Busy, busy, busy!

I forget just how busy this time of year is.  Nothing ever goes without a hitch.  This year, it was The Invasion of the Seed Snatchers!  Mice took out about 85% of our first two plantings - about 1,500 tomato and pepper seeds.  I had decided not to buy any new seeds this year, instead running down inventory.  So when this happened, there were very few seeds left in the seed bins for replanting.

Seeds separated by Flower, Fruit, Leaf and Root

Thankfully I still had Brandywine tomato seeds.  Two of 30 came up the first time, mice taking care of the rest.  But we planted more, and the reseeded cells are popping with tiny plants.  However, there are still many, many empty cells.  You can see in the picture that we separate the seeds so that it is easier to follow biodynamic organic planting principles.  Thursday is a Fruit day, and we will be busily filling in more empty spots in the seedling trays containing peppers and tomatoes.  We will also be planting our Tom Thumb Pea Bowls.

Empty cells!

Second planting of Brandywine tomatoes - looking good

Unfortunately, I had to order many more seeds.  One of my suppliers has a wonderful selection, but they are slow to ship.  I finally got their seeds last night and found out they were out of Green Zebra, Green Grape, Hugh's and Hillbilly.  The big losses on this list are Hugh's and Green Zebra.  It is really getting pretty late to order more seeds.  I guess we will just do without this year.  My customers will let me know what they think of that!  :(

This afternoon and all day tomorrow are Leaf days, so we will be trimming and transplanting the last of the lettuces from the greenhouse.  That will give us a bit of a jump on the garden season.  We'll also direct seed lettuce into the garden with our seeding machine.

Red leaf lettuce ready to transplant to garden.

 If you live near Walkerton / South Bend, Indiana and are interested in joining our Market Basket CSA or want greenhouse plants for your own garden, give me a holler.  I'll send you information.  Contact me at susan@ceres-co.com and I'll get the information to you right away.

I do believe spring has actually arrived!  At last!!!

Addendum:  Okay, I did it.  I ordered more seeds.  So we are covered for Hugh's, Green Zebra, Hillbilly and Green Grape.  Fortunately I found a supplier who had all four of them.  And while I was at it, I had a request on Saturday for Black Cherry tomatoes, so I ordered those.  And I finally found Ancho chile peppers, which have been out just about everywhere, so they are on their way as well.  I have a seed addiction!!!