Tomato Seeds Planted - March 1, 2023

Today was the day I'd picked for starting the tomato seeds I found in the freezer.  It might be a tad early, but at least if they don't sprout I'll still have time to get new seeds.

I got to thinking about my sprouting set-up on the way home today.  I had not yet opened the "tabletop greenhouse" that came in a couple of weeks ago, but judging from the size of the box, it seemed too small.  This thought was running through my mind just as I was approaching our local Stockdale's store.  It sells seeds and gardening tools and chemicals and a million other things.  I whipped into the parking lot and went in, hoping to find a better "greenhouse." 

They didn't have one.  But I came out with a flimsy new seeding tray and a bag of what I THOUGHT was good seed-starting mix (the writing on the bag seemed small and faint - could be my eyes).  Anyway . . . .

I came home, put away the groceries I'd picked up, and gathered up my seed-starting supplies.  The "tabletop greenhouse" looked pretty small - way too small to accommodate the whole flimsy seedling tray.  I whacked the tray down to size and discovered that there was room for 40 seedlings.  Forty plants would be enough, so I prepared to plant.  

When I opened the good "dirt" I'd bought, I thought, "Jeeeeesus," it stunk so bad!  And it didn't look like SOIL.

Turns out, it was chicken sh*t, meant for mixing with dirt.  Fortunately, it came in a zip-lock bag, so I zipped it back up and took it out to the porch.  

In the cabinet on the porch was a half-bag of potting soil - plenty for filling the seeding tray - that had been twisted shut and secured with a rubber band.  I put the bag in the sink, and when I opened it, a cloud of gnats came out.  I twisted it shut right quick, and put it on the porch with the chicken sh*t.

A conundrum.

After some deliberation, I decided to do the planting on the patio table instead of the kitchen counter, where the gnats would escape outside when I re-opened the potting soil bag. 

This potting soil is the worst stuff I've ever seen for potting soil.  It is mostly wood slivers/chips.  This does not seem to be a good medium for sprouting seeds.

But, whatever.

I planted tomato seeds in it, anyway, and set them on the back porch under the tabletop greenhouse lamp (which seems to be about 2" too short to do the job properly."  

If it gets cold again, I'll have to bring them in.

Maybe any remaining gnats will have moved out by then.

P.S. - Beware, Zone 7; the mosquitoes are out, and they are those tiny mean ones.