Getting Dirty!

Is there anything better than hands in dirt? Good black garden dirt, dusty dry dirt, fluffy potting soil, loose brown piles of dirt freshly dug from a post hole for a new fence? The season of dirt is upon us...soon to be followed by the season of green and growing.

This vegetable gardening thing is still pretty new to me, but every year I learn a few new tricks and get more "invested" in the process. This year I'm starting a lot more of my own plants and have bought some heritage seeds from Seed Savers Exchange and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I have some of my earlier plants started and was amazed to see cauliflower sprouts already popping through the soil. I have purchased 4-foot lights and am in the process of setting up my grow-table in the garage to keep my little babies warm and happy. I've brewed chamomile tea, watered it down, and started to spritz my flats of starts to prevent damping off disease. This year, I will even try "hardening off" my starts before planting them (novel idea), and am also excited to try some seed saving this season. In a few years I might pass as a bon-eee-fide gardener!

There are a couple of more raised beds to be built, a rototiller to be purchased (oy - $$!), and soil to be ammended, but I'm ready for it! It's fun to finally get to work rather than just plotting the garden layout in google sketch-up or making a nerdy seed inventory spreadsheet. Yes spreadsheet! It's lovely! I can sort the info by vegetable alphabetically, or by how early the seeds should be started, or by the seed company, or by the year the seed was produced. I will add a rating column and notes so that I can keep track of the brands and varieties I like (or don't like) and want to plant again (or avoid), etc. Yes, I'm a garden nerd!

Happy spring to all!