seedy saturday

earlier today, i snuck a trip to city people's garden store and spent nearly an hour pining over all the seed choices, browsing the fruit trees, and eying their large selection of perennials. i won't mention the damage; let's just say i'm doing my part to stimulate the economy. upon returning home, i planted three types of carrots, two kinds of snap peas, lettuce, spinach, and spicy micro greens.

i'm excited about all of the above, but particularly interested in seeing how the three carrot varieties turn out. there's a parisian market variety that looks like a miniature beet; little fingers echo baby carrots; and purple haze offer a gangly uniqueness. each mature at different times, so we'll have plenty throughout the season.

as mentioned, i also put in two types of snap peas. first, i worked some compost and organic fertilizer into the soil (we use down to earth all purpose 4-6-2 - it's made to work well in nw soils). then, i moved a bamboo tepee that we made last year into the new pea patch area, made a few rows, and set the peas out. the bamboo will provide the peas with a place to climb.



after planting all of the above, i was on a roll and couldn't be stopped...except by dropping temps and ensuing raindrops. i moved indoors to our newly built shed (good work brian!) to start some seeds that need a little more time before they can go outside. with some seed starter mix and old seedling pots from last year, i started two varieties each of cucumber and zucchini, as well as cilantro, basil, italian parsley, thyme, and (cross your fingers) muskmelon. (fyi, apparently what we think of as canteloupe is actually called muskmelon. true canteloupes are a hard-shelled melon from europe. you can learn a lot from a seed packet). anyway, we picked up some short-season seeds out of curiousity a couple weeks back. if successful, we'll be quite pleased.

looking forward to reporting back with photos of seedlings and sprouts!