) 4" pots of Giant Red Celery, (6) 4" pots of Chinese Pink Celery, (6) 4" pots of Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli, (3) 4 packs of Sweet Chocolate Peppers that were a special pick by Emily. Only time will tell if she actually eats them lol but I will never deny my incredibly picky child a chance to grow and/or try any fruit or vegetable she wants! We also planted (3) 4 packs of Chinese 5 color peppers. I can't remember if Caleb picked those out or if he chose the others. I think he chose these ones. Either way, these are a hot variety of pepper. The Baker Creek Website says that they are "screaming hot". I don't like ot or exgremely spicy, so I'll have Todd (hubby) and Caleb (15 year old son) try them and let you know 😈. In addition to that we also planted (3) 4 packs of Violet Sparkle Peppers, another sweet pepper variety and (3) 4 packs of Lesya Peppers which Baker Creek says in their description that they are "believed to be the sweetest of all peppers". As you can see we're not big on planting common varieties that you can find at any local farmers market or grocery store 😊.

Finances: So far this season we have bought 58 packets of heirloom seeds from Baker Creek Seeds for a total cost of $167.25. We also received free shipping from them as well as 4 or 5 free surprise seed packets included in our order. Each packet ranged in price from $2.50-$4.00. 

We bought a pack of 100 4" seedling pots from Amazon for $10.99 (I just checked and the price seems to have gone up to $12.09). We planted the celery and broccoli in these. They're a bit more flimsy than some other pots we've had but they'll do. A pack of 24 4-pack seed starter trays also from Amazon which we planted the peppers in. These cost $7.19. I just checked and the cost at the moment is $7.29. We purchased a 2 pack of seedling heating mats which the peppers are currently sitting on for $20.99 from Amazon. The biggest purchase was a 6 pack of 4' grow lights from Amazon for $99.99. We wish they were a little wider, but we'll see how they work! Oh! I almost forgot we also purchased from Amazon 2 bags of Coast of Maine organic seed starter for $38.32 for both and some Coco coir seed starter pots that we'll be starting our watermelon in for $8.99 (current price is $9.99). 

So as it stands, our current cost for growing this season stands at:

$353.72

This season we're going to try to do some seed saving so that we might spend less next season on seeds. We're also probably going to be purchasing more grow lights as well as some more 6' folding tables.

I had a thought for the end of this season to start some plants in 5 gallon buckets at the end of the summer and bring them in and put them under the grow lights and just maybe we'll have some fresh produce through at least part of the winter too! But one things at a time I suppose... We have to get something growing for this season first!