The Impatient Gardener

With the latest forecast promising to keep Old Man Winter around for another couple of weeks, I headed to the store to try and find relief from my cabin fever in the form of planning for my garden.  I am very much looking forward to getting out in the yard and starting my planting.  This will be my third year in a row of having a larger garden that allows me to grow several kinds of vegetables.   Each year I try to add in new and varied items, switching things in and out and trying different growing methods.

Greenhouse containers I used
to start my seeds!

When picking out what to plant, I always try and grow things I know we will eat throughout the summer, and that I can multi-task into different recipes.  To help get a head start on planting this year, (and to help me get into the Spring Spirit when temperatures are still in the low 30s!), I picked up a few indoor Greenhouse planters at the store along with some seeds.

Along with the vegetables this year, I am going to be adding some bulbs to a few of the flower beds around the yard to ramp up the colors throughout the growing season. Since I wanted to have a lot to choose from - - it always seems pretty picked over if you procrastinate and wait to shop for the seeds you want - - I thought going early in the season was the best bet.  Boy was I right!  I walked up and down aisle after aisle of bulbs and seeds for flowers and vegetables and herbs.  All of those gorgeous options really gave me a boost of creativity and lots of fun ideas for the yard and the garden.  For just a few minutes, I forgot about the blustery dreary weather and lost myself in the anticipation of what Summer will bring.

Basil and Green Onion
Seed Packets

One of the vegetables I want to grow this year are Green Onions (also called Scallions).  Sticking with my rule to grow what I know I can use, this was a no brainer because I like to use Green Onions in everything from salads to omelets to stir-fry so I knew they would be a good choice.  I am also looking forward to grilling them alongside our steaks this summer and making some pestos and sauces with them.  Yum yum yum!  So I located them in the seed isle and checked out the growing cycle on the seed packet - - 120 days!  Yikes!  Since that is quite a bit longer than most of the other veggies I am planning to grow I thought it was the perfect chance to try starting them early before the weather would normally allow for it.

Growing tablets before
water was added

One of the other staples I grow in the summer is Basil.  I use it by the boatload in salads, sandwiches, pastas and of course pestos.  I even bring my extra harvests to friends and family throughout the season.   I think we eat a Caprese salad with just about every meal once my tomatoes start producing in the summer months.  So, given all of that, it too made the list of plants I will be starting from seeds rather than waiting and buying plantings.  If you use fresh Basil in your cooking it really does make sense to grow your own at home.  For what they charge you at the store for just a few clippings, you can buy a plant that will keep producing for you all season long.

The tablets start to absorb the warm water
and grow and expand in less than a minute.

This is the first time I've tried using these starter Greenhouse kits so hopefully they will produce some good results for me.  Once they start producing seedlings I will be sure and post pictures of their progress.  

The starter tablets inside the container are small disks.  You simply add warm water and they come to life and expand, creating perfect little homes for your seeds.  The transformation only takes about a minute and then you drain the excess water from the container.  I thought this process would be messy or somehow more difficult than it said on the package but I was happily surprised with how quick, clean and easy it really was.

Green Onion seeds - they are
so tiny! 

I decided to get both a larger version that holds 20 of the starter disks for the onions, and a smaller 10 disk container for my Basil.  Since I am planning on growing a few different iterations of the onions, planting these seeds now, and then more sown directly into the garden this Spring, I wanted to experiment with just how many seedlings I would be able to get from this method.

Condensation builds on the inside cover after only a few minutes.

Once you have drained off the extra water, you place a few of the seeds into each hole where you want them to grow and press them gently into the soil.  After a light misting of water, and some words of encouragement (Yes, I am one of those people!) I replaced the plastic greenhouse lid that came with the kit and placed it in my dining room where it will get a lot of sun.

Now all that's left to do is to wait for Mother Nature to take its course and grow some beautiful plants for me to use this summer.  If I close my eyes, I can almost taste the pesto!

Happy Planting!