Sunday, April 30, 2017

SEED STARTING CLASS, BASIC and ADVANCED TECHNIQUES and TRICKS

A seed starting class will be held this Tuesday, May 2nd at 6:30pm at the White Bear Lake library. (Also, repeated on Wednesday, May 17th at 7 pm at the Roseville library).
White Bear Lake library is located at 2150 2nd St, White Bear Lake, MN 55110

I'll go over basic and advanced seed starting techniques and tricks as well as give an intro to the seed library. I have 2 donated seed starting trays to be given away, one at each class. Also, if you have some extra seedlings and want to bring them in to trade with others please do so.

Now is the time to plant seeds of cool loving crops of: beets, broccoli, cauliflower, collards, kale, lettuce, onions, parsley, peas, radish, spinach, and turnips. Note that I stress seeds, not plants. It is still too cold for almost all plants to be outside. BUT, looking at the weather, you might want to wait until after Monday as they are predicting over an inch of rain in the next 2 days. Depending on where your garden is located, it may wash away your seeds if the rain comes all at once.  After Monday, then the soil will probably be too wet to plant for a few days. So maybe if you have a chance of planting early today it is better. Such is the life of a gardener--always trying to guess the ideal time to plant!

In any case, it is too early for tender plants of peppers and tomatoes to go in the ground. If you have a cold frame, you might be able to transfer them to that after Monday to harden them off. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll explain at Tuesday's class.)

Even if you are an experienced seed starter or not interested in seed starting, feel free to stop in Tuesday as I'd love to talk to you about your garden and/or seed starting experience. Also, please let me know how well the seeds from the seed library germinated for you. I had very good results with the tomato seeds and I'd like to compare notes with others.