Congratulations! It's a Broccoli!!

I love gardening and growing things. It must be like parenting only without the screaming, messy diapers and snotty noses. My plant children aren't going to grow up to be pregnant teenagers or flunk out of school either. They will never be drug addicts or alcoholics and they will give back as much as I give.  I get to experience the joy of conception, nurture their health, watch them develop and protect them from evil things once they are out in the world. An almost stress-free parenting experience. And then I get to eat them, like a good parent should.

In February, I plant my first indoor starts: basil, Roma tomatoes and grape tomatoes. I use soil starter in egg shells placed in egg cartons under grow lights.

Egg shells as containers give the little babies lots of calcium which makes them strong. Last year I did an experiment growing six basil plants in egg shells and six in normal cardboard type containers. In six weeks the egg shell plants were three times as big and continued to be fuller, greener, and pest and disease free for the rest of the growing season. Egg shells are free if you eat or bake with eggs. Crack the egg open at the top to leave lots of whole shell. Place them back in their cartons.

Once they have dried, use a very sharp sewing needle and pierce a small hole at the bottom for drainage. The shells are very brittle so do be careful or they will shatter.

The egg shells are filled with organic, sterilized soiless starter made from vermiculite, sphagnum moss and perlite which is very fine. It is sprayed with water until it soaks up moisture. I plant one seed in each egg shell and place them back in the egg carton for stability. They grow under grow lights that are turned on in the morning and off at night. I watch to make sure the soil doesn't dry out and spray them with water several times a day.

The Nursery

Broccoli is the first up every year. It only takes about three days for them to peak their little bald heads out of the dirt.  They are fairly low maintenance, too. Good little babies!

So precious...

Basil needs to be supervised constantly so the soil doesn't get dry, but not too wet. When a second pair of leaves grow, I use my fingers and pinch off the top growth. This makes their stems stronger.

Tomatoes need to be watched so they don't get spindly and leggy growing too fast to reach the light. Keep the light as close to the egg shells as possible to prevent this, but be sure it's a proper grow light and not a heat lamp as the plants need to stay cool.

When their little bodies are about an inch tall, I feed them mild nutrients either organic or fish fertilizers. If you feel too much nitrogen to tomatoes, they don't produce fruit.

When the plants get too big for their little egg wombs, I transplant them to a larger container, use regular potting soil, continuing their care until they are ready to venture into the world.

When the time comes for transplanting into the garden, I "harden" the plants off by putting them on a wind-free porch in the sun every day for about three days. This gets them use to being outside and slight breezes will strengthen their stems so they will be strong enough for windier days. Broccoli loves cold weather so they are transplanted outside in March. Tomatoes and basil do not like it too cold. In fact, under 55 degrees and basil will turn black and possibly die. Very temperamental. As long as it's warm enough, basil then becomes low maintenance.

I repeat this process for indoor starts planted in April (squashes and beans) and May (sunflowers). Everything else gets planted directly into the ground in the middle of May.

I think I should throw myself a baby shower...feel free to send some gifts. :)