I love double entendre'. When a statement or phrase can have multiple meanings, and they are both true, I feel like I'm really getting more bang for the grammatical buck. "Nerd", you say?
Perhaps.
One recurring problem I have in my garden efforts involves timing seed starts. I either don't pay enough attention to the calendar and miss a prime planting opportunity, or I second guess conventional wisdom and start seeds too early & too late for the optimal effect. I read the almanacs and the gardening blogs that post their recommended planting dates and somehow I always get the idea that my situation is different, or I misunderstand what the experts are trying to convey. The net effect is that I often get something wrong and plant success eludes me.
If I actually manage to get a few flats of seeds going and they appear healthy - the battle is hardly won. It is way too easy to lose a transplant between the tray and the garden plot. Seedlings and baby roots are very fragile things and any number of common factors can give them cause to keel over. I have lost hundreds of potential plants in the translation from one format to another. This is where planting from seed reveals itself as a true art form. Light, Temperature, Moisture, Medium, pH, and a dozen other important variables seem to align themselves against our gardening dreams.
So, I traditionally spend these few weeks in January researching all the tips and tricks I may have forgotten since the last time I started seeds in flats in the hopes that this year I will finally understand and execute the plan with greater success.
Youtube videos have been especially helpful recently and I thought I might recommend a pair of "youtubers" that I have been growing with vicariously for the last few seasons. The husband and wife team of Kevin & Sarah from "The Living Traditions Homestead" do a great job of documenting their efforts (both successes and failures) for the benefit of like-minded folks like us. Their videos are clear, concise, and in plain language so many can understand the process and the details of everything they do. I highly recommend that you check them out if you never have before. (This endorsement is my personal opinion and no one has received any compensation for it.)
Link below:
Another really cool thing you may not know is that Kevin & Sarah have opened an Etsy store where they are beginning to make some resources available to the public at a reasonable cost. I just bought their seed starting tips for veggies, herbs, and flowers for only $2. I am hoping to glean from their experience planting seeds. They live in a different state and USDA planting zone, but the tips are based on "last frost date" and the notes alone are worth way more than two bucks.
Now, since I know we all enjoy the freebies, I will be posting my own seed-starting calendar for 2022 on January 15th. As always, it will be based on Zone 8 for our East Texas "neighborhood". Stay psyched, think ahead, and learn as much as you can now. Spring is not that far away!