Seeding day

After one week of mostly watering, today I got to expand my greenhouse repertoire to planting some seeds. The preparation for planting takes nearly as long as the planting itself. We planted in 192-cell trays, wooden flats, 6-packs, and soil blocks on 3-sided trays. Most of the containers are filled with a potting mix that is 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 coconut "peat". The soil blocks, however, use a different recipe and have to be molded from wet soil. The wet soil mix gets packed into a mold, then pressed out onto a 3-sided tray. The mold makes 12 blocks at a time, each with a little depression for the seed.  Making the blocks is a good upper body workout and a nice way to warm up on a rainy day.

Filling tray with soil blocks

Making soil blocks

I never would have guessed that my day of seeding would start with a construction project.  We didn't have enough 4-sided trays for seeding our onions, so I had to convert 3-sided trays to 4-sided trays by scavenging parts from broken trays.  I also had to repair trays with loose slats to make sure the soil and plants won't fall out of their tray.  I was working in less than ideal conditions (rusty nails, wobbly table, and rain), but I made it work--that's what you have to do on the farm. 

Our team seeded tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, sunflowers, lettuce, and parsley today.  Seeding in the greenhouse is different from how I seed in my backyard garden.  Instead of poking a hole in the soil and dropping in a seed, we fill the cells nearly to the top with potting mix, place one seed in each cell, and then sprinkle soil on top to bury the seed at a depth that is approximately twice the seed's width.  After seeding, each tray has to be "watered in," gently of course, so as to not wash away the seeds.  The lettuce seeds are so shallowly seeded that they have to be watered with a special mister attachment on the hose.

After a delicious lunch (carrot and lentil soup, bread, hummus, cabbage with rutabaga, and pumpkin ginger bars), the afternoon was spent cleaning in the barn and packing area.  Sweeping the floor, stacking boxes, scrubbing tables, moving chairs, and scrubbing out buckets were all on the list.  It wasn't a bad way to spend a rainy afternoon--it's dry under the roof of the barn!  Since rain is forecast all week, we'll be spending lots of time in the barn, cleaning and organizing for the busy season ahead.  I've also been promised some lessons in tool care and sharpening, which I am looking forward to--I have no idea how to sharpen my pruners!