Preparing for the Garden

I spent much of the morning trying to figure out what we need to order from the seed company NOW in order to have a crop LATER.  It's hard to guess how much a "packet" of seeds will hold - how many feet of plants will we get.  And how do I know what number of stalks I will have with a 1/4 pound of corn seeds?  I don't know.  So I'm guessing.

I planned out something - some amount - for each type of plant we want to try to grow.  And we will just have to see.  It's going to cost about $300 total.  But if we don't buy it now, we won't be able to get the garden started in time to see anything grow to maturity.

As I was planning the seeds, J asked how we were planning to plant these seeds.  By hand seemed like the only way we can at this point.  But then, we started thinking about how to create rows.  We don't have an actual plow for the tractor.  We have a disc that tills the ground.  I suggested we could drag a trowel through, but we're talking about two acres.  That's a lot of dragging.  I also thought about whether or not we really NEED distinctly higher rows to plant into or if it might be enough to simply plant in a row.  The only plants that really need a mound in their rows is potatoes.  The squash will be planted in hills, not rows, so we will make those ourselves too.  It's all an educated guess at this point.

In addition to the new products we need, I have been working on the seedlings in the house.  I have thinned everyone back to a single plant in each container.  I have begun rotating the flats so that the seedlings don't lean on direction too much.  I have also started "brushing" the seedlings every night before I go to bed.  "Brushing" means to run your hand across the seedlings so that they bend almost all the way over, then let them spring back.  It is supposed to help encourage root development and create a stalkier, stronger plant.  We'll see.  They seem to be doing well so far, although a few of the seedlings are taller than I would like to see.  Nobody has their true first leaves yet, and the peppers haven't really sprouted yet at all, so we'll just have to wait.