Starting Your Garden on a Sunporch

I was pretty happy this year to discover that 20-cent packets of seeds are available, and it really doesn't cost much at all to start your kitchen garden--a garden that will give you salads, sauces, meals, and canned goods all summer.

A few weeks ago I started Roma tomatoes (above in the little red pots), Big Boy and Better Boys tomatoes, and leeks. I don't have any special grow lights, they are just sitting on my sunporch, and I keep them watered. This week I've planted more peppers, marigolds (the "guardians of the garden"), squash and basil.

I start most of my seeds in pots I've recycled, with little plastic shower caps for their "greenhouses" to keep the seeds warm at first. When you see the little seedlings sprout up, remove the covering, give them sunlight and water, and watch them grow for the next couple of months.

In late April, I'll start taking the nursery outside every day to harden off all the little plants. Then it will be a day or two of hard work, getting everything going in the garden.

I have helpers.

I love those days out in the garden. Something about digging in the dirt, and planting seedlings that you've grown yourself is very therapeutic! Taking care of your garden, is like taking care of yourself.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Grow