In the years I've lived here in Georgia, I've learned that as much as I dislike the cold, it's the grey skies that are the worst. Just give me one sunny day in February, and I'll start acting like it's a perfect spring day in April, no matter how cold it is. That was the case last Sunday.
My husband laid down for his usual Sunday afternoon nap, and I started getting the itch to plant things. It was the perfect time of year to plant spinach and peas from seed, after all. Of course then I remembered that the wood around my raised bed was in need of repairs, so off I went to the hardware store for supplies. To make a long story short, I ended up coming home with 112 bricks, all because the sun came out.
By the time I finished loading and unloading all those bricks, it was too late in the day to work on anything else, so they're still sitting there waiting for another nice day. I've never tried building a raised bed out of bricks, but it doesn't sound like a quick project from the research I've done. I decided not to let a cold, wet weekend stop me from working on other garden projects today, though. I got most of my vegetable and basil seeds started for transplanting outside in April.
This year I'm growing 'Muncher' cucumber plants, 'Bonny Best' tomatoes, 'Burrell's Special' tomatoes, 'Granadero' tomatoes, 'Jedi' jalapenos, 'Mellow Star' Shishito peppers, Sweet Chocolate peppers, 'Nufar' Italian basil, and 'Red Rubin' purple basil. Plus, for a friend I'm starting Lime Basil and 'Orange Hat' tomatoes.
Last year I felt like my seedlings took forever to get big enough to transplant--way past when I normally get my summer vegetables in the ground. But I'm planting seeds a couple of weeks earlier this year. I think last year I was unplugging my heat mat at night, which probably wasn't a good idea. I'll leave the heat mat plugged in 24 hours a day until they germinate at least, and hopefully that will speed things up. I actually bought a little indoor thermometer before I started my seeds to satisfy my curiosity. Even though our house is 68 degrees during the day, that spot by the window where I start my seeds doesn't get above 64 degrees when it's this cold out. I commandeered a spare meat thermometer, which confirmed that the soil for my seeds is a nice 74 degrees with the heat mat on. Since the heat mats say they will raise the soil temperature 10 degrees, that's right where it should be.
I decided to grow some extra plants this year with plans to give them away later. I don't necessarily have anyone in particular in mind for most of them (which is unusual for me, since I usually have a plan). But the popularity of sharing seedlings last year inspired me for this year. This way at least I'll be prepared if an opportunity presents itself.
I took advantage of a break in the rain today to plant some spinach seeds. I'm not sure how long it's going to be until my raised bed is ready for planting at this rate, but I imagine spinach will do pretty well in a container since the plants don't get huge. The seeds were just leftover from years ago, so even if they don't thrive, it's fine.
I ended up having to make another hardware store run this weekend when I ran out of plant labels for my seedlings. Apparently even on a cloudy day that's dangerous for me this time of year. I couldn't say "no" this adorable little houseplant sized banana plant. Even if I'm not in the Sunshine State, at least I can enjoy a little bit of the subtropics indoors until the weather warms up.
At least the camellias are blooming right now, even if everything else is waiting for warmer temperatures.
