And So It Begins...

I'd like to say it hasn't been too bad of a winter so far.  There hasn't been a lot of snow yet, and we were lucky enough to get away over Christmas, so I was cruising into February feeling pretty good.  But some family emergency cropped up that was very stressful (things are much better now), and I am very glad to finally get back to planting seeds.

As usual, my first seeds in the pots are paprika seeds from my own plants.  (If you want to grow along with me, follow that Etsy link over at the right and you'll find the seeds in my store.)  The paprikas take a while to sprout, so they are the first to get going.

This year, I'm trying something new.  I've started my seeds in their larger nursery pots with seed starting medium,  rather than using the small peat pellets I usually do.  My concern is that the peat isn't providing enough nutrients nor enough growing room for the little roots, and I'm also hoping to avoid at least one repotting along the way.  Since every repotting does a bit of damage to the roots, eliminating one should help.

I also treated myself to a heating mat this year to help the plants stay warm while they sprout.  Previously, I relied on the position of the pots over my dishwasher, which keeps them fairly warm, but this year I wanted to experiment with the heating mat.  I have also purchased a cold frame-type "incubator," and I'll share that with you soon.

Here's hoping for healthy plants and big harvests, very soon!