Have I mentioned the gigantic swan dive I recently took into gardening? Sometimes I shock myself by how far I’ve actually dove into this new world. I mean just last year I had a tiny little badly managed and wildly neglected garden, that produced basically only cucumbers and basil.

It didn’t hit me until I was standing over a table littered with about 80 different seed packets while I made of list of all the things I still wanted/needed to buy.

Have I completely lost my mind?

Right now as the ground outside is fully covered in snow I’ll admit I feel totally crazy. But there is a goal in sight and I need to keep pressing on.

I’ll be fine.

 

I needed some organization

Being overwhelmed is the quickest way to get me to do nothing. With about 80 seed packets staring at me, all with different planting needs and different starting times, I could feel that paralysis start to set in.

But I have spent too much money to turn back now. Plus, albeit more importantly, the fun has only just begun!

Maybe the first real year gardening isn’t the time to try to master succession sowing, Fall crops, companion planting, and cover crops. But honestly where is the fun if there isn’t a little bit of chaos?

I looked around for a seed chart that might worked for me, but in the end I made one myself. I knew what I needed to see on a chart. I wanted the seed type, the variety name, if I need to direct sow or start, a place to write the start/ planting date, if I need to succession sow, if it’s a Fall crop, and to place to write random important information like “Direct sow once the ground is workable” or “Blackberries are poisonous if not fully ripe”. You know random facts like that…

Here is a free printable pdf version of the chart that I am using: Seed Organization Chart

Also…

Dear Future Nicole,

Please organize your seeds when you write them down on the list. There is no reason to have a different variety of tomato on each of the five pages.

Thanks.

The chart is great, and totally necessary, but the mere sight of all the seed packages scattered in a random plastic box gives me anxiety.

First, I decided to separate them all out into plastic bags. That worked for a little while, but it was easily to loose sight of the labels on the bags. Again – overwhelming.

Instead I grabbed this file folder pocket-y thing from the office. It’s not great. I can’t actually close the thing or I’ll crush all of my seeds. So, it just sits open high on a self where no little hands can reach it. But it works better than my baggie method so next year I will come up with something better.

This will do for now.

My admittedly janky seed starting set up

Last year I started my seeds in the same mudroom, however it went horribly.

Apparently seeds need a good amount of light to grow…..Who knew.

This year I am determined extend my growing season by as much as possible. If I’m buying all of these seeds then I am going to start them the proper way and not waste them. Like last year…

This house is where light comes to die. It’s basically half-farmhouse and half-cave. There is absolutely no window to put these trays in front of to survive. So buying some cheap wire shelving and shop lights with the highest kelvin is the direction I went.

 

A smart person would have the chains on the lights attached with tiny snaps. Not I. I have them attached with garden wire. Which is super fun to keep untwisting and twisting every time I want to raise the light higher. But budgets being what they are…I’ll tough it out.

Also, you may have noticed that the shelf is a little shorter than the shop light. Yeah. Turns out I don’t measure real well.

C’est la vie, it works and the starts are looking pretty good so far.

For now I am stuck inside as ice falls from the sky. All I want to do is start working outside on the 12,000 projects to get done before anything can be planted. But God is constantly working on me with contentment so I guess I’ll work on being satisfied with popping in to see my starts every other hour.

Right now I’m off to try to talk myself into tackling sprouting lavender. Lavender’s so intimidating…

Please let me know if you have any advice or tips to share. And please pray I can be patient enough to not start any seeds too early. It’s a real problem.

Thanks for taking time out of your day to hang out here!