The end of the Februaries

February is over, and now we can get on with life.  There is a rule of thumb I learned in gardening years ago:  it's OK to start seeds before March if you get an "attack of the Februaries," so long as you have enough seed to replant all the February-started seedlings that will die - which will probably be all of them.

Last year I got off to a late start.  Work consumed all my time, or so it seemed, and I never got around to starting what few plants I started until sometime in May.  This year I am engaged in a job search, but I plan to take the time to prune my grapevine and start my tomatoes sometime in March.

I experimented with a few different ways of starting seeds last year, and I found that the absolute best method for me involves miniature terra cotta pots (the kind that come in the Chia Herb Garden) on an East-facing windowsill.  Topsy-Turvy Tomato Planters didn't work out at all for me, and the tomatoes I transplanted into the garden fared very poorly for some reason.  The best results were with tomatoes transplanted into large planters, pots about eighteen to twenty-four inches in diameter.  We'll see how well this year's crop grows.

Now, where did I put those seeds...