Seeds Starting Time!!

Spring cannot come soon enough here in Northern Ontario, Canada.
So the fur-bearer forecaster says we'll have spring in another  six weeks. Yeah, I don't put much stock in whether a groundhog sees his shadow.  Whatever.
What I do put stock in is one growing one's own food.
If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know I'm a big advocate of growing food, not lawns, no matter how much space one has.
So I'm happy to report that it's finally seed starting time!

At the beginning of the week, we hit our favorite TSC store and rounded out our seed supply with some more vegetable and herb seeds. Mom got a cabinet that has allowed us to move up from two plastic boxes, allowing us to keep everything in one place. All but one missing seed catalogue are in there, along with our gloves and tools, and of course all our seeds. Also this week, we started a few seeds in peat pellets on trays that now reside in an east-ish facing window. We started mesclun, pickling onions, grape sized tomatoes, spring onions, mini bell peppers, sweet basil, lamb's lettuce, crookneck squash, and we started radish sprouts in a jar! (Our alfalfa sprouts were such a hit a few weeks ago, we decided to branch out)

I will admit that all those seed catalogues were extremely tempting. It can be very easy to order twenty different types of heirloom tomatoes when one is stuck inside with -30 temperatures! I wrote out a very long list and set it aside for a few weeks, and then approached it rationally. Instead of twenty different types, I only ordered four. In addition to the tomato seeds we already have, I think we'll get a pretty good variety this coming summer. Now if I could just find my T&T Seeds catalogue so that I can order those purple raspberries, Saskatoon Berry bushes and strawberries!
Hurry up spring!

Current temperature: -6 C, or 21 F
Sky: Overcast
Light breeze

Micro Mesclun To The Rescue!

Today I got the urge to plant something, and I wasn't at all influenced by the fact that I was hungry.
Right.
I turned the soil in the pot that I had allowed the peas to die, (yes, I did that for a reason). After turning the soil and breaking the peas green matter up, I watered gently with rain water from my bucket outside. I scattered a generous sprinkling of mesclun seed over all this and gently covered with a scattered handful of Miracle Grow soil. (I'm waiting for another handful of compost to be ready, but in the meantime, a mini-farmer's gotta do what she's gotta do) Apparently I should see green sprouts in as early as a week. They can be, and will be, trimmed when they are anywhere between 1 and 6 inches high. My plan for these is simple. Add to salads, wraps, sandwiches...anywhere lettuce is used, these can be used as well. All the knowledgeable sources  say Mesclun is a "gourmet greens mixture", but I just like the way it adds variety to my diet. I like Romaine and Iceberg as much as the next person, but it gets boring after awhile. Mesclun doesn't need as much sun as Buttercrunch lettuce, so maybe, just maybe we'll have a shot at this growing our greens thing, even here.
Oh, and my plan in letting the peas die back? Between my compost bucket outside, the rainwater bucket and micro scale green manure plantings, I am trying to see if my plan for the bigger land can be reproduced  in a north facing apartment. Because if I can do it without a windowsill, so can others.

No matter what gardening books and websites will tell you, not everyone can grow their own salads. I'm here trying to find an alternative for even basement dwellers.

What are you growing this week?