Seed Starting Venture

Mom and I planted our first seeds during the last week of February. Daddy and Jacob kindly constructed some flats that fit our grow-shelf for us to use, as our soil-block makers are on back-order.

We decided to mix our own soil instead of buying pre-packaged soil, which has chemical fertilizers in it. We couldn't find all the ingredients we wanted, so we had to make do with what was available. In a big Rubbermaid container, we mixed together some sphagnum moss, vermiculite (sharp sand), dolomitic lime, and dirt from our garden spot. ( We learned that it would be best not to mix soil on a windy day, as dirt blows everywhere and gets in your eyes and all over your clothes.)

We lined the flats with newspaper and filled them with our newly-mixed soil. We then planted some cabbage and pepper seeds, watered them, and recorded what we planted in our garden notebook.

~Tricia Ann

Note that this picture is staged. We ended up taking the markers out, putting a black trash bag over the flat, and making the light much lower (almost touching the flat).