Prepping for March

Tomatoes at 4 weeks

So March is around the corner.  Gardeners in my zone (plant hardiness zone 10) are all a flutter with the prospect of their spring planting.  I’m going to start some veggies indoors.  One reason to start seeds indoor is that some plants just do better sowing inside and then transplanting outside.  Another reason is that you have more mature plants going into your garden in March than if you started them outside.  It gives you a head start on your growing season.   I already started several weeks ago with tomatoes.

I will be starting peppers and eggplants inside this week.  I’m going to be preparing my garden beds while my seeds are germinating indoors.  I’ll reuse some single serving milk carton containers that the school kids save and rinse out for me.

Here are the seeds I’m going to start indoors (4 for $1 at the Dollar Tree).

The pots are made by  cutting the tops of the milk cartons with scissors and making drainage slits at the bottom with a box cutter. Then they are filled with a mixture of Bumper crop, compost and perlite, but you can use whatever soil mix you want. Follow the package instructions for sowing depth of each seed type.  I label the plants with large popsicle sticks, cover with saran wrap, and place near a window.

Preping for March

I’m planting way more than the school garden and my own garden will need.  We are planning to sell the extras at a garden fundraiser later this year.  As you can imagine, there is no garden budget from the school or the district.  The teachers and parents purchase almost everything needed in the garden.  Our compost, mulch, and some seeds are donated through special contacts or grants.  Hopefully the plant sale will raise enough money to purchase child sized shovels, new watering hoses, and other needed equipment.

If you have any interesting ways of reusing objects in your garden, please share in the comment section below.  I’m always looking for new things to try.