Official Start

April 1 might be a foolish day to start planting a garden in Zone 5a, but I have a greenhouse. I was shooting for today to start a few things in the greenhouse and get the season underway, but I look out the window at an expanse of white, and the low last night was in the 20s. I'll give it a couple more days and plug in the heater on Saturday the 4th. We will still have some lows in the high 20s and low 30s for the next few weeks, but the inevitable temperature trend is upward.

The start will include the time-honored "Moving the mint and rosemary plants that have taken over the garage closet." That is followed by the ceremonial "Planting of the Onions," about 75 sets. Then there will be the commemorative "Plug in the heater." Very solemn and moving.

I'm going to move all seed starting operations out of the garage and into the greenhouse. I just got six lovely/sturdy Epic 6-cells. Eric, I mean Kevin, and Jacque pitch them on their Epic Gardening YouTube channels and I know I will love the giant drainage hole when I'm removing seedlings. It usually is difficult to get sprouts out of the thin plastic starters I have been using all winter. I will be using the Epics when I can and will put them on the heat mats when appropriate.

Near-term schedule:

• Tomatoes, start seeds in 6-cell, 2 varieties.
• Marigolds, 6-cell.
• Alyssum, half of 6-cell and some direct seeding later.
• Basil, half of 6-cell. Yet another attempt.
• Broccoli, three 2-inch pots.
• Coleus, 6-cell, I only have one sick-looking seedling from prior attempts.
• Marjoram, half of 6-cell.
• Zinnias, 6-cell and some direct seeding later.
• Stevia, half of 6-cell.
• Lettuces, carrots, golden beets, radishes, direct sow in the west planter bed. I'm not going to plant a lot and these will give way to the tomatoes and peppers in a few months.
• Onions, as mentioned, plant sets in southwest planter bed. Also stick some bunching onion seeds and seedlings in there and in an outside window box or container.
• Peas, sow in two hanging baskets. These will be succeeded by cucumbers in June.
• Borage, direct sow in east planting bed (the strawberry patch).
• Nasturtiums, direct sow in southeast planting bed where all the flowers will go.
• Sunflowers, sow in southeast planting bed, grow bag and big pot.
• Cilantro, sow in grow bag.
• Dill, sow in grow bag.
• Sage, transplant into grow bag with some broccoli seedlings. Two sage plants overwintered in the west planter bed, and I recently moved them into 6" pots. They are showing some new growth.
• Potato, sow in grow bag. I've been trying to sprout one but it is not cooperating. I finally broke down and bought Yukon Gold seed potatoes -- $2 for 3 at Family Dollar, and they already have sprouts. I didn't want a lot.
• Move all of the following out of the garage: Mint, rosemary, petunias, Cuban Oregano, geraniums, some aloe, and ... the Sempervivums. When you fall off, you have to get back on and keep riding. There will be heat in the greenhouse when I move them so they probably won't freeze in the next eight months.

That list says nothing about what are really the two major projects this year, the Supertunia baskets and the strawberries. I'll get those plants in late April or early May and plant/pot them then. This image shows a generic petunia cutting yearning to be free of mint and rosemary and geraniums in the overgrown garage closet. Sorry, little guy, you are being replaced by Supertunias, but you are sure to make a valuable contribution to the compost pile. Just kidding, I'll probably stick the petunia cuttings and some other random flowers in a grow bag.

Here is the allium bud that showed up a few days ago. I hate the camera on my phone. I have three Canon EOS cameras and I need to keep one in the truck. I was a concerned about piling three inches of compost around the alliums, but they seem to be tolerating it.

Most of the succulents except the Sempervivums will stay in the garage and house for a while. Depending on our travel schedule, I might not move all of them to the greenhouse and outside porches until mid-June. They will only have about three months with a clear view of the sun, then it's back in the garage.