Yesterday, I spent a couple hours emptying all the quart sized pansies.
I broke up the rootballs, composted the green stuff, and screened the rest for nice fluffy soil.
I mixed it with my other screened soil to stretch it a bit, emptying out all the previously filled 2-liter bottles.
I refilled those and then some. I stopped when I ran out of soil.
But not before I refilled 224 quart sized containers.
If all goes well this evening, I'll have sown 360 containers of perennials and hardy, reseeding annuals. Closer to our last frost in April, I'll do the same with the remaining six inch pansy containers. I've got them sitting on a rack about 6' from the wood heater. Dry soil is easier to work with. I give them a week, at best.
It's 41 and cloudy. Last night, the National Weather Service had issued a Severe Weather Warning for NC, saying that temperatures over the next 7-14 days would likely be well below freezing for many hours at a time, including daylight hours. The warning seems to have been canceled this morning.
8:45pm - 117 containers are done.
I would have done more, but as I was searching for my seeds in the alphabetized folders I keep them in, I realized I was missing lots of labels for some seeds. I'm going to spend a few minutes going through them tonight before bed to determine what else needs to be sown. I have 19 two-liter containers left to sow. That'll give me 136 total. The 224 quarts will be sown using repeats and multiples for things I want to place in various parts of the yard, hopefully before work in the morning. The best part of sowing in the two-liter bottles is how many plants I can get out of each one. I sowed heavily and should be able to break each into 6-8 Hunks of Seedlings. The beds will be stuffed next year.
10:13pm - A total of 136 two liters have been sown. There were only 13 repeats, so 123 varieties of seed for next year's garden. I'm done for the night.
12 comments:
Happy New Year, Tom. All the best to you and your gardens in 2010! Plant on, buddy. Plant on....
I just am in awe everytime I come by here...we are suppose to have some dangerously low temps here in North Florida this week. Keep your furnace burning..
Tom - that is impressive! Holy crap. What on earth are you gonna do with that many plants?
oh man!! all those pansies! i need soil right now, not a lot as we have compost, but my wintersowing is beginning this weekend. so exciting. some seeds i put into the ground in november such as poppies, larkspur, stock and wildflowers. i got nervous when they started sprouting but then read that's what is suppose to happen as they grow strong root systems. enough leaves have fallen everywhere that i don't need extra mulch, the girls have been raking away for me so there are piles all over the yard..haha
i am learning so much from you tom..thank you for everything!
happy new year my friend!
Aww - come on. You don't really need to sow that many containers. :) :)
All those containers! All neatly organized! Makes a Virgo proud!
2010 is definately going to be "your year".
this is some serious seed-starting! Going to explore a bit and find out if you sell this stuff or if it will grace your own garden!
Go, Tom!
You can't plant the pansies outdoors? Mine survive a hard freeze in the lower 20s. Do you get much colder than that?
I just realized you tossed 'em. Oh well.
Thanks Kris. You too! Plant on!
EG, I've got lots of holes in the flower beds. And I'm trying to establish some perennials for future plant sales. Since perennials tend to bloom their second year from seed, I need to get them in the ground this year for 2011.
Cat, those hardy annuals will be just fine in your climate. I already have poppies and larkspur too.
Lynda, get ready for Zone Token! :)
Fun House, If I learned anything from you it was to ... um... Thanks!
Wendy, all of this will go into my garden for now. No telling what the future might hold.
I'm trying Alison. I'm trying!
Cindy, I'm not a fan of pansies. Lots of these had been sitting in the garden center for weeks. The weather and lack of nutrients had taken their toll. With some healthy doses of fertilizer, I could have brought them back to life, but I'm just not that big a fan of those little plants. I really just wanted them for the soil and containers. It's really nice soil. And for what I paid, it was a great deal.
You are one organized gardener. Best of everything in 2010!
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