I started my seedlings today!
I planted the cucumber plants in soil, but all the tomatoes in saved coffee grounds, because I have read they will sprout just as easily in either/or.
The pots are biodegradable imitation peat moss (as actual peat moss harvesting is not very sustainable). These ones are supposed to be more environmentally-friendly.
The cucumber, beefsteak tomato, and cherry tomato have been seed-saved from previous plants. Last year was not a great year for my tomatoes (though I hear that this was quite a universal woe in my area), so I decided to branch out with a couple more types: the purple Cherokee and Genovese are heirloom seeds I purchased from Toronto Urban Harvest via Fresh City Farms.
The cucumbers are so finicky at transplantation and didn't grow too well with last year's influx of yellow beetles, so I'm only sprouting four, which may yield 1 or 2 transplants. We'll see how it goes.
Fingers crossed!
Tomatoes and cucumbers are the only types of food plants I need to pre-sprout. This year, I will also be planting the following straight in the ground: small pie pumpkins (but less than last year's inaugural test, oops), zucchini (so excited for more delicious homemade relish), carrots, potatoes, ground cherries. Every year, it seems, I test something new, and phase something out. With the exception of ground cherries, which will be a first, these are all my longstanding favourites.
I may always have to buy carrot seeds, but I look forward to otherwise continuing to create a self-sustaining food garden through seed-saving. This was once a goal I listed here, years back - "grow my own food" - and so I turned the unused gardens of my Toronto rentals into a source of nourishment and gift and trade. It is easily one of the great highlights of my year and life.
(BTW, I kill every houseplant I've ever had -- so you, too, can have a productive veggie garden. I swear.)
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