WAITING FOR SEED SIGNS OF LIFE

I hesitate to even tempt the weather gods by posting this, but holy smokes are we in a stretch of beautiful weather here. The snow is gone, the little creek in the back yard is running (and astonishingly not a single Newfoundland dog has figured that out yet), bulbs are peeking their heads out of the soil.

Only a gardener would truly appreciate all of those things because taken in a broad view, the yard and garden are an unholy muddy mess. It is all I can do to not go traipsing about trying to neaten things up.

Seeds—foxglove on the left in soil blocks and sweet peas on the right—are on a heat mat in the office. Foxglove seeds need light to germinate, which is why they are upstairs. I have two more trays of sweet peas on a heat mat in the basement as well.

Inside, I have been tending the first seeds of the year. I sowed sweet peas and foxglove ‘Dalmation Peach’ last weekend, which was a week later than I wanted to. These first seeds are always nerve wracking for me. Even though I do the same thing I have done in previous years, I always worry that perhaps I’ve done something wrong, or something bad may have happened to the seed. I won’t rest easy until I start to see some germination, and that shouldn’t be until the middle of next week at the earliest.

As I look at my little pots and tiny bricks of soil, seemingly doing nothing other than occupying space, it is amazing to me to think that soon I will have a room full of seedlings doing a good job of crowding out the humans.

I can’t wait.

Are you experiencing amazing weather right now? It seems like all over the country spring is springing.

One last note: I have a very quick favor to ask of you. For the first time ever, I’ve prepared a very, very short survey about the blog. It’s four questions, and one is optional, so it should take about 20 seconds or less to do. Click here if you don’t mind helping out. Thank you in advance!