13 March 2009

Unfurling their leaves like banners

It's that time of year for us. The sun is high in the sky, and the season is upon us, even if there is still three feet of snow on the ground, and -20C last night! I love watching the seedlings elbow up out of the soil. It is such a hopeful time of year. It is especially gratifying as I do more of my own seed saving. I am really impressed with the germination rate of my tomato and tomatillo seeds, just about all of them started nosing up on the morning of the 6th day.

I've yet to successfully save my own brassica seeds. There's a cabbage in cold storage to put back in the ground this spring, and some Winterbor kale heavily mulched under the snow, and I am just plain determined to beat the frost this year for some broccoli seeds. The red cabbage on the right is seed from 2005, they are a bit reluctant to wake up, time for some new seed.
These are our own spinach and lettuce seeds, and they came rocketing out of the soil on the 3rd day after planting, some of them got a bit leggy, they grow so fast! We don't use any lights for seed starting, so they get germinated behind the wood stove, and the moved up into the bay window we built for the seedlings. But some of the lettuces got up so fast, and I was still trying to germinate the rest behind the stove. Nothing stops them from racing toward the light, lessons in determination and resilience.

8 comments:

Chiot's Run said...

Mine are coming up as well. This is such an exciting time of year with all the seed starting. How early do you plant your brassicas outside?

mamaraby said...

I just love pictures of little seedlings - so much hope and promise!

Anonymous said...

I have mine coming up as well...there's nothing like seeing seeds sprout to get your gardening blood pumping and get you all excited for this gardening season...which of course will be the best ever!

Kim said...

Aren't they such a beautiful sight? Loads of ours are up too. I was going to do the same kind of post today about my gorgeous little seedlings. Amazing to see something so small and tender and know it's going to grow to be delicious food for our families!

Freija and Beringian Fritillary said...

Chiots, our last frost can be in the end of May or early June. We usually have the brassicas transplanted in the second week of May, depending mostly on the temperature and moisture of the soil. Last spring, the snow didn't melt until the first week of May, so it took a bit to get some warmth into the soil. With some hoop houses like yours, we could probably get them in a week or 10 days earlier.

Pampered Mom, spring is hope, isn't it?

redclay, glad to see you can comment again, I never figured out what was going on. And yes, it will, of course, be the best garden ever, that's what all the plans say anyway!

Kim, there's just something about seeds sprouting and taking root, better than Christmas if you ask me!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the seedlings. So nice to see them poking through the soil, eh?

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Freija and Beringian Fritillary said...

Welcome, Louisette from Belgium, thank you for the visit.