Garden Friday

Hey there!
It's Garden Friday!
It's lookin' more like spring every day
here in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

Things are starting to pop up!
I spied the first daffodils in the neighborhood
on one of my walks earlier in the week.
I'm not sure what kind of bulbs these are,
but they decided to show themselves in our front bed.
This is the first spring we are spending at our new home,
so I am looking forward to seeing what surprises there are in store.

With the onset of warmer temperatures (60's/70's),
it seemed like a good time to start some seedlings.
The supplies were gathered
and I got to work on the front porch,
where there was lots of sun to keep me company.

My seed stash is in pretty good shape.
I'll need to order a few things for summer planting,
but for now, I think I have everything I want to grow right in here.
This enamelware tin is the perfect fit for all of my treasures.

A little station was set up with the containers I had been using for growing lettuce.
Stacking them made it a bit easier to seed comfortably.
I don't have a potting bench, so I improvised.

There are at least 6 varieties of lettuce being started in these cells.
Tags saved from plants bought in the past were reused as markers,
as well as old canning lids that were too rusty to use on jars.
These are saved through the year for just this purpose.
Why buy new if you can repurpose something that works?

Here we have 2 types of kale,
as well as parsley and spinach.
There is also a 6-pack of broccoli seeded.
It may be too late to start broccoli anew,
but it's just seed, so it's worth a shot.

After the seeds were sown,
I used the icing bucket lids to cover the pots.
This will keep them nice and warm until they germinate.
Seeds don't need sunlight until they pop out of the containers,
so they should be snug as a bug in there.
Bricks placed on top keep the lids in place.

A neighbor with whom I'm working,
gave me this brand new package of peat pots with the greenhouse container.
Ooooooh, can I tell you how thrilled I was with that?
I can't wait to sow some sweet little things in here.
I may save them for the summer crops,
as I've already got a good start on the spring plantings.

These may be used in a science experiment before we actually plant in them.
These are cool to watch come to life,
the way they swell and mushroom in size.
These make gardening fun for kids and adults alike.

Can you see them?
I checked on these just yesterday
and the Dino kale is already coming up!
Every day I will check the pots to make sure they are moist
and if all goes well, they will respond.
It's magical, I tell ya.
It's God's way of telling me that He always provides.
Amen.