welcome, sproutlings!

The spring equinox is only a few days away, but we are still experiencing temperatures in the low 30s at night and the upper 40s to low 50s during the day. I do not recall seeing such a wide swing in day/night temperatures in our earlier years here. Nonetheless, the crocuses are now out, the daffodils are budding wildly, and the seeds we sowed in late February have finally emerged. We prefer to call them "sproutlings" to highlight their small and delicate nature at this early stage of development.  Some have developed their first true leaves in just the last few days. Excitement is all around!

The greenhouse is heated, but we do not use heat mats. Instead, we have lined the shelves with reflective insulation and placed the trays on top of them. This insulation reflects heat back into the room, keeping it warm. Last year, we used recycled bubble wrap as padding between the shelves and the seed trays, which we found to be better than having the trays sit directly on the metal shelves. This year, the reflective insulation seems to have done a better job.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have added a few more seed trays, and the more robust growers like the Cherokee Yellow Wax beans and sugar snap beans have already been transferred to larger pots. The list below has been added to my tracker."

Tray #6
– Gazania
– Celosia (Pink Champagne)
– Nicotiana (Peach Screamer)
– Papaver Poppy (Black Beauty)
– Amaranth, Joseph's Coat
– Prairie Sun Rudbekia

Tray #7
– Strawberry, Red and Yellow Wonder Blend
– Borage, Purple
– Purple of Sicily Cauliflower
– Celery, Amsterdam

Tray #8
– Kale Toscana
– Thousandhead Kale
– Swiss Chard Bright Lights
– Cherokee Yellow Wax Beans

Tray #9
– Artichokes Colorado Star
– Pink Coneflowers

Tray #10
– Scabiosa/Black Knight
– Marigold, Kilimanjaro
– Marigold, White Swan
– Marigold, Moonlight
– Marigold, Eskimo

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