waiting

It's only 27 degrees out, but forecast to reach the upper 50s, so this morning is a waiting game.
These guys would like to get out for a bit:


Seed starting is in its highest production right now, and as you can see, it's not really much to look at.



That's kind of the point though, it doesn't take a whole lot to do this.  Two shoplights, some planning, seeds, one bag of soil (in the tub below).   This is a large quantity of the veggies we will be eating this year:  all my tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, onions (fingers crossed!)  Plus herbs, greens, brassicas.  And this is more than enough--I have spares in case of calamity and to give away.


These guys would all like to be out here, and will be once the air warms up a bit (yes, that's frost on the grass--and it snowed yesterday!).



We built this coldframe last year and it is a truly awesome compliment to our minimal light set up. I do end up hauling plants in and out a bit, though the cold tolerant stuff just stays out on warmer nights.  I also do have a Univent that opens the lid as the day gets warm.  I wouldn't have invested in one except that I found it brand new at a garage sale (epic score!).  Now I know they are well worth it for the ability to trust that things won't be fried when I'm not home. And the plants are happier and healthier with real sunlight.

In those hoops (there's another not shown) are more food--greens, and broccoli/cabbage I planted a wee bit early.  Another benefit of small-scale production:  All we really need for 2 people is 6-9 broccoli plants.  So I can plant out half of those and risk their lives for an early harvest.  It's easy to baby-sit a few plants with row cover and some plastic...and if I fail there are replacements inside, taking up all of 9 square inches of space in a flat. If these do live, the remainder will be planted which will spread my harvest out a bit. 

So it doesn't have to be a huge production, or a high tech investment.  Experiment, take a few risks, and go plant some peas this week.