"Feed me, Seymour!" Is it reallllly too early to start seeding?

“They may offer you fortune and fame, love and money and instant acclaim... but whatever they offer you, don’t feed the plants!” - Little Shop of Horrors

As was the case around this time LAST year, I again am crawling the walls waiting for "appropriate" gardening season. Historically, I've been unable to wait, and by "hardening off" time, I've got a dining room full of GIANT Audries, taking over my life.

So THIS year, to scratch the itch, but save me from myself... I purchased a cheap-o indoor greenhouse. It is small, has wheels, and was pretty easy to put together.

From there, I VERY CALMLY planned out things that were acceptable to plant or start seeding. I started with some herbs, spring onions, and started sprouting some potatoes. Those will be going into potato grow bags, so they can start indoors, taking up minimal space.

Then, when the internet told me it was acceptable to do so (March 27th here in Massachusetts), I busted out some of the cardboard egg cartons, ripped the lids off (those went into the firepit, and the ash was spread on my compost pile) and started seeding tomatoes, peppers (hot and bell), and eggplants. I did a modest five varieties of tomatoes, four hot peppers (from jalapeño up to ghost!), and then I also did two window planter liners of one each lettuce and arugula. In a matter of DAYS the arugula was already starting to peek its head up out of the soil - super exciting. The potatoes are sprouting like crazy, and those will be getting cut up and planted very shortly as well.

To keep myself busy, so that I stuck to the responsible seeding plan, I also set to trying to reclaim my DISASTER of a garden. I'll be honest, I did next to nothing last year, and my garden looked like the secret garden but like at the BEGINNING of the book. I was in the end of a divorce, and ironically, the thing that is essentially like therapy for me was also the thing that just fell by the wayside when I actually needed it most. But this year everything is coming up roses (well, except my garden - I don't mess with roses!) and I spent several days trying to beat back the brambles, hoping there wasn't a dragon or something behind it all. I decided this year to "hoop" my beds, and that will serve double duty. Firstly, I can drape it in thick greenhouse plastic and start planting a bit early (look, I am who I am), and secondly, I'll be running three-foot-high tenax fencing around the outside to keep the everloving rabbits out of my beds!! To do this, I simply got very flexible (1/2 inch) PVC piping in 10ft lengths and stuck them into the very edge of the beds, about 2' apart - so four hoops per bed. I got all of my pots emptied and ready, and this year I've reclaimed this old vintage-looking cooler on legs - instead of beer, it will now be home to a bed of carrots. Not to go too far off track here, but carrots require a pretty loose sandy soil to really go nutso, so instead of trying to accommodate them in one of my other beds, I'll be doing a soil/compost/contractor sand mix just for them in their own raised bed. It'll be a lot COOLER this way. (GET IT? SEE WHAT I DID JUST THERE?)

And from there, I started mowing all of the leaves up off the lawn into the mulcher bag. Instead of raking them, just munch them all up with your mower and use them! They are perfect for an "organic" layer in your compost pile, and they are a great base for growing pots and beds. By using them in the bottoms of beds, you're putting great organic material that will break down into amazing compost/soil in there, and also making great use of your leaves and grass clippings, but it also helps take up a ton of volume, which will save you a fortune on gardening soil!

Hopefully this gives you something to do while you wait for "the right time" to start planting... but if not, I mean, I get it. Look, "too many" plants inside just means you're getting a lot of wonderful air purification, right? Silver lining. Happy prepping and planting!