Every gardening site seems to have have articles about starting seeds at the moment. This is not surprising because it is that time of year and as gardeners, many of us just feel more energized when we get our hands in that damp potting soil. Just the smell of it holds so many promises of a new season in the garden.

Most years, when I seed, I over seed and then struggle to deal with all the seedlings.

 This year I have done away with vegetables. We have a wonderful farmer’s market where I live with many local growers selling their produce. Not only do I want to support what they do but their produce is fabulous and I can buy just what I need. No more feeling obliged to deal with a wormy cauliflower or an abundance of beans. (I wish! My Runner beans have been dismal the last few years). My once vegetable garden has become more shaded but I am hoping there will be enough sunshine for some cut flowers this year.  Not only that, I must find space for the roses that will be moved away from the deer and into my fenced back garden.

In my enthusiasm I ordered seeds from several small growers who sell unusual seeds or their own varieties and I am thrilled at the seeds’ germination rate.  I set up a seed calendar so that I can keep track of what was seeded when. There are seeds in the refrigerator, stratifying but some are germinating in there already, which proves how much some plants like a cold start. I follow advice for start times so that I will have healthy, I hope, small plants to plant up in the garden when temperatures are suitable. As a consequence I need the calendar to know when to seed. Some require twelve weeks lead time before the estimated last frost and others just four. So far all my seeds are exceeding expectations.

I have tried very hard to sprinkle very few seeds into their seed mix, rationalizing that I can always seed again if germination is poor. So far that has not been the case. The Sweet William are going gangbusters in the fridge, the Eucalyptus all germinated in under two weeks and I allowed twelve. The wee red seedlings of Amaranthus have all popped up and so I am getting a little concerned about how I will keep them all healthy for the next eight weeks at minimum!

I do not have grow lights anymore as I never had enough space so now I am using all the window spaces that are practical. I am lucky enough to have an unheated greenhouse which will act as a staging area before all the babies are planted outside in late May.

The pricking out begins soon with the Eucalyptus, which I have never grown before. I am excited to see if I can grow enough for a small bundle before next winter. It is not hardy here of course being a native of Australia and Tasmania but it apparently grows very quickly in its first year, so we will find out.

Pricking out or transferring the seedlings from their seed tray to large pots for growing is a delicate task but not difficult. It is important to handle the seedling gently by the seed leaves, not the stem. It is best to wait until the seedling has its second or more set of leaves but not good to let it get too large because loss will be greater with damage to the roots. A fork works really well to lift the seedlings and separate them. Then by gently holding one seedling at a time by its leaves, they can be popped into a hole in the new pot of soil.  I use a small dowel but a pencil works well. Just make sure it is clean. I use the 2 inch cardboard pots for this transplant as the pot will disintegrate later when transferred to the garden or into a larger pot if necessary.

I was just reading about the success of hemp cubes on, ‘The Laidback Gardener.blog’, which seem like a terrific way to reduce the step of pricking out as the cubes are designed with one little planting hole for one seed enabling the plant to go straight from seedling in the cube and into the potting soil or garden.  The trick would be to one seed into the hole and not six! I also like the idea of using the hemp cube reducing the wastage of peat based seed mix potting soil. The subject of the use of peat moss is a topic for another day.

Today in my corner of British Columbia the daytime temperature felt like spring but it is only February 21^st. Suddenly on my walk I could hear the birds again, Flickers, Chickadees, Starlings and Blue Jays were all making themselves heard. I wonder if they find these temperatures strange. As much as I love the feeling of 8C, I cannot help but wonder if these feathered friends will all be nesting two months too early.  

As well as the birds, many of us humans seem to wake up to the call of spring and although it seems unusually early, that earthy smell just gets us motivated to put the wellies on.