How was the winter for you? Mine was productive and I spent some time dreaming about the growing season to come.
That is a photo of my desk covered with compost literature, books, and the seeds I just ordered from Johnny's. I have some on the way from Pinetree Seeds as well, another Maine seed distributer.
I also bought a medium sized soil block maker (sitting in the box in the above photo) on a recommendation from Jeff McKay, Assistant Director of Grounds here at USM. It creates little blocks of soil in which I'll plant herb and vegetable seeds. Once they have germinated, the seedlings can be transplanted in their block right into the bed, eliminating the need to use and store seedling trays. Also, the soil blocks allow more oxygen circulation and the transplanting process is less stressful for the baby plants. Exciting! I'm sure you'll hear how it works in some upcoming posts.
My other new tool is a seedling warming pad that should help those little seeds germinate faster and grow stronger. By warming the soil, the air temperature doesn't need to be as warm and that cuts down on the energy needed to heat the greenhouse. We hope to pair up with the Grounds crew here and share some greenhouse space to cut down on energy use. Our greenhouse on the Student Center patio will get fired up in April once the average temperature rises a few degrees.
Check back! The growing season is nearly here!
Best,
Your Garden Guru
2 comments:
I'd love to see a demonstration of the soil block maker. I've heard good things about it from Eliot Coleman's books. :)
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