Plant Babies

On Sunday, I finally got my butt in gear and planted the seeds that I need to start prior to Alberta's growing season. It's a pretty standard practice when it's usually not frost-free until after the May long weekend (usually the third week of May). This is what my plant babies looked like a couple of days ago (which unfortunately isn't much):

The lid on the planter helps keep moisture and warmth in, since seeds need a certain atmosphere to start. Unfortunately, the seed markers I found were a bit too tall to fit under the lid, so for now, I scribbled directly on it to identify which is which.

I only started four kinds of seeds this time around, since a lot of the other stuff I want to plant (peas, beans, cilantro, potatoes, etc.) work fine seeded directly into the garden once the frost season has passed. I did two "cells" each of the following (from top to bottom): tomatillos, serrano peppers (or chiles de serrano), zucchini and tumbler tomatoes (which will be grown in my upside-down tumbler tomato planter - apparently they do really well this way!)

This year is my first year gardening. I've watched my mom garden since I was just a wee little thing, so I know a bit about it, but my mom is still my go-to expert for all things plant-related. After reading my seed packets, I saw that the serranos and tomatillos need 14 to 16 hours of sunlight a day to thrive once they've sprouted, so this weekend I'll be heading to Home Depot for a fluorescent light housing and some bulbs for it. Mom suggested that I get one "cool white" and one "warm white" bulb to cover the full spectrum, instead of spending significantly more money on the actual grow bulbs.

I'll be sure to post more once my plant babies sprout!