Gardening 101

Way back in February I planted this year's garden.  Inside of course, as February in PA is not exactly the best time to start horticultural endeavors outdoors.  I had leafed through the Burpee catalog numerous times through the winter and had found my DREAM indoor seed starting shelf (multi-levels, adjustable lights) for the low low price of $275.  Ouch.  Shawn took a look at what I was after and decided he could construct something much less expensive and voila!  After a trip to Lowe's I am now the proud owner of this contraption:

Plastic shelving + lights + small chains & hooks  =
SUPERB seedling factory

This cost less than $100 vs. nearly $300 - I'll take this one any day.  It has been working excellent, I was able to keep the lights super low when the seeds were sprouting and raised them as the plants got larger.  Two months into my indoor garden and we've got nice plants that are ready to start the outdoor lifestyle.

Luffa, strawberries, & columbine

Peppers!  The four in the center are actually pepperonici grown from seeds I saved from last year's crop.

Even more peppers also some eggplants and cucumbers.

In bloom

Lots of cheery looking flowers blooming through the yard.

Petunias

Spiderwort

Sweet William

Pansy

Marigold

Foxglove

Columbine

Bubble stuck on the lambs ear

Outdoor trials

Last week the plants made the transition from bath tub to the great outdoors.  I wanted them to spend a week getting used to the elements before they ended up in the garden.  

Of course I couldn't leave them that exposed so they were temporarily housed in some open boxes for the next week.  Shawn put a net over the top to further protect them from any sticks or other debris that may be floating around.  Everything did quite well - no plant casualties & lots of rain followed by sun.  All in all a great week to start the plants outside.