Monday, February 20, 2012

A Bit of Spring Amongst the Snow....

We had another snowy weekend here in Williamsburg, I gotta say, I loved it! We walked out of the movies last night to a Winter Wonderland.

But I got a hint of Spring today, it was time to plan out the garden and spring planting schedule

Planning out my Spring garden
I live in zone 7A, so that means my Pepper and Tomato plants should be going into the ground between early May and early June according to a great interactive schedule I found online based on the USDA Hardiness Zones (http://www.thevegetablegarden.info/resources/planting-schedules/zones-7-8-planting-schedule) You can put your zip code in and it'll tell you the best planting window for your zone based on the vegetable you are planting, plus how far apart and how deep they should be. A great resource!

This year  I decided to try to start my seeds hydroponically. About 3 years ago my wonderful boyfriend gave me Aerogardens has Valentines Day gifts.  These have been wonderful! I've had a steady crop of fresh herbs thanks to them.  I've grown a few seeds as experiments before and was impressed with the results, so I'm going to give it a shot with all of my seeds this year. 

They sell a "Grow Anything" kit which is essentially just a styrofoam insert and some grow plugs. Once the seedlings get large enough I'll take the grow plugs and put them in soil and harden them off like normal.  (In this years gift a nice new cold frame) 

Pepper and Tomato Seeds resting snugly in their "grow plugs" Hope to see some sprouts in a few days

So I planted 6 Tomato varieties and 8 Pepper varieties. I'm hoping to see sprouts in a few days, if it goes anything like the previous experiments, they should start sprouting by about day 3 or 4!  I'll keep you updated with how this experiment works out :)

My make-shift Indoor Garden - Gotta make the best of the space :)

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