Plant Sale Update

It started last December— when the seed catalogs began arriving and Colleen urban farmer started plotting 2024. Seed catalog descriptions, plant hardiness, number of days until harvest, zone preference make for exciting reading when the rain starts in earnest.  Seeds are selected and paired with seeds in the holding tank; seeds can be viable for several years and even decades.

In late January, the seeding chamber was set-up in the big glass house with heat mats, grow lights and a space heater to jumpstart the growing season.

Crop by crop, flats of organic soil were seeded and protected with mesh covers to keep out vermin (the story of 2023) and carefully tended through the coldest parts of winter (the story of 2020). As the chamber filled, plants were moved off mats and kept cozy until they are moved outside the chamber to be warmed by the retained heat of the glasshouse and exposed to cooler temperatures— a process called hardening off— wherein seedlings are prepared for life outside.

Buying quality seed is one thing. Timing to market is key and knowing how to create an optimal environment for germination is another. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant take longer to germinate, squash and cucumber less and, parsley can take 21 days! 

Then there’s the careful tending of seedings to get them to be their best. Weather is always a factor and there is no controlling that (the story of 2021). Consistency in watering is quite important and as the season progressed volunteers keep watch and watered seedlings on weekends and other days as needed. Setting up tables, clearing away winter grime, refreshing indoor beds with fresh compost, powerwashing windows, rebuilding beds and waterlines and resetting timers were time-intensive chores. Add in community activities like orchard pruning, field clearing, and a new storage shed and five months have gone by.

Suffice it to say, this year’s plant sale had fewer wild cards and the stars of the sale, ~30 types of tomatoes were ready for prime time.
Summer is just around the corner.

— Wilma