Seedlings & seedling log

When i first started this blog last year, a friend told me i should post every 3 days or so.. Sounds fine, and last year i tried my best to do that. This year, things are crazier.. I work for a non-profit helping coordinate 50 community gardens. Things have changed in the organization, we got a new executive director, moved the office, searching for money for the program.. it's a lot of work and keeping me much busier. So, yeah, i haven't posted in 17 days.. oh well.. This years blog is going to be a bit different, the same, but different, like life, you know?

The warm weather, so far, is pretty non-existent. It will be nice, sorta, like 50 F, which after this winter seems like a heat wave.. but then, it goes back down to freezing.. lovely.. All of us who want to start planting are getting very edgy.. but that's gardening in the new climate change world. Still i'm hopeful, sorta.. at least for this year.. so i've started my seedlings.

The photo above shows gretel and fairy tale eggplants, cayenne peppers and basil, and to the far left parsley. The basil is smaller cause i start it a week to 10 days later than the eggplants and peppers. Basil takes off like a rocket, and will outgrow the eggplants and peppers. If i start them later, they'll catch up, fast, to the eggplants and peppers and my flat will be pretty even height wise in another few days. This is important cause you want those seedlings 2" under the lights at all times.

This is why a seedling log is a good thing to do. I write down when i plant each variety, mark down when they germinate, so i can plant my flats and get everything growing at a good rate and together, as much as possible. Garden logs are good learning tools, but so are seedling logs. Even though i've been doing this for a lot of years, i learn something new every year. All that info helps me do it better the next year, I refer to what i did last year, so i can improve this year. Seedling logs will help you coordinate your seedlings so that they all get the best growth possible, and you'll get the best, most productive plants possible.