I plan on having a garden this year. Karl said that he’d be interested in helping. I’ve had a garden here ever since we moved here and I had a garden for several years when we lived on the farm.
I enjoy gardening. I had really hoped to have raised beds built this year but alas. I don’t think that is going to happen. I was talking to Buck about it and he said that lumber price is crazy high so it might be better to wait a year with the hope that prices might come down.
So, I started making plans for this year’s garden. I was talking with Karl and I said that getting plants at the nursery got so expensive and then last year everything was so picked over. Karl said that he thought we should start our own plants. Well I didn’t want to go through the whole grow light process as then I wondered at the price of electricity and the price of starter packs, do you really save anything?
So I decided to just start some seeds on my own. I wanted to do it as inexpensively as possible. I ended up relooking at food containers. Karl gets these when he buys chicken tenders from the convenience store. I started saving them. 
I cut the two pieces apart.
I am putting dirt in the top clear part and then setting that inside the bottom part. You can see the holes, they will let the excess water drain away. There are no holes in the bottom black part so that will hold the excess water.
I bought the 20 cent pack of cabbage seeds from Walmart and started them in a similar container. Look at them. I’m going to have to replant these in different containers soon. Oh my, I never dreamed that 20 cent pack of seeds would germinate so well. That is WAY more cabbage than I can ever eat…or have space for.
I started Morning Glories from the 20 cent pack too.
In the past, I have bought morning glory seedlings. They were $1.50 for a pack that had three plants in it. Last year I made a trip to the nursery and they were out. Darn. I ended up telling Karl if he was out and about to pick up two plants. OH MY WORD. Karl had do idea they were annuals. He had no idea how much they should cost. It was $9.95 a plant. Granted they were huge but I would not have purchased them.
I took that container and split it into four containers. They are in my kitchen window now. I’ll have to give them something to climb before long. If it was last year’s morning glory price that would mean I have $39 worth of morning glory plants in my window.
I typically buy seedlings of Zucchini and Summer Squash. This year, I’m not. I started seedlings the same way. I have a divided container this time. I put yellow summer square in one, zucchini in another, and butternut squash in the large section.
This was all going so well that I started peas too.
I don’t have more window space so I set the two containers outdoors. They will act as a greenhouse…or at least that is my thoughts. I planted lettuce into the long container. I will thin what comes up and plant it in the garden. We need to till it first.
I’ll start some other in the next couple of days.
I have a neighbor just a few houses down that has the most amazing garden. It always is perfectly manicured. The garden always seems like it is three weeks earlier than mine. I could never figure out what I was doing wrong. Then two years ago the neighbor stopped by and had a bucket of seed started. All of the plants in the bucket were about an inch high. I asked what it was and he said, “Radishes.” Well, I never knew anyone planted them early in a bucket, then transplanted them. He said they do that all the time.
Well, that’s what got me wanting to start seeds that aren’t traditional early start seeds. So this week I’ll start radishes, beets and swiss chard with the hope they will be up and ready to plant once the garden is tilled.
I’m super excited…maybe I’ll have a cheaper bill at the nursery this year and maybe, just maybe, my garden will look a little bit better….and if this all goes well, maybe I’ll get brave and start tomato plants and pepper plants next year.
I’ll let you know it all goes…
