A Time to Sow

Living in Mid-Missouri as I do, we are currently experiencing some serious winter weather. The four of us have been housebound for three days after a 10+ inch snowfall. More accurately, three of us have been housebound. My dear husband was at work when the snow hit and, unable to drive home or even so much as move his car, he was one of the 1,000+ individuals in our town who had to abandon his vehicle and find an alternate route home. 

This weather does not make me cheer, but it doesn't make me cry either. I know that we are fortunate to have a warm home, stocked with plenty of groceries, and family that loves to be together. Still, the snow does make me long for the spring, when I can start planting my garden. I long for the spring so much that I have already started sowing some of my many, many seeds,

By all rights and means, it is too early to start tomatoes and tomatillos. Guess what? That's right, I did it anyway. I had an old packet of tomatillo seeds leftover from last year as well as a packet of Prudens Purple Tomatoes from Pinetree Garden Seeds and Accessories. The tomatillos have far exceeded my expectations. The packet got wet somehow and was stored in the garage with no special container. I thought, as an experiment, I would try to start the seeds just to see what would happen. Thus far, all of the seeds sown have germinated and the true leaves are already starting to form. Unfortunately, I'm guessing due to the low light, the tomatillos have gotten leggy. The tomatoes are doing even better, but they're getting leggy too. I plan on replanting in individual containers in a week or two.

Along with the tomatoes and tomatillos, I decided to sow several other seeds that were leftover from last year. Rainbow bell, banana pepper, and jalapeno went into a seedling starter. I also tried the Corbaci Pepper seeds purchased from Baker Creek. Funny enough, all of last season's seeds germinated, save for one bell pepper and one jalapeno. Conversely, the newly purchased Corbaci only has a 50 percent germination rate. However, I truly expect none of the seedlings to survive to the garden. It's too early, I know, but if I don't start watching something grow I could grow (more) insane.

In the last two days, I have also sown rosemary, Turkish eggplant, and, in a moment of panic, zucchini. I figure the worst that can happen is I enjoy myself while being housebound.