How to Choose a Seed Catalog

I ran across this blog entry by someone who has put a lot of time into which seed catalog to use:

http://www.morssglobalfinance.com/which-seed-catalogue-to-use/

The Christmas Tree is Down

I took the Christmas tree down today. That means that I set up my shelving for seedlings.

I've decided to try putting the grow lights along a wall instead of by the window this year. I don't have a sense for how much the sunlight contributes. And I don't have a sense for how much the temperature variation of the window matters. So this will be a bit of an experiment.

I only have two problems:

1) I have a digital, programmable timer. But I have no idea where I put it last year.

2) Fire inspection. I got a note about fire inspection last week. I don't remember when they said they were coming. And I don't know how they feel about self-assembled grow lights. But I have a hunch that they won't like it. Maybe I should take the lights down until I know I'm in the clear. Or maybe I should leave them up to see whether the fire inspectors think they're hazardous or not!

The artichokes germinated today. They germinated in eight days! Not bad. The seed packet said 10-20 days.

Seeds Came from Territorial

The seeds I ordered from Territorial Seed Company on 1/3 arrived yesterday on 1/8. Not bad.

I actually checked the mail after I got back from my favorite garden center. I was looking for a seedling heat mat. But the place was nearly empty. All of the Christmas stuff had been taken down and they were just setting up the seed racks. They had one seedling heat mat, but it was 20"x20", not a good fit for my shelving. I looked online and there are seed mats that are 9"x19", a better fit. I'll go back to the garden center sometime in the not so distant future and see what they have in. I would prefer to buy local.

Here's what I got:

My purchases from the garden center were: poop pots (peat pots made of manure) and seed-starting soil.

I planted my artichoke seeds. They're in the pots in the foreground. Also pictured are my gardening snowman (with apples in one hand and a trowel in the other, two bird figurines with santa hats, my spruce with Christmas lights, my cut flowers, a geranium, my new hen & chicks (which I named Henry before I knew that he was a hen and chicks), and my amaryllis (which has eight blossoms so far and a new flower bud arising).

Early Afternoon Pictures

Picture from the top of the snow pile. On a clear day, you would get a good view of downtown.

The rain this weekend melted a lot of the snow. This is a view looking across the garden. You can see the stakes that are at the corner of each garden, buried in the snow.

Interesting snow drifts or melts around the rain barrels.

The snow pile is taller than the tool shed.

Greenhouse buried in snow. Good insulation, I think.

The greenhouse from inside. Note the snow on the outer walls.

My greenhouse plot.

Green, living onions in my plot in the greenhouse.

First Seed Order Today

I really want to try artichokes again. Last year, I put my seedlings in the garden and they stopped growing. So I want to try again. That means starting the seeds in January.

As long as I was ordering artichoke seeds, I figured I might as well order some of my early spring seeds. Hopefully that doesn't slow down the order. I remember thinking my seed order was slow to come last year.

From Territorial Seed Company, I ordered:

1		Bordeaux Spinach - 5 grams
1		Brilliant Celeriac - 1/8 gram
1		Imperial Star Artichoke - 1 gram
1		Manny Cucumbers Organic - 20 seeds Organic
1		Miners Lettuce - 1/4 gram
1		Sugar Sprint Peas - 1 oz
1		Super Sugar Snap Peas - 1 oz
1		Vit Corn Salad - 1 gram
1		Wild Garden Lettuce Mix Organic - 3 grams Organic