Sprouting Seeds

It’s almost one of my favorite times of the year — gardening time. Yes, of course, I garden aquatically all year round, but seldom am I able to actually serve any of my aquatic plants to guests for dinner. Each year, our backyard garden has grown a little bit, stealing grass from our dog’s domain.

It’s kind of how many aquarists (myself included) start with one tank, and soon have so many fish and plants packed into one, that they decide to expand to 2 tanks, and before they know it, they’ve got aquariums spread throughout the house.

For our garden seeds this year, we came across a wonderful non-profit organization called the Seed Savers Exchange. Their mission is to promote the use of heirloom varieties of vegetables in gardens so that these plants are not lost to the myopic selection of seeds that agribusiness generally makes available in big box stores. I believe this fuels the gardener’s version of collectoritis as they offer purple carrots, yellow tomatoes, tons of potatoes, native american vegetables, and on and on.

A few days ago, we planted the seeds in a seed-starting dome, and today I noticed that a number of seeds have sprouted into little plants. The various squash varieties have been the most prolific, but our tomatoes and cucumbers are also on their way. Only the various varieties of peppers we planted have yet to break the surface, but that’s to be expected.

I’m a bit new to starting plants from seed as most of our windowsills are too small for flats, and our dogs and cats are too nosy for other areas. This flat is sitting next to one of my aquariums with a strip light over top. I hope it’s enough light. I can’t wait until it’ll be warm enough (about a month) to transplant these guys. Is anyone else suffering from garden fever?